Camp Meetings in the Southeastern Union by F. W. Paap

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 20, 1916

Camp Meetings in the Southeastern Union

By F. W. Paap

This year the annual camp meetings of the Southeastern Union Conference were held earlier than usual in all the local conferences save Florida. It was the privilege of the writer to share in the labor and blessings of these annual gatherings. The arrangements were such that the workers from outside these conferences could remain till the close of each camp meeting, and then have a few days' rest before the opening of the next camp meeting.

It was a great pleasure to meet the workers and believers in this interesting field. The attendance of our people was not large, but those who came entered into the spirit of the meeting, and at the close of the several gatherings testified that they had enjoyed a rich blessing. The business of the conferences passed off smoothly, and all returned to their work with renewed consecration and a firmer determination to win souls to Christ.

To secure a larger attendance of the public, special field days were appointed, and careful plans laid whereby a personal invitation, with free literature, was given to every family. These occasions were seasons of refreshing.

We were glad to witness the spirit of liberality shown by all in supporting the work both at home and in the regions beyond. This spirit was especially noticeable at the North Carolina camp meeting. On the last Sabbath, at the conclusion of a mission talk, more than $800 was provided in cash and pledges, while on the following morning more than $1,200 in cash and pledges was given for the local work.

In all these meetings a spirit of real consecration was shown. Sins of omission and sins of commission were confessed and forgiven. Considerable back tithe was paid, and there was a determination to get right with God, to prepare to do his will, and to get ready to meet the King in his beauty.

Several changes were made in the officers and the departments of the different conferences, and definite shape was given to the work in each conference. With confidence in God and faith in the movement, all returned to their homes and to their fields of labor, determined to do more for God than ever before. A more loyal and self-sacrificing people you will not find anywhere than we have in the conferences of the Southeastern Union.

Besides the writer, there were present at all these meetings the union and local conference workers; we were also favored with a short visit from Professor Sorenson, at Fairburn, Ga., and Professor Machlan, at Statesville, N. C.

F. W. Paap.