p. 16 | The Southern Field by J. ELLIS TENNEY

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 31, 1905

The Southern Field

By J. ELLIS TENNEY

Much has been said and written concerning the progress of the message in the Southern field, and the agencies that are being employed in that work. Our papers frequently contain earnest appeals to our brethren everywhere to come to the financial aid of our burdened institutions and needy workers in the South.

It has been my privilege to be a worker in the Southern field uninterruptedly for more than four years, and my work has been of such a nature as to bring me in contact with the work in each local conference and mission field in the Southern Union Conference. What I shall say at this time with reference to the conditions as they exist to-day, will be based upon the best judgment that I can form from actual experience and observation.

Many in the North decide for one reason or another to enter the Southern field, and the nature of the impressions gained and the judgments formed depend much upon the motive actuating the individual in coming. It appears that some have in mind that it would be a delightful thing to come to the “sunny South,” the land where the long winters of the Northern States are unknown, and flowers can be found in bloom nearly every season of the year, and fruit grows in great abundance, and the homes of the people are open to receive them. But they meet with disappointment, and return to the North with a doleful tale of the conditions they have found. There is another class, prompted by the Spirit of God and with an earnest desire to see souls saved in the kingdom; these come to this field, not with the idea that they are going to have an easy time, with no trouble, and that everything will be smooth and to their liking, and they find, in many instances, that conditions are really more favorable and more pleasant than they had expected. These are usually contented to remain, and God blesses their efforts.

There is no field on the earth that does not require self-denial and earnest, consecrated effort if success is obtained. The Lord has many ways in every field in which his people can work and be successful if they are willing to endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ, and keep in view, not their own personal comfort or well-being, but the interests of the work God desires them to do.

It is unquestionably a fact that much that is said concerning the “sunny South” and the pleasures attending one's experience in the South is largely a matter of sentiment, and has but little truth in it. But on the other hand, for the individual who does not seek merely to have an easy time, but who is industrious and persevering, there are many comforts and blessings in this Southern field. We are convinced that there is no part of the country that contains a more hospitable or more appreciative people than the South, and the individual whose mind is fixed on the one purpose of glorifying God and benefiting his fellow men, both by word and by example, and does not attempt to meddle with the customs of society, will meet with very little difficulty, but, on the other hand, will be greatly blessed, and will have many friends.

It is a fact that the employment of means in the Southern field has in some instances been characterized by a lack of judgment. And these mistakes have led in some instances to the withholding of funds when the giving would have brought great blessing to the giver. We are always glad to see the means which we contribute to the work of God result in the accomplishment of great good, yet on the books of heaven it stands to the credit of the giver, whether or not blunders may be made through lack of judgment on the part of those employing the means.

One thing that has led to the condition just mentioned has been the extreme lack of competent help in the South. In many cases it has been necessary to employ in very responsible positions those whose experience and general ability were very limited; but what else could be done? It is a very different thing from having at hand men of experience and recognized ability to step into responsible positions and make their work a success. The South is greatly in need of means; this no one will doubt; yet we are convinced that the greatest blessing now that could come to this Southern field would be consecrated laborers whose experience and general ability would guarantee success in whatever line of work they engage.

But I desire to speak more especially of the particular work to which we have been called in this Southern field. In a recent issue of the REVIEW AND HERALD, this statement appears: “The enterprises standing most in need of help at the present time are the Nashville church, the Oakwood Industrial School, and the Nashville Sanitarium.” We do not question the imperative needs of these enterprises, but to say that these are more greatly in need of help than any other department of the work in the South at the present time, only indicates a lack of knowledge of the present needs of the field, whatever acquaintance the writer may formerly have had.

Perhaps the oldest institution established in the interests of the progress of our work in the Southern field is our training-school for workers, located at Graysville, Tenn. This institution has struggled along for ten years, and has asked for and received comparatively little help. While the means that has gone to the other institutions in different parts of the country has been measured by thousands of dollars, comparatively little has been given to this work. Since the writer's connection with the school in June of 1901 practically all the help it has received has been received by the writer as he personally solicited it in two or three of the Northern conferences.

Most earnest efforts have been and are being made to place this school on a self-supporting basis. We have been determined not to run in debt, and in this we have been greatly blessed, for the school has grown in size and importance under the blessing of God until the buildings are altogether inadequate to its needs, and in size and in their condition entirely unfitted for the work before us; and it is a fact that the very existence of this school is dependent upon its receiving material help in the very near future—not means with which to pay debts, but means with which to place the buildings in proper condition, and supply some necessities without which the school can not longer continue.

“The question rests here, Shall we close up our school designed for the preparation of workers for this Southern field, or shall we just now come to the rescue, and do what we can to place it upon a proper working basis?” Upon actual observation, and the experience of the last few years, I am prepared to say without any successful contradiction that there is no other enterprise in the Southern field which is in more imperative need of help at the present time than the Southern training-school of Graysville, Tenn. And when I say this, I am in no sense indifferent to the needs of the work in other places. If I know my own heart, I am intensely interested in the advancement of the cause in all its departments, but I could not be clear before the Lord if I did not make a plain statement of the facts. The school building must have a new roof; at present it leaks so badly that it is impossible to keep some of the rooms in a condition of repair. The school is entirely without laundry facilities. There are no facilities for bathing, none which would be recognized as such in any of the schools of the land. Our buildings are so insufficiently heated that our students are subjected to severe colds and the danger of protracted illness. My brethren and sisters, these are conditions as we are compelled to meet them.

There are many men in our ranks throughout the North, and perhaps a few in this Southern field, who, if God would move upon their hearts and they would follow his directions, could, without any assistance from any one else, place this important institution in a position where it could do a great service to God. Who will be the first to answer this call?

We make this final appeal for help for this institution, not from any personal interests, but because the progress of truth in this Southern field so far as the preparation of native ability for carrying it on is concerned, is in jeopardy.

J. ELLIS TENNEY.