The Spirit of prophecy calls the medical work the right arm of the message. Our work in behalf of the Indian population of Peru and Bolivia has been especially blessed by God. In thinking of the progress of our work and the experiences which have contributed notably to the success that we have had, we cannot but give credit to the medical missionary work that has been carried on since the very beginning of the work in these fields, as in the Upper Amazon Mission. Our work was begun there by means of the medical work.
In Bolivia our work has prospered and advanced in different branches. The medical work has prospered, and the doctors and nurses who have developed this work have given a good name to our missionary program in all the republic. Go where you will in Bolivia, the mere mention of Adventists will result in favorable comments on the work we do in Chulumani, where our medical unit is located.
Our clinic in Juliaca, Peru, also has done marvels in the creation of a favorable attitude toward our work in general. This clinic has been in operation for many years, and the influence of the work done in this center has penetrated to distant regions. Thousands of persons have been benefited by this work, which has advanced in a satisfactory way. Nevertheless, there is a great need to enlarge the institution, for it is already inadequate for the work it is trying to do. From a distance of more than 150 kilometers round about, persons who need medical attention come to us. We should do all we can to add rooms to the clinic, so that we can care for more patients.
We also have another need. We should erect homes for the nurses and workers at the Juliaca Clinic. We do not have space for the patients who constantly ask to be admitted. The growing work calls for more accommodations. The institution is situated at a height of 3,700 meters, and the climate is rigorous. This makes it all the more necessary that we provide suitable homes for our workers. Somehow we must get help so that we can advance this important work.
I should also mention our medical missionary work in the Upper Amazon Mission of Peru. This is a place where no other activity can take the place of medical work, well planned and efficiently executed. During the years that Elder and Mrs. F. A. Stahl worked in this mission, the medical work was one of the principal branches of our activities, but since they left, this need has not been supplied.
A trim little launch is being constructed at the present time to work on the rivers of the mission, but we do not have all the funds necessary to provide the medical equipment that is needed in order to obtain the greatest success in this work. The mission hopes someday to have a doctor and a few nurses. But their efforts will be greatly handicapped if we do not place in their hands the necessary equipment for professional work in these out-of-the-way places where our launch will travel, and where tropical sickness abounds on every hand.—South American Bulletin, January, 1942.
