The Work in the European Division During 1910
By L. R. Conradi
SINCE New-year’s, the Asiatic portions of Russia, including Siberia, Central Asia, etc., have been organized into the Siberian Union Mission field. We have not yet fully settled upon all the territory of this new mission field; but there are now in Central Asia and Siberia proper about 300 members. In Harbin, Manchuria, where the plague raged so fiercely, our people have been kept, and the church has continued to send us a good tithe. Brother G. Perk, the new superintendent of the field, has lately visited Siberia, and he writes that they have had good meetings. They expect to baptize about 100 believers during this second quarter. Great Britain, with her 45,000,000 population, thus far forms but one union, which contains four conferences, — North England, South England, Scotland, and Wales; there is also one mission field — Ireland. Last year 277 members were received, bringing the membership of this union up to 1,939. The work in this important field is onward; but when we look at the population and the many large cities, we must admit that we have hardly touched this great country. Last year’s tithe was $26,463, and $2,000 was received in appropriations, so that about $28,000 was spent in developing the evangelical part of our work here. The North and South England conferences, with 33,000,000 people, not only paid their tithe to the union, but helped with a second tithe to support the work in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In offerings they raised about $7,700. Altogether the British Union Conference turned over about $5,000 to the General Conference. As for city work, something has been done in London, where we have about 400 believers; there are also small churches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, etc. But London alone, with its 7,000,000 people, presents the greatest problem in city work furnished by any one city on the globe. Besides this great city, England has nearly fifty cities with a population of over 100,000 each. In the British Union Conference there are about fifty evangelical workers, only fourteen of whom are ordained ministers. In other words, if there were in the United States twenty-eight ordained ministers, it would be better supplied with ordained help than Great Britain is to-day. One hundred seventy-four agents were employed last year in this conference, and their sales amounted to $70,000. This conference now includes France, with Algeria and Tunis, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Roman-Switzerland, containing 107,000,000 inhabitants, and a membership of 1,060. Last year 140 members were added. There are now two conferences in this union, to which Paris has been added as a union district since Jan. 1, 1911; it has four mission fields. There are forty evangelical workers employed in the union, fourteen of whom are ordained ministers. Its tithe was $11,037; to this we must add the appropriation of $11,700, so that it actually took about $23,000 to man the work here last year. As there are more people in the Latin Union than in the United States, it is about as well served with laborers as the States would be with ten ordained men. The conference returned to the General Conference $3,085 in offerings. This union also has its city problems. Paris has nearly 3,000,000 people. Then there are Marseilles, Lyons, Naples, Rome, Madrid, and Milan, with half a million each. Little Roman-Switzerland, with only 1,000,000 inhabitants, 564 members, and a tithe of about $6,800, gives fully twenty-five percent of its income to help the union conference work. There were eleven canvassers at work, whose sales amounted to about $10,700. Quite a number of changes for the better have taken place in this field. For the last ten years the work had been nearly at a standstill, but during last year no fewer than sixty members were received, bringing up the total membership to 320. The tithe also increased to about $1,500. The field was divided, so it might be worked to better advantage. There are now five separate mission fields here. In the farthest east we have the Armenian; then comes the Central Turkish and the Grecian; then the Syrian and the Egyptian. Last year we assisted this field by about $9,000 in appropriations. It now has about twenty workers, of whom seven are nurses, and six are ordained ministers. The Levant Union Mission takes in the Turkish empire, Egypt, and Greece, with a population of about 41,500,000. The canvassing work began last year, and nine workers labored during the latter part of the year. Publications amounting to $634 were sold. The offerings were $430. We are glad to report encouraging prospects for the Levant. Our African work has greatly increased during the past year. In German East Africa we now have two divisions. The Pare district, near the coast, reported thirty-one baptisms, bringing up its membership to nearly seventy. It has been decided to open up a fourth station. About 1,000 young people are attending our schools. Last year’s appropriation to that field was $6,100. In the Victoria Nyanza district we have a territory of about one hundred miles by fifty, with a population of 200,000 people, speaking various dialects. The Roman Catholics have two stations near us, and the Church of England has one. Thus far we have planted five stations, and two new sites have been granted us by the government. Elder B. Ohme, with a number of workers, has gone to take charge of that field. About 800 young people are attending our schools. In order to save freight, our brethren have lately bought a sailboat, only a little more than a year old, for $500, and the first three months they were able to clear one fourth of that amount by carrying freight for others, in addition to saving our own freight expenses. We recently lost one of our workers here, Brother E. Raessler. As we have put up a number of mission buildings, our expenses were about $9,200 in this district last year. In British East Africa, just north of the Victoria Nyanza district, we have two stations. Elder A. A. Carscallen reports hopefully of the school work carried on there, and that they expect to reap the first-fruits of their work this year. Our appropriations for this mission in 1910 amounted to $4,700. In our Abyssinian Mission the brethren15were able to complete their buildings. They erected a mission home for two families, a school building, and a stable; dug wells; and also made some improvements on the mission farm. Last year’s appropriations to this mission amounted to $4,900. On the other hand, all the African missions returned to us about $1,000 in tithes and offerings. We now have 100 members in these African missions, of whom twenty-four are workers; four of them have been ordained. To this country we have just sent Brethren Dirksen and Oster, who will locate at Tabriz, one of the leading cities of northern Persia. We are also in correspondence with a local preacher, who has heard the truth, and who seems to be interested. During 1910 we had 500 evangelical workers proclaiming this truth throughout the European Division; of these, 135 are ordained ministers, 100 are licentiates, and the others are Bible workers. The number of those baptized was 3,484, and of those added by vote, 575, or a total of 4,059 persons added. Our membership increased from 19,626 to 21,948; our tithe from $194,500 to $215,980; our offerings and general gifts were nearly $50,000. While thus far prosperity has attended the progress of the cause, we know that God has greater things for us. If we consider the number of our workers, we find that we have only one ordained minister for every four million people in our division, and one gospel worker for every million of its inhabitants. Appeals for more help come to us from all parts of the field. Whole kingdoms are scarcely touched. Great problems await solution, and only God’s Spirit can solve them. What we desire, and that for which we pray, and what we must have, is more of God’s Spirit, more divine power, and more laborers for these destitute fields. May those who read this report study carefully the great openings that present themselves to God’s people, and may they feel constrained to ask the Lord to bless his work, that a still greater work may be accomplished in 1911.