Here is the copy of the resolutions concerning Missionary Volunteer work, which were passed at our camp-meeting:—
“Whereas, The unmistakable hand of God is seen in the mighty forward movement among our youth; therefore,—
“Resolved, That we express to God our heartfelt gratitude for the success in our organized Missionary Volunteer work, and for the willingness of our young people to carry on this work and to labor for other young people.
“Realizing the importance of our youth becoming established in the faith; therefore,—
“We recommend, That the young people of the Southern Idaho Conference be encouraged to reach the Standard of Attainment, which shall require the passing of an examination in the history of our denomination and in the cardinal points of our faith, as provided for by the General Conference Young People’s Department.
“Whereas, Experience has shown that spiritual benefits come from the observance of the morning devotional period; therefore,—
“We recommend, That the young people of this conference adopt the use of the Morning Watch Calendar as an aid in daily morning prayer and Bible study.
“Resolved, That we do all in our power to check the tendencies to worldliness among our young people, holding before them the principles of sacrifice, plainness of dress, and simplicity of life, committed to us as a people.
“Resolved, That we favor the holding of conference and local Missionary Volunteer conventions for the advancement of this important work.
“Whereas, Much of the burden of this message is to be carried by the young people; therefore,—
“Resolved, That their spiritual interests receive our special attention to the end that they may speedily prepare for a definite place in the work.”
MAY BELL.
Kentucky
By DOLLIE H. CALLENDAR
Never before since I have attended camp-meetings, have I seen such an interest manifested by the young people as this year. We held our meetings twice a day,— at 6 A. M. and at 5 P. M. The last Sunday of the meeting we had a special program, which was quite interesting. As a result, three have joined our ranks; one of these, a young woman, has taken up periodical work in order that she may soon enter school.
DOLLIE H. CALLENDAR.
New Mexico
By Roy L. Benton
We had a splendid time at camp-meeting this year. Many of our young people were helped; some, who had given up the fight, re-enlisted in the Master’s service. Personal work and prayer bands had their place in accomplishing these good results. At the last meeting in our youth’s tent, I asked how many would pledge themselves to do all they could the coming year, and nearly all responded. ROY L. BENTON.
California
By B. E. BEDDOE
At the close of each of the three local camp-meetings ten young people were baptized, and we can report nearly thirty conversions at the general camp-meeting. Our daily program in the young people’s work consisted of a devotional service at 6 A. M., general instruction at 8 A. M., and a Bible study at 6 P. M. B. E. BEDDOE.
North Dakota
By B. C. Haak
We had a splendid camp-meeting. A large number of young people were in attendance. Throughout the session young people’s meetings were conducted in both German and English. Thirty young people were baptized; others re-consecrated themselves to God’s service. The young people raised $114 for a tent to be used in the Southern field. Nineteen isolated young people joined the conference society. B. C. HAAK.
M. E
By M. E.
Mrs. Jessie B. Everett, writing of the Montana camp-meeting, says: “Three young soldiers from the near-by fort were converted. Two of these expect to be in our conference school this winter, as soon as they are released. Two other young men were baptized, and these also expect to be in school.” Brother C. S. Prout writes that about twenty young people were baptized at the Colorado camp-meeting. From the New York meeting comes the cheering report of the baptism of twenty-five young people.
M. E
The Opening of Our Schools
By H. R. S.
Reports are already beginning to come in from our schools, telling of the encouraging outlook for the year, as seen from the opening week. The first report to reach me was from Prof. F. Griggs, of —
Union College
He says: “Our school opened yesterday morning with as many students in chapel as at any time for years previously.” This report is especially encouraging when we consider that this year all the foreign departments have been withdrawn, each to its own school, and that new intermediate schools have just been opened in Union College territory.
Prof. C. S. Longacre sends in the following from —
South Lancaster Academy
“Am glad to report that we had one of the finest openings of the academy this year that we have yet had. While the opening day did not see quite as many students present as a year ago, we did not lack any in interest and enthusiasm, and are glad to know that there are many others yet to come. We have no doubt that the enrolment will be about the same as a year ago. The Lord has greatly blessed so far in our work. A little more than a week has passed, and we have had three of the greatest revivals yet experienced in the school. The Lord is blessing us by giving us his Holy Spirit, and precious souls are being converted. An earnest class of young people has gathered here, and the outlook for the coming year is encouraging. We praise the Lord for what he has done for us.”
A cheering report comes from Prof. O. J. Graf for the —
Emmanuel Missionary College
“I am glad to be able to report an encouraging opening for our school. Our opening enrolment is about twenty-five per cent higher than that of last year, and a fine lot of young people they are. We are especially gratified at the progress those have made who have been actively engaged in the Lord’s work the past summer. I am eagerly watching the REVIEW for reports of the opening of our other schools.” And the readers of the REVIEW in the Lake Union Conference and elsewhere, who are eagerly watching for this report, will be thankful for the large increase of students, which means more workers for God.
Prof. M. B. Van Kirk writes from Graysville, Tenn., for the —
Southern Training School
“While the enrolment was not as large as last year, the spirit manifested in the opening session was most pleasing. The fact that the enrolment was somewhat light is due to our closing late last spring, and opening two weeks earlier than usual this fall, thus cutting off the time of our canvassers about a month. The enrolment was largely increased during the first week of school, and at present the attendance is about normal, while a number of prospective students will arrive in a few days. The spirit manifested by the students thus far has been most pleasing. The class work is taken up with real earnestness, and spiritual interests are carried forward in a healthful manner. The students’ prayer-meetings have thus far been encouraging, for the Spirit of God has been present. It is hoped to make these meetings an important factor in the life of the students.”
From still farther down in the Southland comes another good report, this time from Prof. W. J. Blake, of the —
Oakwood Manual Training School
“We are very glad to be able to tell you that our school opened with bright prospects for a successful year. We have already enrolled between fifty and sixty students, and many more will come in as the season advances. One encouraging feature to us is the fact that the majority of our students are of mature minds, and several of them, with a short preparation, will be ready to go out into the field. Our new nurses’ class has already been organized with a membership of five. The Drs. M. M. and Stella C. Martinson are working hard to make this work a success. The sanitarium will soon be finished, and then we shall be able to receive patients; this will give us much practical work for the nurses.”
From still farther away comes a report of the opening of our school at —
St. Thomas, Danish West Indies
where the educational work is proving not only a blessing to the children of our own people, but is also bringing under its influence those not of our faith. Brother H. C. J. Walleker says: “Yours of the sixteenth reached me in due time. Thank you very much for your kindness in securing Brother and Sister Oberg for our school. They reached here in time to open the school on September 5. We have the best school in town, and most of our pupils are from the better class. Several new names are already enrolled, and we trust this number will be increased January 1, which is the beginning of the school year here.”
H. R. S.
Foreign Mission Seminary Opening
In connection with the opening exercises of the Foreign Mission Seminary, several short addresses were made regarding the work of the institution and the growing call for workers in the great world-field. From these addresses we present the following extracts:—
The Founding of the Foreign Mission Seminary
Prof. W. W. Prescott spoke of the conditions leading to the founding of the institution as follows:—
“This Foreign Mission Seminary was not established on theory, with the hope that possibly there might be a demand for such workers as would be prepared here to act a part in this closing message. It was the almost irresistible pressure from the field which led to the taking of the step which meant the opening of a school whose special purpose should be to prepare a class of workers to meet the demands that were upon the Mission Board.
“I remember very well the time, the place, and the circumstances which led up to this decision, and the part which I personally bore in it. To state in a clear way how this came about, I must give a little personal experience.
“Nearly four years ago the Mission Board asked me to go to the far East, to visit our mission work in Japan and Korea, and especially in China, and then to come on to Europe to join in the council which was to be held in Switzerland the following May. It was this experience on my own part which perhaps aided in coming to a decision concerning this Seminary. I spent some months in those countries, and for the first time in my experience was brought face to face with what seems to me the very large end of our work,—the carrying of the message to the millions and the hundreds of millions who know not God, and who know nothing of Christ.
“For several months I faced the question of how this was to be accomplished.19In traveling through Japan and Korea, and from north to south in China, and in attending the council meetings held in different places, I was amazed, and oft-times overwhelmed, with the situation before us,—a few workers and a tremendous field. People, people, people everywhere, hundreds of millions and hundreds of millions scattered over an immense territory; and yet the message must be given to these people in this generation. We studied the situation, and the least we could seem to do—and that seemed so little—was to request the Mission Board to send out at once five families for Japan, two families for Korea, and ten families for China,—seventeen families in all for the immense territory in the far East.
“I came to Switzerland from these meetings we had held. Brother G. B. Thompson came from his visit to India, and presented his calls; Brother G. A. Irwin came from his trip to South Africa, and presented his calls; a call by letter was made from Brother J. W. Westphal, of South America; and, knowing something of the condition, I began to fear for those seventeen families. What hope, after all, was there that even this small number could be secured and sent out? The fields were before me day and night, and I wondered how the thing could be accomplished.
“One day the committee met by itself in a tent apart from the main sessions of the council, and we began to study together seriously what we had to face. Almost a sense of depression rested upon our minds in view of those calls, which from the standpoint of the field seemed so small, and yet from the standpoint of the Mission Board, when they came together and took note of the resources, seemed beyond their power to meet. In our talk I stated before the brethren of the committee the urgent, imperative demand that there should be a special effort put forth to prepare workers to meet these pressing calls from the great fields. There was an immediate, almost a surprising, response; and as one after another spoke, all seemed to be deeply impressed that this was the step to take, and then was the time to take it, that we could no longer delay. Right there the decision was practically made that this institution should become at once, in spite of the announcement already made, such a training-school, to prepare those who should go into the fields.
“The brethren returned to this country, and carried out the decisions made at that council; and this institution was opened for this express purpose. That the step was justified, the experience of these three years, and the present situation, have demonstrated. Instead of the call growing less imperative, it is continually increasing, until from day to day we know not what to do or where to turn to find those who can fill the calls that come in from these fields.
“This Seminary ought to be the very place where the atmosphere of the outside fields shall be breathed constantly, and where the students become accustomed to the idea that they are foreigners and sojourners, that they are simply under call, ready for any place. The need of special preparation for such work, the need of something distinct and different in atmosphere and association, from that which can be obtained under any other circumstances, is apparent to any one who has studied this problem. This is a place for giving a training for a special work; this is a place for training, not simply in special doctrines, but for catching an inspiration and zeal for carrying forward such a work as is called for at this time.”
The Call of the Fields
Speaking of the call of the fields, Elder W. A. Spicer said:—
“September is a cheering month in our work; for hundreds of schools are swinging open their doors. It means thousands of young Seventh-day Adventists turning again to another year’s work of preparation for the missionary fields.
“We thank God for the sound of marching feet that comes to us from the church-schools, intermediate schools, and colleges. And we thank God for this little band in the Foreign Mission Seminary this morning. You are nearest of all, perhaps, to the mission fields; for this Seminary is a wide gate through which a stream of missionary recruits must keep pressing into the fields.
“The Lord told David that when he heard the sound of a going—of a marching—among the mulberry trees, it was a signal to him to go forth to battle. It was not merely the wind blowing in the trees; I think it was the sound of marching angels; it was the Lord himself leading the hosts of Israel on to victory. I thank God that to-day we hear the sound of marching; that the angels of God are all astir, and are leading the Lord’s people to arouse to the finishing of the work. I am sure the echo of the sound of this marching is heard across the seas in these different lands where they are praying for workers.
“The calls for recruits are coming by every mail from across every sea. Long-neglected calls are still insistent, and new ones are rolling in. Every land is a Macedonia, crying, Come over and help us.
“The calls are not to impossible tasks. The Lord wants men and women who know the way of forgiveness of sin, to go out and tell sinners the way of salvation. This Seminary must send forth help this year. I am not sure just how the classes in the Seminary will feel if the Mission Board keeps saying, Here we need help; you must let some of the class go at once. One of the best things in connection with the plan of the Seminary is that here we shall have a certain reserve ready to respond at short notice. A few days ago I was in Brussels, Belgium’s capital, which heard the booming signal of the guns that opened one of the world’s greatest conflicts, at Waterloo. You will remember that the generals who had the disposition of those armies on either side took pains to have picked regiments, not located at any definite place, but held in reserve, so that from whatever point there came the cry for help, they could respond immediately. Now this Seminary can not supply all the help needed; the workers must come from every side; but right here we shall have a little reserve of men and women ready to spring at the instant, to answer the call of emergencies away at the ends of the earth. I am sure every one of you came with the knowledge that the calls are coming, and that the next call may mean you. So let us get ready for it, by the grace of God.”
“Ministry of Healing” in German
By L. A. HANSEN
We are glad to announce that “Ministry of Healing” in German is now ready for delivery. Shipments have recently been received from Hamburg. The book is uniform in style with our English relief edition, with the addition of a few full-page illustrations, and with a few changes that make it better adapted for its special use. It is excellent in workmanship, and our brethren in Hamburg deserve credit for the manner in which they have responded to our needs. They have made a special effort to produce this edition in as short a time as possible, and yet have done the best kind of work.
Our brethren of the Review and Herald and the Pacific Press publishing associations have also united in meeting the needs for foreign books. They have taken between them the supply of foreign books, and are carrying the investment necessary. These institutions should not be allowed to have money tied up unnecessarily,—a thing which they are not really prepared to do. Neither should the books be permitted to lie idle.
Let the people now do their part. While our foreign-speaking brethren in this country will expect to do their share in the sale of our German and Scandinavian books, there will also be need and opportunity for many of our English-speaking brethren to sell books in the other languages.
The price of the German book is the same as for the English, and it is to be had in the same way, through the regular distributing centers. A shipment of the Scandinavian edition is expected soon.
L. A. HANSEN.
Christian Education
By H. R. SALISBURY
Conducted by the Department of Education of the General Conference
H. R. SALISBURY - - - - - Secretary
Further Suggestions Regarding the Fourth-Sabbath Home Missionary Service
(To be held Oct. 22, 1910)
To the Elder or Missionary Leader
(Not to be read publicly)
How to Organize a Small Church Tract Society
Membership.—As indicated in last week's REVIEW, the membership of the church missionary society includes all church-members; and if there is in the church a Missionary Volunteer society, each member is also a member of the church missionary society, as are also all church-school children.
Church Missionary Committee.—In a small church having no Missionary Volunteer society and no church-school, this committee will be made up as follows:—
Elder or leader.
Missionary secretary, formerly known as the librarian.
Sabbath-school superintendent.
Officers.—In such a small church the officers of the missionary society would consist of only the following:—
The elder or leader.
The missionary secretary (librarian).
It is, of course, advisable that the church elder should be the leader of the church missionary society. In some cases, however, it may be advantageous for the church to elect a missionary leader to act in conjunction with the elder and the church missionary secretary. But whichever plan is followed, it is absolutely essential that there be a missionary leader in each church and company of believers. In this connection it will be well to heed the advice given by Bishop Hall, who, upon being asked what would revive a dead church, replied, “Give it a missionary leader.”
Select a Good Missionary Secretary.—The success or failure of all home missionary enterprises in our churches and organized companies is largely dependent upon the character and ability of the missionary secretary. Great care should be exercised by the church in the selection of this officer. Women as well as men have proved to be efficient workers in this capacity.
Agent for the Church
The missionary secretary acts as agent for the church in all home tract and missionary transactions. He should be a veritable “bureau of information,” to which each member may apply for needed instruction regarding all of the twenty-six kinds of missionary work indicated in the individual missionary report blank, a portion of which, at least, each member is asked to fill out every week.
Training an Assistant
The church that is blessed with a wide-awake, efficient missionary secretary will do well to hesitate long before electing an untried member to this office. The keeping of the financial records of the church missionary society and the many other details connected with the office, demand that whoever succeeds a reliable officer of this kind shall have had a sufficient course of training to enable him to make a success of the work. Hence the advisability of appointing an assistant missionary secretary in each church.
Duties of the Missionary Secretary
Among the more important duties of the church missionary secretary are the following:—20
1. To take an active supervision of the church tract and missionary work, securing co-operative effort by adults, Missionary Volunteers, and the children.
2. To study carefully the character and talents of each member, with the view of enlisting him as an active working factor in distributing our publications and doing other kinds of home missionary work.
3. To pass on to the members the latest information regarding new publications, methods of work, etc., received from the conference tract society office and other sources.
4. To order all tracts, papers, and books for the members.
5. To secure renewals of periodical subscriptions from members, and forward the same to the conference tract society.
6. To report promptly to the conference tract society secretary interesting missionary items, conversions through the efforts of members, special campaigns, etc.
7. To be an actual leader, teaching the members by example as well as precept, how to do home missionary work. This does not mean that his personal efforts will always be crowned with success; in fact, his very failures will prove an encouragement to those thinking themselves unable to do anything.
8. To place our church paper, the REVIEW, in every family.
9. To secure subscriptions for individual clubs of five or more copies of our missionary periodicals, the Signs of the Times weekly and the Gospel Sentinel.
10. To keep the church list of missionary names and addresses, and supervise the mailing of missionary periodicals at the weekly missionary meeting.
11. To instruct the members in the science and practise of writing missionary letters to accompany the tracts and periodicals mailed.
12. To secure, from the conference tract society office or from other sources, lists of purchasers of our literature, legislators, attorneys, clergymen, school-teachers, etc., to be used in mailing missionary periodicals and in missionary correspondence.
13. To act as treasurer of the fourth-Sabbath offerings and of all other literature or church missionary society funds.
14. To sell literature to members on a cash basis.
15. To settle monthly all church literature bills due the conference tract society.
16. To keep accurately all literature accounts with members and with the conference tract society office.
17. To keep a permanent record of all church missionary work.
18. To assign territory to members for the distribution or sale of literature.
19. To systematize and organize the distribution of tracts by the envelope, or package, system.
20. To promote the distribution of tracts and missionary periodicals by the means of reading-racks.
21. To search out suitable candidates for the sale of the ten-cent magazines and our subscription books.
22. To supervise the sale of our forty-per-cent, or “home workers,” books.
23. To promote medical missionary and Christian Help work.
24. To urge the supplying of public libraries and other similar institutions with copies of our standard books, periodicals, and magazines.
25. To submit to the church missionary committee definite plans for the weekly missionary meeting, the fourth-Sabbath home missionary service, special missionary campaigns, etc. 26. To send a full monthly report to the conference tract society secretary.
The performance of these and other duties certainly requires that the church shall select as its missionary secretary one of its most consecrated, energetic, and able members. It should be remembered, too, that our conference tract society must look to churches favored with such missionary secretaries for the material out of which conference and union conference missionary secretaries are made.
This array of the duties of the church missionary secretary should not discourage the candidates for this important office. Great and difficult tasks are always accomplished one at a time, or item by item. Approached in this way, the mountains of difficulty are easily overcome, and strength is developed for surmounting even greater difficulties. Not all lines of missionary work can be carried on at once. Let the missionary secretary assign to the various members work according to their various talents, and let him lead out vigorously in some line with which he is most familiar. Thus, step by step, the working capacity of the church will be increased.
The Missionary and Publishing Work
Notes, Plans, Reports, Statistics, and Other Information Regarding Missionary Endeavor and the Circulation of Gospel Literature.
Conducted by the Missionary and Publishing Department of the General Conference.
E. R. PALMER - - - - Secretary
N. Z. TOWN - - - - Assistant Secretary
A. J. S. BOURDEAU - - - - Missionary Secretary