The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

FILIPINO MISSIONARIES

Felipe Buencamino. Ambrosio stayed with us until ten o'clock
that night; and before he went home we all knelt together in
prayer. Every day of the following week he spent the day
and evening with us, searching the Scriptures to find the way
of life.
"The Sunday evening following his first attendance at our
service he preached the Gospel in his own language, giving the
people a clear discussion of justification by faith, rather than
by meritorious works or priestly indulgence; and before he
had finished talking we knew our prayer had been answered,
and that we had a man, called and appointed of God, to work
with us in Negros Island.
"One morning in July, I9OI, just at daylight, we went out
to the river back of Bacolod, and three men-Velasco the
preacher, and two others in whose conversation he had a
large part, were baptized. We read the account of the baptism of Christ by John, and there, apart by ourselves, with
no other witnesses than the angels above, had prayer; and,
after the ordinance, we returned home with songs on our lips
and in our hearts.
"From the outset of his Christian life, Velasco had great
difficulties to encounter. His most intimate friend, a staunch
Roman Catholic and a son-in-law of the former friar of the
place, tried all sorts of methods to induce him to abandon his
new faith. Like most of the well-to-do Filipinos, Velasco
had been injured by the insurrection, and he was filled with
prejudices against the Americans. With the new faith, however, came new light, and though he had once kept aloof
from the American missionary, as from a dangerous leper,
later he wrote an enthusiastic letter in praise of the dear
brother with whom he was laboring. That he thus overcame
this prejudice must be considered a great victory of grace.
"In September, I903, after two short years of busy service,
during which he was preaching continually in Bacolod, Talisay,
Silay, Cadiz Nuevo and Bag-o, his life work was done at only
thirty-four years of age. The doctors said he was suffering
from heart disease aggravated by continued fasting-he often
went without food on the road between towns for many hours