Work for the Colored by C. B. Stephenson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 1, 1914

Work for the Colored

By C. B. Stephenson

The regular annual collection for the work among the colored will be taken, as usual, the first Sabbath in October.

The funds gathered at this time aid in carrying forward the work for the Negroes in the dependent sections of the Division Conference. There are over eight million colored people in the South who are waiting for the third angel's message. This people compose a missionary field as truly as do the peoples of foreign lands, and must, at least for some time, receive aid from the Mission Board.

The amount available through the regular channels falls far short of being adequate to the great needs of the field. In order to make up for this shortage of funds, the Division Conference has set apart the first Sabbath in October for the taking of a special collection.

This people are ready and waiting for the last message of love to a lost world. I do not recall a single tent effort the past year that has not been fruitful, and many of them have brought out large churches. We ought to have many more workers to quickly give the message to the colored people while conditions are so favorable.

In almost every mail I receive some heart-touching appeal for a little help. Cannot some of our people who have been blessed with much of this world's goods invest some of it in the salvation of this race? Why not convert our perishable property into the imperishable, by letting it go to a work so worthy, and thus lay up treasure in heaven. Soon the privilege of giving to God's cause will cease. We cannot afford to let the books of heaven close and find our balance on the wrong side of the ledger.

The present unsettled condition of the world is but the beginning of the great struggle of all nations, and is an illustration of how quickly things can change about. We know not how soon Europe's misfortunes will be ours. Now is the accepted time, the last time. Shall we not make this year's offering to the uplift of the colored people the largest ever taken?

C. B. STEPHENSON,

Secretary Negro Department.