The Dutch General Meeting by Louis Richard Conradi

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 23, 1909

The Dutch General Meeting

By Louis Richard Conradi

L. R. CONRADI

In The Hague, the city that is noted as being the headquarters for the Tribunal of Peace, the brethren from Holland and Flemish Belgium met August 4-8. The German Union Conference having donated a tent to Holland last year, Brother R. Klingbeil spent two months and a half trying to secure the necessary permission to pitch it. He met obstacles of all sorts at every step—difficulties placed in his way by the police, by the fire department, and by the neighbors. They feared that the

Socialists would make him much trouble. Finally, Elder Klingbeil was able to impress a high police commissioner with the importance of our work. He showed the commissioner the picture of Christ in one of our books, and the man said: “That is my patron; when I was in great difficulty last year, he helped me out.” Taking up this statement, Elder Klingbeil told the man that the Lord may have placed him in his position at this time to secure for us the permission necessary for our pitching the tent. This made such an impression on the officer that he soon overcame all the difficulties, and Elder Klingbeil was granted permission to hold public meetings in the evangelical tent. The people have been flocking to the tent every night for the last two weeks. As a great deal of the land adjoining the city belongs to the municipality, a lot on the outskirts of the place had to be secured. Quite a number of police came to the tent, and were surprised to find everything passing along smoothly.

Our conference sessions were held in the local hall, while the evening and Sabbath services were conducted in the tent. As help from without, Elder J. H. Schilling and the writer were present. All the brethren were glad indeed to welcome at this meeting for the first time, a representative of the Dutch colonies, Elder G. A. Wantzlick, who had been laboring for several years in Sumatra, but is now in Germany on a furlough, and had been sent to the Holland meeting by the German Union Conference. Elder J. W. Hofstra was also present. He is spending a few months in Holland before going on to Java. Owing to the interest which the Holland brethren and sisters feel in the Netherlands East Indies, they were naturally much pleased to meet these workers; and the workers were glad to become acquainted with the cause in Holland.

We were grateful to see so many new faces in the meeting,—faces of those who had accepted the truth since the last annual meeting. We were also impressed with the number of young people whom God has given our Dutch work. During the last twelve months, there have been seventy-six additions in this mission field. The largest church is that at The Hague, where we have seventy members; then Amsterdam, with forty-five members; Brussels, with forty-three; Rotterdam, with twenty-six; and Antwerp, with eighteen. In Flemish Belgium we have sixty-one members, and there are one hundred ninety in Holland.

Considering the membership of the field, the attendance was really remarkable, there being over one hundred seventy of our own people. Among these were nine from Aix la Chapelle, of the Rhenish Conference; so that the Holland meeting was really quite international in character. About four thousand dollars was spent in the gospel work of the Holland and Flemish Belgium Mission last year, half of which the field itself produced, while the rest was given by the German Union Conference. There are twenty-nine canvassers in the field, and the sales for last year amounted to five thousand seven hundred dollars. The Dutch paper has a circulation of six thousand. There are engaged in the field work, four ordained ministers, and four other gospel workers—a small force for the nine million people here. At this meeting it was voted that the coming year the churches begin to send their regularly authorized delegates, thus taking a further step toward the organization of a regular conference.

As the Holland Mission has sent a number of students to Friedensau, the brethren felt quite an interest in assisting worthy young people, and this interest was shown by their raising in a short time about four hundred fifty dollars for the educational fund, and also to assist in strengthening the general canvassing fund. This is by far the largest donation we ever secured in this field.

Elder Klingbeil was again unanimously elected superintendent of the Holland and Flemish Belgium Mission. As this mission will be a part of the West German Union Conference, beginning with Jan. 1, 1910, Elder Schilling improved the opportunity of visiting some of the leading churches in Holland and Belgium.

I stopped with our Dr. Rahden. He is a well-known physician, living in the center of the city. He accepted the truth some years ago. For a number of years he was a physician in the Dutch colonies, and now he has a good practise in The Hague. He and his wife know the Malay language well. He was happy indeed not only that his wife embraced present truth some time ago, but that at this time his son, a bright young man, was going forward in baptism; and as they have some relatives in England, the young man will attend the Watford school, and fit himself for the work.

Although much still needs to be done for this great field, yet we are assured that bright prospects are before us, and that soon there will be quite an ingathering of souls. For this we pray.

Hamburg.