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Algeria

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 3, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 1.

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Algeria

By S. JESPERRSON

S. JESPERRSON
Our first year of work in this country is now in the past, and we are glad to say that the Lord has been with us and has blessed our efforts and given us souls for our labor. We have now believers in the third angel’s message in all three departments of Algeria. If they were all here in Algiers, we should soon be able to form a little group, but it seems that the Lord wants them to be scattered as far as possible so as to do all the more good. Here in Algiers there is one who is keeping the Sabbath who was formerly a Catholic. Her husband is very much against her, but she has taken a decided stand. One day he told her that he would move to a place where there were no Adventists, to which she replied, “But I would be there, and I would make more Adventists.” In the province of Oran and near the frontier of Morocco we have a family who are walking in the commandments of God and doing what they can to reach others with the truth.
STREET IN ALGIERS
STREET IN ALGIERS
The capital of Constantine has one representative of the message. This is a young lady who was studying here in Algiers last winter, and thus became acquainted with us and with the truth for this time. We were sorry that we had to part with her so soon, as she had got only a glimpse of the doctrine, but judging from the letters she has written us since she left, she stands firmly for what she believes to be right. Her mother is the “concierge” (keeper) of the Protestant church, and of course used to clean the church on Saturday, but the young lady has succeeded in her effort to have the cleaning done Sunday morning instead of on the Sabbath, although none of her family is in favor of her principles. When she went home, she spoke to the pastor about the truth, but he simply tried to confuse her. She wrote us what the pastor had said, and we sent her a reply to his objections, but when she wanted to show him our letter, he would not even look at it. She then showed it to a missionary, but he also rejected the plain truth presented. Nevertheless, she keeps firm, and in one of her letters she said: “As for me, I want to believe what you had the kindness to teach me.”
As the other missionaries see that we begin to gain ground, they feel uneasy and begin to work against us. When one day one of our friends told a Baptist missionary that she was about to become an Adventist, he warned her not to take this step, and to quiet her mind, he pointed her to Col. 2:16; Rom. 14:5; Gal. 5:1, etc.; but the Spirit of God is still working on her heart, and we hope that she will some day take her stand on the right side.
Most of our work is done in the French language, but many other languages are represented. The Arabs constitute the largest part of the population, and will have to be reached in their own language. Then we have multitudes of Spaniards who must hear the message in their native tongue. I said that they must hear the message, because most of them can not read, so they can not be reached by means of the printed page, and with the Italians it is about the same. For all these and many other different races my wife and myself are the only workers. Is that enough to finish the work in this generation? We praise God for what has been done, but should we not soon have more workers and begin in at least one more place?
Algiers.