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      Introduction

      The first Adventist pastor, remembered by his intense spiritual and missionary life for the good of the countries in the territory of today’s South American Division of Seventh-day Adventists was Frank Henry Westphal (1858-1944), who had to do with the beginnings of Adventism in this part of the world.

      For about 24 years he carried out with unwavering dedication the task of evangelization in different countries, climates, regions, languages, means of transportation and diverse circumstances. Nothing stopped him in his eagerness to share the good news of salvation.

      His articles for denominational magazines, reports to General Conference sessions, correspondence, his book Pioneering in the Neglected Continent (today, the Spanish version is titled Hasta el fin del mundo) and works by different authors allow us to know his course.

      Throughout the development of this chapter, his background and preparation, works and career, methods and results, traits and the transcendence of his work.

Background and Preparation

Frank Henry Westphal was born on December 15, 1858, in New London, Wisconsin, USA.1 His grandparents emigrated from Pomerania, Germany, in 1847 because of economic and political conditions in his country, what led them to settle in the United States, in a farm located by the Erie Canal, New York, near North Tonowanda. They professed the Lutheran faith. The youngest son, Gustav (1834-1912), was only 13 by that time.

      In his youth, interested in a better future, he moved to Wisconsin State, where he married Henrietta Maas (1836-1892). Eleven children brightened the home, five boys and six girls. The second of them was Frank Henry Westphal. Widowed, his father married again and from that marriage a last daughter was born.

      The life of the family took place in virgin lands, in a forest region, dedicated to farm tasks. They were the first inhabitants of New London, Wisconsin, where they lived in a simple log cabin, spending their days in hard work and arduous activities.

      During the Civil War, Gustav enlisted as a volunteer in the Union army for three years (March 1862-April 1865) and said goodbye to his wife and three little boys, Albert, Frank y Joseph. Those were difficult years for Henrietta since her husband was away, and she had to take care of home and the little children. In the winter of 1879, a diphtheria epidemic stroke viciously the family and three of the younger children died.

      On reaching adulthood, the older brothers established themselves as farmers and workers in their own limekilns.

      Through the work of itinerant preachers of the Evangelical Association, the family had a deeper religious experience. They were members of this church until 1878. At that time Whipple, a colporteur from Fremont, made a good work handing out publications and preparing the place for future lectures. Adventist pastor H. W. Decker put up a tent at the south of the town in one of the main streets and began a series of evangelistic meetings for eight weeks. Generally, the attendance was very good. It was the most active phase of farm life and, however, few were the meetings the Westphal family did not attend. The slow transportation of the day and the bad roads did not prevent them from traveling the three miles (almost five kilometers) on the way and another three back. Those meetings brought them a new spiritual experience, both parents being baptized by immersion in the autumn of 1878.

The great interest aroused by preaching allowed the beginning of a Sabbath School in New London on November 23, 1878, and by March 11, 1879, it was organized as a church. In that moment they signed the statement: “Brethren, with this complete organization you are commissioned by Christ to go to all the world and preach the gospel.”2

      Gustav and Henrietta were among the founding members. They never imagined that many of their descendants, from their children and the next generations, would be active participants of this Christian mission.

During 1879, Frank Westphal decided to get baptized, when he was 20, and was the first of the children to take this step, later imitated by all his siblings. Frank became very soon a dynamic leader and elder of his church. This experience was of such magnitude that he was invited to work as pastor from 1883.3 He completed his primary studies and then theological formation attending Battle Creek College, Michigan, USA.4 He attended as delegate several sessions of the General Conference, the most transcendent being the 1888 one in Minneapolis and the 1901 that took place in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA.5

He married Mary V. Thurston (1860-1931), born in Deerfield, Wisconsin, USA, on May 11, 1877. The children born in the United States were Carlos Edgardo in 1890 and Elena in 1893; in Argentina Earl was born and died in 1899; then in the Unidos States Ruth Evangelina was born in 1903, and the youngest, Grace Hazel, was born in Chile in 1905.6

Westphal wrote: “the father of my wife was the first president of the Wisconsin Conference [Adventist Encyclopedia says he was the second, actually]. For several years she was secretary of the Tract Society of that conference. He also worked in the same task in Argentina, South America, for several years. Besides, she was Sabbath School secretary almost the whole time I lived in South America. In Chile, she was Missionary Secretary and home school teacher and several hard tasks for the cause, until her health broke.”7

      His Work and Career

      The vast career of Frank Westphal is reflected in his service record, written by himself on August 22, 1930:

      1. Wisconsin Conference (1883-1890): Minister

      2. Union College, Nebraska (1891-1892): Minister, Professor of Bible and History

      3. Illinois Conference (1892-1894): Minister

      4. East Coast of South America (1894-1901): Minister, Superintendent

      5. Union Collage, Nebraska (1901-1904): Minister, Professor of Bible and History

      6. West Coast of South America (1904-1907): Minister, Superintendent

      7. Chile Union Mission (1907-1918): Minister, President

      8. Preacher in Chile (1918-1921): Minister

It also includes his pastoral work in the city of Los Angeles, California, United States, until 1929, to add up 47 years of active service.8

      After a month of ship voyage from the United States via England, Westphal and his family arrived at the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, on August 18, 1894. Richard B. Craig, a colporteur that had arrived the previous year, was waiting for them. Thus, it began a fruitful career devoted to the development of Seventh-day Adventism in present day church territory of South America, being its first pastor and genuine pioneer.

His arrival was the answer to a petition to the General Conference asking for a German-speaking minister. After a week in Buenos Aires, he continued traveling north by ship on the imposing Paraná River to the port of Diamante, Entre Ríos province. Nobody was waiting for him, there was only a person waiting for his family with a carriage, who took him over a steep hill. On arrival in the small city, he was able to find a hotel where to spend the night.9

      His Method and Results

Westphal began a dynamic evangelizing and pastoral activity after traveling across, in a rented

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