p. 11 | Mission Notes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Feb 12, 1914

Mission Notes

ELDER R. C. PORTER recently visited Brethren Fred Lee and R. F. Cottrell, at Changsha, Hunan. Of the general meeting held there, he says: “Meetings began the next morning after we arrived, with about sixty in attendance. Each day’s program was well arranged. Different phases of the message were considered, and the brethren and sisters present took a deep interest in the various lines of work presented. The meetings closed with an ordinance service the last Sabbath, in which ninety-one participated. Sixteen were baptized during the meeting, thus making a total of 232 baptized during the year in the Central China Mission. Many gained substantial victories, and all returned home rejoicing in the saving truth.” When we think that it was only a short time ago that the message was established in this inland province, formerly a stronghold of heathenism, and then receive a report like this, surely we can appreciate that there is power connected with the third angel’s message to break down the strong barriers of heathenism and implant in the hearts of men and women the message that saves to the uttermost.

From down in Honan, at Yen-cheng, Brother J. J. Westrup tells of the work there. He says: “Everything is peaceful and quiet here, though the robbers are not far away. The city folk are afraid, and shut the gates very early. The Lord has protected us all summer. We are still praying for rain. The price of food is going up rapidly. We have about $200 worth of wheat, and as we have a mill, we shall buy a donkey and grind our own flour. This will not only be cheaper, but the flour will be much cleaner. We have sixty-four here studying the truth diligently each day. You should hear their prayers for themselves and their relatives that they may come to a full understanding of this blessed truth. I teach the life of Christ and Revelation one hour each morning, and preach on the Sabbath. I cannot tell you how happy I am in the Lord for his manifest blessing and presence. The robbers come very close to us at times, but we are confident that while we faithfully do the Lord’s work, he will keep that which is committed to him. The brethren here are also getting the spirit of love and joy and courage in their souls. We are happy in the Lord.”

Brother J. Van de Groep, writing from Singapore, tells us of some of the experiences he is having in placing the truth in the hands of seamen. He says: “Sometimes to one doing such work, it seems that the seed sowing bears no fruit. However, this is not so, as the following incident will illustrate: When I was canvassing two officers on a Dutch boat, the captain came aboard, and heard us talking. So he asked, ‘Are you an Adventist?’ to which I replied in the affirmative. I asked him if he knew us as a people. He then told me that about fifteen years ago he bought some of our books in Hamburg, Germany, and sent them home to Holland, with the result that his mother and three other relatives accepted the message four or five years ago. The man himself is not a believer, but he, along with the other officers, bought my book. Such experiences encourage one to sow the seed, leaving it, with a prayer, in the hand of the Almighty.”

From Sumatra, up in Battakland, where Brother Immanuel Serrigar, the only worker in that field, is laboring among his countrymen, Brother Detamore sends this good word: “A recent letter from Brother Immanuel Serrigar, a native of Battakland, who is the only Seventh-day Adventist in that part of Sumatra, tells of the interest among his people, and pleads that help be given to spread the truth there. Many come from far and near to hear about the truth. Quite a number are keeping the Sabbath, and have given up their bad habits in eating and drinking. We feel very much in need of several more workers.”