MISSIONS
barefoot, including the missionary, to find the dying woman asleep and breathing hard. W hen Mrs. Keep touched her gently, Silvestre opened her eyes and asked, “ Have m y brethren come to see me from El Sauce? H ow did you cross the river?” “ W e want to have you know that we love you and are praying for you ,” Mrs. Keep whispered. “ Sons, sons, gather around, raise me up. I want to hear the W ord of God for the last time and I want to hear them sing, and we are going to have the Lord’s Supper.” Then her sons and daughters fell to the task of lifting that huge, mas sive body to a sitting position. Some of her old vitality seemed to return as she shouted orders. She wanted to be prepared for her last earthly service with the brethren, and above all she wanted her hair combed! The believers were overjoyed as M iguel, the pastor, made prepara tions for the communion service. Silvestre asked for one hymn after another and among them, her fa vorite, “ H oly, H oly, H oly .” A t the end she lifted her eyes to ward heaven, saying, “ Blessed be the name of our God and eternal Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Oh Jesus, receive me, a poor, sad sinner who has trusted in Thee.” The next morning, Saturday, she was gone to be with her Lord. On the Lord’s day they brought her to El Sauce, borne on many shoulders, for the mountain trail was long and difficult with the heavy burden. The believers of El Sauce met them at the river, which fortunately was low enough to cross. Th ey carried the body of the matriarch on to the chapel where the Christians gave w ay to let the many unbelieving kinsmen from El Rincon sit down. Death, so horrible in the remote places o f a pagan land, is always accompanied by wailing, weeping and drunkenness, but not so when Silvestre was laid to rest in Jesus. Rather, the funeral was a joyous occasion w ith hymns o f praise to the Lord. As they left the cemetery, the majestic singing of “ H oly, holy, holy, God in three persons, blessed trinity . . .” echoed triumphantly through the hills and the impact o f a victorious death in Christ was felt throughout the valley. END.
She was large, domineering & fanatical Village Matriarch by Erma W a lke r
D ecause of fear, streets are deserted at night in the wicked and notor ious village of El Rincon, El Salva dor, and even the women carry long knives. A ll the families are blood relatives. Strangely enough, at the head of this secluded mountain clan was a large, domineering and fanat ical woman, Silvestre Ortiz de Gar cia. Respected and feared, she was called “ Mother” by all the village. Silvestre had inherited the cher ished fam ily idol, a replica of the famous Rlack Christ of Esquipulas. A ll the clan came yearly to worship the image at her home in an idol atrous feast too often accompanied b y drunkenness and shootings. In spite of repeated warnings from the believers o f El Sauce re garding the dangers involved, Mrs. Ralph Keep, Central American M is sion missionary, planned the first Bible school ever held in El Rincon at Christmastime in 1952. In the providence of God, Silves tre herself gave lodging to the mis sionary. From the time Mrs. Keep arrived, she was besieged with ques tions about sin, death, heaven and hell. D ay after day and far into the night the W ord o f God was care fu lly explained to this hungry soul. The last night of the Bible school, the home, that had always served for the idolatrous worship of the Black Christ, was full of the tribes men of El Rincon listening to the w ay o f salvation. When the flannel- graph lesson was finished, the mis sionary asked: “ Is anyone ashamed of Jesus?” Silvestre shifted her ponderous body and rose slowly to her feet, saying, “ I am not ashamed of Jesus. I want H im as m y Saviour and I want all to know it.” Three others stood also, professing their faith in Christ. W hen Mrs. Keep returned home to nearby El Sauce, she knew that
the great day of the idolatrous tribal feast was near and she feared for these babes in Christ because she had left them without a shepherd. But the day of the feast came and God gave them victory! There was no idol worship in the home of the matriarch. Although the image could not be destroyed because it belonged to the village, Silvestre gave it to the others to keep. In deed, the image of the Black Christ had been cast out and the living Lord enthroned instead in the hearts o f seven who gathered for Bible reading and prayer for their lost kinsmen. From then on Silvestre suffered for the gospel. She lost friends of 70 years standing and was even or dered out of the house of one at the point o f a gun. These were hard blows for an old lady who had known the respect and reverence o f all and whose word had been law among her people for many years. But she suffered not in vain. Over 30 of her clan came to know the Saviour and more are seeking the Lord daily. She would pat the Bi ble and say to the missionary, “ I am too old now to ever know much of that Book, but what I do know satis fies me and I am going to die con tent.” She was tested and tried, stricken with a bad eye infection. Her face was so swollen that she was ridi culed from one end of the valley to the other. She was told it was be cause she had sent away the Black Christ. “ Send for it again and you w ill get well,” they said. But she stood firm in the face o f testing. The whole valley knew that she was on the decline and the believers o f El Sauce were burdened to visit her before her death. One rainy morning through the water and through the mud they walked up and over the mountain. A ll arrived
The King's Business/July 1957
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