Asiatic Division General Meeting by A. C. Selmon

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 15, 1915

Asiatic Division General Meeting

By A. C. Selmon

The two weeks’ meeting of the Asiatic Division workers which has just been held in Shanghai was in many respects the best meeting I ever attended. One reason why the meeting was one of special blessing is that our missionaries in this field are widely scattered, beginning in the north with two families in Mukden, Manchuria; then a gap of time a thousand miles to the two families in charge of the work in the province of Honan; then another stretch of two hundred miles to the station in Hankow; and from Hankow to the workers in the far western province of Szechuan there are nine hundred miles; and so on throughout the field. Many of the workers have not had the privilege of attending a meeting of Europeans since the general meeting held in Shanghai three years ago. Those in attendance had prayed for the success of the gathering, and had come with the confident expectation of receiving personal blessings. During the progress of the meeting all bore testimony of victories won and blessings received that would enable them to go back to their stations with stronger courage, deeper love for the people, and firmer faith in the soon finishing of the work.

There were 126 regular delegates. These, with the students who were in attendance from the China Missions Training School, and the Chinese workers from the Chinese Signs of the Times Publishing House, made a gathering of 200 workers. While in the home fields this would be counted a small company, yet to those of us who attended the first general meeting of Asiatic mission field workers, held in Shanghai in 1907, it was inspiring to see so many. At that time there was an attendance of less than thirty.

We came to this meeting expecting great things for ourselves individually, and great things for the future of the work in Asia. Both these expectations were realized. We had long hoped that the president of the General Conference could make a visit to this part of the great world field. Before the meeting he and Elder J. E. Fulton, of the Australasian Union, made a trip through the field with Elder R. C. Porter. First they visited Malaysia, then the Philippines, then South China and on through Japan and Korea, up to the newly opened Manchurian Mission. There they turned south, and visited the Central and East China Mission fields, en route to Shanghai. This gave opportunity to get first-hand knowledge of conditions in all the main centers of the work in this great division.

As they passed through the field from station to station, and saw in many places the long gap of more than a thousand miles where there is not a single representative of this message, they received an ever-growing impression of the wonderful opportunities now open before this denomination, and of the magnitude of the work that is yet to be done. It seemed also that every worker present received at this meeting a clearer view of the immeasurable task before us. This was the keynote of the meetings, and gave rise to an earnest seeking of the Lord for a baptism of his Spirit that will enable each one to be a more effective agent in his hands from this time on.

There were so many things to be considered concerning the various departments of the work and the outlining of broader and deeper plans for the future, that not so much time could be given to the institute work as we had hoped. The fact that we rarely have the privilege here in the mission field of having meetings that are especially aimed to help us as workers, led each one to appreciate highly all the studies and sermons that were given. The language of the meeting was English, but in different parts of the assembly hall there were at times as many as five translators, translating into Korean, Mandarin (Chinese), the Shanghai dialect, the Swatow dialect, and the Canton dialect. The native delegates present from the Philippines and Japan understood English; otherwise there would have been need of using seven languages in addition to English.

As reports were rendered by those in charge of the various mission fields of the division, showing the great things God has already done here in Asia, and of the unprecedented openings now before us, we felt that the Lord has blessed us above others in calling us and giving us a part in his work here. We were strongly impressed that this was an epoch-marking meeting, not only for the work in Asia but indirectly for the cause of God throughout the whole world.

Here in the East is found two thirds of the population of the globe, but there has been but a start made in giving the message to this countless multitude. The threefold message must be given here before the Lord returns; and in order that this may be done, the believers in other lands, especially America, Europe, and Australia, must get a clearer view of the task before us. Intensity must take hold on us as it is taking hold on everything in this old world. We must be up and doing, for doors of opportunity that have been wide open are even now beginning to swing shut. The vice president of the Chinese Republic, who is a Christian, “exhorts missionaries to warn the church at home that five years from now their critical opportunity will have passed, and that it is now or never for the heralding of the gospel in China.”

While our meeting was in progress, the crisis was reached in the negotiations between China and Japan, and from every human point of view there was absolute certainty of war between the two countries. But God worked in a wonderful way to restrain the forces that make for war in Asia, so that we still have before us a little season of peace. May the Lord stir us to improve this time, lest we be forced later to give the message in the midst of such strife and bloodshed as now prevail in Europe.

A. C. SELMON, M. D.

Shanghai.