Brazilian Sketches

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Numerous others stood to make confession, and the examination
continued far past one o'clock, 'till twenty-one were received
for baptism. This marvelous outpouring of the Spirit of Christ
enabled us to see with our own eyes the power of the gospel
demonstrated in the saving of souls in Brazil.

After the service we went to breakfast in a house near by. The
crowd, according to custom, came into the dining room, as many of
them as could, to hear the conversation while we sat about the
table. The walls of the building were made of mud, the floor was
the bare ground, in the corner of the room, surrounded by a mud
puddle, stood a water jar, around which the chickens were picking.
I kicked a pig out of my way, accidentally stepped on a dog, but
nothing daunted, fell to with good will and ate, asking no
questions.

After a few hours' ride, upon our return journey in the afternoon,
we reached the town of Olhos d'Agua (Fountains of Water) through
which we had passed upon our outward journey in the early morning.
There is a very good church at this place which has suffered cruel
persecution. Upon the doors of every Protestant house in the town
have been painted black crosses. They were placed there at night
by the Catholics to keep the Devil from coming out. The black
cross of derision has become a mark of honor in that community. We
were greeted by a splendid audience that night and the gospel
again was honored. More than a dozen people accepted Christ and
made confession of Him.

I was greatly interested in Brother Raymundo, who is the leading
member of this church. Formerly he was a great persecutor. He was
an enemy to Antonio Barros, who is now a leading member in the
church at Arroz Novo. Barros was converted at Lage, and when he
met Raymundo he greeted him, at which Raymundo was greatly
surprised. Barros explained his action by saying that he had found
Christ and wanted to live at peace with all men. The fact that his
enemy should embrace him and beg his pardon greatly impressed
Raymundo. Upon the invitation of Barros, Raymundo attended the
meeting that night. He was touched by the gospel and was
converted. He now had to experience the same persecution he had
inflicted upon others. His enemies wrote to the merchants in Bahia
and told them that he was out of his mind. So persistent was their
persecution that he was compelled to give up his business. His
credit was destroyed by these reports. He moved away from Olhos
d'Agua, but when the native pastor left the place recently
Raymundo returned in order to hold the work together. He now makes
his meager living by trading, and through great sacrifice leads
the congregation in a very acceptable service.

We returned to St. Ignez by ten o'clock that night, tired and
happy over what our eyes had seen and our hearts had felt. It had
been a day of triumph for the gospel.

On Monday we started on our journey for Santo Antonio. When we
passed through Genipapo we found Brother Polycarpo Nogueira at the
station. He had come to ask about a passage of Scripture I had
pointed out to him on the night when we stayed in his home We had
urged him to accept the gospel and he hesitated. I quoted to him,
"Everyone, therefore, who shall confess me before men, him will I
confess before my Father in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny me
before men, him, will I deny before my Father who is in Heaven."
Mat. 10:32, 33. He told us about a wonderful meeting held in the
church on Sunday, in which one had been converted and many others
were deeply interested. He himself was evidently moved upon by the
Spirit. May the word we gave him lead him to Christ.

Some hours further on we passed through Vargem Grande, where we
have another church. Several people boarded the train to accompany
us to Santo Antonio. One of them was Fausto de Almeida. When the
ex-priest, Ottoni, visited Vargem Guande some years ago to preach
the gospel this man Almeida, with a great crowd of boys equipped
with tin cans, met him at the station. This troupe escorted Ottoni
to the church and stood outside making as much noise as possible.
He offered the ex-priest a loaded cigar, which Ottoni declined
with kindly thanks. The minister's conduct was so gentle and kind
that Fausto, when he bethought himself, went home in a rage,
became intoxicated, and in order to vent his wrath, went out into
his back yard and fired his pistols. A little later one of his
sisters was converted, and by her good testimony not long after
that when she died, he was greatly impressed. Another sister was
converted and gave him a Bible, which he read and in which he
found the message of Christ. He obeyed his Lord, and in spite of
violent opposition on the part of his wife, is today in a faithful
and effective way, building up the church at Vargem, Grande.

CHAPTER IX.

JOSE BARRETTO.

When we reached Santo Antonio de Jesus at two p. m. we found a
throng at the station to meet us. They gave us a royal welcome,
receiving us literally with open arms. After this hearty greeting
we formed a procession and marched two and two through the streets
of the city to the church. They wished us to take the lead in the
procession, but we declined the honor and finally took position
about the middle of the line. They seemed to march through every
street in the city, so eager were they to impress the population
that there was somebody else in the world besides their religious
persecutors. When we arrived at the church they showered us once
more with rose petals and confetti. After prayer we were taken to
the home of Jose Barretto to be entertained.

Now, this same Jose Barretto is a very remarkable character. He
was formerly Superintendent of the Manganese mines near by and
very active in politics. If any questionable work needed to be
done in order to influence an election Jose was called upon to do
it. He is a great, strong fellow, more than six feet in height and
weighs, perhaps, 250 pounds. He was a violent man, fearless and
desperate. I noted many scars on his face which were evidences of
many dangerous encounters. He did not deign to steal the ballots,
but would take possession of the ballot box, extract from it the
proper number of votes, destroy them, seal the box and allow the
count to be made. No one dared withstand him. He was just as
violent in his opposition to the Protestants. He declared that he
would beat any Protestant who should ever come into his house.

Well, one day his own brother-in-law came to see him. This
brother-in-law was blind and also a Christian. After a while Jose
and his wife were commiserating the brother over his blindness
when he said, that though his eyes were clouded, his soul saw the
light of life. His sister said to him, "You must be a Protestant."
He replied, "Yes, thank God, I know Jesus Christ." She was so
frightened that she fainted, because she had visions of her burly
husband pouncing upon her blind brother and beating him to death.
Her husband resuscitated her and soothed her by saying, "I know I
have said all of these things about what I would do to the
Protestants, but I hope I am not mean enough to strike a blind man
and certainly I would not injure your brother." That night the
brother asked them to read the Scriptures. They had no Bible, but
did possess a book of Bible stories, one of which the sister read,
and then the brother asked permission to pray. Jose Barretto had
always been reverential, and so he knelt in prayer. So earnest and
childlike was the praying of the blind brother and so fully did he
express the real heart hunger of the great, strong man that when
the prayer was finished, Jose Barretto said very sincerely,
"Amen." He became deeply interested in the gospel.

When the brother left, the Spirit of God so impressed Jose that he
felt he must look up a New Testament which he had taken from an
employee some time ago. He had looked at this book which he had
taken from the employee's hands, and finding no saints' pictures
in it, concluded that it was that hated Protestant Bible the
priests were trying to keep from being circulated, and had thrown
it into a box in the corner of his office. Now he went to this
box, fished out the New Testament, brushed the dust from its pages
and read from it the word of life. The blind brother, in the
meantime, had gone to Santo Antonio and told what had happened.
The chief of police of the city, who was a Christian and the
President of the Baptist Young People's Union, declared that he
was going out to see Jose. "I have been afraid to go," he said,
"because Jose has been so violently opposed to the gospel."

He went and found the strong man poring over the pages of the book
in his effort to find the way of life. He explained the gospel and
Barretto was soon converted, as was also his sister. His wife held
on to her old faith. She would pray, but would use the Crucifix.
Finally the husband and sister decided they would burn the idol,
which they accordingly did. When the wife saw that no dreadful
calamity befell the house she concluded that the idol was a
powerless thing and gave her heart to Christ.

The life of Jose Barretto since that time has been a burning
light. He has been as zealous in following Christ as he ever was
in following evil, though not so violent. His witness has been
honored amongst his own family and relations especially. They have
been forced to realize that there is something in Christianity
which can produce such a remarkable change in the life of such a
violent man. When we were in his home we learned of a family of
twenty-one, some distance out in the country, who were ready to
make confession of their faith and be baptized. They were anxious
for the missionary to come and baptize them and to organize a
church in one of their homes. These people were the relatives of
Jose Barretto. It is marvelous how the witness of his life is
bearing fruit. He lost his position as Superintendent by his
acceptance of Christ, but is now making a living as a coffee
merchant.

We had a remarkable service at the church that night. A great
throng pressed into the building, and Jose Barretto was the chief
usher. I have never seen a man who could crowd more people into a
building than could he. After the house had been packed there
still remained on the outside a crowd as large as that sandwiched
into the building. I preached the gospel once more, speaking, of
course, in all of these services through an interpreter. When I
called for those who would confess Christ I did not ask them to
come forward because there was no room for them. They stood here
and there over the audience until more than twenty expressed
themselves as having accepted Christ and desiring membership in
the church. When one man stood amongst this number I noticed that
Jose Barretto was very deeply moved. His great frame shook with
emotion. I learned afterwards that the man who stood was a police
sergeant, who in the old days had been Jose's confederate in his
political crookedness. That night this man stood acknowledging his
sins and asking for membership in the church. Jose's faithfulness
had won him. Once more we witnessed a marvelous victory of the
gospel.

On the very day on which we visited Santo Antonio and were
entertained in the home of our good brother Jose Barretto, this
great stalwart fellow who had been such a violent opposer of
Christianity and who had previously lived such a desperate life,
was met on the street by one of his former schoolmates. His
schoolmate chided him for becoming a Christian and insinuated that
Jose's conversion was an act of weakness and also that he would
not hold out very long. He went further to say many severe things
in criticism of the cause of Protestant Christianity. Jose
Barretto replied, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself for finding
fault with the thing which has produced such a change in my life.
You know the kind of character I have been in this community. You
know how violent and sinful I have been and you know at this time
how I am living. A religion which can produce such a change as
this does not deserve ridicule." The man turned and slunk away. In
the meantime, there had gathered around them a number of people,
because they knew how serious a matter it was for anyone to oppose
him, and they expected to see something violent take place that
day. Being emboldened by the mild answer which he gave to his
persecutor, others began to ask questions. Finally one of them
asked him this question: "Suppose someone should strike you in the
face in persecution, what would you do?" And then the great,
strong violent man who had been made meek and humble by his
acceptance of Jesus gave an answer which showed him to be
genuinely converted to the Spirit of Jesus. He said: "I am not
afraid of such a thing as that happening, for the reason that I
propose to live in this community such a life for the help of my
brothers that no one will ever desire to strike me in the face,"
and these others turned shame-stricken away from him. He threw
down before that community the challenge of his life, and that is
the thing that not only in Brazil, but here in our own land, must
finally win for our King the triumph which is His due.

CHAPTER X.

CAPTAIN EGYDIO.

What brought about the readiness of this territory in the interior
of the State of Bahia for the acceptance of the gospel? Perhaps
the brand of burning which did more than any other to shed light
through the entire section over which we passed, was the person of
Captain Egydio Pereira de Almeida. He was one of several brothers
of a good country family which owned large possessions in the
interior 150 miles from the city of Bahia. He was an intense
Catholic, but never a persecutor. At one time he was Captain in
the National Guards. He was political boss of his community and
protector for a small tribe of Indians. He was a hard-working,
law-abiding citizen.

In order to know the story we must go back a little. In 1892
Solomon Ginsburg sold a Bible to Guilhermino de Almeida on the
train when he was going to Armagoza. Ginsburg had only one Bible
left and felt constrained to offer it to the stranger across the
aisle. The man said he had no money and did not care to buy. The
missionary pressed him and finally sold him for fifty cents a
Bible worth four times that amount. That night his fellow
passenger heard the missionary speak in the theater in Armagoza
and seemed to enjoy especially the hymns the preacher sang. The
missionary marked for him the Ten Commandments and other passages
in the Bible.

When the man reached his home at Vargem Grande a few days
afterward he told his brother Marciano de Almeida of his encounter
with the missionary, of how he had bought the Bible which he did
not want and of the Ten Commandments the missionary had marked for
him. He very willingly gave his Bible to his brother. Marciano
read the book and was particularly impressed with the Ten
Commandments.

Now, we must introduce into this narrative another character in
the person of good Brother Madeiros. Some time before this, having
become interested in the gospel, he had gone to Bahia and had been
instructed by Missionary Z. C. Taylor in the truth to such good
purpose that he gave himself to the Lord. His neighbors at
Valenca, his native town, on learning of his having accepted
Christ, drove him out, and he moved to Vargem Grande. But he found
no rest in his new home, for his fellow townsmen so persecuted him
that he was compelled to live in the outskirts of the town. He was
the first believer in Vargem Grande. When Marciano de Almeida
became interested in the Scriptures he went to see Madeiros and
was instructed by him in the gospel. He told the persecuted saint
that he would stand by him from now on, for Marciano had
experienced a marvelous conversion.

On learning that his images were idols, Marciano collected all
immediately and burnt them, greatly to the disgust of his family
and the whole town. He began at once to declare the Word of God,
and though he was as gentle as a lamb, he was also as bold as a
lion in defending the gospel.

When his brother, Captain Egydio de Almeida, who lived sixty miles
away, learned that Marciano had become converted, he made the
journey to take out of his brother's heart the false teaching
which he had imbibed. He pitied his brother, thinking that
Marciano's mind had become unbalanced. When Captain Egydio arrived
at his brother's in Vargem Grande, being a very positive man, he
set about the business of straightening out his brother with
dispatch and determination. He failed in his purpose, and then
called in a priest. When he returned with the priest Marciano
asked the two to be seated. Immediately the priest inquired, "What
is this I am hearing about you, Marciano?" He replied, "Mr.
Priest, I am thirty-five years old and you never gave me the
Bible, God's Holy Law and as God ordered it. I came by it through
the Protestants whom you have always abused. You have taken my
money all these years for mass, saying you would take the souls of
our kin out of a purgatory that does not exist. You taught me to
worship idols which God's Word condemns. You sprinkle my children
for money, marry them for money, and when they die you still
demand money to save their souls from an imaginary purgatory. The
Bible teaches me, on the other hand, that God offers me a free
salvation through Jesus Christ." The priest rose and said good-bye
without offering a word of explanation. Seeing the priest thus
defeated, Captain Egydio turned to old Brother Madeiros, who
happened to be present, and said: "If you continue to put these
false doctrines in my brother's head I will send a couple of
Indians here to take off your head." "Yes," replied Madeiros, "you
may cut off my head, but you cannot cut off my soul from God."
Captain Egydio returned home breathing out plagues upon himself
and his family. He drank heavily at every grog shop on his way and
scattered abroad the news about his family's disgrace. He was a
man of a kind heart, and though he did not embrace the truths of
his brother's religion, he did show his brother great
consideration and, being a political leader for that district,
became his brother's protector.

When his wrath had cooled down somewhat he began to recall many
things Marciano had told him about the Bible, and as he looked
upon his many expensive idols set here and there in niches about
his home, he said to himself: "Well, did Marciano say these images
do nothing. They neither draw water, cut wood nor pick coffee.
They do not teach school, they do not protect our home, for there
is one covered with soot. There is another the rats have gnawed,
and recently another fell and was broken. How powerless they are."
Then he remembered the Bible which a believer had given him years
before. He began to examine it in a closed room. Ag he read he
prayed, "Oh, God, if this religion of Marciano be right, show it
to me."

He seemed to be making good progress. But about this time he
received word that his brother and the missionary R. E Neighbor
were coming to see him. The priest had also heard of the
approaching visit and had sent a letter to Captain Egydio's son
warning him against the coming men, saying that they were
emissaries of the United States and wished to lead the Almeidas
astray. The letter bearer was instructed to deliver the letter to
the son and not let the father know anything about it, but he
said, "I cannot do that because I must be true to my old captain,"
so he gave the letter to Captain Egydio. He wag greatly disturbed
over the warnings the priest had given and tried to induce his
children to give up the reading of the pamphlets and Scriptures he
had given to them, which thing they refused to do.

His brother and the missionary came according to agreement and
Captain Egydio, true to his word, went with them to the town of
Areia to protect them while they were engaged in conducting a
gospel service in the public square. The priest of the town sent
the police to prevent the Protestants from conducting the meeting.
The sergeant, who had been under Captain Egydio when he was
Captain in the National Guards, was one of the detail sent to
suppress the meeting. He declared that he would stand by his old
Captain, for the men knew that under the Constitution the
missionary had a perfect right to hold the meeting. The meeting
was held, but under such unfavorable circumstances that the
Captain stood forth and said: "I have not declared myself a
Protestant, but from this time I shall be a Protestant and propose
to give my life to the spread of this faith."

It happened that one day he was called to visit a boy who had been
shot. As he rode along through the open fields he was burdened
with prayer to God. Suddenly he felt a strange feeling and he
seemed to hear a voice saying, "You are saved." Immediately he
knew that the Lord had visited him with His blessed salvation. He
shouted as he rode along the way, "Glory to God. I am redeemed."
He rode on in this state to the home of the boy. Seeing the boy
could not live, he began to exhort him to look to Christ for
salvation, and just before the boy's spirit passed out from him,
he made confession of his Lord. The Captain returned to his home
overflowing with joy. He galloped his horse up to the door,
shouting, "Glory, hallelujah, I am saved." He embraced his wife
and children and all stood back staring at him. Finally the mother
cried: "Poor man! Children, your father is mad. Get the scissors
and let us cut off his hair; let us rub some liniment on his
head." "All right," he said, "only do not cut it too close," and
he suffered them to rub the liniment also upon his head. Seeing
that there was no change in him, they also administered to him one
of their homely medicines, a small portion of which he was willing
to take to pacify them. Their opinion of his sanity was not
changed.

Not only his family, but his neighbors suspected him. As he
engaged in business--and he was a very busy man--people were
watching him to see if something was not dreadfully wrong. Finally
all realized that a great and beneficent change had taken place.
He never became a preacher, but he did not allow to pass an
opportunity to tell the story of his newly-found Savior. His Bible
was constantly in his hands, and he read the marvelous news to
all. His family soon became interested in the gospel and they,
even to his son-in-law, became as crazy upon the subject as he.
Thirteen of them were baptized at one time.

For activity in evangelization his equal was scarcely ever met. He
kept for distribution boxes of Bibles and tracts. While at
business he witnessed for the gospel. He traveled extensively.
Some of his bosom friends became his worst enemies, but many of
them he led to Christ, or at least to a friendship, for the
gospel. He did not preach, but invited many preachers to come to
his community and was always ready to accompany them whenever they
needed his presence. His life was the greatest sermon he could
preach to the people. They had known him once in the old days when
one of his sons fell sick he promised to carry his weight of
beeswax to the miracle working saint of the Lapa shrine, 100 miles
away on the San Francisco River. The son recovered and the father
kept his word. Now they saw him discard his old superstitions for
the truth in Jesus. The gospel that could produce such a marvelous
change as this had its effect upon his neighbors. He organized a
church upon his own fazenda and it held its meetings in his own
house at Casca.

He became deeply interested in the subject of education. He said
one day to Dr. Z. C. Taylor, our missionary at Bahia: "While I was
a Catholic I had no desire to educate my children, but now I would
give all of this farm to see them educated. Dr. Taylor told him of
some of his own plans concerning a school, and Captain Egydio
contributed the first money for the school, which Dr. Taylor
afterward established, Captain Egydio's gift of a thousand dollars
making it possible for this school to be organized.

Of the trials and persecutions which he endured for the gospel, we
can cite only one or two.

A priest paid two men sixty dollars to go and take the Captain's
life. They appeared one night at his door and asked for
employment. He invited them in, saying he had plenty of work he
could give them to do. The time soon arrived for family prayers
and the men were invited to be present. The Captain afterward told
the family that while he was praying he received a distinct
impression that the men had come to do him bodily injury and that
in the prayer he had committed himself absolutely to the
protection of God. The next day he took the two men out into the
field to show them what to do. In the meantime he had been telling
them of the love of Jesus and how He had come to save to the
uttermost those who would believe on Him. One lingered behind to
shoot, but his hand trembled too much. The other did not have the
courage to do the man of God any injury. That night they said they
would not stay longer. He paid them for the day's work, bade them
godspeed and they departed.

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