p. 18 | Biennial Report of the Missionary Volunteer Department

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 13, 1911

Biennial Report of the Missionary Volunteer Department

By M. E.

It seems wholly fitting that we pause for a moment to thank God for what he has wrought for and through our youth. The backward look brings good cheer. Ever since the inception of the young people's work, God's blessing has attended it; and his blessing has made every year's record “advancement.” Not all that we desire has been accomplished; but we are truly grateful for what has been done, which, without a special effort for the youth, would probably have been left undone.

During the last two years the interest in Missionary Volunteer work has been manifestly deepened. More time is given to its development; more extensive and intensive work is being done; and well-directed efforts are resulting in conversions and increased missionary activity among the youth. There is a general awakening to the fact that “the Lord has appointed the youth to be his helping hand” in giving the gospel to the world, and that our young people, well organized for service, are a powerful factor in the prosecution of that work.

Extent of Work

Not only are our youth in America enlisting in the army of Prince Immanuel; but in other lands, young men and women have heard the call to service, and are pressing into the ranks. Thus in the regions beyond, God is raising up recruits to help force the battle to the gates.

For several years the Australasian Union Conference has been giving special attention to its young people; and to-day that union has an army of youth who are doing much missionary work at home, and are rendering considerable help in supporting missionaries in foreign fields. In his recent report of the work in that union conference, Elder G. B. Thompson says:—

“The Missionary Volunteer Department is well organized. The work done is very encouraging. There were eighty-three societies at the close of the year; and during the biennial period just closed, they contributed to the foreign work nearly seven thousand dollars, a gain of about three thousand dollars over the previous biennial period. To say nothing of the inestimable spiritual blessings which have come to our churches and youth through the work of this department, the above figures are sufficient to show that the organization of the Missionary Volunteer Department was a wise step.”

The work has been organized in Africa, in various parts of Europe, South America, the West Indies, and Japan. Encouraging reports have come from all these fields.

A Comparative Summary of Work

The totals in the first column are for the two years ending Dec. 31, 1908; and those in the second column for the two years ending Dec. 31, 1910.

	1908	1910
Letters written	31,921	32,477
Letters received	12,977	13,055
Missionary visits (personal work)	70,426	90,316
Bible readings or cottage meetings held	23,483	24,721
Subscriptions taken for periodicals	10,140	7,826
Papers sold	409,932	350,306
Papers mailed, lent, or given away	600,883	715,631
Books sold	36,940	23,711
Books lent or given away	19,103	20,693
Pages of tracts sold	283,237	304,824
Pages of tracts lent or given away	2,840,371	3,389,864
Hours of Christian Help work	154,361	89,834
Articles of clothing given away and number of meals provided	11,391	25,054
Offerings for foreign missions	$14,004.32	$20,541.83
Offerings for home missions	$10,444.97	$11,580.17

Growth in Membership

The totals in the first column are for the two years ending Dec. 31, 1908; and those in the second column for the two years ending Dec. 31, 1910.

The growth in membership is also interesting:—

	1908	1910
Highest number of conferences or fields reporting	64	75
Highest number of societies reporting	439	439
Highest membership	6,938	8,319
Highest membership in conference societies	589	630

The figures in this summary are not dry statistics. They are like music upon our ears, for they are filled with the sweet story of personal effort for the salvation of others; and they indicate that our Missionary Volunteer forces are being strengthened, and that their activities are increasing.

Giving to Missions

It is intensely gratifying to notice that during the last two years our young people have given $6,537.51 more to foreign missions, and $1,135.20 more to home missions, than during the two preceding years. To tell just how this money has been used would fill a volume. Some has gone across the waters to pay laborers; to provide workers with typewriters, organs, sanitarium supplies, etc.; to support native youth in Christian schools; and to build homes for missionaries. Some has found its way into the Southern field; and some has been given to our Foreign Mission Seminary, that young men and women may be more quickly prepared to press into the lands that are waiting in darkness.

Our Missionary Volunteers everywhere are helping to bear financial burdens. The Australasian young people have been supporting several missionaries in the islands. In the British Union they have been contributing toward the work in the North Scottish Mission. Some of the funds raised in the Scandinavian Union have gone to help the workers in Abyssinia.

Looking over America, we see a deepening interest in missions. The young people of the Northern Union Conference are raising about eight hundred dollars for the work in West Africa, and those of the Iowa Conference are raising one hundred fifty dollars for the work in Portugal. In the Lake Union Conference, one thousand dollars is being raised for a missionaries' home in China. The Columbia Union young people have been raising twelve hundred dollars for their college. One society in Nebraska has for several years been raising fifteen dollars a week for the support of a worker in Nyasaland, and recently the Missionary Volunteer secretary of that conference sent in the request that his young people be permitted to support all the native workers employed in that field. The San Francisco Missionary Volunteers are raising two hundred five dollars on the $300,000 Fund. Many other young people are raising smaller sums for missions.

Usually our young people are very willing and even anxious to give when they really see the need. Although the plan of giving to special needs has some objectionable features, it is generally recognized that it is a method which appeals to the youth. In one conference, where the young people had been supporting a missionary, the plan was changed to that of giving to missions in general. The young people's contributions fell off fifty per cent. A similar change in another conference brought the donations down from ninety-nine dollars to twenty-one dollars a quarter.

Departmental Work (for More Than Two Years)

The Mount Vernon convention drafted many good plans for the Missionary Volunteer work, and efforts have been made to develop them. A reporting system has been completed, and record books have been published. The work of selecting suitable literature for our youth is going forward. Four editions of the Morning Watch Calendar have been printed. Thirty-four Missionary Volunteer leaflets have been published. Society lessons, Reading Courses, Standard of Attainment examinations, and departments in the REVIEW and the Instructor have been conducted by the general office. The union and conference secretaries have made good use of their State papers for acquainting our people with the Missionary Volunteer work. Those who have the German work in charge publish a German youth's paper. Vigorous correspondence has enabled the workers throughout the field to move shoulder to shoulder.

In the winter of 1908-09, and again last spring, institutes were held in several union conferences. These institutes have been an inspiration to the workers who attended them, and have done much to develop better methods of work. Of one of the institutes a conference president said: “This has given the Missionary Volunteer work in our conference the greatest impetus it has ever received.”

The local conventions, now quite generally held throughout our conferences, are proving a very effective method for stimulating and educating our Missionary Volunteer societies.

Educational Features

The Missionary Volunteer work is a training-school for young people. Besides the practical missionary work of the society, opportunities for mental development are offered in both the Reading Courses and the Standard of Attainment plan.

The Reading Courses are a marked success, and are doubtless destined to become a great power for good. One young woman writes that the course established her in the truth; a certain young man found it a help in his canvassing work. The courses are friends of all, but they are specially designed for the young people who are deprived of school privileges. Last year the United States and Canada enrolled about fifteen hundred young people. Others whose names were not recorded doubtless read the books with us. Australia and England also use the Reading Courses. It became very apparent three years ago that we needed a course for our boys and girls. This was planned; and our Juniors seem to be enjoying it.

The Standard of Attainment plan received quite an impetus from the fact that our society lessons two years ago were on Bible doctrines, and that one of the books in the Reading Course then was our denominational history. All young people are urged to become members of Attainment. There are nearly two hundred members now, and many are striving to reach the standard. No young person can become a member of Attainment without passing a satisfactory examination in Bible doctrines and denominational history. Let us praise God for the response our young people are making to the call to prepare for service, for the spirit of prophecy tells us that “Christ can be best glorified by them who serve him intelligently.”

Another effort is that of urging young people to secure personal and society libraries, and to help them to select the best books for these libraries.

The Morning Watch Calendar

Some one has said that we must plan for a bit of quiet time alone with Jesus daily, preferably in the morning. It must be resolutely planned for, or it will surely slip away, and we shall as surely slip down. The Morning Watch Calendar has been published to create and foster this habit of regular, personal prayer and Bible study. This little daily reminder has received a warm welcome. The first year it was published, six thousand copies were circulated; in 1909 14,500 were needed to supply the demand; and for 1910 it was necessary to increase that quantity by nearly three thousand copies. This year twenty-two thousand were printed, and many orders have come in since the supply was exhausted. The use of the calendar is its best recommendation. Many testify that it is really helping them to form the habit of personal devotion. A devoted Japanese student, when asked the secret of his success in the Christian life, said, “The Morning Watch and Phil. 4:8.”

Camp-Meeting Work

The camp-meeting is the golden opportunity of the year. The Missionary Volunteer workers have prayed and planned and worked to make this opportunity a permanent blessing to the youth. God has richly blessed their efforts. Through careful preparation before the meeting, through untiring efforts during the meeting, and by keeping in personal touch with the youth after they leave the camp-ground, much good has been accomplished.

Generally the young people have their own tent for services. Some conferences have also provided two other small tents, one for young men and the other for young women, where they meet separately for prayer, study, and personal work. In harmony with the spirit of prophecy the morning hour has been given to devotional meetings, while the afternoon has been devoted to the study of missionary work and the principles of Christian living. The reports of the camp-meetings last year were inspiring; yet God is leading minds and hearts to improvise improved methods for this work.

Special Work

Aside from the work indicated in the summary, our Missionary Volunteers have, especially during the last three years, been doing vigorous temperance work. They have held rallies, sold large quantities of the Temperance numbers of the Instructor, and distributed about twenty-five thousand temperance pledges.

One permanent feature of the missionary work of our young people is placing some of our books and periodicals in public libraries, reading-rooms, etc. One conference has placed yearly subscriptions to the Youth's Instructor in sixty libraries.

It Pays

Some time ago one secretary wrote: “I thank God that the Missionary Volunteer organization in this conference has been instrumental in saving seventy-six young people.” Another reported eighty-three, and still another 132.

And young people are being trained for service as well as saved to serve. One member of a certain society, when expressing gratitude for the influence of that organization, said: “The years have flown swiftly by; and to-day those who were faithful in doing the work are taking up the burdens of older laborers. To my personal knowledge two are in the ministry, one is a member of a conference committee, one is director of the normal department of one of our colleges, while another is doing efficient work as a conference tract society secretary.” Other similar reports might be given.

God has marvelously blessed this work in the past, and we can not doubt its future success. As we lift our grateful eyes, and see the tokens of increased prosperity, which brighten the horizon of the future, there comes to us a call to greater earnestness. We must not slacken our pace. The salvation of our youth will depend largely upon their own efforts to save others; and we must attract, hold, and train our young people in Christian work, until we shall have answered fully the divine call to bring every resource into service. M. E.