Eighty South American ministers of the gospel marched into the Templo Adventista in Montevideo, Uruguay, at nine- thirty Tuesday morning, January 31, at the termination of the Seminary Field Extension Course, and it was a thrilling sight to see. For eight weeks they had been pursuing intensive courses of study. They had been inspired to a deeper, more earnest, more Christ-centered evangelism. They had been led to examine their reasons for preaching the Sabbath with assurance. They had been confirmed in their faith in their interpretations of prophecy, as they looked back to find that hundreds of faith ful men had preceded them through the centuries in reaching sound conclusions on the sure word of prophecy.
The men had worked hard. Scarcely a lecture had been missed by any. Interest in the materials had continued unflagging to the end. Days of earnest study had culminated in hours of review for the final examinations. The presentation of certificates of attainment was made in the Montevideo Temple. A large number of visitors filled the auditorium.
R. A. Anderson had found time, in his busy program, to lead a group of equally busy students to prepare an excellent choral number. We knew we were listening to men who loved their Lord as they sang, "In the Cross." The invocation was by Dr. Lawrence M. Stump, of the educational and Missionary Volunteer departments of the South American Di vision.
After Pastors Juan Bonjour and Enrique Block, of the Beunos Aires Conference, had played a piano duet, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony,-the director made a short statement of appreciation to the students for their faithful work, to his teaching colleagues, Elders Froom and Anderson, and to Walter Schubert, secretary of the Ministerial Association of the South American Di vision, who as assistant director had rendered completely cooperative and efficient service. Tribute was then paid to the far sightedness of R. R. Figuhr, president of the South American Division, who, with he union committee, had conceived and carried out the plan for the course. Pastor Figuhr introduced the speaker of the morning, J. L. McElhany, president of the General Conference.
As Elder Figuhr pointed out in his introduction, this was the first time that a General Conference president had visited the field in the fifty years since the work began in South America. The pleasure of the men of the extension course in having Elder McElhany as the speaker at the closing exercises was very evident, and an expectant hush came over the auditorium as he rose to speak. Professor Arnpuero, Bible instructor at our River Plate College, in - Argentina, acted as his interpreter.
As we listened we felt gripped anew by the responsibility of giving a neglected gospel to a world steeped in sin. The work of God, it is clear, cannot be finished in God's time except as the carriers of the threefold message present a united front. It was emphasized that evangelism had radically changed since Elder Lough- borough and his contemporaries had begun to give the threefold message in a tent pitched for a three- or four-day week end. Now • it takes much longer to bring out of a cynical, skeptical, sin-sick world those willing to obey the truth.
This nice work of saving souls needs trained men, and hence we have not only our colleges but the Theological Seminary. Although men gather there from all over the world, this is not enough. The vast majority of ministers cannot come to Washington, D.C., to study; therefore, extension courses are held, the one in Uruguay being the second.
Brother McElhany appealed earnestly to the ministers of the South American Division to prosecute more vigorously than ever the message of the gospel among the unwarned mil lions of South America, and to put to effective use what the Seminary courses had brought to them.
Representative ministers spoke in reply for the student body—Alfredo Aeschlimann, president of the Austral Union, for the Spanish- speaking section; and Professor J. G. Garcia, assistant director of Brazil College, for the students from Brazil.
In the course on the history of the Sabbath and Sunday, Brother Aeschlimann said the students had been led to dig deep, as in a mine, for valuable materials. The course in history of prophetic interpretation had taken them to a mountaintop, where they viewed the work of men of the past in their study of the prophecies. The course in evangelistic leadership had taught them the truth of the gospel to be carried everywhere for Christ. Professor Garcia paid tribute to the helpfulness of the instruction, and pledged the Brazilian brethren to faithful service in the gospel.
Then the certificates of attainment were presented. Miss Margafita Deak, registrar for the seminary course, called the name of each student, and as they filed past, the certificates were presented by the teachers. It was most impressive to see the earnest expression of these eighty ministers as they accepted their certificates. It seemed as though in doing so they were sensing anew their responsibility to God and to the world, and were taking from their instructors the gospel torch.
Six men were presented with certificates of distinction—Alfredo Aeschlimann, Edmundo Alva, Juan A. Bonjour, Tossaku Kanada, Sieg fried Kuempel, and Geraldo Oliveira, representing six different nationalities—Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, German, Japanese, and Peruvian.
Then came an episode which none of the teachers will ever forget. Unbeknown to them, the students had prepared a scroll, formally in scribed by each student, and when all the students had returned to their places, Daniel Hammerly came to the Tostrum, and in a- quiet, sincere speech of appreciation, thanked the men of the faculty for what they had done, and presented the scroll as the eighty men stood. There was deep emotion on the part of everyone, and the eyes of most of the students were wet with tears when the lovely little ceremony ended. At the close, Luiz Gianini sang a hymn of consecration, and Rodolpho Belz, president of the South Brazil Union, gave the benediction.
