p. 16 | An Inspiring Tour by Sten Rasmussen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 21, 1916

An Inspiring Tour

By Sten Rasmussen

Immediately following the Autumn Council at Takoma Park, October 11-20, it was my privilege to make a general tour of our foreign churches in the East, South, and Northwest. During the time of the council, word was received from our Bohemian-Slavish brethren in Newark, N. J., and also from the New Jersey Conference, that our foreign brethren at Newark had sold their church property, the building being too small and inadequate for their needs.

My first visit, therefore, was with these brethren at Newark, Sabbath, October 21. They had vacated the old church, and were meeting in a hall which was altogether too small to accommodate comfortably the congregation, which at the present time numbers close to seventy. The brethren had already laid plans for the erection of a new building.

The following Monday Elder A. R. Sandborn came up from Trenton, and in company with Elders George E. Langdon and Paul Matula, we examined a site in the city of Irvington, where the brethren had found a very desirable place on which to build. It is in the part of the city where the Bohemians and other foreigners live. The lot, which is fifty by one hundred feet, is in a good, clean, healthy location, on a well-paved street, within two blocks of the street car line, and has been secured for $1,000. This is quite reasonable, as lots on the opposite side of the street run from $1,300 up, and the one that our brethren have bought is on the better side of the street.

Funds have been provided so that the new building can be put up immediately. It will be a frame structure with a strong concrete foundation. We feel grateful to the Division and to the Lake and Northern Union Conferences for their sympathetic interest and substantial assistance in this enterprise, the completion of which will mean more to the upbuilding of our foreign work in that great center than we now realize. When the building stands fully completed and equipped, there will be no debt of any kind hanging over it. Besides a large auditorium, the building will house within its walls a well-lighted and up-to-date schoolroom for church school purposes.

Following this visit, I met with our Finnish believers in Brooklyn, N. Y., on Sabbath afternoon. It was here my privilege to celebrate with these dear brethren the ordinances of the Lord's house. Elder J. E. Jayne was in charge of the services. The Lord has blessed the tent efforts among the Finns and Hungarians this summer. We realize that had it not been for the efficient leadership and splendid coöperation that our brethren in that conference have

given these foreign workers, and the special interest that has been taken in supervising these efforts, we probably should not have obtained the results seen today. I also paid a brief visit to Bridgeport, Conn., where we have a little company of twelve Bohemians who are trying to uphold the banner of Prince Immanuel.

Going south, my next stop was at Yale, Va., where is our only Russian church in all the East and South. This was the first time I had met with this company of believers, which numbers over forty. The little church, nestled in the midst of the beautiful Virginia woods, towers as a torch of light in the gross darkness around it. It was a real inspiration to meet with these dear brethren, who seem to have retained their first love for the message. A good church school with thirty-five in attendance is in full operation, with a young Russian brother, S. Kritzky, in charge.

Some of the brethren live from ten to twelve miles from the church, but come to the services Sabbath after Sabbath. As I was going to stop speaking, after having talked for an hour and a half, one brother got up and said, “We came to church for an all-day worship.” So I had to go on for another hour, and still the people thought it was too short, but my train was leaving, and I had to stop.

My next visit was to be at Harvey, N. Dak. After spending a few days at the office in Chicago, I left for North Dakota in the evening of November 12, arriving at the Sheyenne River Academy on November 14. In connection with this school we have our Russian educational department, with Elder S. G. Burley in charge. About thirty bright Russian young people were in attendance, and more are expected before the end of the first term. This attendance is especially good in view of the fact that many parts of North Dakota this year have experienced crop failure.

This was my first visit with our Russian brethren in that part of the field. Having mapped out a tour with Elder Burley, I left the school the day following, going to Dogden, in company with Brother N. J. Michalenko, who acted as my interpreter the first two days, the plan being that Elder Burley should join me at Kief. At Dogden Butte we have a Russian church of forty members. All our meetings, which were held in the Presbyterian church, were well attended. Notwithstanding very cold weather, people came from ten to twelve miles to listen to the word of God.

At Kief I had the privilege of meeting Elders S. E. Jackson and J. T. Boettcher. Elder Boettcher spoke to the brethren here three times, and his words of cheer and admonition were highly appreciated. Our church at Kief has a membership of twenty-eight. From this place, where Elder J. A. Litwinenco joined us, we went by automobile to Max, a distance of forty-five miles.

Our largest Russian church, of fifty members, is in Max. Two near-by places, Great Stone and Makoti, have eighteen and eight members respectively. Last summer Elder Burley conducted a successful tent effort at Max, and about twenty new members were added to the church. A new church building has just been erected a few miles outside the village. It will be dedicated free of debt.

At Max we met in a rented church building, which proved too small to hold all who desired to attend. The meetings on Sabbath and Sunday were precious seasons, indeed. The Spirit of the Lord came very near and made hearts tender. At all the meetings, I was greatly impressed by the number of young people who came and listened most attentively to the word spoken. Many expressed a desire to live for God. Many not of our faith attended all the meetings, in fact, their number was in several cases larger than that of our own people. The prospect for a still stronger and growing work in that part of the field is certainly bright, when we take into consideration the number of young people now in training at the school.

It was a source of great encouragement to see the prosperous condition of our Russian work in that Northern State. We now have a total of more than two hundred Russian members in the North Dakota Conference. Together with the members in Virginia and Canada, our total runs up to three hundred and fifteen. Thus we are beginning to get a foothold among that sturdy, substantial, enduring nation of the Old World.

It was a special privilege to me to become acquainted with our two Russian workers, Elders Burley and Litwinenco, who have been laboring so perseveringly for many years, and who are still untiring in their efforts to build up and strengthen the work among their own people.

Our little Russian paper, Review and Herald, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month, is meeting with much success. A short time ago a letter was received from a Russian minister in a town in Pennsylvania, stating that he had read the paper and was greatly impressed with an article on the state of the dead. He further intimated that he would recommend the paper to his congregation the next Sunday, and have them send in their subscriptions. The Y. M. C. A. in a great Eastern city recently sent us a money order for several copies of the paper to be sent to their reading-rooms. Thus our truth-filled literature in this and other foreign tongues is pioneering the way where we have no workers to send.

The manuscript for “The Great Controversy,” in the Russian language, which has been held up in Germany for more than a year on account of the war, has come at last. Our foreign publishing house, the International Branch of the Pacific Press, at Brookfield, Ill., will print this book. A Russian linotype outfit has already been secured, and Brother A. Yakovenko, a Russian, will begin the work at the first opportunity. When we get this splendid book from the press, not only will our Russian young people have a chance to earn their scholarships among their own people, but we shall see many precious souls accept the truth as a result.

The last stop on this five-thousand-mile tour was made at Youngstown, Ohio, where I met with our Roumanian brethren on Sabbath and Sunday, November 25 and 26. On Sabbath afternoon, Elder E. K. Slade and Dr. W. J. Venen came to Warren, Ohio, where we organized our first Roumanian church, twenty believers constituting the first membership list. Others are ready for baptism, and will join the church in the near future. The meetings were well attended both days. Our brethren are greatly in need of a suitable place of worship, as all their meetings are held in a private house.

Among the Roumanians we have quite a few bright young people who are very desirous of obtaining an education and becoming workers. Some of them are planning to begin next school year, and are working hard to secure the necessary means to carry them through. Our Roumanian brethren are as intelligent and as loyal a class of people as can be found anywhere. They are faithful in tithe paying, are well up on their twenty-cent-a-week offerings, and at the time of our visit had already raised three dollars a member on their Harvest Ingathering goal. It is our experience that the foreigner not only responds nobly and loyally to the gospel invitation, but he becomes a most faithful and ardent supporter of this, the greatest movement with which humanity was ever connected.

We trust that our brethren throughout the field will remember the foreign work in the homeland. We have here the most unique of all foreign fields in the world. Any one who will show these benighted people from southeastern Europe real, true Christian sympathy and the genuine love of the Master, will soon find that they are just as receptive to kindness and help as are those who are more favored naturally.

Just as surely as there “were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven,” in the time of Peter and Paul, just so surely, in this the twentieth century, there are dwelling in these United States of America earnest, devout men out of every nation under the sun. They have come here in the providence of God to hear and receive the everlasting gospel, and it is my privilege, and yours, dear reader, to open unto them the fathomless depths of the fountain of life. Let us all work while it is yet day, for soon the night cometh, when no man can work.

STEN RASMUSSEN.