OPPORTUNITIES AMONG THE BRACEROS
OPPORTUNITIES AMONG THE BRACEROS OPPORTUNITIES AMONG THE BRACEROS
Gabrield Ortiz
It is with pleasure that I come before you this morning. I thank God for the opportunity given me at this time to speak to such a splendid audience as are assembled here this morning, and for the interest being manifested by all of God’s people at this place. I have been called upon this morning to speak to you of the opportunities among the braceros, Mexican Nationals that come from Mexico to pick cotton, at Pecos. Many of you have probably already heard of this work, but to as many of you as haven’t I am sure that it will be of interest to you, and that you will want to be part of that work with us also. The opportunities at Pecos are of the greatest that I have ever seen anywhere for evangelizing Mexico. God has opened one of the greatest mission works that can be found with Mexico here in our own back yard.
Last year there were 16,000 braceros in Pecos. During the months of Nov. and Dec. 107 were baptized into the church of our Lord. Eleven more have been baptized since the first of the year, making it a total of 118. This was done in no more than half a dozen camps. There are hundreds of these camps that we did not get to because we did not have the workers.
Now the church at Pecos is carrying on a tremendous amount of work. At the present time it has under construction a new building. It is carrying on missionary work at two different places, benevolence at two orphan homes, supporting two preachers, and carrying on the work of the colored church there at Pecos. I know that the church there is making a great sacrifice to carry on all this work. I pray God that I can awaken within you the desire to team with us in this great work.
Christ said to his disciples before his ascension into heaven, in what is known as the Great Commission: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel”. How can you go with us in this great work? We need your help financially, so that we can start planning ahead of time as to what we will be able to do when these braceros start coming back in Sept. Twenty thousand are expected this year. We will need workers of the Lord to indoctrinate these men well so that when they return to their homes in Mexico they can take the message of good news to their families. We will need Bible, testaments, literature. We need some way by which we can transport these men to church every Sunday. Last year the brethren formed a caravan of cars to get these men to church, I’m sure that a bus would save time and money. In the past years thousands have been dying in Mexico without a hope of salvation, but now the door of opportunity is open to us. Will you not come in with us? You can say in the years that follow, “I am part of that team that is helping evangelize Mexico that they too may drink freely of the water of life. A financial report will be sent to all contributors, also a report as to the work as it is carried on. If you wish to help in this work, this is the address to which you can send your contributions.
Box 724,, Pecos, Texas