THE Greater New York Conference held its first camp-meeting June 27 to July 4. The encampment was in the very heart of the city, on 109th Street, near the upper end of Central Park.
There were none of the rural surroundings that we usually associate with camp-meeting blessings. But it was a blessed meeting. Nearly all the conference workers camped on the grounds, with a number of others, and the Lord met with these workers as daily they sought him for power for the great work before them, and for unity of aim and action. It is good to seek God amid the quiet of the country, but somehow it seemed very appropriate to have this camp-meeting on the very battle-field, surrounded by all the surging, noisy life of the great city.
On the Sabbath the camp was crowded with those who came in from the various churches. On this day, in the general assembly, as in the smaller daily meetings, God's Spirit bore witness to his acceptance of the consecration of the body of believers in New York City to a united forward movement for the salvation of souls in their vast field. It was a day of victory and of release for many hearts, and of inspiration for all.
While this conference has the smallest area of all our conferences, it has the largest population of any in this country. Truly, if any conference needs the blessing and special power of God, this one needs it. And the blessings of this first camp-meeting brought added assurance that the little band of workers and people are united, and that God has set his seal to a strong, progressive work in their territory.
One interesting experience was that of a lady who came to the meeting for the first time on Thursday. She found in it what her heart had longed for, and was ready to join in keeping the following Sabbath. There was an encouraging attendance of interested hearers at the evening and Sunday services. The novelty of a camp-meeting in the great city drew the passing attention of the papers, and many thousands who use the elevated trains had a pretty view of the little encampment amid the blocks of apartment-houses that are rapidly filling every available space in all the region.
But the problem of drawing the attention of the vast population to be reached in Greater New York is a great one. Five millions of souls are crowded within the territory of this conference, made up literally of all nations and peoples. All through this mass are the souls waiting for this truth, and our workers are seeking God to be led to these waiting ones. They are of good courage, for the Lord has been blessing them, and they are learning how to do the house-to-house work which has been so difficult. The people are shut away in the great apartment-houses, which stand like high-walled fortresses to keep the workers from entering.
By faith these Jericho walls are coming down. Brother Geo. A. King, who has labored so long in New York City, has been using the Signs with good effect as a pioneer agency. These must first be given out freely, as any regular canvassing in the apartment-houses is generally out of the question. Later, yearly subscriptions are taken, and then, as people are interested, comes the opportunity for Bible work and for the sale of literature. During the camp-meeting the workers and people encamped devoted a number of mornings to visiting the people with papers and giving out invitations to the meetings.
A VIEW OF THE CAMP IN NEW YORK CITY
The Lord can make ways, where there are no ways, and he is showing our friends in this city of apartment-houses the way to get to the people. It is a matter of the utmost importance, for face-to-face and house-to-house effort is the work in which all the believers can join.
It would be a blessing, indeed, if somebody had a few hundred dollars, or even a thousand, for this conference to use in a special campaign with the Signs, to be followed by systematic effort with other literature and Bible work. Somehow this truth is to go right through these long-barred gates, and the workers are full of faith that the time has come, and that they have found the way of victory. Pray for the workers and believers in New York City. They are attacking the very citadel, and doing everything in their power to push the work forward.
They will run seven tents this summer. Brother Edwards continues meetings in the large camp-meeting tent. Brother Humphrey and others in the work for the colored people will have a tent in the Fifty-ninth Street district, among the many thousands of their race. Over in Brooklyn, Brethren Andreason and Nord are working for the Scandinavians, Brethren Reinke and Voth for the Germans, while another tent for the English is operated by Brethren Proctor and Wood. At Fishkill-on-the-Hudson a tent effort is planned by Brethren Robinson and Roggenkamp, while at Middletown, in New York State (five counties in the Hudson River Valley being included in the Greater New York territory), Brethren Kennedy and Hennessy have another tent.
No one could have been with the brethren and sisters at this meeting without having confidence renewed and strengthened in the work in this vast field. Oklahoma is providing help for the German work. By the help of Kansas, an Italian brother is taking up work for the many, many thousands of Italians in the city. The conference itself is rallying with new courage to increase its efforts. There is unity, and this general gathering of all the churches helped to strengthen the bonds between all the churches and all the nationalities in the one common work.
Of workers outside our conference, Elder A. E. Place attended the first part of the meeting, and I the latter part, while Elders Daniells and Wakeham spent a little time with us before sailing for Europe. Again, pray for the work in Greater New York, one of the most needy and difficult fields in the world.
W. A. S.
