Report of the North American Foreign Department
By O. A. Olsen
This department was first launched at the General Conference in 1905. The work among the foreigners in this country, especially among the Germans and Scandinavians, had taken on such large proportions that in order to further prosecute the work successfully, and to provide for its continued growth and development, a Foreign Department organization seemed necessary. The General Conference could thus be in closer touch with the work, not only among the Germans and Scandinavians, but also all the other foreign nationalities, and render it such assistance and supervision as the needs of the work might indicate. Elder G. A. Irwin was appointed its first secretary, and, in connection with his many other duties, did much to get the department organized and the work started. Four divisions were formed, with a superintendent in charge of each; namely, The German West division, comprising the country west of the Mississippi River, with Elder G. F. Haffner as superintendent; the German East division, comprising the territory east of the Mississippi River, with Elder O. E. Reinke as superintendent; the Swedish division, with Elder S. Mortenson as superintendent; the Danish-Norwegian division, with Elder L. H. Christian as superintendent. This arrangement has proved very satisfactory, and a great blessing to the work, systematizing and unifying the interests, and advancing the message among these various nationalities. Thus a good foundation was laid for further growth and development. At the General Conference of 1909 a further advance step was taken in the appointment of a department secretary who could give his entire time and attention to the extension and development of the message among all these foreign nationalities in our land. From government statistics we learn that the foreign-born, together with their immediate descendants, number at the present time from thirty-five to forty million in the United States alone. This foreign element is estimated at forty-six per cent of our country's population. The number of languages and dialects spoken here is about sixty or more. When the foreign population of Canada, which is several millions more, is added, it will readily be seen what a large and important field this is. To get a more correct view of this immigration problem, you must understand that it is not only foreigners who have come in past years, but those who still continue to come in enormous numbers year after year. In 1905 for the first time more than a million immigrants landed on our shores. In 1907 the tide rose to 1,285,349,—a larger number than the entire population of Nebraska at its last census, and more than the single population of over twenty of the States in the Union. The immigration fluctuates, of course, but during the past ten years the number of foreigners coming to this country has averaged nearly a million a year. It is impossible for the casual observer to form any correct idea of the vastness, and, consequently, the importance of this foreign population in our midst. This foreign element has already become so large and general that one writer says: “New England is foreign today. The Middle States are foreign today. Not only the great cities, but the smaller towns as well; not only the small towns, but the hillsides; not only the hillsides, but the valley farms, are peopled with men and women who have strange faces and strange ways.” He might also have included the broad prairies of the West, for the foreigners are everywhere. One writer has described our large cities as follows: “New York is a city in America, but it is hardly an American city. Boston is an Irish city; Chicago is a German-Scandinavian-Polish city; St. Louis is a German city; and New York is a Hebrew-German-Irish-Italian-Bohemian-Hungarian city, a cosmopolitan race conglomeration. Eighteen languages are spoken in a single block. In public school No. 29 no less than twenty-six nationalities are represented. “Nor is this true of New York alone. In thirty-three of our largest cities the foreign population is larger than the native. In Milwaukee and Fall River the foreign percentage rises as high as eighty-five per cent. In all these cities the foreign colonies are as distinct and practically as isolated socially as though they were in Russia or Poland, Italy or Hungaria. Foreign in language, customs, habits, and institutions, these colonies are separated from one another as well as from the American population by race, customs, and religion.”—“Aliens or Americans.” Such is the situation and peculiar condition of our country—here we find every nation and tongue on earth. It presents a condition different from anything we have in any other part of the world. While the field is difficult and complicated, it is, nevertheless, a field of great possibilities from the missionary standpoint. One writer says: “‘Save America and you save the world.’ Through immigration the United States is in a unique sense the most foreign country and the greatest mission field on the globe. All people that on the earth do dwell have their representatives there, gathered by a divine ordering within easy reach of the gospel. Through them the world may be reached in turn. Every foreigner converted in America becomes directly or indirectly a missionary agent abroad, spreading the knowledge of the truth among his kindred and tribe. The greatness of the opportunity is the measure of obligation.” Yes, a marvelous mission field indeed! The Present Status of the Work
As the several superintendents will each present a full report of their respective divisions, I shall confine myself merely to a brief summary of each, as follows:— The work among the Germans and Scandinavians is making good progress. The French work is being revived. At the last General Conference there was not a single active worker among the millions of French in either the United States or Canada. Now we have three ministers and one Bible worker, and several prospective laborers in preparation. This presents an encouraging advance in the French division. During the past four years a splendid work has been begun among the Russians of North Dakota. At the present time we have seven organized churches there, with a membership of over two hundred. Very urgent calls for Russian laborers are being received from North Dakota and other parts of the country. Another encouraging feature is the increasing interest among the Jews. The earnest work of Elder F. C. Gilbert, and the literature that has been circulated among them, are beginning to bear fruit, and the outlook is very promising. Since the last General Conference two divisions, each with a superintendent, have been added to the Foreign Department; namely, the Jewish, with Elder Gilbert as superintendent, and the French, with Elder G. G. Roth superintendent. This now makes six divisions in the North American Foreign Department. From summarized reports from the Germans and Scandinavians we have gathered the following statistics: Ordained ministers, 73; licentiates, 24; Bible workers, 38; number organized churches, 226, with a membership of 7,405; baptized during the quadrennial period, 2,453; added to the church, 2,429; number new churches organized, 42. We are glad to report that in New York City we have a church for Hungarians, with a membership of forty-one; another for Italians, with twenty-eight members; and one for Bohemians, with eight members. In Newark, N. J., we have a Slovak-Bohemian-Polish church, with a present membership of thirty-three. During 1912 they built a nice chapel, costing five thousand dollars, which will prove a great blessing to the work. It might be interesting to mention here that recently we have had the joy of ordaining to the ministry Brother John Sivak, who is the first Hungarian Seventh-day Adventist minister in this country. At Rouleau, Saskatchewan, Canada, we have a very active church, with thirty-nine members, composed of Roumanians, Bohemians, and Servians. A small beginning has been made among the Finns in Brooklyn, N. Y.; among the Roumanians in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Italians in Chicago. Thus the truth is reaching out and gathering in precious jewels from among these foreign nationalities. In every place where earnest work is done the results are encouraging. We have a few isolated believers among the many hundreds of thousands of other nationalities, but not a single worker. They present a very large and important but unworked mission field. Chicago is the third largest Bohemian center in the world, yet we have not a single laborer there. Chicago is also a great Polish center, but no effort is made to carry them the message. The same may be said of scores of other foreign nationalities in our midst. The beginning of the educational work among foreigners dates back to the winter of 1885-86, when the first Scandinavian Bible school was held in Chicago, Ill., by Elder J. F. Hansen. During 1886 a similar school was conducted by Elder Conradi among the Germans in Milwaukee, Wis. In 1889 we had Scandinavian and German departments in connection with Battle Creek College. These beginnings were more fully crystallized7and developed when the regular German, Swedish, and Danish-Norwegian departments took on a permanent form with the opening of Union College, in 1891. The opening of these foreign departments at that time was a very important step, and has proved a great blessing to the work. The next important advance move was taken when the General Conference Committee in council at College View, Nebr., in October, 1909, decided to close out the foreign departments at Union College and establish in their place three separate schools—one for the Germans, another for the Swedes, and a third for the Danish-Norwegians. The first to locate were the Danish-Norwegians, who found a very providential opening at Hutchinson, Minn.—a vacant college building in good repair which had been erected by the Lutherans. This, together with a farm of one hundred sixty acres, was purchased at the nominal price of $22,250. The present value of the entire property, including all the improvements that have since been made, is estimated at $48,885. The whole is free from debt. The second to locate were the Swedes, who selected a farm of seventy-eight acres, with good buildings, at Broadview, Ill., thirteen miles west of Chicago. For this they paid $20,000. The improvements made have increased this to $37,670, of which about half has been paid, and good pledges are on hand with which to meet the whole cost. The German division found a providential opening at Clinton, Mo., where a large college building, in good repair, with 112 acres of land, was secured for $27,600. The improvements that have been made have raised the value of the property to $95,887. There is still some debt on the property, but this is covered by good pledges, which, when paid, will place the school free from debt. These three seminaries opened school on Sept. 27, 1910—less than one year after the action was taken by the General Conference to establish them. The undertaking was large, and still more important, and means much to the success of the work among these nationalities. There were many difficulties to be mastered, but the blessing of the Lord has attended our efforts in a most marked manner. The first school year was a decided success; the attendance at each seminary was larger than was looked for. The second year was better, and the third, now just closed, has been still better in every way. During the last year more than three hundred students have been enrolled in these three foreign seminaries. Mention must also be made of our Russian department at the Sheyenne River Academy, North Dakota, and the French department at the South Lancaster Academy. These two are small beginnings, but, nevertheless, of much importance to the work, for the great need among these foreign nationalities is workers to bear the message to their own people. During the quadrennial period our department has put forth earnest efforts in the matter of circulating our literature in foreign tongues. In January, 1910, the International Publishing Association at College View, Nebr., began to issue three thirty-two-page quarterly magazines, one each in the German, Swedish, and Danish-Norwegian. This was something of an experiment, but we are glad to say that it has proved a real success. We have also had two issues of a thirty-two-page French magazine printed, and the prospect is that this may soon become a permanent quarterly like the others. In addition to the German, Scandinavian, and French, we are also distributing literature printed in the Hungarian, Roumanian, Italian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Finnish languages, as well as the Chinese Signs of the Times, from China. These papers are taken in clubs, and we are glad to furnish these and others as we can get people to circulate them. We have also distributed smaller literature in many foreign tongues in this country, but not nearly as much as we ought to have done. We need a decided awakening in the matter of the circulation of our literature in foreign tongues. There is a call for more small tracts and leaflets on various subjects for general distribution, as well as for books costing from twenty-five to seventy-five cents. Much can be done to bring the message to all these foreigners in our midst by the liberal use of literature. A Mission Field of Great Possibilities
This foreign population of North America presents a mission field of great possibilities, the importance of which has not been appreciated. As a people we have shown great interest in foreign missions and have exerted ourselves to the utmost to bring the message to the nations and peoples of far-away lands. All that is good, and no one will say that we have done too much. But it is a fact that while we have done this we have greatly neglected the same class of people that a divine providence has brought to our own shores, yes, to our very doors. We may think that because they are in America no special effort need to be made to bring them the gospel. That is a great mistake. Are not the Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Bohemians, Slavs, Roumanians, and a score of others that have come to this country, as needy of the gospel as are these same people in their home land?—Most certainly. As a people we shall be sorely negligent of duty if this home mission field is left unworked. The foreigner is by no means barren soil, as wherever earnest work has been put forth among any class of these foreigners, the results have been just as satisfactory as anywhere else. The beginning may be small and somewhat slow, but the final outcome compares well with the best. Look at the results from the efforts among the many nations and peoples of Europe—they are all so gratifying; study the results of the efforts among the same nationalities here in the States,—the Germans, Scandinavians, French, Hungarians, Slovaks, Roumanians, Italians, Spanish, Dutch, and others,—and they are equally encouraging. But this home foreign field, with the exception of Germans and Scandinavians, has been greatly neglected. That it presents difficulties we admit, but they are not insurmountable, by any means. All that is needed in this home foreign field is to adopt these same plans which have proved successful among the foreign tongues of other lands. What Shall We Do About It?
The foreign field abroad is directly under the supervision of the General Conference. The best of laborers who have spent much time and money in preparation, are selected from the home field and sent abroad, and funds are provided for their support. The foreigners at home come under the supervision of the State or local conference. The course that the General Conference has pursued toward the fields abroad is what the local conference should have taken toward the foreign field at home. Wherever this has been done, the results have been as favorable here as there. Workers of proper experience and adaptability, persons with a passion for souls, whether American or European, must be set apart to lead out among the Italians, Hungarians, Roumanians, Portuguese, Slovaks, Poles, Bohemians, Servians, and many others, not in a desultory manner, but in real earnest, just as they would were they in a foreign land. Then, as individuals from these various nations and tongues accept the truth, this home foreign missionary should assist and instruct them to labor for their own people. Under such leadership, they would be successful; but left to themselves, they would utterly fail. While this foreign home field properly belongs under the supervision of the local conferences, we find that some of them, though appreciating their responsibility to the foreigner, after contributing their part in men and funds to the general work, are unable to meet the calls from the foreign field at home because of a lack of laborers and means. Especially is this the case with the conferences within whose borders are found our largest and most populous cities. This situation calls for special consideration. During the past two years we have been favored with a small appropriation from the General Conference, which we appreciate very much. With the aid of this we have been able to help out the needs in many places and set a few people to work, which could not have been done otherwise. But what has been done must be increased from time to time. Not only funds but workers must be selected to lead out among these various nationalities, especially in our largest cities. The North American Foreign Department has no independent organization or executive power, but does its work under the direction of the General Conference, as advisory, through the regular organized union and local conferences. We greatly appreciate the hearty cooperation that we have met during the past quadrennial period in our efforts to promote and advance the message among the various foreign nationalities. Our department will continue to follow this plan in its work to the fullest extent, and we hope that we may continue to have the confidence and recognition so necessary to the accomplishment of the greatest possible good. Our greatest difficulty is the supplying and adjustment of workers. The home foreign field is large, its needs great, and the calls many, but the laborers are so few when compared with the demands. We study the field and its needs, not only in one or two conferences, but in all of488them, and in our efforts to meet the demands satisfactorily in the various places, we especially need the cooperation of our local conference officers. The Foreign Department of our General Conference is now fairly under way. Four years ago we had only the most limited ideas of the largeness of this foreign population and its needs. Since then we have made a careful study of this immigration problem. However, so far we have hardly more than laid a foundation for the work among them. Now we stand at a point where aggressive efforts must rapidly be put forth to raise the structure. The conditions will never be more favorable. But we need a new and fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit, giving power and efficiency to the work. We need the continued and hearty cooperation of our local and union conferences in whose territory these foreigners live. We need workers filled with the love of God and a passion for souls to go into highways and hedges to labor for these people of many tongues. We need proper literature for liberal distribution. We need funds with which to meet expenses. Our courage is good; the outlook is promising; and the harvest is certain, for God will give the increase.