Our Mid-Summer Offering
By W. T. Bland
The one great work in which all our people are interested, and in which every one has an opportunity of engaging, is that of carrying this message of the soon-coming Saviour to the entire world. It must be done in this generation, and the privilege of doing it is offered to this people. Many are offering themselves to this last great work, and are going in person to the various parts of the earth, their lives wholly consecrated to the one purpose. Others are now making preparation to go, feeling that the Lord has especially laid this burden upon their hearts. They do it gladly, willing to sacrifice the comforts of home, of relatives and friends, and to endure hardships in strange lands for the sake of helping to carry this great truth to the world. But while the large majority of our people can not go to these distant lands, still they are just as deeply interested in the work, and just as willing and ready to make sacrifices for it, as are those who go. The Lord is just as surely moving upon the hearts of his people to give of their means to help carry forward this work as he is laying the burden upon the hearts of others to go. Never before have our people been impressed to support the work in foreign lands as during the past year. The offering made during the last week of prayer was almost double that of previous years. The weekly offerings are steadily increasing. Even those not members of our church have sent in good contributions for the work in foreign lands. Last year the Mid-summer Offering was taken on the fourth day of July, and was all sent to assist our brethren in Australia, $10,927.72 being realized. This was a wonderful blessing to the work in that field. This year the offering will be for our mission fields throughout the world. There come pleading calls from many lands—calls so full of earnestness that we can not resist making a special plea to our people everywhere to make this a most liberal offering. Make your gifts to the most needy fields, or if the Lord has given you a burden for some particular field, make mention of the matter, and your desires shall be carried out. The date set for this offering is the first Sabbath in July. Shall we not on this day remember our brethren in foreign lands, the work that is being carried forward, and that which is yet to be done? When this offering is taken, a special prayer service for our foreign missions would be most appropriate. May not this Mid-summer Offering be double that of last year, as has been the week-of-prayer offering over that of the previous year? W. T. BLAND.