La Estrella de Belén [The Star of Bethlehem] by Joseph W. Westphal: The Rediscovery of the First Adventist Children’s Book Published in South America

Abstract

Historiographical research on the development of Adventist publications in South America had been hampered by the loss of a work of enormous historical significance. The book La Estrella de Belén [The Star of Bethlehem], written by Joseph W. Westphal (1861–1949) and published by the South American Publishing House (CES by its Spanish acronym) in 1916, had been believed lost since 1978, when a fire destroyed the library and archives of ACES. The rediscovery in 2025 of the book in a college archive in the United States provides a new glimpse into South American Adventism and its missionary endeavors at the beginning of the 20th century. This is because it was the first Adventist book published in South America aimed at children and young people, as well as the first to contain text in the languages of the indigenous peoples of South America (Quechua and Aymara). Using a historical-descriptive methodology, this article seeks to show how the book La Estrella de Belén was lost and rediscovered, and its importance for understanding the historical development of the canvassing ministry, the Adventist mission to children and youth, and the first evangelistic initiatives for the indigenous peoples of South America.