12 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



RELIGIOUS WORK IN CUBA. 



f ; The Friends' Church 



When the missionaries sent out by 

 Friends landed in Cuba in 1900, many 

 of the inhabitants almost, if not quite, 

 expected to see the horns sticking out 

 from under our hats as indicative of our 

 character and the auspices and nature 

 of our mission. Then came the stage 

 of being endured, hoping for the time 

 when we would give up defeated. We 

 are now emerging from the pity stage, 

 when people tapped their heads signif- 

 icantly as the faithful few passed on 

 their way to meeting, or told tales of 

 the converts raving along the seashore 

 and knocking their heads against stone 

 walls in their madness. People of the 

 better class are coming to respect us, 

 some enough to publicly class them- 

 selves as one with us. The present mo- 

 ment is a time of great opportunity for 

 the Friends Church in Cuba. The work 

 of Friends in the Island of Cuba has been 

 greatly favored, and a progress has been 

 made almost, if not quite, unexcelled in 



the history of the first seven years of 

 mission work in any country entered by 

 our church. The property interests 

 alone of Friends in the island at a low 

 estimate are worth at least $28,000. Four 

 principal stations have been occupied, 

 with their respective out-stations. At 

 Puerto Padre school work has taken 

 the lead; as yet no church has been or- 

 ganized, but services are held regularly. 

 A fine educational work has been done, 

 however, a well organized school of 

 from between 60 and 70 pupils having 

 been maintained. Three smaller schools 

 of from 25 to 35 pupils have done good 

 work in the other stations. When we 

 stop to think that 79 per cent, of the 

 population of Cuba cannot read nor 

 write, who can measure the immense good 

 that Friends might do by energetic edu- 

 cational work. It is madness to depend 

 entirely on foreign workers for the evan- 

 gelization of any country. Native work- 

 ers called of God and capable of leading 

 in the work must be provided with an 



CHURCHES OF CUBA. Old Spanish Church at Managua. 



