The only British Missionary Society working in this vast republic of
Peru is the Evangelical Union of South America. Try and realize it; a
country half the size of China, and only a handful of missionaries to
proclaim the Gospel to these people. Take your pen and underline “Lima,
Cuzco, Huanuco, Arequipa, and Urco” (twenty-four miles out of Cuzco),
and you have the only centres of British missionary enterprise at the
present time. Let us visit these mission-stations and see for ourselves
what is being done for the children.
Of all the cities in Peru, Lima is the most cosmopolitan. Visiting one
part of the town on the outskirts one might almost fancy we were in
China; at another spot everything is entirely negro, and some other
part appears to be under Turkish supervision. Here we jostle against
Peruvian priests, who do not attract us, American, English, and Italian
merchants, and people from almost every land under the sun. What a
medley!
“The houses in Lima have no chimneys, they are one storey high, and
what windows there are facing into the street are barred, making the
houses look like prisons. The poorer parts of Lima consist largely of
‘conventillos’ similar to these in Argentina. They are often large,
sunny, open courtyards, and sometimes narrow alleys, always entered
by doors in the walls of the main streets, and surrounded by cell-like
rooms.
“Every aspect of life may be seen in the central yard. There the
dinner is cooked, the baby bathed, the clothes washed, and the Virgin
worshipped. At every step one comes upon a child, and all appear
equally contented and uncared for.
“Lima is in the centre of a region, not only free from rain, but where
earthquakes frequently occur, so that mud, cane, and plaster are used
for house-building purposes instead of stone.
“Although it never rains in Lima, yet during the dry season, Peru’s
winter--June to September--the capital is enveloped in mist, which is
exceedingly disagreeable. For days and weeks the sun is invisible, and
a drizzle, not unlike a Scotch mist, makes the side-walks slippery,
and so permeates the air that the sheets on one’s bed are chill and
sticky.”
Lima is the city where the Society’s printing-press is at work. Month
by month, the little silent messenger of the Gospel, _El Heraldo_,
is sent forth by post throughout Peru; and as postage is quite free,
you will see that every postman is thus a “colporteur.” Many other
things besides are printed, but _El Heraldo_ is the foremost message
proclaiming “pardon, peace, and power to hundreds whom the voice of the
preacher cannot reach.”
Once more we find ourselves in Cuzco. Here several ladies of the
E.U.S.A. are to be seen at work. Miss Elder, Miss Pinn, Miss Found, and
Miss Trumper, are doing splendid service.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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