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262 SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
term of service in the new interior state of Goias, have now moved to Rio de
Janeiro and will continue their missionary activities in the state of Rio.
Besides these six couples who have already made their places in Baptist
work and in the hearts of Brazilian Baptists, there are a number of new missionaries
now studying the language and preparing themselves to fit into the
tasks which are calling for them. These are Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Blankenship,
Miss Dorine Hawkins, Miss Albertine Meadors, Miss Minnie Lou Lanier, and
Mr. and Mrs. Kermit Schmidt.
Since last year's report, our losses include Brother A. B. Deter, emeritus
missionary who died in Dallas, Texas; Mr. A. J. Terry,, who with Mrs. Terry
were working in Vitoria, Espirito Santo; and Mr. and Mrs. Harley Smith of
Rio Grande do Sul who resigned as missionaries of the Board. Brother and
Mrs. 0. P. Maddox have also become emeritus missionaries since the last report
was given. The Mission feels these losses profoundly, especially because of the
long and fruitful services of these leaders and because of our personal affection
for them, which has grown in these years of intimate fellowship and work.
STATE BY STATE
For convenience we divide the nine states included in the territory of the
Southern Baptist Mission, into three geographical groups. Rio Grande do Sul,
Santa Catarina, and Parana compose the first of these and are in the extreme
southern part of Brazil. They have a large foreign population, and form a
large agricultural region of the country.
Rio Grande do Sul. Dr. W. C. Harrison, president of our Baptist College
of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, writes of his state:
"Ours is one of the richest and most advanced states of Brazil, but it is
still far from occupying the place it should in our Baptist work. Baptists
(European) have been in the state for more than fifty years, although their
work has not been carried on with outstanding missionary enthusiasm. The
colonists who came over from Europe sustained the worship of their fathers
and were content when their local church was able to meet the needs of its
own immediate community.
"Now Southern and Swedish Baptists are deeply concerned about their
work in the entire state. Our one school, Ginasio Batista, had an enrollment
last year of more than 500 students. It maintains the same high standard in
• scholastic work .as our other Baptist schools of Brazil, and in it Bible teaching
and evangelistic work are carried on throughout the year. Our Swedish brethren
have established an orphans' home which is a growing institution and is maintained
on a solid financial basis. Our evangelistic work throughout the state
has suffered because we have never had a missionary couple to do this most
important phase of our Baptist work."
Besides Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Harrison, Mr. and Mrs Albert Bagby are
effectively giving their lives to the work of that field.
Parana and Santa Catarina. The only missionaries now in these two states
are Dr. and Mrs. A. B. Oliver, Mr. and Mrs. T. X. Clinkscales, and Mrs. A. B.
Deter (emeritus missionary). Dr. Oliver continues to live in Curitiba, capital
of Parana, and visits the churches of these two states. Heavy duties fall upon
him from all sides. He is secretary of their mission and secretary-treasurer
for the Baptist state work. He is also called upon continually to serve on
boards and with his pen.
Mr. and Mrs. Clinkscales are rendering their first term of missionary service.
Having moved to the interior of the state, and having established a Baptist
center in Londrina (a new agricultural section in northwest Parana), they are
giving their time to the religious development of a region where material
progress made it necessary for us to accompany the growth of Brazil's "go west"
movement. Those who visit Londrina testify that the work of Mr. and Mrs.
Clinkscales constitutes one of the marvels of our new fields in Brazil.
The second group of states comprises Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais,
and Goias.
Sao Paulo. Information about this great industrial center of Brazil has
been given extensively in former reports. Sao Paulo continues to determine
very largely the industrial pulse-beat of the nation, and fortunately our Baptist
work there is comparatively strong.