THE KING’S BUSINESS
418
In Villa Maria Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have worked very hard during the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Langran with the Bible coach and they, together with Mr. and Mrs. Baker, who recently arrived from England, are carrying on an aggressive work of evangelization. They felt that the' time had come for some special meetings,,and after a week of prayer we commenced the meet ings for the gospel The weather was not very propitious, as the heat has begun, but we had a fair number in at every meeting and towards the close the hall was well filled. Rufino is a place on the direct line from Buenos: Aires to Mendoza and Valparaiso. Mr. Gibson, who came from Kilmarnock and holds a post as driver on the railway, often spends a night or two at Rufino, and he has used well his time. Two Austrian Christians lived on farms about eighteen miles out, and they were in the habit for the last three years of coming in on the Sunday to gtve out tracts. In this way quite a large number of people had heard the gospel, and finally a house opened for holding simple meetings. Two couples were saved and one or two others came from other parts. We had about 100 to listen to the gospel, and the Sunday School is encouraging. I am always glad when I see what God can do without a sort of official missionary, and this work that has been the result of the self-denying labors of these busy farmers and railway men is a grand testimony. We are suffering a good deal from the great heat. Today (December 4) it was 103 in the shade.- How we long for a really good day of rain. There is great need on all sides. Places like Rufino are plentiful in this land, where, if no rain falls, the people are dependent bn the wa ter that the train brings along for their cooking and drinking purposes. At one railway station that I passed I saw about fifty bullocks lying dead. They had died from’thirst on the-train before they got them to a place where there was drinking water.
I had my class in the patio, as the hall was full of children. On the 1st and 2nd of November all-day meetings had been arranged for believers, and Mr. Hy Smith of Rosario and Mr. St. John joined in the ministry. At night we had gospel meetings, continued every night for thirteen days. At almost every meeting we had conversions. I have never known a time of such sustained interest, and souls in the greatest anxiety was a common sight. We had some interesting cases of conversion in the earlier nights, and these in their- turn brought their friends and neighbors, and these also pro fessed to be saved. As in Rosario, the hall in Santa Fe is proving too small for the number of people who wish to come to hear the gospel, and the Sunday School is car ried on with the greatest difficulty. ■The enlargement of both halls is a most urgent matter. It is so distressing to see the workers hesitate about inviting the people for fear that there would not be room for them when they came. I trust that the Lord may lay this need on the heart of some of His stewards. The whole republic is passing through a time of the greatest financial pressure and there are many people out of work. For the last seven or eight months little or no rain has fallen. The aijimals are dying for want of water and food. Very soon the people will find it hard to get bread, as the wheat, crop in many parts has proved a failure and most of the reserve stocks have gone to Europe. We are forced to help large numbers of people every day. I have been back in- Cordoba for a few days’ visit with my children. The work progresses and souls are being saved. Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin have come from Tura nian, and are hard at work on the language in company with Mr. and Mrs. Findlay. They all do a lot of most useful visiting ahd tract distribution. I have just returned- from a visit to Villa Maria and Rufino, at both of which places we have had a very interesting time with the Gospel and among the Christians.
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