Earlier text: Good Words in Hard TimesThe North African Mission
By Louis Richard Conradi
Thus far our missionaries have worked in only one of the four ancient pirate states of North Africa—in Algeria. It, with Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli, forms the southern coast of the Mediterranean, extending about twenty-three hundred miles from east to west. These countries have a wonderful history. Nearly three thousand years ago the Phenicians founded the first colonies on their shores. Old Carthage outgrew the rest and became a mighty rival of Rome. Rome had to wage three long wars, from 264 to 146 B. C., before it could raze Carthage to the ground. For four hundred years this territory flourished as the Roman provinces Mauretania and Numidia. The Christian religion found an early entrance here. Tertullian and the Montanists lived and taught in these regions. Here Cyprian wrote; and with the exception of Rome, probably nowhere did so many martyrs seal their faith with their blood as right here. It was in New Carthage that the Donatist bishop protested against the religious superiority of Rome, and Donatus himself challenged its emperors, saying, “What has the emperor to do with the church?” Here the Vandals reared up a kingdom, and from here they led out in their plundering expeditions against tottering Rome. In the middle of the seventh century the Arabs swept the country and destroyed the very traces of the once-flourishing Christianity. Nowhere has Islam been a more fierce or cruel persecutor of both Christian and Jew than in North Africa. The last crusade, which started in A. D. 1270, from Aigues-Mortes under St. Louis the Pious, was directed against Tunis, and here he perished. Emperor Charles V, in 1538, delivered not less than fifty thousand Christians from the yoke of Mohammedan slavery. But his victory had only temporary results. For centuries11 after, the pirate states troubled the shores of Europe as far north as Iceland, and many of the smaller Christian states paid them an annual tribute in order to be able to carry on their commerce unmolested; among these was the United States. However, during its struggle with England, this tribute was not levied; and believing that the American fleet had been destroyed by the English, the ruler of Algeria declared war in 1812 and captured some American sailing vessels. What Europe, on account of its dissension, could not do in all the centuries of the past, the United States accomplished in 1815, by sending a fleet and in two months forcing the rulers of Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli to pay damages and to promise that they would respect the American flag and not demand any more tribute. In 1830 the ruler of Algeria happened to strike the French consul with his fan. This incident gave France the opportunity to send a fleet and take the city of Algeria. The bey with his harem was sent to Europe, and the terrified ruler of Tunis and Tripoli promised to stop piracy and no longer to keep Christian slaves. Tunis became a French protectorate in 1881, Morocco has recently been converted into a protectorate, and Tripoli has become an Italian colony. France, Italy, and Spain are now the rulers of these four pirate states, which in size are twice as large as the countries ruling them, but have only one fifth of the population, or about seventeen millions. At the Strait of Gibraltar, North Africa can be seen from Europe. A few hours by steamer suffice to carry one from continent to continent. To go from Marseilles to Algiers takes twenty-seven hours. Yet in scarcely any other trip of that length can one see so great a change of surroundings. In going from Europe to North Africa it seems as if the clock of the world had suddenly been set back many centuries. Brother Tieche and I took the steamer at Marseilles, May 5. The next day we passed the Balearic Islands, and early on the seventh our steamer safely anchored at Oran. We were still in our bunks when Brethren Hancock and Abella called on us, and when we finally stepped out the sight was very different from that which one sees when he reaches Egypt. The coast, instead of being low and sandy, is mountainous and rocky. Oran is a modern city with a population of 123,000 people, of which ninety thousand are Europeans, mostly Spaniards. Many natives from Morocco can be seen here, as the railway already enters Moroccan territory and is being fast pushed toward Fez, and from there to Tangier. A continuous line of railway now reaches from Morocco to the very border of Tripoli, a distance of about one thousand miles. France has already pushed one branch railway into the Sahara, and several others are being built in the same direction. Brother Guyot labored among the French in Oran for several years, and won a few souls. Last winter Brethren Hancock and Abella made an effort here. I spoke one evening to the little company in this place and celebrated the Lord’s Supper with them. As Brother Hancock wished to enter Spanish territory in Morocco, we considered his trip, which he has since made. He found Morocco, with its nine million people, open for mission work. The government grants religious liberty, and at present doctors can practice here without any extra diploma. An English mission society, called the North African Mission, has a hospital in Tangier, and several in North Africa. But as the hospital in Tangier took in cases of typhus, it lost its doctor and several nurses, and for the last six months has been closed. In Tetuan, a town of 20,000 inhabitants, several women are laboring among the natives. A German woman is working among the Jews. She has thus far had six converts. These suffered much persecution and had to leave their homes, but they hold on to the gospel and keep the Sabbath. The Jews form one fourth of the population; and as most of the business places are owned by them and are closed on the Sabbath, it is quieter in Tetuan on Saturday than on Sunday. Otherwise the town has preserved its native character. We have no worker among the Spaniards here, but Brother Hancock expects to begin work soon. In three hours, the train took us from Tetuan to Relizane, a town of about 15,000 inhabitants, where we spent the Sabbath with our Spanish company. Many of the farmers here are Spaniards. Some have large farms and live in the towns, while the natives live in small, miserable villages. As early as 1888, the light of our truth had penetrated into Africa through our French literature, and a number of Spanish farmers began to observe the Sabbath. Their leader was with us at our first camp meeting in Tramlingen, Switzerland. But he chose to follow his own visions. We had no Spanish preachers at that time, and although these farmers were visited by our two French ministers, they separated from us, and by their misconduct heaped reproach upon the cause of the Sabbath and upon themselves. Had we had the right men at that time, we probably should have a flourishing work in this field today. In later years our Spanish Brother Abella visited among these people, and a little church of eleven members was founded. After a good meeting Sabbath forenoon, we had the ordinances, and on Sunday we held a missionary meeting. The Aftermath of Prayer
By Charles L. White
IN a group of friends, a few days ago, a Christian woman said: “You have spoken of Geneva. I never hear the word without recalling two happy weeks I passed there in my girlhood, when my sisters and I were abroad for a year with our parents. “My father insisted that we should maintain our custom of morning prayers, and during the entire time, although we were living in hotels, we always observed this custom. It was often difficult to do so, and I remember one occasion in Geneva when we were all dressed for a trip on the lake, and felt that an exception might be made that morning. Indeed, one of the older girls remarked that some one was moving about in an adjoining room, and it seemed a bit strange to have family devotions under such conditions. This, however, produced no effect upon father, who quietly read a chapter and, as usual, offered prayer. “In looking back upon that trip I have often been glad that our custom at home was not neglected abroad, and that father’s noble principle conquered. I especially feel so because about a year ago I met a brilliant woman in New York in the company of several distinguished persons whose lives were devoted to the promotion of many noble enterprises. She said to me, ‘I conclude from a remark you have just made that you are one of the girls in an American family that spent a certain two weeks in Geneva many years ago.’ “I told her we were there at that time, and gave her my father’s full name. She replied, ‘Yes, it is the very family.’ She then drew me apart and said: ‘I was spending that year in study in Geneva, and lived at the same hotel in which your family rested. In fact, I had a room separated by only a thin partition from the suite your family occupied, and I could hear the conversation of your happy household. What impressed me most, however, was the chapter your father read and the prayer he offered that morning when you girls urged him to give up for once the custom of morning prayers. Ah! but that prayer and that chapter saved me from entering a path that would have ended in suicide, for I was about to make an evil choice which would have blasted my life in a few months. As I listened, I dared not close my ears to the warning that came to me through your father’s voice. It was like the touch of a vanished hand from an earlier Christian training, and it held me to purity and happiness.’ “She ceased speaking. I hid my face in my hands for an instant. When I had wiped away the tears, I was alone. At a little distance I could see the brilliant woman in animated conversation with others. I do not know where she lives. I made no attempt to discover who she was. I do not recall her name. But I know that through my father’s obedience in setting up an altar to his God in a strange land she was saved to an abounding life.” — Charles L. White in the Standard THE American people drank 7,000,000 gallons of whisky, smoked 4,000,300,000 cigars, and puffed 8,711,000,000 cigarettes during the six months ending December, 1913, according to figures announced by Commissioner Osborn of the Internal Revenue Bureau at Washington, D. C. The revenue collected from distilled spirits amounted to $85,862,812, the whisky tax being $16,142,854; tobacco, $41,296,503; corporation, $3,110,700; cigarettes, $10,899,000; and cigars, $12,270,000. The total collection of taxes for the six months totaled $167,647,905, an increase of $4,175,630 over the corresponding period for 1912. The income tax paid under the new law aggregated $1,509. This tax did not have to be paid until March 1. — Central Christian Advocate A Tribute to My Wife
By P. H. Cady
My darling wife, a word of love to thee
I now would leave upon this tablet white,
In memory of thy purest love to me,
Which to my life has been its sweetest light.
I think of thee as when in youth's fair morn
Thine eyes did beam with love into mine own,
When from our lighted faith and love were born
The love of home which ne'er from us hath flown. And now I call to mind the happy time
When little ones were gathered on my knee,
And tuneful voices sang in sweetest chime
Sweet songs to Jesus in full harmony.
And then was breathed the evening prayer,
And then good night, while little pattering feet
Sprang into bed prepared with mother's care,
And gleeful hearts were wrapped in slumber sweet. But some are sleeping sweetly in the tomb—
Three near our cottage home, one far away—
Till the archangel's trumpet bids them plume
Their little wings, and soar to endless day.
And some to manhood's noble prime have grown,
And others grace of womanhood and beauty wear;
So swift the intervening years have flown,
We scarce can realize these our children are. May the great Father guide our children dear
Through life's uneven journey to the end;
That when our Lord shall come, all may appear
In robes of purest white with him to stand.
Then shall appear the worth of mother love
When sanctified by faith and earnest prayer;
And thou shalt answer to thy Lord above,
“Here are the children that thou gavest me there.
And here I stand, saved by thy precious blood,
(O, dare I hope to stand with them and thee?)
And thou hast made us kings and priests to God,
To reign with him through all eternity." O best of wives! of mothers, surely blest!
Thy children bless thy name; the poor proclaim
Thy charities to them when in distress;
And in the gates thy husband lauds thy name.
May Heaven bless thee! May thy precious life
Be spared to us through many happy years;
The loving mother, the devoted wife,—
Then on Mount Zion may we all appear. Cultivate Cheerfulness
By Carrie Knight
“’Tis easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows by like a song;
But the man worth while is the man
who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong.” We have all, sometime in life, been brought into what seemed hard places. Troubles, either real or imaginary, come into every life. The man or the woman who has learned to smile when things seem to be in a whirlpool has a great advantage over the one who looks on the dark side, gives up, or succumbs to that disease known as the blues. Some persons are rich in the power to be miserable. They seem to welcome the blues as they would an old-time friend, and leave happiness to knock at the door in vain. Many a person would be happy if he would set about it and be the architect of his own happiness, instead of expecting others to make it for him. Happiness is a heavenly plant, and will grow and blossom only in gardens cultivated by the owner. It seems to be so natural for us to imagine that if we were only somewhere else or in another kind of work, were in another city or had a different position, we should be happy. We do not realize that true happiness comes from within, not from without. The woman who is fretful in a cottage would be so in a mansion, and the man who is disgruntled in a village would not be any better humored in a city. This spirit of unrest and unhappiness is too often seen in professed Christians. Such conditions come from lack of faith in God. He that “giveth us richly all things to enjoy,” wants us to be happy; for he says: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” “Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” We are exhorted to “rejoice, and be exceeding glad.” Jesus was called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But is it not just as true that he was acquainted with joy and happiness? It is recorded that he wept; but we do not infer that he was prone to tears. It is generally the exceptional things that are reported. His path was not strewn all the way with roses. His cup was bitter, but his trials, sorrows, and hardships did not blot out his joy and happiness. With death only a few hours off, he spoke cheerily, and said his desire was to give his joy to his disciples. It was joy that he wanted us to have here and now. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Yesterday I stood on the seashore. It was high tide. I saw the waves as they came rolling in, sullen, angry, moaning, and crying; striking some obstacle, they flung themselves upon the shore, seemingly possessed by demons. I drew back in terror, for it seemed that they would sweep on in their fury and engulf the city. But God has said to those mighty, furious waves, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further.” They hear his word and obey his voice. Their fury dies out, and gently and quietly they creep up to our very feet; then recede. If there is power in God’s word to cause inanimate things to obey, why doubt that power when expressed in the words, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them”? Trials will come to polish and fit us for a place in God’s building. We must expect them. I joined a group of men and women, down on the beach, whom I saw digging about in the sand for agates. Soon I had my hands full of pretty stones. I thought they were treasures. On my way home I saw a building on which was this sign: “Agates Polished.” Going inside, I displayed my treasure to a woman experienced in detecting the true from the false.13 She looked them over, applied the test, and said: “Not one of these is good. They will not stand the polishing, but will fly all to pieces when we apply the polishing wheel. At any rate, they will not receive a polish that will reflect the light.” As I dropped my pretty stones through a hole in the sidewalk, I said to them: “You are like many Christians. God applies the iron to polish them, and they either fly all to pieces or else are so soft that they can never be made to reflect his image; and he has to reject them at last.” Sad condition! Let us turn our back to the darkness, and face the light. Let us be of good cheer amid our trials and tribulations; and then victory will be ours. Let us let God make us optimists, for he bids us, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” Home Life Department
By Mrs. C. C. Lewis
Conducted by Mrs. C. C. Lewis, Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences.—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes. MRS. D. A. FITCH
By Mrs. D. A. Fitch
THIS is an age of samples and sampling. The food dealer sets out a sample, hoping he who tastes will be pleased and become a purchaser. The tailor exhibits his sample book, and the man in quest of a new suit is pleased with a certain piece, and the merchant increases his trade by one more order. We may learn good lessons from the customs of the world. Their methods apply to the life of the lover of present truth. You have a neighbor who loves this precious message, but is failing to keep abreast of it and is losing much real encouragement and benefit because of not receiving the periodicals of the denomination. To have all of them is beyond the means of many families, but every Seventh-day Adventist should have the REVIEW, Life and Health, and his own union conference paper. To such families we can furnish samples by lending a copy, calling attention to some particular article we have marked. A taste will call for more. Let us furnish samples. Character Building in the Home
By Helen C. Conard
“SATAN finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.” A common saying, and a true one! Idle boys and girls are not only in great danger themselves, but they are a menace to all other boys and girls with whom they come in contact. It is an imperative duty of parents to furnish work for their children and to teach them to do it in the best way. If at the same time they can be led to love their work, a great victory has been gained in the life of the child. It is easier to do the work oneself than to teach a child to do it, but do not yield to the temptation. Begin very early to place upon the child little burdens of responsibility suited to his years and strength, and use your ingenuity to make the tasks so pleasant that he will never think of their being irksome. Take the children into partnership and see how they will like it. But if you want your boy to grow into a man whose “word is as good as his bond,” see to it that you deal with him as he ought to deal with his fellows in later life. Habits of industry carefully instilled with all that it takes to instill these principles, will lead to frugality. It is not the industrious boy and girl who develop into spendthrifts. They early learn the value of time and money and the folly of squandering either in useless ways. But they must be taught to distinguish between stinginess and economy. Frugality has a twin sister, and her name is generosity. It is only the frugal who can afford to be generous. And here again the child must be taught the difference between generosity and prodigality. He must be taught the careful and judicious expenditure of money; but he must also be taught that the best things for which he gives his money will not yield him a return in kind. He does not expect to get money back when he gives for mission work, but he must not for that reason withhold his gifts; and whether or not he will withhold these depends upon the teaching of the parents and their example. And so trained from babyhood to all these good habits, your boy will be a manly boy; your girl will be a womanly girl. Your children will belong to the choice class of loyal “lifters,” and not to the contemptible class of limp “leaners.” They will be able to hold themselves erect physically, mentally, and morally. They will be self-reliant, able to look their parents squarely in the face, and later to look the world in the face, with that true independence which is the birthright of every man and woman. They will be fitted indeed to bear a pure gospel to the world; for their own lives will be a living demonstration of what that gospel can do for man. But what must the parents be all these years while the boy and girl are in training?—They must be what they want their children to become. And blessed of Heaven are the father and the mother who by the grace of God are sufficient for these things. “Home should be a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love abide; and where these graces dwell, there will abide happiness and peace. Troubles may invade, but these are the lot of humanity. Let patience, gratitude, and love keep sunshine in the heart, though the day may be ever so cloudy. In such homes angels of God abide.” “Let the husband and wife study each other’s happiness, never failing in the small courtesies and little kindly acts that cheer and brighten the life. Perfect confidence should exist between husband and wife. Together they should consider their responsibilities. Together they should work for the highest good of their children. Never should they in the presence of the children criticize each other’s plans or question each other’s judgment. Let the wife be careful not to make the husband’s work for the children more difficult. Let the husband hold up the hands of his wife, giving her wise counsel and loving encouragement.” “No barrier of coldness and reserve should be allowed to arise between parents and children. Let parents become acquainted with their children, seeking to understand their tastes and dispositions, entering into their feelings, and drawing out what is in their hearts. “Parents, let your children see that you love them, and will do all in your power to make them happy. If you do so, your necessary restrictions will have far greater weight in their young minds. Rule your children with tenderness and compassion, remembering that ‘their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.’ If you desire the angels to do for your children the work given them of God, co-operate with them by doing your part.” “Brought up under the wise and loving guidance of a true home, children will have no desire to wander away in search of pleasure and companionship. Evil will not attract them. The spirit that prevails in the home will mold their characters; they will form habits and principles that will be a strong defense against temptation when they shall leave the home shelter and take their place in the world.”—“Ministry of Healing,” pages 303, 304. “It is by the youth and children of today that the future of society is to be determined, and what these youth and children shall be depends upon the home. To the lack of right home training may be traced the larger share of the disease and misery and crime that curse humanity. If the home life were pure and true, if the children who went forth from its care were prepared to meet life’s responsibilities and dangers, what a change would be seen in the world!”—Id., page 351. Things Learned From Experience in the Family Laundry
1. SHAKE the bath towels well, and hang straight on the line to dry. Fold once lengthwise and roll them into a snug roll. In this shape they fit nicely into the available space in chest or drawer, and are readily separated when one is required for use. 2. Beware of starch. Lighter starching on wash day gives better results with lighter labor on ironing day. 3. Ginghams and lawns look fresh and new if starched lightly and ironed on the wrong side. Any rough places may be pressed on the right side when the iron is cooler. 4. Tucks are ironed almost as easily as plain material if first smoothed into shape on the board, and then pressed with a moderately hot iron on the wrong side. A very hot iron scorches and weakens the single fabric between the tucks, and so shortens the durability of the garment. Tucks, laces, and embroideries ironed on the wrong side over a well-padded board retain the effect of detail in design and the freshness in appearance of new goods. 5. Iron the drop under the ruffle of slips and skirts and the bottom hems of dresses on the wrong side. This presses the hem and seams flat, and leaves a polished surface to shed the dust where most exposed to the boot tops and other things liable to soil. 6. To clarify muddy water for laundry or bath, draw sufficient water into a cask or convenient receptacle. Take a large lump of alum and for one minute pass it around through the top of the water, rubbing to dissolve some of the chemical in the water. The alum in the top will precipitate the foreign matter, leaving the water clear and white. A bit of borax for the toilet, or of Javelle water for the laundry, will counteract the influence or tendency of the alum to harden the water, and will render it as soft as rain water. — Selected. “ACTIVITY may lead to evil, but inactivity never leads to good.” “The keenest critic of him who can is he who can’t.” “Conceit may puff a man up, but it can never prop him up.” “Charity giveth itself rich, covetousness hoardeth itself poor.” “It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.” “Struggles, not attainments, measure character.” Ship Mission Work in New York Harbor
By J. L. Johnson
SEVENTEEN years ago I was called to this great seaport to help Capt. John V. Christianson, of the late missionary ship “Pitcairn.” He was at that time engaged in Bible and colporteur work. The following August, he sailed for his home in Norway, and has since been engaged in the same line of work in Hamburg, Germany, and the harbor of Rotterdam, where he is now located. During this time, I have spent two years in Boston harbor, and one summer in Buffalo harbor, on the Great Lakes, with good success, the Lord giving me souls for my hire. I find men of all nationalities on the ships at the different ports in which I have been, but in the great harbor of New York there is a mixed multitude, on steamers, sailing ships, and boats of every kind. About one hundred Danish-Norwegian steamers and sailing crafts enter and clear this port monthly; from one hundred and fifty to two hundred German; fifty Italian; and about five hundred English and American; besides French and South American boats. Then there are the harbor tugs, steam lighters, float boats, scows, and others. These ships and various boats furnish all kinds of nationalities and tongues to be supplied with the message in printed form. For this purpose the yacht “Liberty” carries a supply of reading matter in English, German, Swedish, Danish-Norwegian, Dutch, French, Italian, and Chinese. Many English and German steamers have Chinese crews. Some time ago, the English steamship “Lord Stanley” visited this port. I called to visit with the officers and crew. The captain refused to have any reading matter left in his quarters. After talking with him on the current topics of the world, he remarked, “You Adventists are a very energetic lot of people.” When asked why he made this statement, he said, “Why, we meet you people in China, India, the islands of the sea, in fact, the world over.” What a blessed thing to hear this from a man who makes a voyage around the world twice a year. It shows that the message which started in weakness in 1844 has belted the world and is going with power. Before I left him he said he should like to know something definite about the doctrinal points of the message, so I gave him tracts on all subjects of the message. He remarked that it was the finest lot of reading matter on Bible truth he had ever seen. Seafaring men, as a rule, are great readers, and will read anything that is placed in their hands. I placed on a full-rigged sailing ship bound for Australia, “Daniel and the Revelation,” “Great Controversy,” and “Patriarchs and Prophets,” requesting that they be placed on a return ship. Five months later I received a letter from the captain, saying that he had turned the books over to the “George T. Hay,” which would be due at New York in about six months from the time the letter was written. The master expressed his thanks for the loan of the books, and told how much they were enjoyed. Six months later, on watching the report of incoming ships, I read of the arrival of the “George T. Hay.” Upon visiting it, I found all the officers interested in the books. The chief officer informed me that he and the master of the ship had sat up night after night studying the books and reading the Bible. He said that the voyage seemed the shortest they had ever made, but in very fact it was ten days longer; for it took them one hundred and fifteen days to make the trip from the Philippines to the United States. I sold this lot of books to the master for his own use, also “The Desire of Ages,” “Christ’s Object Lessons,” “The Marvel of Nations,” “Heralds of the Morning,” and some small books. J. L. JOHNSON. Central American Camp Meeting
By Isaac Baker
OUR little camp meeting was held at West End, Ruatan, June 26 to July 5, in a coconut grove by the side of a beautiful little bay called Half Moon Bay. The channel into this bay is so shallow and narrow that steamers cannot enter it, and sailing boats can get in only when the wind is from the right direction. This bay is a good harbor when the wind is from the east, and it is also a fine place for sea bathing, which is much enjoyed in this part of the world. The Lord blessed us with some good rains during the meeting. It had been very dry up to that time, and if the rain had not come we should have had to drink the well water, which is very liable to cause illness. But the rains came and filled the barrels, tubs, and buckets, so we had fresh soft water from the skies to quench our thirst. It was a blessing not only to the campers at the meeting, but to all throughout the islands. Elder J. B. Stuyvesant, his wife and daughter, and Brother Corwin and family were present as helpers from other fields. Elder A. J. Haysmer was to have been here, but, owing to the time and expense required to reach the place, he did not come. He wrote that it would take him two months and would cost two hundred dollars to reach the meeting. The first Sabbath of the meeting there were one hundred present, and the second, one hundred and eleven. The Sabbath school donations for the two Sabbaths amounted to about fifty dollars. Elder Stuyvesant gave us a good talk concerning the Sabbath school and its mission, which was appreciated by all. Sister Stuyvesant had charge of the young people's meetings, and she did a good work. A good sum was given in pledges and cash with which to build a mission home in this conference. All are anxious to see the work completed soon, so we may have permanent headquarters for our work. The three o'clock hour each afternoon in the week until Thursday was devoted to convention work. The first Sunday and Monday were given to the temperance cause. The next two three-o'clock periods were devoted to the Sabbath school work. Papers were read and addresses and recitations given, covering the different phases of the Sabbath school work. We are much pleased to see the progress being made in this work. The offerings for the past year amounted to over $680, while the membership is only a little more than one hundred and fifty. There has not been so much accomplished the past year as we should have liked to see in the young people's work, but there has been a little done in the way of writing letters, providing meals and clothing, and selling and giving away papers and tracts. Some have been taking the Junior Reading Course and have received their certificates for the same. Five precious believers were buried with their Lord in the watery grave the last day of the meeting. Several persons came from Coxen Hole to attend the baptismal services, but reached the place a few minutes too late. They stayed to the services during the day, returning to their homes, a distance of about eight miles, over a bad road late in the day. There were present with us several Spanish-speaking people who have accepted the Sabbath since the camp meeting. We have decided to make a trial of the Harvest Ingathering campaign this fall, for the first time in the history of this conference, I think. We have placed an order for five hundred copies of the Review, and hope we shall need more. We believe that the meetings resulted in a blessing to all, and we trust the Lord will keep us faithful until he shall come to gather his loved ones home. We are glad to report that the message is onward in Louisville, Ky. We have been laboring in this city for over two years, and the Lord has greatly blessed us in adding to his church ninety-nine souls. Aside from these there are a goodly number of Sabbath keepers, some of whom will soon be added to our membership. Just now we are entering upon the fourth week of our second tent effort of the season. Our first effort resulted in several accepting the Sabbath; and the present effort is the best meeting I have ever held. Our tent is filled to overflowing each evening, and the attendance is constantly increasing. The hand of God is surely in this work, moving hearts as we cannot. At this writing about twenty have promised to obey God in keeping the Sabbath of Jehovah, and the hearts of others are stirred. The suitable little church building which we have had for the last two years has added strength to our work in the city, and we praise God for this blessing also. We are surrounded by many large Catholic institutions, and a number of Catholics are attending our services. We long to see the work finished, and all these dear souls gathered around the great white throne. R. S. LINDSAY. Our Great Soul-Winning Campaign
By F. W. Paap
ABOUT ten weeks ago I was invited to take the responsibility of the Home Missionary Department of the North American Division Conference. Almost immediately plans were laid by the brethren for me to attend a number of camp meetings in different parts of the field. Today I desire to say to our people everywhere that the possibilities of this home missionary work, which is God's plan of personal service and labor for perishing souls on the part of every member, is taking possession of and arousing this whole denomination. Although I have been in the field most of the time, yet I have been enabled to get in touch by correspondence with every part of the field. The response has been most gratifying; and from the leaders everywhere we have the assurance that the fullest cooperation will be given. I wish that space would permit my passing on the good things that have thus come to us. Through the columns of our good old denominational voice, the REVIEW AND HERALD, we desire to issue a world-wide proclamation for service. “Let the gospel message ring through our churches, summoning them to universal action. Let the members of the church have increased faith, gaining zeal from their unseen heavenly allies, from a knowledge of their exhaustless resources, from the greatness of the enterprise in which they are engaged, and from the power of their leader. . . . Putting on the armor of heaven, they will go forth to warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that his omnipotence will supply their need.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 14. “God is waiting for men and women to awake to their responsibilities. He is waiting for them to link themselves with him. Let them mark the signal of advance, and no longer be laggards in working out the will of the Lord.” — Id., page 13. “God expects us to impart to others the knowledge that he has given us. It is his purpose that divine and human instrumentalities shall unite in the proclamation of the warning message.” — Id., Vol. IX, page 19. These stirring words should arouse every heart. The writer's purpose in quoting them here is that every believer in this great message might rally to this call to “universal action.” We feel confident that God's call will be respected by all his children. The same intensity of desire to save sinners that marked the life of the Saviour marks the life of his true followers. The Christian has no desire to live for self. He delights to consecrate all that he has and is to the Master's service. He is moved by an inexpressible desire to win souls to Christ. See Volume VII, page 10. Now is the time to enlist. Now is the time to put on the armor. We call upon every believer in this great closing message to take up the work right where he is. Keep in touch with this world-wide advance movement. Seek God for wisdom and the spirit of service. Pray for a burden of soul for the lost. The department stands ready to render every possible assistance. Be sure to get plenty of ammunition for the warfare. The Signs weekly will prove a great help. Tracts in packages have been arranged, and the question of definite territory for a continuous work is important. We shall be glad to learn of your work, and be sure to pass along every item of special interest.