p. 417 | A Missionary Potato

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 14, 1882

A Missionary Potato.

The Charleston (S. C.) Christian Advocate tells a story of a missionary potato. Two poor but pious boys named Holt, who went to a little backwoods church in Southern Illinois, were regretting that they had not even a nickel to give to the heathen, for whom a contribution was to be taken up that day. Seeing a potato which some one had dropped, one of them said, half in fun, "You remember about the widow's mite; we might give that potato." The other agreed; but the plan at first proposed, to cut the tuber in two and each put a half on the plate when it came round, was changed. That would hardly look well, and might make trouble unless they had an opportunity to explain; so they agreed to take the potato home; plant it in a good spot, and donate the proceeds to the missions. In the fall, the Lord of the harvest blest it, and they raised forty-one splendid potatoes. Sold at the ordinary price, they would not have brought more than twenty-five cents, perhaps, but the Holt boys were as ingenious as they were pious, and after washing them carefully, they pasted on each a slip of paper, on which these words were written: "This is a missionary potato; its price is ten cents; it will be sold only to one who is willing to take a pledge that he will plant it in the spring, and give every one of its children to missions." When there was to be an all-day meeting at the church, with visitors from abroad, they took their potatoes along, and they went off like hot cakes, enabling the Holt boys to contribute the handsome little sum of $2.05 each for the conversion of the world. But the final results of this missionary potato enterprise, if the scheme of the brothers Holt is faithfully carried out, will be to fill the mission treasury to bursting, and drug the market to an extent hitherto unprecedented.—Sel.