TWENTY-FOUR workers from all over Mexico gathered in the capital city with a population of 6.5 million inhabitants. The Central Mexican Mission under the leadership of Pastor Jose Castrejon determined to rent the best theater in the city with a capacity of 1,300. The first meetings were attended by 3,500 persons. During the twenty consecutive nights thousands of persons attended to hear the messages presented by Carlos Aeschlimann, Mexican Union evangelist. The team of workers visited four thousand people whose names were received. Soon the workers were giving Bible studies to fourteen hundred persons.
The campaign was transferred to the eight churches of Mexico City. Each night a meeting was conducted in a different place.
The press, radio, and television (news media) gave wide and free publicity to the campaign. When the Five-Day Plan to Stop Smoking began, thirty-five articles were published in major newspapers and magazines. Two hundred and fifty people joined the church in the first baptisms. It is expected that the number of persons baptized as a result of the campaign will be five hundred.
The wife of an army general, Don Manuel Martinez Iniguez, was baptized in the Portales church. The general had attended the first evangelistic campaign in Mexico and was going to be baptized when he died unexpectedly. In the Mixcoac church a Protestant lady and her daughters were baptized—all of them of good social standing.
A boy named Bamaliel had cancer of the blood. He knew he was going to die. He asked his mother and the pastor to let him be baptized before he died. On the day set for the baptism he became worse and everybody thought he would die. They prayed for him and two days later he improved considerably. The following Sabbath he descended into the baptismal waters in the arms of a deacon. God spared the boy three months of life, then he passed peacefully to his rest as a son of God. His example helped many others make a decision for the Lord.
Campaign in Tapachula
Pastor Xavier Soto Valle conducted a campaign in this city in the South Mexican Mission. He rented a good hall and advertised the meetings widely. As a result fourteen hundred attended the first meetings. When he conducted the services in the church he had to hold three sessions a day to accommodate the eager multitude who wished to study the Bible. Thanks to this campaign the district of the local pastor, Manuel Chan Garcia, was in first place in the Mexican Union with 133 baptized souls.
Campaign in Mexicali
The president of the Pacific Mexican Mission, Jose Morales, conducted a three-month campaign in Mexicali. The first messages were presented by Pastor Braulio Perez, of La Voz de la Esperanza. About seven hundred persons attended. A large number of precious souls have been baptized, and the workers are still reaping.
