Latin America Welcomes
Good-Will Visitors
During their good-will tour Brooks Hays (left), then president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Mrs. Hays were presented to the congregation at First Baptist Church, Cali, Colombia, by Rev. Hugo Ruiz, pastor of the church and president of the Colombian Baptist Convention [photograph caption].  Shortly before his term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention expired, Brooks Hays and his wife made a two weeks' good-will tour of several Latin-American countries on behalf of the Foreign Mission Board and Southern Baptists. Included on their itinerary were Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.  From each place Mr. and Mrs. Hays visited come reports that their contacts were profitable for Baptist work and for religious liberty in general.  Their visit gave Baptists and other evangelicals in these four countries some of the best publicity they have had. Newspapers carried pictures and stories telling who Mr. Hays is and what he was doing in Latin America, as well as advertisements of services in which he spoke.  Mr. Hays talked with heads of government and other government officials, including directors of the United States Information Service, ambassadors and other U. S. Embassy officials, and directors of the International Cooperation Administration (Point Four) program. "I encountered many encouraging signs and assurances for the strengthening of religious liberty through these conferences," he says.
A new political leadership is emerging in many of the countries of South America, he reports, and these leaders are aware of the part their nations must play in world affairs.  Hence, they are increasingly concerned for the rights of minority groups and they are insisting on freedom for all.   "Baptists are a small minority in these countries,"  Mr. Hays reminds Southern Baptists, "and I think we Baptists in the United States have a hard time realizing what this means in areas that have not had a history of respect for individual rights."   The day Mr. and Mrs. Hays spent in Bogota, capital of Colombia, is typical of that spent in each city on their itinerary.  Arriving in the morning, they were met at the airport by an official from the U.S. Embassy, the pastor of the First Baptist Church, and Southern Baptist missionary couple.  After a tour of important sections of the city, they were taken to their hotel for lunch and a short rest.    Afterward, the Honorable John M. Cabot, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, called at the hotel and conducted the party to the Embassy.  While Mrs. Hays and a missionary wife met appointments elsewhere in the city, Mr. Hays spent the afternoon at the Embassy.  In the evening he spoke before the combined congregations of the Baptist churches and missions in Bogotá, meeting in the auditorium of Central Baptist Church.  He and his wife were presented with gifts on behalf of all Colombian Baptists.   Following the service Mr. and Mrs. Hays were honored at a dinner party at the home of an Embassy official.  Here again they made a strong impact for the Baptist cause in Colombia, missionaries report.  In other cities receptions were held for the Southern Baptist and missionaries.   (Continued on page 32)  In Barranquilla, Mr. and Mrs. Hays were given a silver dish inscribed with names of the Baptist churches there
[photograph caption].  Mr. and Mrs. Hays were met at the plane in Barranquilla, Colombia, by Rev. and Mrs. John N. Thomas, missionaries [photograph caption].  Mrs. Donald L. Orr and Hoke Smith, Jr., Southern Baptist missionaries, are shown greeting Mr. and Mrs. Hays at a reception in Cali [photograph caption].  Here are some of the three hundred Baptists who formed a motorcade to the Barranquilla airport to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Hays [photograph caption].  16  (208)  (209) 17