A month later the first batch of pamphlets containing the four chapters of the Gospel of Mark were ready, and Cam walked into town to pick them up. He had expected the Christians in San Antonio to be excited when they finally saw the printed pages, but nowhere near as excited as they turned out to be. “See, God speaks our language.” They laughed and cried at the same time as they handed the pamphlets from person to person.
Soon all the copies of the pamphlet were sold. Many of the local Indian preachers, who could not read a word, carried the Bible portion with them wherever they went. Soon adults from the surrounding Cakchiquel villages were knocking on the Townsends’ door asking when Cam was going to start teaching reading so they could learn to read the Bible passages for themselves.
Chapter 8
Promise and Loss
It was November 1920, and Antigua was abuzz with news of the Central American Congress. The congress was a historic meeting of politicians and diplomats from all the countries of Central America who had gathered to explore the possibility of uniting into one large country.
Cam, like everyone else, knew about the gathering, but he hadn’t given it much thought until a woman came to him with a suggestion. “They are having a Catholic mass in honor of this congress. Why don’t you organize a Protestant service for it?” the woman said.
“What would be the point?” Cam asked, but even as he spoke, an idea came flooding into his head. There could be a lot of point! He could use such a service to showcase the work among the Cakchiquel Indians, especially the way they were learning to read and write in their own language. What better way to introduce the top officials of all the countries of Central America to the idea of translating the Bible into native languages.
Cam went straight to work. He and Elvira sent official-looking invitations to every dignitary attending the congress and then prayed they would come to the service. Elvira also got together a group of San Antonio Christians who practiced singing some Cakchiquel hymns she had translated.
Finally, Friday afternoon arrived, and Cam was relieved to see the pews in the small Protestant church filling up fast. The service went without a hitch, and when it was over, Cam thanked everyone for attending. He wasn’t sure exactly who was there, but most of the people looked important and had arrived in diplomatic cars. After Cam had finished his short speech, a tall, distinguished man rose to his feet. The church became silent. “I would like to say a few words on behalf of the congressmen from Guatemala,” he said.
Cam wasn’t sure what the man was about to say, but he had no choice but to let him speak. The congressman walked forward. He shook Cam’s hand vigorously and cleared his throat. “It is truly marvelous to see what the Bible has done for these Indians—Indians whom the Spanish people thought were nothing but animals and used for generations as beasts of burden. I commend you on your work.”
With that the man sat down. As he did so, another man sprang to his feet. He introduced himself as the brother of the president of Honduras. “I too am delighted to see what has been done for these Indians. I commend your work,” he said.
When this man sat down, the secretary of the Central American Congress stood and complimented Cam and the Indians on running a fine church service.
It was all more than Cam had hoped for. Indeed, the service had been an eye-opener for him. Although it had not been a part of the official congress, Cam had nonetheless invited many important men from around the region, and they had willingly come. As a result, a seed had been planted in each of them that Indians could learn to read and write in their own language and that it was possible to translate the Bible into the various Indian languages.
Cam and the Cakchiquel Indians prayed earnestly that the seed would grow in these important Central American leaders and that one day every tribe in the region would have the Bible in its own tongue.
Early the following month—December—Robby Robinson returned to Guatemala. He had survived the last days of the war in Europe unscathed and arrived in the country with his new bride, Genevieve. Cam was delighted to see his old friend again and know that Robby hadn’t turned his back on the work they had embarked on together among the Indians. The two of them had a lot of catching up to do, along with planning for the future. Their first joint venture was to organize the Cakchiquel Bible Conference Cam had scheduled for January 1921.
Cam eagerly shared with Robby that an evangelist from the United States had agreed to be the guest speaker at the conference. Leonard Legters had been a missionary to the Comanche Indians in Oklahoma for many years. Although Cam had never heard him speak, a friend from college had recommended him as a “lively” preacher.
Once Leonard Legters arrived for the conference, Cam decided the word lively was an understatement! L.L., as everyone called Leonard Legters, was a fireball of activity. He preached day and night, using anything he could get his hands on to illustrate his sermons. The only thing he complained about was having to stand still while his words were translated first into Spanish by Cam and then into Cakchiquel from the Spanish. L.L. quickly came to appreciate the idea of reading and preaching directly in the Cakchiquel language.
The Cakchiquel Indians flocked to the Bible conference. As word got around about L.L., more and more people kept showing up for the services. Even better than the large crowd in attendance, by week’s end there were sixty new Christian converts in the area, including one of the tribal chiefs.
When the conference was over, Robby and Genevieve Robinson packed up their few belongings and headed northwest for Panajachel, a picturesque town situated on the northern edge of Lake Atitlan. Cam, Elvira, L.L., and an Indian translator set off in the opposite direction over the mountains by mule. L.L. was eager to preach in as many Indian villages as possible before returning to the United States.
By the time their speaking trek through the mountains was over, Cam was sure he had made a friend for life. L.L. promised to return the following year for another conference and to promote the needs of the Guatemalan Indians when he got back to the United States. True to his word, each letter that L.L. wrote to Cam contained an article or letter he had written to some Christian newspaper or magazine about the needs and challenges he had seen firsthand in Guatemala.
In the meantime, the trip through the mountains had proved too much for Elvira. Several times along the way she had gone into uncontrollable outbursts of rage, screaming for the police to come to her aid over nothing. After the trip, Cam decided the best thing he could do for his wife was to send her home for a break. She could stay with her parents and get some rest. Cam promised to join her as soon as he could.
Before Cam left, Robby agreed to take over administering the school and oversee the Bible training work for pastors Cam had begun the year before. In 1921, four years after arriving in Guatemala, Cam was able to join Elvira in America. He arrived back in Los Angeles, glad to see his sisters again and catch up on their brood of children. His brother Paul had just married, and Cam was delighted to learn that his new sister-in-law, Laura, was very interested in becoming a missionary.
Elvira had enjoyed the time with her parents, but her mental state seemed to be no better. Sometimes she was wonderful company, while at other times she would become uncontrollably angry. Cam took her to a psychiatrist to find out whether there was anything that could be done for her and, if not, whether she should even go back to Guatemala.
The psychiatrist could offer no help. There was little in the way of drugs available at the time to treat someone with Elvira’s condition. However, the doctor did encourage Cam to take Elvira back to the mission field if she wanted to go. He explained that where Elvira lived had little to do with her outbursts of rage.
After the visit to the psychiatrist, Cam felt confident he should return to the mission field, but first he had a few things to take care of. He decided to join the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, since it had a strong interest in missions. There he met a young couple, Dr. and Mrs. Ainslie, who had been thinking of becoming missionaries. After hearing Cam speak, the Ainslies became convinced they should sign up for Guatemala. Paul and Laura Townsend also decided to join Cam in Guatemala.
While at home, Cam visited many old friends. One was Mrs. Heim, his fifth-grade Sunday school teacher. Mrs. Heim listened attentively as Cam described his plans for the Cakchiquel Indians. Cam wanted to build a proper school for them, as well as a home for abandoned children. He also wanted to set up a medical clinic and install a power generator so the Indians could have lights in their homes. Mrs. Heim, like everyone else, was impressed with the plan. She just had one question: “How are you going to pay for it all, since you don’t have much financial support?”
Cam had thought about this too, but it didn’t worry him. He assured Mrs. Heim that if it was God’s work done in God’s way, He would supply all of their needs. Mrs. Heim nodded in agreement; her Sunday school student had learned his lessons well.
Cam also visited with Charles Fuller, who ran a very large Bible class in the area. Mr. Fuller was very impressed with Cam’s account of how the Indian pastors were being trained in all aspects of missionary work. He and his family volunteered to support two Cakchiquel pastors. Cam was overwhelmed. His dreams for the Cakchiquel Indians were becoming a reality right before his eyes.
Soon after meeting with Charles Fuller, Cam met a man who donated a printing press in good condition to the mission. Just as Cam was wondering how he would pay to transport the printing press to Guatemala, he received a letter from Mrs. Heim. The letter contained a check for three thousand dollars. Cam sat and stared at the check for several minutes. Tears welled in his eyes. Now he could pay to have the printing press shipped to Antigua and still have money left over for several other things.
It was with grateful hearts that Cam and Elvira Townsend left the United States to return to their cornstalk hut in San Antonio in February 1922. Elvira was no better, but she was no worse either, and Cam felt he had done everything he could to help her with her condition. Elvira was willing to return, and Cam was happy to have her with him.
Robby and Genevieve Robinson had done a wonderful job of keeping the mission going while the Townsends were away. Indeed, Robby seemed to have found his niche working with the Indian pastors, so Cam suggested he take over that side of the work. This would free Cam up to keep on with his Bible translation.
Things were working out well. Four months after his return, Cam decided to get together with Robby to plan the next Cakchiquel Bible conference. Since his wife was away for ten days, Robby decided they should meet at his home on Lake Atitlan. Cam looked forward to the opportunity to spend several days with his old friend.
Robby met Cam in Guatalon on the southern side of the lake. The two of them made their way slowly around the shore. Along the way they stopped to hand out tracts and sell the pamphlet containing the chapters of Mark’s gospel translated into Cakchiquel.
The two men arrived at Robby’s house on June 23, 1922. As they walked up the trail that led to the front entrance, a man with a sack slung over his shoulder made his way over to them. “Ah, don Robby,” the man began. “I was just coming to find you. I have a gift for you. It is nothing compared to what you have done for us, but it is the best I have.”
With that, the man heaved the sack from his shoulder. Cam caught the unmistakable aroma of fresh coffee beans.
Robby smiled. “Thank you, don Pedro. Praise God everything worked out okay,” he said.
When Pedro departed, Robby told Cam the story. Pedro’s wife had had a serious case of gangrene poisoning. A doctor had passed through town and had told Pedro there was no hope for his wife and she was surely bound to die. Seeing how desperately ill she was, Pedro prepared his wife’s funeral; he even readied a crypt for her body.
