L.L. decided to take up the challenge. As soon as the conference was over, he wrote to Cam telling him of his decision. The two of them agreed to meet in Dallas, Texas, and travel on to Mexico from there.
Elvira was still not well, and Cam arranged for her to travel to Chicago to stay with her family while he was in Mexico.
Cam arrived in Dallas a couple of days ahead of schedule. He wanted to meet with the leaders of Central American Mission. After the meeting, Karl Hummel, secretary of the mission, was traveling to Wichita Falls for a two-day visit, and he invited Cam to accompany him. Since Cam had nothing else to do but wait for L.L. to arrive, he accepted the invitation. While Cam was in Wichita Falls, the rector at a local Episcopal church heard about him and asked him to visit. Cam wondered why he had been invited to the rector’s home. The rector had visited Mexico several years before and had become fascinated by the religion of the ancient Aztecs. It appeared to Cam he had been invited to listen to the rector lecture him on the subject, and he sat and listened politely, offering an occasional comment when he could. Finally, the rector seemed to run out of things to say, and the two men sat in silence for a few moments. Suddenly the rector jumped to his feet. “I nearly forgot,” he exclaimed. “I’m going to give you the address of the Episcopal dean of Mexico City. Here,” he said, pulling a business card from a desk drawer. “Let me write you a quick introduction. The dean has some influential friends if you ever need help.”
The rector took a pen and scratched a few words of introduction on the back of the card before handing it to Cam.
“Thank you,” said Cam as he took the card and then shook the rector’s hand. “It has been a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you in Mexico one day.”
The rector smiled. “Thank you for coming. I enjoyed our little chat.”
As Cam walked down the path away from the rector’s home, he had no idea of the value of the scribbled message on the back of the card in his coat pocket. It alone was worth the two-day visit to Wichita Falls.
When Cam returned to Dallas, L.L. and his wife Edna were waiting for him. The next day it was time to start the drive south to the Mexican border and see whether they would be allowed into the country. The three of them reached the border at Laredo on November 11, 1933. They entered the building housing Mexican Immigration and explained to the official there why they wanted to enter his country.
“No, no!” shouted the official in rapid Spanish. “We have too much of your religion already. I will not stamp your passports. You must go back.”
Cam looked from L.L. to Edna. Both had surprised looks on their faces. “May we sit down?” Cam asked the official.
“Help yourself,” sneered the official, pointing towards some hardwood chairs clumped in the corner, “but you’re wasting your time.”
As the hours rolled by, it did indeed seem as if the three of them were wasting their time. L.L. sat humming the same Christian chorus over and over while his wife stared out the window at the muddy Rio Grande that separated Texas from Mexico. Cam alternated between nervously fiddling with his briefcase and praying silently. Every half hour or so he would try talking to the official again, and each time the official seemed to be ruder than the time before. He wanted to know why they hadn’t left the building yet. They sat waiting, but for what? he demanded to know.
Suddenly Cam had a flash of inspiration. He pulled his briefcase out from under the chair and began rummaging through it. He grabbed a stack of papers and flicked through them. “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Read this, L.L. I think it might be the answer.”
L.L. took the sheet of paper and began to read. “Who is Moisés Sáenz?” he asked.
“They call him the father of Mexican education,” said Cam excitedly. “And his brother is the mayor of Mexico City. Remember, I told you how he visited Panajachel and how he was excited about the work we were doing and invited me to come and work in Mexico with him.”
“Amazing!” replied L.L. “And you’ve been carrying this invitation in your briefcase the whole time?”
Cam nodded. “I have so many papers stuffed in there I didn’t even think of it until just now. Come on, let’s show it to the official.”
Cam and L.L. hurried to the counter. The official gave them the same bored look he had given them before. Cam handed him the letter. “Sir,” he said, “I believe you might like to see the invitation I have to visit your country.”
The official scowled, but when he saw the government seal on the paper his mouth dropped open. He hurried into a back room, beckoning several colleagues to follow him. They stayed in the room for nearly an hour, and every so often Cam could hear raised voices. Eventually, the official emerged and cleared his throat. “Mr. Townsend and Mr. and Mrs. Legters,” he said, bowing slightly, “I have been in contact with my superiors, and in light of this letter we are pleased to welcome you to our country. There are just two things we must ask you to refrain from doing. You must not preach your religion or study any Indian languages. If you do you will be fined and deported. Other than that, you are free to do as you please. Give me your passports please, and I will stamp them.”
The three of them handed over their passports, and within half an hour they were bumping their way along the half-constructed Pan American highway towards Monterrey, where they planned to spend the night.
A gloom settled over Cam and the Legterses during the next few days. Sure, they were in Mexico, but they were forbidden to do what they had come for. However, over the course of the next week, they learned how big a concession the Mexican immigration officials had made on their behalf. Everywhere they turned, missionaries related stories of being thrown out of towns and told to return home. James Dale’s son Johnny, who had been born in Mexico, could not get a resident’s visa, even after spending hundreds of dollars on attorney’s fees. As the days rolled by, the three of them began to lose hope. In Mexico City they discovered that Dr. Sáenz, who would have surely helped them, was in the United States lecturing, and he would not be back for another two months. By the end of their third week in Mexico, the Legterses were ready to go home.
“You can stay here if you like,” L.L. said to Cam, “but I have other things I could be doing at home. All the paperwork we have to do could take months, and even then there’s no guarantee they’ll let us do missionary work here.”
Cam understood how his friend felt, but something inside him told him to hold on. “God has brought us this far, and He will carry us on,” he encouraged L.L.
A few days later, they got the break they were looking for. Once again Cam remembered something in his briefcase. This time it was the business card from the Episcopal rector in Wichita Falls, Texas. In the hopes of meeting the Episcopal dean of Mexico City, Cam decided to attend the morning service at the cathedral the following Sunday.
As it happened, the dean was preaching that Sunday morning, and he stood at the door shaking hands with the congregation after the service. Cam introduced himself and gave the dean the card with the introduction scribbled on the back. After reading it, the dean looked impressed. He invited Cam to come to dinner the following Tuesday night.
Cam rushed back to tell the Legterses what had happened. They prayed together that somehow the dinner on Tuesday night would help them find a way to do what they had come to Mexico to do.
Tuesday night quickly rolled around, and at dinner with the dean that night Cam found himself seated next to Dr. Bernard Bevans, a British ethnologist (a person who studied different peoples and races) whom Cam found to be very interesting. The two men were soon swapping stories about working with rural Indians. By the end of the evening, Dr. Bevans had made plans for a lunch meeting with some of his friends who he was sure would be interested in the work Cam had been doing in Guatemala and was now planning to do in Mexico.
Again, it was a matter of waiting, but Cam felt he was getting closer to a breakthrough. On Friday he walked to the exclusive Lady Baltimore Dining Room, where Dr. Bevans had arranged for the lunch meeting to be held. One of the first people Cam met there was Dr. Frank Tannenbaum from Columbia University in New York City. As they talked, several people came up to congratulate Dr. Tannenbaum on his new book titled Peace by Revolution. Looking for any opportunity that might help, Cam sneaked out of the luncheon and ran to the nearest bookstore. He hurriedly purchased a copy of Dr. Tannenbaum’s book and ran back to the dining room before anyone missed him.
Cam spotted Dr. Tannenbaum right where he had left him talking to an elderly man. When he was finished talking, Cam went up to him. “Dr. Tannenbaum,” he said, “I would be very honored if you would autograph my copy of Peace by Revolution. I admire it very much.”
Dr. Tannenbaum looked flattered. “Of course I will, Mr. Townsend, and may I say I admire your work among the Indians in Guatemala. You have very innovative ideas—most interesting indeed,” he said, writing away in the front of the book. “There, I hope we meet up again. I know it’s difficult to get anything done in Mexico right now. Everyone is very suspicious of foreigners. Let me write a note of introduction for you to a friend of mine, Rafael Ramírez. He is a progressive thinker and the head of rural education for the country. I believe he’s on a tour of schools right now, but he will be in Monterrey on the twenty-third.”
Cam watched as Dr. Tannenbaum wrote a note of introduction to Rafael Ramírez and then handed it to him. He thanked the doctor very much for the gesture.
It was not until he arrived back at the room he was renting that Cam read what Dr. Tannenbaum had written in the front of the book along with his autograph. It was several sentences commending Cam on his good work among the rural Indians and urging him to keep it up. Cam smiled to himself as he started reading the book, with the hope that he was another step closer to getting permission to do missionary work in Mexico.
On the twenty-third, Cam and L.L. were in Monterrey waiting for Rafael Ramírez to arrive. When señor Ramírez finally stepped out of a car and onto the pavement in front of the government building, Cam introduced himself and told him why he had come to Mexico. He then handed Dr. Tannenbuam’s note of introduction to him.
The director of rural education looked frustrated and ran his hand over his graying hair as he read the note. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do for you,” he said. “The Indians have far too much religion already.”
Cam thought quickly. “You’re right,” he agreed. “The Indians do have too much superstition and religion, but what they’ve never had is the opportunity to read the Bible for themselves in their own language. That, sir, is the key to encouraging them to be good citizens.”
Rafael Ramírez looked startled. “I’ve never thought of it that way,” he admitted. “But we can’t bring in people to do translation work, and even if the Bible were translated, there’s no way we could allow you to distribute it.” As he spoke, his eyes settled on the book under Cam’s arm. “Ah,” he said, sounding relieved to change the subject. “I see you have a copy of Dr. Tannenbaum’s book. What an insightful man he is. One of the few Americans who truly understand the aims of the Mexican revolution.”
Cam smiled. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “In fact, I met Dr. Tannenbaum only last week.” He opened the book to the front page. “I explained my work to him, and he wrote me a note. Wasn’t that thoughtful of him?”
“Yes,” agreed Rafael Ramírez, craning his neck to read the endorsement. As he did so, he began to smile broadly. “Mr. Townsend, perhaps I have been too quick in my judgment of you,” he apologized. “If Dr. Tannenbaum thinks you know what you are doing with rural Indian education, who am I to stand in your way? I cannot allow you to do Bible translation work, of course, but you do have my permission to study rural education in Mexico. Perhaps you might even be able to offer some suggestions for improvement. How would that be?” he flashed a smile at Cam. “If you come to my office tomorrow morning, I will have all the paperwork ready for you.”
