Sharing With Mission Fields
By Elder F. M. Burg
Extract From the Annual Address of the President, Elder F. M. Burg, to the Western Oregon Conference
I WISH to submit at this point what has appealed to me very strongly during the past year, and with special force since attending the General Conference, where the needs of the vast world fields were presented in such a touching manner, and where was presented the necessity that such a policy be adopted in our work for the world as only can be regarded consistent with the extent of the field and the very little time we have in which to complete the work. In the first place, there ought to be a much larger tithe paid into the Lord's treasury than is being received at the present time. It was suggested at the General Conference, upon what I must regard as a reasonable estimate, that if a full tithe were paid, the amount now paid per capita ($10.74, amount in our conference) would be nearly, if not quite, doubled. If the question arises as to why there is not more nearly an adequate amount of tithe paid by our people, I feel safe in saying first, that not a few are wofully negligent of the solemn trust which they have before God in this. And in addition to this I submit that the shortage is due to a failure to understand the vital principles involved in the plan of tithe paying, and also the details of this question in its practical side. The servants of God as shepherds of the flock have a duty here which should be urged upon them, fully to instruct the members of our churches in this sacred duty, and to appeal with their God-given authority to the people to be faithful in this trust. And I place before this conference with this what I believe before God to be a consistent and right policy—and the only consistent and right policy—in the appropriation of the tithe which is paid year after year into the treasury, namely, that our field is the world; and the vast multitudes afar from us, and who have not heard the first sound of this message, and who know not God, call as loudly to us as our own field, and even more loudly, for the labor which these funds can sustain. I do not think that we are true to our trust as stewards of the Lord's means if we consume on our own little territory the large sums of money which are paid into the treasury in tithes, when there are such vast multitudes of people perishing in darkness in the nations near and far; and since there is such a short time remaining to us in which to bring the warning message to them, should we not liberally share our resources of men and means with the fields where such darkness and sin appeal so strongly to us to give them the light we have? In harmony with these recommendations I quote here a recommendation passed in the late General Conference session, and plead for its favorable recognition by this body of delegates:—
“Whereas, The movement among the conferences to share laborers and tithes with mission fields has brought new18strength into the work, and great blessings at points where otherwise help could not have been placed, therefore,— “Resolved, That we express appreciation and approval of this policy, and urge our churches to stand loyally by the conference officers in this effort, inasmuch as the conferences can do this work only as tithes are faithfully brought into the local treasury; and further,— “Resolved, That we urge the continuance and extension of this plan of sharing paid laborers with needy fields by arrangement through the General Conference Committee; and further,— “Resolved, That a determined effort be made to place experienced laborers supported by their home conferences in the needy fields of the South, also remembering the Canadian north, as well as fields abroad, so that this message may be quickly carried throughout all the earth, and the time hastened when believers in the home land of this movement and in the regions beyond may rejoice together in the triumph of the one great work of the third angel’s message.”