nineteen hundred and forty-six - Amazon Web Services

FOREIGN MISSION BOARD 263
The 1945 report of the Brazilian Baptist Convention shows the state has
119 churches and 12,104 members. Their contributions to all causes were
about $60,000.
During the past year no missionaries were on the field, except Rev. and
Mrs. Samuel Bagby who recently gave up their work. Mr. Paul C. Porter
had been temporarily directing the Shepard Baptist College in Rio; Mr. and
Mrs. F. A. R. Morgan and Miss Mattie Baker were on furlough in the United
States; Mrs. Essie Fuller Batista, one-time missionary, had gone to Porto
Alegre to work in that school in the place of missionaries who were on furlough.
Goias and Mato Grosso. Of Goias—one of the newest fields to be opened
within the Southern Baptist Mission—Rev. W. B. McNealy writes:
"Missionary T. C. Bagby and family have finished their first year's work in
this state. During the past year Baptists have had a marvelous growth. Five
new church houses have been built, or reconstructed. A secondary school was
opened in connection with the already prosperous primary educational program
being offered to those who had little opportunity of learning, and we enrolled
more than 250 students in the school."
Mr. McNealy has recently transferred his activities to the State of Rio,
and the missionaries now working in Goias are Rev. and Mrs. T. C. Bagby and
Miss Alma Jackson.
Rev. and Mrs. W. B. Sherwood are due to return this year to carry on
where he has been giving his life for many years. He and Mrs. Sherwood are
the only missionaries working in Mato Grosso.
Minas Gerais. Mr. J. R. Allen of Minas writes:
"Several of our missionary couples were on furlough and returned during
the year. Brother W. H. Berry and family returned only long enough to get
their furniture and move on to Rio de Janeiro to take up new duties there.
Brother and Mrs. O. P. Maddox have had to retire, so we are reduced to three
missionary couples and two single missionaries for a state the size of Germany.
"We send our S.O.S. call for more missionaries—at least two more couples
at the earliest possible date.
"Statistically, the Baptist work in Minas shows development. There are
sixty-five churches with a total of over six thousand members. Last year they
baptized six hundred new members, or nearly one for every ten. The churches
have 168 Sunday schools with an average total attendance of 8,410. Fiftythree
of the churches are self-supporting, and contributions for all purposes
last year, reached $40,000. The value of church and school property combined
is above a million dollars."
Brother Harrington has recently been elected president of the Belo Horizonte
College, and he and Mrs. Harrington are giving their time to that institution.
This leaves Brother Allen alone to visit the large number of churches scattered
over the state.
Estado do Rio. From his field Missionary A. B. Christie writes:
"The year closed with 145 churches, sixty-six pastors, eighteen evangelists,
and 16,117 church members. There were approximately 1,500 baptisms. The
other organizations show the following development. The churches contributed
$44,914, and the property is valued at $75,000. Most of the churches have
property. For some it is only a lot, others have simple houses of worship,
while still others have splendid temples. Two new church buildings were
inaugurated during the year."
Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Christie and Miss Blanche Simpson constitute the missionary
staff in this field. The State Convention invited Rev. and Mrs. W. B.
McNealy to work in the state as Mr. and Mrs. Christie are to be retired at the
end of 1946.
Espirito Santo. The loss of missionary A. J. Terry by death last year left
only Mrs. Terry and Rev. and Mrs. R. Elton Johnson for the missionary work
there. Miss Albertine Meadors has accepted an invitation to work in this field
and will move to Vitoria soon. This is one of our oldest and best developed
fields. They have a total of fifty-five churches and 181 preaching points.
Every church in the field is self-sustaining, and fifty-one of the fifty-five have
their own church buildings. Last year they baptized 328 new members and
contributed for all causes more than $20,000.