— THE — MISSIONARY CAMPAIGN
By E. R. Palmer
The Mission of Our Large Books
Our large books, “The Desire of Ages,” “Great Controversy,” “Patriarchs and Prophets,” “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation,” “Bible Readings,” etc., in various languages, are the pillars of our denominational literature. Smaller publications each have their place. Tracts may be scattered by hundreds of thousands. Everybody, even the children, can scatter these little leaves of truth. Their mission is as wide as the earth, and they will gather many sheaves for the harvest. Small books, also, have their place, even though some of them may do little more than introduce the Lord’s workers, or teach the little children to read the Bible stories. But it remains for the large books to lay out before the world the broad, beautiful system of truth in the third angel’s message. They were not prepared in haste. They are the best ripened fruit of many years of toil and prayer. A half century of earnest labor by Sister White reached its best results in “Great Controversy” and “The Desire of Ages.” “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation” was the fruit of one of the rarest and choicest gifts God has given to this people. These books are the best that our most gifted laborers could produce, and they are the best we have to offer to the world. They have their mission, and they will discharge it in their own quiet, powerful way. In thousands of homes they are working. Day after day and year after year they are telling the good news of the soon-coming Lord. Although their work is silent, and much of it will not be known till the harvest is gathered,11yet enough of the results come to us to make our hearts rejoice in the assurance that the good books we have labored so hard to sell are doing a great work. A stranger once came to my office, searching for literature on the second coming of Christ and the Sabbath. This was his story: “Two or three years ago my wife bought a copy of ‘Bible Readings’ from an agent. She read it, and then hid it away, fearing that I would find fault with her for buying it. A few weeks ago, when in the city reading-room, I came across one of your papers, and became interested in the subject of the second advent and the seventh-day Sabbath. I tried to find more literature on those subjects, but could not. One day I told my experience to my wife. ‘Why,’ said she, ‘I have a book in the house which explains all about those things.’ ‘You have!’ said I, ‘well, I think you had better bring it out.’ She did ‘bring it out,’ and the result is we have been keeping the Sabbath four weeks.” In that same town a gentleman bought a copy of “Great Controversy,” and on finding that the book overturned much of his bad theology, which he had been trying hard for many years to keep right side up, he became very angry. He could not be angry enough all alone, so he gave the book to his son, expecting he would help him be angry. The son accepted the truth. How often the devil swings the pendulum too far for the safety of his own cause! An urgent call once came to a conference committee to send a minister to a country town to present the message where an interest had been aroused by the sale of books. A minister was sent, and he found that a gentleman who had purchased a copy of “Bible Readings” had become interested in the truth, and had taught what he had learned to his neighbors. Fourteen had accepted the message before the minister arrived, and in two weeks he organized a church of thirty members. About fifteen years ago two canvassers were sent with “Great Controversy” to a beautiful, fertile valley, many miles from the railroad, and accessible only by boat. They sowed abundantly, and went their way. Five years later two other agents were sent to that territory. They found the people so interested in the truth that they felt compelled to tarry with them and hold a few Bible readings. Seven accepted the truth at that time. This little company remained faithful, and kept pleading for a minister. After about five years more a minister was sent, and he soon organized a church of fifty members. Several years ago a devoted Christian lady, living in a secluded though prosperous farming section, became deeply interested in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. She read them many times, and prayed daily that the Lord would send her light. One night she dreamed that a colored man, riding a bicycle, came to her house and explained the prophecies to her. In the morning she told her dream to her daughter, and said that she believed God would send some one, and she would look for the man she saw in her dream. A few days later, the daughter saw a colored man approaching the house on a bicycle, and she called, “Look here, mother, here is your colored man on a bicycle.” “No,” said the mother, “that is not the man.” He proved to be an Indian peddler. Soon another man came, and the daughter said, “Mother, surely this is your man.” But the mother said, “No.” After several weeks of waiting, one day the mother saw a well-dressed colored man wheeling up the drive. “My child,” she said, “that is the man.” He came to the door and introduced himself, and his book, “Great Controversy,” which he was selling. When he had finished showing it, the lady said, “Have you nothing else for us? I have been praying for months for light on the prophecies. Can you tell us anything about them?” The canvasser recognized the call of God in this inquiry, and he stopped to give a Bible reading. In the midst of the study the lady stopped him, and said, “Now, you must stop. This is what we have prayed for. Many of our neighbors are as interested in these subjects as we are, and you must stay with us to-night. This evening we will call in our neighbors, and have a Bible reading.” The canvasser decided to stay. That study created a demand for others, and the agent found himself unexpectedly transformed from a canvasser to a Bible worker, with all he cared to do. In two weeks he wrote as follows to the conference president: “You must come at once and help me. I have been holding Bible readings here for two weeks, and have fourteen new Sabbath-keepers, and many others are interested.” The president went to his aid, and in two weeks more organized a church of twenty-eight members. These are only a few among many illustrations of the great work being done by our large books; and who can tell what the harvest will be when all these gospel sickles have gathered in their sheaves? More earnest attention should be given to the sale of the large books. Our publishing work enjoyed its greatest prosperity when all the conferences united in a strong effort to send out many agents with large books, and the work has declined as rapidly as our faith and courage have retrograded from the sale of large books to the cheaper literature; but prosperity has been maintained in every conference where courage and faith have kept up a strong, high standard. With hardly an exception it may be safely stated that our publishing work in every country where the subscription book work has been established has prospered directly in proportion to the grade of books sold. Large books have meant a large business, and small books have meant a small business. The publishing work in these United States afford the most striking illustration of this. In Australia the canvassing work began with large books, and prospered wonderfully till the cry was raised, “The sale of large books is done.” Then the work went down. When the work was reorganized on its original basis, it returned to more than its original prosperity. The same has also been true in England. In Ireland, where the population is largely Catholic, and a large per cent of the people are poor, the sale of large books had been dropped for years, and agents stoutly contended that no books could be sold in Ireland successfully for more than seventy-five cents a copy. But two years ago two men who believed that large books could be sold began to work in Ireland, and they had splendid success. This is the universal experience. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” If he thinks he “can’t” sell large books, he can not. If he knows he can, and knows the source of his power, and therefore knows why he can, his success is assured. If he is a creature of circumstances, and subject to external conditions, he will fail. If, under God, he is master of circumstances, he can not fail. May God grant that the time will soon come when the canvassers, and State agents, and general agents, and conference committees, and publishing houses will unite in a strong subscription book work upon the only basis which has ever succeeded, or is ever likely to succeed; and may our blessed Lord, who has never failed nor been discouraged, put his own spirit of courage into the hearts of many as they engage in this missionary campaign, so that we may see in the near future our subscription book work restored to its proper place in the message.