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Porto Rico

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 14, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 2.

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Porto Rico

By B. E. Connerly

We had planned for me to make a ten days' trip in the northwestern and central parts of the island. So the first of December I started on horseback, with a good supply of our paper El Centinela de la Verdad, tracts, and Testaments.
I had a good experience in every village; but my special object was to meet with some people who had become interested in the truth through reading the paper. These people, who lived in Hatillo, sixty miles from Mayaguez, I had never met, yet there was a goodly company gathered to meet me, and they expected me to preach to them. My heart almost failed me when I realized that not one in the company knew a word of English, and I so deficient in Spanish; but I told them to get all the Bibles they could, and I talked to them on repentance, the forgiveness of sin, and baptism. The Lord richly blessed us, and all enjoyed the study. At the close two men desired baptism, and in a private talk one of them said that he would keep the Sabbath of the Lord.
In the center of the island I passed through some wild and dangerous country. The mountains are covered with timber, and the villages are few and far apart. The roads are only mountain trails, and it was necessary for me to have a guide. As the rainy season is not yet past, the mountain streams are swollen, and it is many times dangerous to cross them. One receives a novel experience sleeping in the native huts, and eating native food. These poor people must hear the news that the Lord is soon coming, and I am thankful for the message, and for the privilege of taking it to them.
During this trip I traveled more than two hundred and fifty miles, received seventy-five cash subscriptions for our paper, and had many opportunities to declare the message for this time. I intend soon to start on another trip of the same kind. How we need help and means here! I wish that we could have twenty thousand copies of our paper to scatter among the people. I praise the Lord for a part in this glorious, closing work. B. E. CONNERLY.