The Week of Prayer in the French Field
By B. G. Wilkinson
AFTER passing the first Sabbath of the week of prayer with the Paris church, I left to visit the company at Banges, in the eastern part of France. The Spirit of the Lord greatly blessed our meeting. On Christmas night, by lantern light, I baptized three earnest souls, who desired to be enrolled among the number of the disciples. Among these was a young man who for four years has been clerk and student in a law office; but having studied the message for a few months, he had decided to obey. The Protestant pastor of the community had cited him as an example of good moral character. The Sabbath following, we broke bread together, the Spirit of God witnessing his good pleasure by removing all past differences, and firmly uniting the little company in the bonds of brotherly love. I ordained Brother Guichon as elder of the little flock. This brother is a blacksmith, who, for several years, has manifested a Christian spirit in his daily walk. The tithes of the quarter were faithfully paid, and a Christmas donation offered to the work. Three more young people testified of their desire to walk more faithfully in the future, and will soon receive baptism. From eastern France I passed over into French-Switzerland, holding the annual assemblies with the churches of Brenne, Mouden, Geneva, and Lausanne. The little church of Geneva now numbers nearly fifty members. They have rented a small hall in the center of the city, where services are open to the public two or three times a week. There are good prospects before the church of Geneva. At Lausanne there is a good interest in the truth. On Friday night there were a few strangers in the meeting. Though the message was addressed to the church, yet the strangers were so deeply interested that they invited others to attend, and on Sunday night the hall was crowded with strangers. Every available seat was taken, and even planks were added to give more seating capacity. At the close of this meeting I was made acquainted with two of the listeners, who expressed their intention soon to receive baptism and join the church. It is to be regretted that we do not have a minister available for Lausanne. From Lausanne I went to Yverdon, the city of Pestalozzi. Here I met with the committee of the French-Swiss Conference. We had a pleasant and profitable meeting. Measures were adopted which I think will help the work this coming year. Addition was made to the working force of the conference, a young brother who had attended the Geneva and Paris schools being invited to assist Brother Tieche, the president of the conference, in his work in Geneva. The report of work from Belgium is also encouraging. Brother Curdy writes of a number of interested ones whom he thinks will soon be ready for baptism. Our Brethren Bond in Spain are much encouraged in seeing a new person accept the truth. The work in Spain needs our prayers. Brother Nussbaum sends word from the south of France that the week of prayer caused quite a revival among the churches and companies of that section. The little company at Brignon has recently been encouraged, several persons having decided to begin the observance of the Sabbath. We have no reason to feel discouraged over the outlook of the work in the French-Latin field. Quite the contrary. The committee of this field will meet at Valence, France, the first of the coming month. At this meeting we expect that important decisions will be made to advance the work in this field. We thank God for his guidance in the past, and by faith we expect it in the future. B. G. WILKINSON,
8 rue Belloni, Paris, France.