AMER. 
 
 The Site Is Ours. 
 
 BY ys\ M. MNSON. 
 
 It is a great joy to the struggling mis¬ 
 sionary when a much-needed property or 
 equipment is secured. The following comes 
 from one of our most faithful and efficient 
 missionaries when the news was received: 
 
 “Now the site is ours. Our cup of joy 
 is overflowing. There is no piece of prop¬ 
 erty in Saltillo more desirable than this.” 
 
 These words refer to the purchase of a 
 long-coveted site for a new church in the 
 city of Saltillo, Mexico, made possible by 
 the pledges of the laymen and preachers of 
 the Southwest Missouri Conference at its 
 last session. The missionary who penned 
 those words went there when fanaticism 
 was rampant, and began a school in 
 cramped quarters with a handful of stu¬ 
 dents. Now there are in the Normal De¬ 
 partment alone thirty-four young ladies be¬ 
 ing trained for teaching in the schools of 
 Alexico. Already forty-one have gradu¬ 
 ated from this department, and wherever 
 they go they are proving a blessing and a 
 force for good. 
 
 The city, situated on the Mexican Na¬ 
 tional Railroad, the trunk line from San 
 Antonio, Tex., to the City of Mexico, is 
 
magnificently located upon the high table¬ 
 land, which gives a salubrious climate and 
 links it to the great centers of the South. 
 In Saltillo is a splendid Normal College — 
 one of the best in the republic. It was 
 built through the influence of Mr. Osuna, 
 who was educated at the expense of the 
 Mexican government in New Bedford, 
 Mass. The buildings were ereeted at a 
 cost of $250,000 (Mexican). Students 
 from all parts of the country come to this 
 institution, and it is a matter of supreme 
 importance that we should have a good 
 church building near by which will attract 
 and help to win them. Not a few are al¬ 
 ready Christians representing the various 
 denominations, and the religious influence 
 exerted upon them will be felt in the nor¬ 
 mal schools of every State south of the Rio 
 Grande. 
 
 A little church which has grown up in 
 this educational center has come to its own 
 through years of persecution and discour¬ 
 agement. It is making history rapidly be¬ 
 cause of the leavening influences going out 
 from it. Andres Osuna, referred to above, 
 is one of the leading members and a local 
 preacher. He is easily one of the most in¬ 
 fluential educators in the country. Intelli¬ 
 gent, patriotic, and irreproachable in char¬ 
 acter, this State Superintendent of Instruc¬ 
 tion has a unique opportunity to do a great 
 work for his own people. Not long since 
 the Jesuits maligned and sought to remove 
 him from office, but President Diaz and the 
 Governor of the State have stood by him 
 
 [ 2 1 
 
from the beginning, knowing full well the 
 value of his services. 
 
 The church occupied by our congrega¬ 
 tion is small and unattractive, fronting, as 
 it does, on a narrow side street. The new 
 property is on a corner, beautifully located 
 and spacious enough for both the church 
 and the enlargement of the college build¬ 
 ings. The movement among our brethren 
 of the Southwest Missouri Conference 
 comes just in the nick of time to strengthen 
 our hold upon the community, since one of 
 our Mexican preachers, an ex-priest, has 
 stirred the city to the very depths by his 
 powerful presentation of the great truths 
 of Protestantism. The Catholic bishop and 
 Jesuits sought in every way to break his 
 influence, but in vain. 
 
 An extract from another letter from 
 Mexico reads: “When we shall have se¬ 
 cured the new property and erected on it 
 a large, modern church, Saltillo can easily 
 become the Mecca of Southern Metho¬ 
 dism.” The property has been secured by 
 an advance payment upon the part of the 
 Board of IMissions. It is imperative that 
 the installments should be met with prompt¬ 
 ness. Failure at this point would be fatal. 
 The entire amount necessary for the pur¬ 
 chase was $8,250. The Secretaries of the 
 Board of Missions and the missionaries on 
 the field would urge the raising of this 
 amount at the earliest possible day. 
 
 The world has been reduced by the won¬ 
 derful changes of the last century into a 
 great neighborhood. In a new and power- 
 
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fill sense it has entered upon an era of 
 brotherhood. Geographically the United 
 States is closely related to IMexico, the one 
 lying upon the north bank and the other 
 upon the south side of the Rio Grande 
 River. From President Diaz, one of the 
 greatest statesmen of the age, to the hum¬ 
 blest citizen of the Mexican Republic they 
 look to us for higher ideals, leadership in 
 education, in morals, and even in religion. 
 The time has come when, as a Christian ; 
 people, we can give an illustration of broth- i 
 erly sympathy and willingness to help. j 
 
 The Laymen’s Missionary Movement is 
 a constructive force. It is the most po¬ 
 tential agency that has sprung up in the 
 Church in centuries. The work of evan¬ 
 gelizing the world is a man’s job. It should 
 not be relegated to preachers, women, and 
 children. They have borne their share of ; 
 the burden and have done it nobly. The 
 strong men of the Church must now put ! 
 their shoulders to the work. They must i 
 lift and help and serve until those who are 
 under the bondage of tradition and eccle- 
 siasticism and superstition shall look up 
 and realize that God is our common Father. 
 
 It is this larger mission which prompts to 
 vigorous and immediate effort in response 
 to the call that comes to Missouri Meth¬ 
 odism for the equipment of our Church in 
 Saltillo. The money raised by the laymen | 
 of Missouri for this call will be their quota j 
 of the million for missions. 
 
 Board of Missions, M. E. Church, South, Nashville, Tenn. 
 
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