Mexico City Effort Results in 435 Baptisms

This far-reaching cru­sade for the Mexican Union territory was cen­tered in Mexico City from October 17, 1964, to June 12, 1965. God in His infinite mercy poured out great bless­ings and bestowed sig­nificant victories on His cause.

Development of the Campaign

The development of the campaign can be divided into two parts:

1. The first series of meetings, ending the latter part of January, 1965. The out­standing characteristic was the overflow attendance at all meetings. A remarkable work was done by the Montemorelos Col­lege ministerial students, as well as by work­ers of other fields, who were associated with the campaign. At the end of this phase two hundred souls had been baptized.
2. The second series of meetings was held from March to June 12, 1965. This second phase of the campaign was held concur­rently in seven different places, following the modern concept of total evangelism. Carlos E. Aeschlimann spoke in Portales, Tacubaya, Anahuac, and Narvarte; Xavier Soto Valle was speaker in Mixcoac; Samuel Guizar in Moctezuma; and Efrain Piedra in Ramos Milian. During this second phase the evangelistic team was gradually re­duced from thirty-three to twelve.

A New Church Is Born

On Sabbath, May 7, a church of 172 charter members was organized in the beautiful new Portales church building—this being direct fruitage of the effort and occurring six months after the first public meeting was held. Enrique Salvador pas­tors this church of enthusiastic members.

The Anahuac church is full to capacity during the Sabbath morning services, and the large Tacubaya church is unable to accommodate its Sabbath-day worshipers. All of our churches in the capital city have added new members as a result of the crusade.

Finances

Thanks to the efficient way that Efrain Rivera, Sergio Moctezuma, and Velino Salazar handled the financial aspect of the campaign, the first series of meetings ended with only a small deficit. In the second series we worked within the budget. This is unusual in a major evangelistic campaign. Generally there are heavy ex­penses outside the budget, but this was truly one of the most inexpensive large ef­forts ever conducted. Although the ex­penses may have seemed large they were really an investment, for the tithes in the mission have increased gradually and re­markably during recent months.

Quantity of Present Work

In spite of the decrease in the evange­listic team to almost one third of its orig­inal number, the work has not decreased accordingly. This indicates the growing ef­ficiency attained by the workers. The work presently carried on is as follows:

The workers are laboring resolutely with greater efficiency and God is richly bless­ing them.

Baptisms

To date (May 15) 16 baptismal ceremo­nies have been conducted. The newly bap­tized members have joined the following churches: Tacubaya, 144; Portales, 126; Anahuac, 110; Narvarte; 5; others, 6. This makes a total of 391 persons baptized. The prospects are excellent for exceeding 400 baptized souls by June 30 and 500 by the end of the current year. [NOTE: A June baptism has brought the total to 435.] Well-to-do families have joined the church and are supporting the work with their enthusiasm, education, and means.

This series of meetings stirred the laity. A tremendous work was done by the lay­men. They influenced for baptism more than 60 per cent of the number reported. We know that the ministry and the laity working together make a good team.