The Collection for the Colored Work in the South
By GEO. I. BUTLER
The General Conference last May changed the time of taking the collection for the colored work in the South, from the first Sabbath in November to the first Sabbath in October. This date is rapidly approaching. About six weeks will remain from the time this article will come before the readers of the REVIEW AND HERALD till the collection will be taken. The attention of all Seventh-day Adventists in the United States and Canada—yes, and others in different countries—who feel interested in this unfortunate race, should be called to this collection at once. The General Conference of the whole Seventh-day Adventist denomination throughout the world, assembled in conference session at Washington, D. C., last May, recommended that this collection should be taken up upon this date. This, therefore, is not some minor affair originated by a few individuals, or even by a State or union conference alone. It has been considered by the representatives of the whole cause as a matter of wide interest, really pertaining to the well-being of a whole race of people. To be sure, the money will be expended in the South, and more largely in the Southern Union Conference than in any other, because the great majority of the colored race in the United States are located in that conference of nine large Southern States, the very heart of the old Southern Confederacy, over six millions of the eight or nine millions of the colored people of the United States being within the bounds of the Southern Union Conference. So it is easily discerned that the prosperity of the colored work in the United States will largely depend upon whether it is prosperous in the Southern Union Conference, as by far the largest proportion of the colored people are in that conference. In the nature of things, it is impossible for the comparatively small number of white people of this Southern Union Conference, in their poverty and great lack of means, to do what ought to be done for six millions of negroes within the conference boundaries. They can hardly make a beginning. Indeed, the white people in this field are utterly unable to do for the white work anywhere near what really needs to be done. The conclusion, then, is unavoidable that if our brethren in the great Northern field do not take hold of the colored work in earnest, it can not be made a success. Multitudes of souls will be lost, and the work will drag along as it has been doing, or even more slowly. Paul the apostle says, “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Rom. 1:14. In what sense was he a debtor (that is, one in debt to them)? God had given him great ability and much heavenly wisdom, and had revealed himself to him in a wonderful manner. Why did he do this? Just for Paul’s own comfort and pleasure?—O, no; but rather that through him he might impart great light to others. Wherever there were poor, lost, suffering souls going down to ruin, with whom Paul came in contact, it was his privilege to enlighten, bless, and save them. Yea, it was his positive and stern duty. Suppose we see a house already on fire, and know that there are souls in jeopardy, fast asleep. Should we not be guilty before God and man unless we did our utmost to awaken and rescue them? We could never look our fellow men in the face had we neglected to alarm them by the most earnest possible efforts. There will soon be a fire which will involve millions of souls, and their loss will be eternal. We have the privilege of “saving some.” Shall we not be in earnest, seeking to break the spell of spiritual stupor enthralling those around us? The condition of the colored race, in view of all their past misfortunes and desperate needs, should appeal to every human soul. Through the Testimonies of his Spirit, God has called upon us as a people, over and over, to discharge our duty to this afflicted race. We have come far short of doing it. To the writer’s personal knowledge we have hardly begun to do that which demands to be done. In the Southern Union Conference there are approximately two thirds as many colored as white people. The efforts and expense put forth for the salvation of the colored race within the bounds of this conference are not one third, hardly one sixth, as great as for the salvation of the white people. And yet, in view of our poverty and the peculiar difficulties of this field, but a fraction is being done for the white race of what is in crying need of being done. These, my brethren and my sisters throughout our great Northern field, are the literal facts of our Southern condition. We speak of what we do know. Having labored for some eighteen years of my life in what was once slave territory, the writer knows of what he affirms. The needs of this field are what we may well call appalling. Some of our brethren, even in leading positions, inquire, Why should not the South carry the main burdens of its own work, and not call upon the North for money? And it has even been said that our Southern people have been taught helplessness, and to look to the North to bear their heavier burdens. We feel certain that these suggestions are not in the line of the actual facts. Although our Southern Seventh-day Adventists are, on the average, much poorer than our Northern believers, yet in the published statistics of the Southern Union Conference in the General Conference published reports, the pro-rata average of each member’s tithes was above several of the other American union conferences, and not so very far below the very highest. So was the amount of canvassing, and several other items. Do these facts look as if these poor17distressed fields were being taught helplessness? We know no Northern State conference whose laborers have worked on for months without any salary whatever, as some have in this field, and the salaries of those who are paid wages average far below those in the North. Over and over have some of our ministers economized in every way in order to keep in the field and work for the Master. The facts are, our visitors from the North know very little about the actual conditions here in the South. They take a flying trip; stop off perhaps at Graysville or Nashville, and possibly at a point or two besides, and because they meet several Northern brethren who have moved to the South and are living in comparative comfort, they think they are prepared to speak with authority. But let them travel around to many of our little churches, and they would be far wiser, and better prepared to understand the true conditions. We believe it to be a fact that nearly three fourths of all our membership are sisters. Many of their husbands are not in the truth, and some have husbands opposed to it. Many of them have a hard time to cope with the struggle of life. But many of these are most earnest and devoted Christians. Many are too poor to be able to attend camp-meetings. Far less than a majority of the families are prepared to entertain and accommodate visitors in a way that in the North would be creditable. Of course, there are exceptions. And we know of no country where there is a more hospitable spirit. They try to pay an honest tithe. Their hearts are in the work. They love God, and love his truth, and sacrifice what to them is far more than many Northern well-to-do believers ever think of doing. But when they are expected to pay money for schools, sanitariums, and various other costly enterprises, it is simply impossible for them to do it. In the South by far the greater proportion of the wealthy people are in the cities. There are, of course, many well-to-do people in the South. Most of the Northern people who have moved here are in very moderate circumstances. The richer portion of our Northern people have many things that are too nice to leave, so they remain in the North. Of course, there are Southern people in the South who have become well off, and, like a large number in the North, they know how to keep their money also. This Southern field contains nearly one third of all the arable land in the United States. We have a little more than two thousand believers in this great conference of nine large States. They are scattered all over this immense space in very small churches, far apart, and most of them very poor. They can have but little labor. They are struggling against hard conditions. Very few of them have church houses. There are many noble, precious souls among them, many of whom have all they can do to get a living. Let us make a few comparisons: Any one of such States as Indiana, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, Ohio, or Nebraska has a larger membership, and far more means at its command, than this whole Southern Union Conference, while either Wisconsin or Iowa has nearly twice as many members, and far more than twice as much wealth. But when the State of Michigan or California is considered, either of them has several times as many members as this whole Southern Union Conference, and vastly more wealth. These comparisons are made to enable our brethren throughout this vast Northern field to see how weak in membership and means this great Southern country is. While this Southern Union Conference has a little over two thousand Sabbath-keepers, the Northern conferences have fifty-three thousand; yet the whole South has nearly one third of the whole population of the country, and the number of Sabbath-keepers has thus far been very small, compared with the North. And the difference in wealth is vastly greater than the difference in membership. These are facts that should be carefully considered. The servant of the Lord has said this field “is the most difficult in the world.” While this vast difference exists in the amount accomplished in the South and in the North, can any sane Sabbath-keeper contend that these two thousand believers, struggling against fearful odds and against overwhelming difficulties here in the South, ought to be expected to be able to carry on the work as it should be carried on? Even the Australian Union Conference is far stronger in membership and means than the whole Southern Union Conference. Think of the great sum of money raised for one city compared with the amount for these nine great States. The South and North speak the same language, and are of our own flesh and blood. After living here for many years, we can see no good reason why the number of Sabbath-keepers in the South may not approximate the same proportions as in the North. But to return to the colored problem. We have already considered in this article the great needs of the whole Southern field. But let us realize at once that the colored work is by far the neediest in proportion to that of any part of the field. It is in a deplorable condition. It is even in a pitiable condition for the want of funds. For example, take the Huntsville colored training-school, the only school of its kind among our people. It has a valuable tract of land of over three hundred acres, which was purchased years ago. It was an old Southern plantation, some four miles from the flourishing city of Huntsville. The old mansion has, of course, been used, but it has been in great need of repair. New foundations must be placed under a portion of it, or it will go into decay, and various improvements are absolutely necessary. Over a year ago Mrs. E. G. White, and her son, W. C. White, were there, and members of the executive committee of the union conference. This was her first visit to the place. She spoke many words of encouragement in regard to what this place might become, if the light given should be carefully followed. She said one hundred students should have been there to have the benefits of the school the last year, and that arrangements should be made for from two hundred to two hundred and fifty as soon as possible. She felt very sad to see the lack of facilities for carrying on the school in a proper manner. She said a small sanitarium must be built, so that the health of the students might be cared for, and they be taught the health principles in which our people have been instructed during the past years. She said that buildings must be erected, and facilities must be supplied, so that the institution should be a credit to the denomination. An orphanage for fatherless and motherless children whose parents have died in the faith must be erected, etc. An orphanage was planned; the cellar was dug, but for lack of funds the work stopped. The management began last fall hopefully. About seventy pupils came to the school, and it was impossible to accommodate any more. For lack of funds little has been done for months. The conditions are truly distressing. Had not the union conference treasury advanced money to pay the teachers, the school would have had to close long ago. Several thousand dollars has thus been taken from the union conference treasury, which it greatly needed for the support of workers in the union conference. So the conference fund has had to run in debt. This money must be paid back. Few can know the straits to which we have been put for means to keep things running. But how could we close the school which the cause needs so badly, and of which the young colored people are in such great need? The Southern Missionary Society has accomplished much good for this unfortunate race. Useful schools have been established for the young, and wherever they have been established, churches have sprung up. The result in Mississippi has been that fully one half the State conference membership has been of this race. A large percentage of the tithe has also come from this source. But quite a large amount is required for the payment of teachers, as most of the pupils are very poor. Unless means are supplied, the work will be sure to suffer. These schools have proved to be one of the most encouraging means of bringing the truth for this time to that people. A vast field needs to be entered upon in this manner. All lovers of humanity should be interested in this branch of the work. This problem ought to interest our people everywhere. For two or more years past the Lord has been appealing to our people mightily, to help in this work by their means. Shall we respond, and heartily carry on this branch of the work? The Southern Union Conference, with the officers of State conferences, has studied carefully the question of supplying every State conference in the Southern Union with colored laborers. It has been a matter of great difficulty. Our Northern brethren and sisters can not fully realize the conditions which make this difficulty so great. If that portion of this article which relates to the condition of this whole Southern field, its poverty, and the vast work to be done, and the meager means at our command with which to do this work, is carefully studied by our Northern brethren and sisters, they may be able to discern how perplexing it is to find the means necessary to send out colored laborers in all our State conferences. It is very perplexing to us to know how to maintain our white laborers, and instances are plentiful18where they have been poorly supported. Where, then, will the means come from to furnish the colored workers? And if our training-school for the colored is not properly equipped and made efficient, how are the colored workers to be supplied? These are questions, dear friends of the cause of God in the South, with which the writer and many devoted brethren in the work here have been wrestling for several years past. We want your help and sympathy, and above all, means with which the work may be strengthened. This article is already too long. The far-reaching problems involved can hardly be properly presented in an article of moderate length. In the opinion of the writer the prosperity of our colored work in all parts of the world is more or less affected by the questions centering in this Southern Union Conference. The great problem of African slavery has been considered in the past by some of the greatest minds of modern times. Various opinions have been entertained. In the writer’s opinion, God’s all-wise providence permitted this awful experience through which large numbers of that unfortunate race passed in being sold into slavery, transferred by the wicked cupidity of man to this continent to come in contact with a race more highly civilized than themselves, to be taught the English language, made acquainted with the religion of Christ, learn lessons of industry and many useful things, that they might be a blessing in various ways to the great Dark Continent, and to many others taken from it. Much of the interest in that continent and in its missionary enterprises has arisen from a sympathy begotten by the sad experiences connected with slavery. The attention of philanthropists in all lands has been called to this subject. England was aroused by the horrors of the slave trade, and great efforts have been made to put it down in Africa itself. And now the colored people have become free. Noble Christian people have been laboring unselfishly to elevate this unfortunate race. We honor these blessed souls, and wish to engage in the same noble work. The central field of interest is the territory embraced in our Southern Union Conference, in the great States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. If we can, through the help of our people in the North, firmly establish our blessed work of educating, elevating, thoroughly instructing in the practical truths of the Bible and useful pursuits large numbers of the poor, the unfortunate, the very needy of this race, our work will be a blessing to humanity, and be the means of saving many souls for Christ in the blessed kingdom of his love. Brethren and sisters, the collection the first Sabbath in October is to help in this noble work. We ought to have at least ten thousand dollars from the results of that collection. The amount raised last year was a great help, though much less than that. Can not we greatly increase it this year? We hope that many articles in favor of this collection will be written by leading writers to stir up an interest in this important work. GEO. I. BUTLER,
President Southern Union Conf.