Twenty-Seventh Meeting

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 12, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 24.

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Twenty-Seventh Meeting

June 2, 10 A. M.

L. R. Conradi in the chair.

I. J. Hankins offered prayer.

L. R. Conradi: Are there any reports from standing committees?

Guy Dail: The committee on plans has a further partial report to submit (reading):—

Report on Plans

Whereas, It is extremely important that immediate and aggressive efforts be put forth for our children and youth who are too young to join the Missionary Volunteer Society,—

Resolved, That all union and local conference Missionary Volunteer secretaries take hold of the junior work at once, adopting plans and methods designed to organize and build up this work.

Whereas, There is the utmost need of preserving the cause of God from the harm that might be occasioned by the enrolment in one field of members dismissed in another, or by the employment in one field of laborers that have been dropped from the list of workers in another; we therefore,—

22. Recommend, (a) That the transfer of membership from one church to another or from one field to another, be effected only by means of church letters of recommendation.

(b) That no laborer who has been dropped in one field be reengaged in another without a thorough examination of the case on the part of the conference officers proposing his employment.

On motion to adopt, the consideration of the report was deferred.

During this meeting Elder R. C. Porter gave a report of the excellent progress of the work in the South African Conference.

During his report Brother Porter described the meeting in which pledges were being taken to relieve the sanitarium of debt. He said: We asked each one to pray that God would instruct him how much to give. The Spirit of the Lord fell upon the congregation, and the sweet Spirit of Christ melted almost every heart to tears. There was no time but half of the congregation were weeping,—just a quiet, subdued spirit of weeping,—both ministers and people. After the pledges had been taken in the regular course, I tried to close the meeting. I was afraid to have them give more, for fear of a reaction, when they would feel that they had overdone it. But one brother arose and said that if his wife were there, he knew she would like to give $25, and so he would pledge that amount for her, and if she did not pay it, he would. That spirit was taken up, and again the pledging went through the whole congregation.

Then, when I tried to close after that, another brother arose and said that if his children were there, they would each like to give $5, and he would like to add that much to his pledge. He said if they did not pay it, he would. And that wave went through the whole congregation. I tried to close a third time. Then a brother arose, and said that if our deceased Elder Williams, who had been president of the conference, and was always a liberal man, were there, he would like to contribute toward the relief of the indebtedness of these institutions. So he wished to place a pledge, which he would pay, in the name of Elder Williams. That was also caught by the congregation, and went through the entire meeting.

When we came to close the meeting at last, I turned to Elder Edmed, and asked him to close the meeting with prayer. He was standing there weeping, and he said, “I cannot pray; I am too full for utterance.” I turned to Professor Elffers, but he gave me a similar reply. That feeling seemed to be all through the entire camp. But we did close with prayer, and thanked God for his presence with us.

Then the question was raised: “Will these pledges be paid? Are they good? or have the people overdone it?” But we said, “The Lord has given the people a heart to pledge, and he will give them a heart to pay.” Before I came away, an amount equal to the sum pledged that day had been paid in and applied on the indebtedness. It was the most remarkable manifestation of God’s taking a meeting into his own hands of any I have ever witnessed.

I may say further that at both the Solusi and Barotseland stations last year we were confronted with drought conditions. It was reported from there that unless they had rain inside of a week the crops would be a failure. The church and the mission stations all united in prayer that God would send us rain. And God answered our prayers. At Solusi a cloud hovered over the mission station, and it rained on the mission farm alone, while all the rest of that country was dry. The missionaries believed that God sent that rain in direct answer to prayer, and it increased their faith in God. We had other droughts afterward, and again in answer to prayer the mission farms received rain, while other parts of the country were dry. Afterward, the report went out through the country that our farms were cared for by God, and we received invitations from people that had hitherto been prejudiced against us, to come and open up schools in their neighborhood.

L. R. Conradi: We are surely all thankful for this good report.

H. S. Becker then read a report from G. H. Clark, canvassing agent of the South African field. The Tsungwesi Mission, in Mashonaland, was reported by M. C. Sturdevant, who stated that in place of ten minutes allowed to his report, he wished he had ten hours to speak to the Conference concerning the interesting features connected with his field. F. B. Armitage of the Zulu Mission reported the work of that field, and related the interesting manner in which the Spion Kop Zulu station was secured. J. C. Rogers reported the work of the Central African Mission, with which he was connected for years. The Conference adjourned.