211
Foreign Mission Board Rooms
September 9, 195b
The Foreign Mission Board met in regular monthly session at 300 p.m. on
Thursday, September 9, 195b, with Mr. Jenkins presiding.
Present: L. Howard Jenkins,
V/.
Rush Loving, L. G. Mosley, Howard L. Arthur,
E. P. Buxton, Garis Long, H. P. Thomas, Mrs. Tom Smith, Neal Ellis, Oscar
L. Hite, Solon B. Cousins, Mrs. Kenneth Burke, J. E. Boyles, Emmett X. Robert¬
son, Baker J. Cauthen, George W. Sadler, E. L. Wright, Rogers M. Smith, E. L.
Deane.
Guest: Rev. William Toliver
Mr. Mosley led in prayer.
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report:
DR. CAUTHEN' S REPORT
Our meeting today is limited in the number of staff members due to the fact that
Dr. Means is attending the called meeting of the Executive Committee of the
Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville. Mr. West will be returning this week
from his trip to the Orient and Mr. Scofield will be returning in the next few
days from the Near East.
This is the first occasion I have had to meet with the Board since rry return
from Latin America, Throughout that journey there were repeated evidences of
the splendid leadership which had been givon to the area by Dr. Everett Gill,
Jr. He was held in highest appreciation by missionaries and national leaders.
A sense of personal loss prevailed throughout all Baptist work in Latin America
when word was received that Dr. Gill had passed away.
The journey took me through all of the missions in Latin America with the ex¬
ception of Jamaica and the Bahamas. In order to return to Ridgecrest in time
for the Foreign Missions Week it was necessary to defer visits to those two
places of our most recent work.
It was my privilege to meet with most of the missions during all or a part of
their annual mission meeting. In this way it was possible to get an under¬
standing of many of the needs and to hear of the progress of the work. It was
also possible to confer with the missions with regard to arrangements for Latin
America.
Conferences with the missions indicated that throughout the whole area missiona¬
ries are praying for C-od's guidance as plans must be laid for new leadership.
There is a spirit of loyalty and cooperation which will be of highest value as
arrangements are finally made. We can proceed with confidence that the missiona¬
ries in Latin America will support wholeheartedly whatever the Board feels led
of God to do about this area.
Work in Latin America is extensive. Beginning with the Spanish Publishing
House in El Paso and going through Mexico and Central America there is Baptist
work. Our largest field of service is Brazil, but work is established through¬
out all the republics of South America with the exception of Bolivia, and
Canadian Baptists are working there.
Work in Latin America has been very fruitful. Many churches have been organized.
Good schools have been established. Publication work has been highly developed,
and medical work is being projected. The fact that Baptist work in Brazil has
fruited in many self-supporting churches is well known. In particular the con¬
struction of churches by means of building and loan funds has been very success¬
ful. Appropriations made by our Board to assist the missions in this manner re¬
sult in the churches being able to construct their buildings, but at the same
time repaying the money granted to them so that in turn this money can be used
to assist other churches also.
Brazilian Baptists have projected work through their own Home Mission Board and
their Foreign Mission Board. Their representatives serve both in Portugal and
in Bolivia.
Work in Latin America is advancing. On the one hand there is the well establish¬
ed work extending over many years that one sees in Brazil and some of the other
fields. On the other hand there is new work which has been opened in such coun¬
tries as Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica which is
