Foreign Mission Board Rooms
June 19, 19U7
The Foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session at U:00 P. M. on
Thursday, June 19, 19U7, with Mr. Jenkins presiding.
Dr. R. P. Downey led in prayer.
Present: Clyde V. Hickerson, R. P. Downey, R. Aubrey Williams, Mrs. Simeon
Atkinson, J. Levering Bvans,
В.
M. Gwathmey, L. Howard Jenkins, M. T. Rankin, S. B.
Cousins, George W. Sadler, Garis T. Long, E. P. Buxton, T. F. Adams, Hill Montague
Mrs. T. Justin Moore, Miss Nan F. Weeks, Miss Gene Newton.
The minutes of the May meeting were read and approved.
Dr. Rankin reported on the meeting of the' Executive Committee held in Nash¬
ville .
Dr. Sadler stated that he hopes to go from Copenhagen to Nigeria, Rumania,
Spain, Italy and if possible Hungary.
Dr. Evans read the report from Dr. Gillj as follows:
Dear Board Members:
After leaving Montevideo, Uruguay, we arrived in Buenos Aires May l*th
for final conferences before leaving for Chile. At the Sudoeste church vdiere
we held membership, a farewell service was held, with representatives from the
Buenos Aires churches. Many expressions of deep appreciation for all that
Southern Baptists had done for Argentina, were given. I spoke on "Characteris¬
tics of a New Testament Church" .
A final session with the Executive Committee of the Mission, enabled
me to sum up with the missionaries some of the needs and problems which they face.
They appreciate the action of the Board in raising salaries during the emergency.
On May 8th we bade farewell to our missionary and national friends, and boarded
the train for the day and night ride westward, across the fertile pampa, to the
desert foothills of the rtndes; as far as Mendoza where we stayed with the J. C.
Quarles of Virginia. They have served faithfully for forty long years.
He serves a vast field, including three provinces. In Mendoza are the
First Church and the new Godey Cruz church soon to occupy its new temple. It
will be one of the most beautiful in Argentina, located on the main avenue. It
is the gift of the women of Florida, and is served by one of our finest pastors,
who is evangelistic and believes in Christian giving. The church is self-
supporting .
We crossed the Andes by train on May 12th, an unforgettable journey.
All the way over I thought of the great General San Martin (Marteen, accent on
last syllable) who crossed with his army in 1817, suffering unbelievable hard¬
ship, to fall on the Spaniards, and bring freedom to Chile and Argentina. That
night we were met by the Santiago missionaries, remaining for a day before heading
for our southern home in Temuco.
Here we are living in two and a half rooms in the Golegio Bautista, and
greatly enjoying our new home, in spite of the cold (I just put another stick of
wood into the fire). I have had conferences with individual missionaries, and
the entire station staff. In spite of the great loss sustained in the death of
Miss Agnes Graham, Miss Brower is carrying forward in a splendid way, and the
school is prospering, with almost 1*00 enrolled. A new unit including laundry,
bakery, servants quarters, and store room is being completed and will mean much
to the efficiency of the institution. The next great need is an adequate din¬
ing room, chapel, and gymnasium, which can be constructed in one unit.
The First Church of -which Dr. Cecil Moore is pastor, in completing a
splendid educational building, one of the best in all South America,' and we are
hoping for funds in future days for a new auditorium. This is Chile's largest
church. I have preached there and visited several other churches in the town,
whose population is 50,000 . We are on the edge of the Araucanian Indian
country, about 100,000 descendants of a brave race never conquered by Incas or
Spaniards. Their lot is now deplorable.
