My Visit to the European Field
By A. G. DANIELLS
On my way from Friedensau to London, I went down to Antwerp to visit our brethren and sisters in the northern part of Belgium. Elder Klingbeil has charge of the work there, and has been located in Antwerp a year or more. I was glad to find Brother and Sister Klingbeil and their children nicely located, in excellent health, and very courageous in the work. I had the privilege of meeting these dear workers at Rotterdam, Holland, five years ago. At that time Brother Klingbeil had charge of the work in Holland. He is now pioneering in Belgium. Belgium is a strong Catholic country. Romish superstition has a terrible hold on the people. This makes our work difficult, and our progress slow. It is almost impossible to secure the privilege of holding Protestant meetings in either a public hall or a private house. When Brother Klingbeil first went to Antwerp, he hired a hall for a definite period for public meetings. After he had held a few services, the man of whom he rented the building begged him to close the meetings, owing to the threats of the Catholics to destroy the building. Later he transferred the services to his house. Then one of the priests in that part of the city stirred up the people to mob the place. One Sunday night hundreds of angry people gathered in front of the house to break up the meeting, but they did not succeed. They seemed to be restrained by some unseen power. This demonstration caused many people to make inquiry regarding the things Brother Klingbeil was teaching, and in the end really proved a blessing to his work. He has continued his meetings until the present time without interruption. A few dear souls have accepted that the third angel’s message, and others are investigating. I was glad to meet with these brethren and sisters who are rejoicing in the new light which has come to them. I did not find the conditions in either Antwerp or Brussels that were most prominent in my views regarding the people of Belgium. I had heard and read so much in America about the ignorance, poverty, and socialism of Belgium that I could scarcely help expecting to find crowds of dirty, unemployed people, dingy, neglected, and unsanitary cities, and a general state of dissatisfaction and suffering. But this is the very opposite of the conditions in these cities. They are clean, well-kept cities. The stores and business places are as bright and inviting as any of our finest cities in America. The people are as well dressed and as cheerful and contented as any people I have found in Europe. There may be plenty of ignorance, poverty, and discontent in Belgium, but they are not by any means predominant in the parts of the country I visited. The superstitions of popery are undoubtedly the greatest difficulty we shall have to contend with in Belgium. We must be clothed with power to turn the people from the darkness which surrounds them to the glorious light that has come to us. Pray for the prosperity of the cause in Belgium. Leaving Antwerp, I came to London to spend a few days with the brethren in charge of the varied interests of the cause at the headquarters of our work in Great Britain. I found our people in London full of courage, and just as busy as they could be. The publishing interests, under the careful, aggressive management of Brother W. C. Sisley, are steadily growing. A steady stream of papers, journals, tracts, and books is flowing out to all parts of the kingdom. The educational work has been developed by Prof. H. R. Salisbury from a very small beginning to a most encouraging and efficient position. Our London school has already come to be a potent factor in our work in the British field. I found the sanitarium at Caterham full to overflowing. Dr. A. B. Olsen has given this institution his untiring and enthusiastic services from the day it was purchased, and a good record has been made. It was a great pleasure indeed to meet the brethren in charge of these institutions, and all their associates in the work. The evangelical work is being steadily advanced in this great city. People are continually embracing the truth, and new companies are being established in different suburbs. A fuller statement regarding the work in Great Britain will be given next week.