Union College and the Harvest Ingathering for Missions
By M. E. Ellis
UNION COLLEGE has taken a very active interest in the Harvest Ingathering campaign this year, and up to November 15 has paid $329.53 in cash on this fund, or nearly twice as much as last year. But this total is increasing every day, as the Harvest Ingathering is still a live issue.
There are two points that deserve special mention in connection with this report. One is that in College View and Lincoln there are more than one thousand Adventists, so territory for the Ingathering operations is somewhat restricted. The other is that almost without exception every dollar of the amount raised came from actual solicitation with the Ingathering Signs.
INTERNATIONAL BRANCH OF PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION AT BROOKFIELD, ILL.
Tuesday, October 10, was the general field day, when the school was dismissed for the main effort in the campaign, and all the morning street cars carried groups of students going to their assigned territories. It is true that in many cases a calm exterior covered shaking knees and trembling hearts, but the courage was greater than the fear, and the students went to their work with good cheer and smiling faces. They had results accordingly.
One automobile load took in several towns southeast of College View. Another one went into the country east of College View. The college president and his wife went south on still another road. More than one hundred took the street cars to territory in the city of Lincoln and its suburbs, each having a card with his territory plotted; and a few went into the country on foot. Practically every member of the faculty and a majority of the students took part in this effort.
The following morning, the chapel period was given to an experience meeting, and the money received was handed in. We can mention but a few of the interesting experiences related.
One automobile load of five received the following amounts: $3.73, $4.05, $3.30, $3.45 and $6.10. This was the first experience in this work for the young woman receiving the last-mentioned sum.
Another automobile load of four or five young men received even better returns, one young man bringing in over ten dollars. He introduced his experience by remarking that he was surprised at the large number of dollars lying around, and suggested that somebody ought to go out after them. He found one man who had given another solicitor a dollar the day before for the same purpose, but gave him a dollar also.
One young woman who had set her goal at ten dollars came back from her day's work with but $5.15, but going to a lady in the sanitarium who had promised her a gift, she received five dollars more.
Two young women told of walking out into the country in different directions. Each received several dollars, and one of them found a mother and several children who had come into the truth by reading, and had been keeping the Sabbath for some time, but had not come in touch with any of our church members.
One of the lady teachers found a woman who had been wanting to find some Adventists for some time, but did not know how to go about it. Her name was given to the pastor of the Lincoln church.
Another told of having met several Catholic families in succession, and of receiving a gift from every one of them. Lutherans, Presbyterians, ministers of the gospel, business men, Masons, were mentioned in the experiences as having contributed to missions. Seventeen persons received over three dollars apiece for the day's effort, and five over ten dollars apiece.
The work is still going on, and the results are greater than ever before. By the close of the year the sum total received by the young people here will doubtless reach the $400 mark, which will make a very substantial gift to missions, to say nothing of the value of the experiences in the lives of the students, which cannot be estimated by any mere money value.
