The Riches of the Gentiles by J. E. WHITE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 10, 1908

“The Riches of the Gentiles”

By J. E. WHITE

J. E. WHITE

IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD for August 20, we were glad to read the article from Elder I. H. Evans answering the question, “Shall we solicit donations from those who do not believe this message?” The article quotes from the Testimonies as follows:—

“Several years ago it was presented to me that the Gentile world should be called upon to make donations to our work in the Southern field. Let discreet, God-fearing men go to worldly men that have means, and lay before them a plan of what they desire to do for the colored people. . . . Many of these men, if approached in the right way, will make gifts to the work.”

This is a subject that has been on my mind and heart for years. We have been instructed to approach men of wealth, but how shall we reach them? Such men are usually practical, hard-headed business men, who know the value of the dollars they have accumulated. They seldom respond to appeals of enthusiasts as to some great work they “want to do.” They are busy men, and have little time to devote to the study of new philanthropic enterprises. “What have you done?” and, “What tangible showing of work being done can you present?” These are about the first questions the solicitor will be called upon to answer.

Booker T. Washington points to the great showing of buildings and facilities at Tuskegee. He tells of the many hundreds who assemble in these buildings, and employ the facilities of that institution to train head and hands for the battle of life before them. He tells of the great uplift to his people which results from sending out among them each year this small army of trained men and women. His appeal is practical, and philanthropists are glad to endow his school with hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

The Fisk University, the Walden, the Meharry, and other large schools for the colored people in Nashville and other places, all appeal to the material side of men of wealth. They have something definite and tangible to present, they can point to what they have done and are doing; and they have received millions for their work.

But what can we present to clear-headed, practical men of wealth? This has been the puzzle for years, and has heretofore barred any real, practical work along these lines. Yet all the time, for more than twelve years, there has been quietly growing and developing a practical line of work which now places us upon vantage-ground with any and all of the great colored educational institutions of the South. I refer to the development of the mission school work among the colored people in their homes, right where they live.

The beginning of this work was small, but each effort was successful. It meets the needs of this people where they are. Slowly and steadily through the years has the work broadened, until from the first small school in Vicksburg, Miss., it has increased to thirty, which is the number reported for the present year, distributed among the several States in the South, conducted under the auspices of the Southern Missionary Society.

But how can such a simple work be compared with, and placed by the side of, the great and successful colleges?—Not by outward show, but by real, practical achievement. It will be well to remember that more than one thousand students will this year be enrolled on the registers of the thirty mission schools mentioned. Yet the expense of this wide-reaching work is only a fraction of that of one of the large colleges with a much smaller attendance.

The Southern Missionary Society

works among the people where they live, and where the problem of their lives must be wrought out. Its elevating influence is felt in the home. The grown people, and many times those who have passed the meridian of life, are taught in the home and the night schools to read and understand the simple business problems of every-day life. In the day-school the children are given a thorough training in the fundamental branches of a common education. Gatherings for worship are held in the school building, where the principles of good morals and a clean Christianity are taught. The net result is an uplifting of the whole neighborhood and the surrounding community.

Can we stand for such a work? Can we present it with confidence and assurance to men of means,—men who have been themselves successful in the battle of life, and are looking around for practical opportunities to help their fellow men? I verily believe that a careful preparation for this work, so that it can be presented quickly, practically, and comprehensively, will result in reaching these men as successfully as can the representatives of these great schools and colleges who collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from the North each year.

But our efforts do not end with the mission school. We are prepared to care for the interests of the student who desires to go further than the scope of the mission school permits. The writer has recently visited the Huntsville Academy, and is prepared to testify as to the efficiency of that school in carrying the student as far as he desires to go in fitting himself for a wider sphere of usefulness. The mission school-teachers scattered through the South are watching the progress of the brighter and more enterprising minds in their schools, and open the way for their going to Huntsville to finish their education.

At a camp-meeting in Alabama, not long ago, the one then principal of the Huntsville Academy, in speaking of the advantages of the mission school, said that he was surprised, when examining the Huntsville School roll, to find that the best element of the school was composed of those who had come from the different mission schools.

In presenting our school work to men and women of wealth, we can direct their attention primarily to the uplifting tendency in the home and the neighborhood, and also the fact that from these schools we have sent and are sending to higher fields of usefulness those who have the ability and perseverance to make the necessary preparation. As a direct result of this feature we can point to ministers of the gospel, one graduate physician, nurses, teachers, Bible workers, etc. These useful members of society received their impulse to greater attainments in the mission school, and from there went to an advanced course at Huntsville, Meharry, etc.

An illustrated catalogue of our school work, bringing out properly the leading features of the work as here outlined, will appeal to the liberality of men of wealth, and my faith in God and his promises assures me that they will respond and join the liberality of our own people in providing the necessary funds to send forward this work by leaps and bounds.

The opinions of others will have great weight with worldly men whom we desire to approach. Prof. F. R. Rogers, superintendent of the mission schools of the South, is well and favorably acquainted with the State superintendent of instruction of Mississippi, and can secure from him the best kind of recommendation, as well as from prominent lawyers, bankers, and other influential men. The solicitor should go provided with all the best possible aids when approaching men who are naturally wary of fraud.

To our own people the October offering provides a legitimate channel through which our people can liberally contribute to the support of the work already in progress. It costs money to finance thirty schools where, because of the poverty of the patrons, only a small portion of the expense can be met by the pupils. The cost of one mission school is not large, but where there are thirty, the expense assumes goodly proportions.

With confidence we look forward to a larger offering this year than ever before. Let us not slacken our hands because there is a prospect of reaching outside for help. Let us do our part, and then pray the Lord of the suffering, the afflicted, the down-trodden, to teach us how to present our work to others in such a light as to secure their co-operation.

Nashville, Tenn.