Our Work in the South, and Some of Its Needs
By George A. Irwin
FOR reasons not fully known to the writer, and which if they were, need not be mentioned in this article, our work in the Southern States has moved slowly in comparison with its advancement in some other fields. To say that it is a difficult field, without entering into any specifications or explanations as to why, will suit our purpose, and will satisfy those who have had sufficient experience in the field to be capable of rendering correct judgment. Yet notwithstanding the difficulties, there are many encouraging features to cheer the hearts of the laborers and those who contribute of their means to support the work. The very fact that it is a difficult field, however, should enlist all our sympathies, and appeal to us in strong terms for support. Had the General Conference sent young and inexperienced men into this field to stand at the head and carry forward the work, it might be said with some show of truth that it was their lack of experience in grappling with difficult problems that made it necessary for this field to appeal so often for help. But such is not the case. On the contrary, some of the best men in the denomination have labored in this field, and now we have standing at the front such men as Elders Geo. I. Butler, S. N. Haskell, R. M. Kilgore, and N. W. Allee, all pioneers in this message, and men who have had years of experience and been eminently successful in other fields in bringing people into the truth, and building up the work in its various branches. The laborers associated with them are also good men,—men who will compare very favorably both in ability and in earnestness with the laborers in other portions of the United States. From a personal knowledge of the field and an acquaintance with most of its laborers, I feel it is but common justice to these brethren to bear this testimony. To the end that we become informed upon the needs of this field so as to act intelligently, I bespeak a careful reading and re-reading of Elder Butler’s articles published in the recent issues of the Watchman, and also in the REVIEW AND HERALD. These articles are not the product of an excitable, visionary mind, but a clear, calm, and intelligent representation of the situation and need, by one who from a long residence in the field is competent to judge, and whose judgment should have weight with us. The General Conference, at its recent session, took the needs of this field into account, and while it was not in a position to advance the necessary means, it authorized those having charge of the work in this field to make appeals for help to our brethren in general, with assurance of its sympathy and moral support. As one of the officers of the General Conference, I feel it not only a duty, but a pleasure to join in this appeal. I spent over two years in the South in the capacity of director of the district, and during that time visited and labored in all the States and principal cities in the district. I was the instrumentality used by the Lord in selecting and purchasing the farm on which the Oakwood Industrial School is located. I put in some means and considerable hard manual labor to get the place in shape for occupation. It7was also my privilege to assist with means and labor in finishing the school building at Graysville and in putting up the new dormitory. In connection with Brother Reavis I did a similar work at the time of the erection of the church in Atlanta. I also did what I could toward all the minor enterprises that were being carried forward at the time, without regard to color or location. I do not speak of these things as a boast of what I have done, but as an evidence of the interest that I still have in this field; for “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Up to the time that I left the field in 1897, to take the presidency of the General Conference, very little had been done in the way of organized medical work. Brother Hansen was operating a small bath establishment in Nashville, which I think was all that was being done. There were only two organized conferences in the district,—Florida and Tennessee River,—and these were weak in numbers and in finance. There were churches in each of the other States, but without sufficient membership for conference organization. Since that time, however, in most of the States conference organizations have been formed, but with the promise of assistance from the union conference in case their income was insufficient to carry on their work. So while the Southern Union Conference has all the form and machinery of a large union conference, and perhaps even more local conferences than some others, it is nevertheless a weak conference, both in point of members and in financial strength, to bring into existence and properly equip institutions such as are needed at this time to give standing and character to our work. The enterprises standing most in need of help at the present time are the Nashville church, the Oakwood Industrial School, and the Nashville sanitarium. All three of these needs can not be supplied at one and the same time; hence I suggest that we take the most pressing, and concentrate our efforts upon that until it is out of the way, and then take the next, and so on. Means to pay for the church in Nashville seems to be the most pressing demand at present. The importance of the city and the need of such a place has been so forcibly presented by Sister White and Elder Butler, that I need not occupy space in a repetition. The brethren have acted in all good faith, in harmony with the recommendation of the General Conference, in purchasing this property, and in all good faith that we, their brethren, would respond promptly to their appeal, and they have agreed to pay the Baptist people whom they bought the church, the full amount of the purchase (five thousand dollars) by the first of October. Now, the ability to enable our brethren to meet this obligation promptly, and thus give our people and work standing and character in the city, rests with us. What shall we do? Put into practise the golden rule and do unto them as we would have them do unto us, were we in their circumstances? This course will bring a blessing to us. If a portion of the great stream of benevolence that has been flowing toward Washington, whose source is in the hearts and affections of our loyal brethren everywhere, could be turned toward the South for a time, and Nashville in particular for the present, I am sure the Lord would be pleased. If ministers and church elders throughout the United States will make it a point to bring the matter early and earnestly before their respective churches and companies, the amount could be easily and quickly raised. Who will be the first to set the stream running?