Adventuring for Christ Along the Orinoco and the Amazon
Second Installment in the Travel Diary of Dr. Louis T. Talbot and Mr. J. Russell Davis
Tuesday, March 27, 1951: Up early and off to the airport for a 7:50 A.M. flight to Bogota, capital of Colombia. Due to bad weather plane did not come until 9:15 A.M., with a broken oil line! After it was repaired, we got away at 10:30 A.M. and had a good flight to Bogota. Rev. John Dyck of the Mennonite Brethren Mission at La Cumbre was on the plane and we enjoyed a fine visit with him. We learned more of the terrible persecution which the Catholic Church is carrying on against the Evangelicals and all liberals who are opposed to the reign of terror of the Conservative Catholic Party. When this missionary left La Cumbre the day before, the bodies of fifteen men, who had been shot, tied on the backs of horses, were being brought into town. We were met at the Bogota field by Rev. LaVerne Rutsch- man (Biola ’41) who very kindly took us to see the sights in his car. It rained nearly all the time we were there, and at almost 9,000 feet elevation it was cold. However, this did not keep us from seeing the city, including a trip by cable car up to an old Catholic church on a sheer cliff 1,500 feet higher above the city. This building lies at the end of a steep climb, flanked by bronze statues of the stations of the cross, to which pilgrims flock on Sundays. They make the steep climb on their knees, stopping to burn candles and pray at each of the stations. Then we came down to the city, visited the very modern buildings of the fine old Presbyterian School, called the College Americano, and enjoyed a visit with the Rev. Mr. Woods, pastor of the foreign church. He told us of the memorial service for King Gustav of Sweden which had been conducted in his church, as the Swedish Government refused to allow it to be held in a Catholic church as the hierarchy desired. The high Catholic officials of the government were obliged to come to this Protestant church to listen to the service con ducted by an evangelical pastor. The Papal Nuncio and the President sent their regrets that they could not attend ! Wednesday, March 28th, 1951: Had breakfast in our hotel with Rev. Robert Lazaer, Executive Secretary of the Presbyterian Mission in Colombia, and heard further confirmation of the violent opposition to all evangelical work in this country. Unless Christians pray and God works in a mighty way, it looks as if mission work in Colombia would be stopped very soon. Mr. Lazaer told us that the Papal Nuncio had just presented demands to the President that all heretical religions be banned by law in the country in order to protect the true church! He also described the fearful riots in Bogota in 1948 when the Liberal President was shot and the Conservative Catholic Party came into power. The people rose up in protest and wrecked Catholic churches and property, only to be ruthlessly shot down. Even priests in their robes fired machine guns from the church towers. Our government was informed that this incident was merely put ting down a Communist revolt, and this report was backed up by Catholic consular officials. So we support a Catholic dic tatorship that slaughters all opposition without mercy and brands all who rebel against them as Communists, including evangelical pastors and Christians. About 10 A.M. we left Bogota and flew to Barranquilla, a beautiful city on the Caribbean, where we spent the night in a hotel while awaiting the Pan-American plane which would take us to Venezuela the next morning. It was surprisingly
The Orinoco River, ivith Cuidad Bolivar, headquarters of the Orinoco River Mission, in the distance. cool, and we enjoyed a good swim, so our few hours’ stay in this city was a pleasant interlude in our travels. Thursday, March 29th, 1951: After telephoning a number of missionaries, we got off at 10 A.M. for Caracas, Venezuela. We flew between snow capped Andean peaks 19,000 ft. high, but soon came out again to the beautiful, blue Caribbean Sea, and followed the coastline across the north edge of South America. At 1:30 P.M. we arrived at Maiguetia, the airport, about nineteen miles from Caracas. There we were met by Bill Nyman, Jr., and after the formalities of customs, health and passport inspection and a few other things, we left the coast by taxi for the beautiful, winding drive up into the mountains where Caracas is located, 3,000 feet high. Due to heavy storms, one-half of the two-way road had been washed out, so traffic was compelled to proceed down the mountain in the morning and up in the afternoon. Everything necessary for the life of this huge capital of Venezuela must be hauled by truck up this one narrow road, so you can imagine the terrific traffic jams. It is estimated that if this road were blocked, the food and other supplies in the city would last only seventy-two hours. This road is literally the lifeline of Caracas. We then accompanied Bill to the very small, but extremely expensive, apartment the Nymans share with another man to help with expenses. There we had the joy of renewing our friendship with Marjory MacMillan Nyman, and of course of having a good visit with her husband, Bill, as well as meeting the Rev. Robert Schneider of Wycliffe Bible Trans lators. After a good visit and a meal together, we went out to see the sights of this fantastic city founded in 1567 under the name of Santiago de Leon Caracas. Here we found modern buildings, narrow streets and an incredibly beautiful univer sity under construction. However, the most impressive thing was the high prices! Anything American can be purchased, but everything costs three or four times more than at home. It is a mystery to us how missionaries can live on the small allowances they receive, but these “ other lost sheep” must be reached, so they continue to sacrifice and do the best they can until folks at home realize that they cannot make it on the usual missionary allowances.
Page Seven
JUNE, 1951
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