No, Not Too Late by Arthur Grosvenor Daniells

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 29, 1904

No, Not Too Late

By Arthur Grosvenor Daniells

At the close of the week of prayer, letters come to our office containing donations in which the donors say, “I hope this is not too late to go into the Annual Offering to help make the eighty thousand dollars called for.” Others earnestly ask, “Am I too late to have a part in making up the eighty thousand dollars?”

To all, we are glad that we can say it is not too late to take part in swelling the annual offering to the amount called for. The remittances will be coming in for several weeks, and during that time any gifts sent to the local conference treasury or to this office will be placed in the fund.

We still feel burdened to call upon our brethren and sisters to consider seriously the grave obligations that rest upon those who remain at home. It can not be that the responsibilities created by the growth of this cause all fall upon those who go to mission fields. Those who go must cut loose from everything in this world. They must provide for the care of aged parents, young brothers and sisters, and helpless, dependent relatives. They must dispose of, or leave in the hands of others, their homes, which represent the careful savings of years of toil. They must leave a country whose people, language, and customs they understand, and go where everything is new and strange. They must leave the many comforts, advantages, and safeguards of modern, advanced civilization, and place themselves where they will be exposed to heat and cold, and disease, without proper protection, and be deprived of educational and other advantages they and their children need. They must cut themselves off from what appears to be a visible means of support, and cast themselves on the good-will and loyalty of the believers in this message who do not go.

This is what the triumphant progress of this cause in the world means to those who go to the front. What does it mean to those who stay at home? Have they any special responsibilities? If so, what are they? Those who remain at home in possession of property and of commercial advantages, must give of their means to support those who have left all these. This is a vital, fundamental point in the great problem of foreign missions. It is immensely practical. It can not be overlooked, forgotten, nor set aside except at the peril of our comrades. Many connected with this cause, and who enjoy reading of its progress, do not realize what this means from a financial standpoint. Look at our situation to-day. We have ministers, Bible workers, writers, teachers, physicians, nurses, and canvassers in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, The West Indies, Egypt, Africa, Palestine, Turkey, India, Ceylon, China, Japan, the islands of the Pacific, and in other lands. These laborers are our own brethren and sisters (and brothers and sisters in the flesh, too). They were once in our midst. Now they are scattered all over the world. They find perishing souls who are glad to get the light of the gospel. They are devoting every hour of their time, and all their strength, wholly to the proclamation of the truth. They are not farming, nor engaging in commercial enterprises of any kind — not because they do not like to work, nor because they are not able to make a living for themselves. When they were here engaged in worldly business, they were as industrious and successful as any of us; but their ears caught the earnest appeals for help that are coming from these distant lands, and their hearts responded in love and self-sacrifice. They obeyed the command of the great General, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Forgetful of their own personal interests, they have gone abroad to render service to their fellow men. The question of their support they have left with the Lord and their brethren. The Lord will surely do his part; and we brethren will do ours. Thank God for this loyalty!

A. G. DANIELLS.