The Challenge of the Harvest in South America
“WELL, Jack, that was a very upbuilding service meeting.”
“You’re so right, Bert, and I am all charged up and eager to be doing something more than I have been doing. You know, my thoughts keep going out to our missionaries in faraway lands. Irene and I still get letters from South America, and every time we get one we get to talking about packing up and heading south.”
“But you and Irene are doing quite a bit even now. Here you are a book study servant, and she gets to vacation pioneer every other month. And both of you are conducting Bible studies with interested people. What more can you do?”
“True, we keep busy, and so do you and Agnes. But what I have been thinking about is the far greater need in some of those other countries. Why, in some places it is just like a field of ripened grain that should be harvested without delay!”
“But isn’t that the situation here in our own land? There is surely still need for a lot of work right here.”
“No, it is not quite the same. Almost everyone here knows about the Watch Tower Society and Jehovah’s witnesses, and most of these people have had access to the Bible. Trying to interest them in God’s purposes is like coaxing a child to eat something nutritious in the midst of plenty. Mind you, the work here has to be done, but it seems to me there are plenty of new workers coming along year by year to care for it.”
“You mean, then, that it is quite different in the South American countries?”
PRAYER FOR MORE WORKERS IN BRAZIL
“I surely do. Take, for example, Brazil. For many years prior to 1945 the number of Witnesses there stood at around 250, many of them immigrants from Poland and the Ukraine. Then the Society started sending in missionaries trained at Gilead School and things began to move. The next twenty years witnessed a phenomenal growth. There were more than 36,000 Witnesses by 1965. In fact, the latest report, as I recall, told about over 50,000 active Witnesses.”
“But that just proves that the Kingdom work is getting to be well known down there too.”
“Well, up to a point, Bert. But you have also to take into account the vastness of the territory and the huge population that is involved. Remember, Brazil has 85,000,000 population, and it is rapidly increasing. Do you realize that this poses a real challenge to the Witnesses now active there? Each Witness must be responsible for about 1,700 of the population. That alone is a big responsibility. But then, too, the population is spread over an area almost as large as the continental United States. Brazil, in fact, is just about half the whole area of South America.”
“I must admit that you have all the facts and figures. I suppose you get a lot of information through your correspondence with the missionaries.”
“That’s right. And they tell me that most of the work in Brazil thus far has been done in the largest cities, and there are still plenty of towns and villages that have not had a thorough witness about the Kingdom. Then, too, there are many congregations that would move ahead faster if they had the help of experienced ministers.”
“But what about the language problem? Had you thought about that, Jack?”
“Yes, I have. It can loom as quite an obstacle to some, but the way I look at it, some of those missionaries who went down to Brazil in the past were older than we are, and yet they have gotten over this hurdle, and are settled down in their assignments as if completely at home. I think if a person really got down to a regular schedule of studying Portuguese he would soon have a good working knowledge, and then daily practice right there among the people of Brazil would soon produce fluency.”
“What about the local religion? Aren’t most of the people strong Catholics?”
“Catholics, yes, but one recent letter from there told us that the powerful grip of the church is weakening and that the people, for the most part, are friendly and listen when the Witnesses call at their doors. As an example of the change, there is the city of São João do Rei, a place where fanatical Catholics used to stone the Witnesses. Eventually one of the local priests was impressed by the endurance of the Witnesses and asked that they conduct a Bible study with him. Others also were impressed favorably, so much so that there is now an active congregation of Witnesses in that city.”
“You are almost persuading me to go and serve where the need is greater. Still, I do not know whether Agnes and I could take the change of climate and customs.”
“There you go, talking as if you were old folks already. Why, you are not even in your forties yet, and your health is pretty good. Besides, you are not going to be asked to work in the jungle and live in a grass hut, as some missionaries have had to do. Help is needed in many fine modern cities of 100,000 or more population. The weather may be a bit warmer than you have been used to, but missionaries have found that they can live there, and the spiritual rewards are great. Imagine working in territory where you can have as many lively home Bible studies as you care to take on!”
“Sounds great! But are you sure that things are still moving ahead in Brazil?”
“Well, listen to this passage from a recent letter we got from a missionary who went down there in 1949: ‘How happy I am that I made the right choice and entered the pioneer service twenty-three years ago. Here I am being used by Jehovah in Belém, a northern city of more than 450,000 inhabitants. When we arrived in 1958 there were only 60 Witnesses here. Today that number has grown to almost 400 in several congregations. How grateful we are that Jehovah could use us in teaching so many the truth and aiding them to grow to Christian maturity!’ Furthermore, I heard that 126,520 attended the Memorial in Brazil this year. Just think of the potential for increase!”
“Wonderful! I guess Agnes and I should have a serious talk about making the move to the south.”
“That’s just what Irene and I are going to do. Why go on wishfully thinking about going to such an assignment? One has to do something about it. And especially so when you read and reread, as I do, these closing words of one treasured letter: ‘We who are happily serving in Brazil continue to beg the Master of the harvest to send out more workers into his harvest.’ And Brazil is but one portion of the large field that calls for attention in these words quoted from Matthew 9:38.”
“Now you have me really interested. Tell me more.”
A CHOICE HARVEST IN ARGENTINA
“Well, we also receive letters from Argentina. And it is thrilling to learn about the progress of the Kingdom work there from its small beginnings in 1924. In fact, spectacular increase followed quickly on the heels of the arrival of Gilead-trained missionaries here also. From 1946 onward the progress has been excellent, and now there are over 14,000 Witnesses serving a population of 23,000,000. Do you know what that means? About 1,650 inhabitants for each Witness, and again that population is spread across a land that reaches from the warm tropics in the north to the cold winds of the far south.”
“That means one could choose his climate.”
“You are right. But I would like you to listen to some of the marvelous descriptions that missionaries give of their assignments. Here is one from a missionary in Tucumán: ‘This is called the garden of the Republic, so green is it and so lush with tropical vegetation. During the summer months of December, January and February there are nights when it does not cool off enough to make sleeping comfortable. So, when coming home from meetings or Bible studies it is common to see people sitting out in front of their homes or in sidewalk cafés. Of course, due to the heat the pace here is somewhat slower than in other parts of the land.’”
“Just the same, it would probably be easier to take those three hot months than the five or six cold months we northerners have to endure.”
“Right, Bert. And listen to another missionary as she describes her arrival at a new assignment: ‘From the Chilean capital of Santiago, snugly nestling on the western side of the Cordillera, our plane spirals like a corkscrew to gain the necessary altitude for crossing the highest mountain range in the two Americas. Seat belts are fastened, and usually left on until the short, bumpy flight ends at Mendoza on the eastern slopes of the Andes. But the few brief minutes above this majestic mass of rock and ice leaves a lasting memory. Our eyes drink in the grandeur of Jehovah’s handiwork.’ Missionaries really get to go places, don’t they?”
“That’s true, and it must be fine to see the real things instead of just looking at pictures. But what kind of assignment did Mendoza turn out to be?”
“Here is what the letter says: ‘Mendoza, though so near the snow-covered Andes, is a land of sun and fertile fields. Its vineyards and olive orchards are plentiful. The tree-lined streets are so cool and refreshing. And the city is spotlessly clean. Housewives take special pride in shining the glazed-tile sidewalks in front of their homes. Between the sidewalk and the curb there is a narrow canal—a waterway that makes it possible to have trees in an area where rainfall is negligible. And people will scoop water from the canal and wet down the streets. Mendoza has the pulse of a modern, active city, with industrious and well-educated citizens. When people of this class dedicate themselves to Jehovah God, they show this same industriousness in the Christian ministry.’”
“Sounds like an ideal assignment, Jack.”
“Yes, and there are many others like it. Here is the expression of a missionary from Gilead’s first class: ‘Now it is more than nineteen years since I came to Argentina, and I have had permanent residence since early in 1950. Nearly a third of my life I have lived in this land, and, especially since my mother’s death, it is really my home. My friends here are very dear. In fact, many here in Tucumán treat me as a member of the family. I am grateful to Jehovah for the privilege of serving in this land.’”
“So there are many small places where there is need of more mature helpers, it would seem.”
“Not only so, but I hear that the need is still great in Buenos Aires, the federal capital, as well as in many other cities. No doubt about it, there is a bumper harvest in those southlands that can engage all the hands and hearts that can be recruited. What do you say to both us couples doing something about it?”
“Fine by me, but where do we start?”
“Well, we could write the Office of the President, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and ask for any information as to our eligibility and the things we shall have to take into account in connection with such a move.”
“Suppose you do that for the four of us, and meantime I could write a letter to the Society’s branch in one of those countries to find out what the prospects are of our entering their land and obtaining an assignment.”
“Good. And then there is one other matter. The language, remember? We shall have to decide which country we will aim for, before we can do anything about this, for Portuguese is the language in one and Spanish the language in the other. But when we do decide, we can study the language as a group, one night each week, while we are completing all other arrangements and at the same time discharging our theocratic responsibilities here.”
“Then we have one more immediate matter to look after. We shall have to talk to our fine little helpers, our wives. I think it would be good for each couple to have its private discussion first, and then we can plan on getting together, all four of us, and having a broader discussion.”
“Excellent. And we can bring any recent correspondence we have from the missionaries, and in this way we can add to our basic knowledge of the South American field. Next meeting here at the Kingdom Hall it will be interesting to find out what progress we have made and what we can do about meeting the challenge of a plentiful harvest in the lands of the south. See you then.”