jungle to become civilized, as well as Venezuelans, who have been won from Roman Catholicism. It was a great joy to meet this warm-hearted group who know and love the Lord, and are seeking to witness for Him on the edges of the jungle. Thursday, April 5th, 1951: Spent most of the day going around with Chuck Olvey, doing some missionary work. We visited the homes of many of the Christians we had met the night before, and enjoyed talk ing with them of our common bond of saving faith in Christ. We went some distance up the river in the afternoon, saw some boat-building activities, and then proceeded to the site of a very ancient Indian village dating back about 1,500 years. This site was discovered by the Olveys a few years ago and, when confirmed by archeologists, caused the revision of textbooks here which had stated that there was no evidence of Indian occupation of the Orinoco River dating prior to the last hundred years or two. The Christians wanted to make the most of opportunity, so we had another service for them in the evening, and I spoke to them again, with Chuck Olvey Over to the airstrip with the two pilots, Jim Truxton and Hobey Lowrance, to meet the returning MAF plane bringing Dr. Talbot. Dr. Talbot was very enthusiastic about his visit to the Las Delicias Bible Institute at Caripe, Venezuela. His report of the work they are doing is thrilling. About 35 or 40 young men and women are taking the three-year course in Bible study in preparation for full-time service to their own . people.. All of these students are Venezuelans, a mixture of Indian and Spanish. All have come from Roman Catholic homes and are the products, under God, of the splendid work of the Orinoco River Mission. Dr. Talbot was happily sur prised to discover the school providing such a thorough cur riculum. With the exception of Greek and Hebrew, it is similar to courses offered in the Bible Institute of Los An geles, only in simpler form, of course. In training these Venezuelan Christians for full-time Chris tian service, assurance is given that should all foreign mis sionary service be suspended by the government, the testimony will still go on. In other words, Dr. Eddings is planning for the future, because one does not know what the present gov ernments of South America will do in regard to evangelical Christianity. During our stay here we ourselves have felt the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to Protestantism. Romanism is recognizing that the evangelicals are a force with which they must reckon. Dr. Talbot had the privilege of addressing these students and holding interviews with indi viduals regarding their personal problems. The school com prises a campus of about five or six acres, and is in the midst of a building program that will be able to take care of a student body of about one hundred. Some of the students are spending their spare time constructing a large boat, under the direction of Edward and Alfred Tuggy, for use in evangeliz ing the small towns all along the Orinoco River. It should be completed within a month or two. All of the students of the Bible Institute have their prac tical work assignments, as do our students at Biola. A number of them go to surrounding villages on bicycles, calling from house to house, presenting the gospel in testimony and leaving tracts and Gospels of John in Spanish. Mr. Tuggy and Dr. Talbot followed a few of these young men in an automobile, photographing their work as they drove along. The response of the people and the eagerness with which they listened to the gospel message, were amazing. All of the members of the household, with neighbors on either side, gathered around and listened to these young men telling the story of their con version to Christ. The children who gathered in this im promptu congregation were completely unclothed. As we were at a distance, taking the pictures, we were able to get the facial expressions of these people, because they did not know the camera was turned on them. Conversions numbering be tween three and four hundred were reported last year and all were followed up, cultivated and encouraged. In this way J U N E , 1951 translating into Spanish. Friday April 6th, 1951:
Dr. and Mrs. Van V. Eddings Dr. Eddings is
founder and director of the Orinoco River Mission.
the gospel testimony goes on in spite of the opposition of Romanism. The hearts of the people are hungry, and they are eager to listen to the gospel when they are away from the influence of the priests. Dr. Talbot was fascinated at the sight of orchids growing wild. The orchid, as you know, is a parasite like the mistletoe. It attaches itself to the limb of a tree and after a year’s growth puts forth its gorgeously-colored flowers. Dr. Talbot photographed these orchids growing on trees. One plant con tained fifteen very large blossoms, each of which would sell for at least five dollars in Los Angeles. In fact, all the flowers in the tropics, as well as the birds, are beautifully colored. This reminds us that our God is a God of beauty, who is en deavoring to reveal this fact through nature to the people of the jungles, and to tell them in this way that He will make their lives beautiful if they will allow Him to have His way with them. The MAF plane was checked again, and, with a full load of gas, the two pilots and I headed south to look for Indians. Previous survey trips had been taken on which the location of Indian “ roundhouses” had been marked on maps, but it was necessary to check the locations again before we started out, as the Indians habitually move from place to place. After flying south for about an hour, we found several of these communal dwellings set in clearings cut from the jungle. One was singled out which we circled several times, checking the location in relation to mountain peaks and rivers, so as to enable us to locate it from the ground. As we flew low over the house, the Indians could be seen down below, watching us. When we came close, they ran with great haste into their houses. After photographing the roundhouse from the air, and getting it thoroughly located, we marked it on the map. Then we flew back, checking the best route for us for reaching it the next day. The roundhouse we had found was one not previously located from the air, a conical dwelling, made of grass, with the roof extending right down to the ground. There were several out-buildings around it, but this seemed to be the chief dwelling-place for the group. It was a rough trip as we were obliged to fly low around the mountain peaks to get in close to this house, so we were all thankful when we were back safe at the airstrip at Caicara, and it did not take us long to he driven to the mission house. Again we were in time for an evening service, as these Christians really wanted to get all they could while we were there. This time the two MAF pilots gave testimonies, and then Dr. Talbot brought the message. We were all glad to see one young person accept the Lord.
Air View of an Indian round house
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