The Work in Great Britain
By Ole Andres Olsen
SOME time has now passed since I sent anything for the REVIEW, not because we have been idle, for the past months have been a very busy time in our field, and we are glad to report steady progress and advancement in the work. Although the past few months have been among the busiest of my life, I am thankful to God for the blessings and strength we have experienced in our work. Reports have been sent in at different times from the various divisions of this field, so I need not report the details of the progress of the work in the various places, only to say that it is steadily advancing in every part of the British field. Four new churches have been organized in the North England Conference during the present year, two in the South England Conference, one in Scotland, and one in Wales; and in Ireland a good company is ready for organization. At Newport, in the Welsh Mission, a church of thirty-three members was organized, twenty-seven of whom have recently accepted the truth; and a number of others have since done so, and will join at the first opportunity. The regular annual meeting of the South England Conference closed on Sunday evening, May 29. This was held at Southsea. The past year has been a very trying one in this conference, and we have been made sad by the apostasy of two of our laborers. This caused no small trembling and shaking among the believers, and many were led to investigate anew the foundation of their faith and hope, and to feel after the underlying principles of the truth. The Lord blessed the study of his Word, and the result has been that our people are more firmly grounded in the truth and the message than ever before, and are rejoicing in the renewed certainty of the immovable foundation of their precious faith and hope. Our annual meeting was one of the best of its kind we have ever attended. From the very beginning, the presence of the Spirit of the Lord was manifest, and the testimonies of courage, confidence, and faith in the message and its work revealed how earnestly they had been searching the Word, and how clearly the Spirit of the Lord had revealed to them the truth of the message and work for this time. The attendance of our own people was larger than last year, and this itself was a source of much encouragement. For some time Southsea has been the center of a test between truth and error. It was here that Elder Champness had labored for more than a year before leaving the truth, and to this place he returned to start a work independent of that of the third angel's message. Just before the meeting, we organized a church of twenty-three members at Southsea, whose names were enrolled in a covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. During the meeting twenty-three souls were baptized, fourteen of whom came from Southsea, and the others from other places. We were favored by the use of the Baptist Emmanuel church for our baptismal service, which was kindly granted by its pastor and people. The Spirit of the Lord was present in the meeting in a marked manner, and the service was very impressive. The business meetings of the conference, which appear in another report, passed off very harmoniously. Every department of the work received careful attention, and I never saw a more hearty or enthusiastic interest taken in what we call business meetings than was manifested at this time. During the progress of the meeting, quite a number were converted, and took their stand for the truth. In our closing meeting, some who had been attending our services for some time, and who had been watching developments carefully, testified with joy that they had taken a definite stand for the truth of God, and for the Sabbath of the Lord. Three sisters who had come to this country from South Africa to investigate the truth, or 'get to the bottom of the thing,' as they expressed it, were present at the meeting, and were greatly blessed. The speakers enjoyed much freedom in presenting the message, and the Spirit of God impressed the truths presented on the hearts of the people. At the closing business meeting, aggressive plans for the work of the coming season were laid before the people, and were heartily approved. We are planning to have three tents in the field during the summer, one in the large city of Bristol, and the other two in different parts of London where special interests have been awakened. The fact that one of these tents will be manned entirely by students from our school is an encouraging feature. We were not favored with the presence of any outside help for the Southsea meeting, either from America or from the Continent of Europe. The various divisions of the British Union were represented, Brother Andross being present from the North England Conference, Brother Hutchinson from Ireland, Brother Ballenger from Wales, and Brother Ritchie from Scotland, the last-mentioned remaining to connect with the work in this conference. Our brethren and sisters throughout the conference are of the best of courage, and have gone back to their homes and several fields of labor with a determination to press forward to the mark of our high calling, and to be faithful in their duty, both in the payment of an honest tithe to the Lord and in doing active missionary work. Trusting in God for his special blessing, we go forth to the work with renewed courage, believing that the Lord will signally bless the work in this great and important field, and hasten the message to its final consummation.