p. 14 | W. H. SMITH by W. H. Smith

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 20, 1916

W. H. SMITH

By W. H. Smith

Florida

JACKSONVILLE.— It is two years and a half since I left Newark, N. J., and began work in the great Southern city of Jacksonville. It rejoices our hearts as we look back over the two and one-half years that we have spent in this field, to note some of the marked indications of the blessing of God upon the feeble efforts that we have put forth.

The Lord has not only blessed us in giving us souls for our hire, but a new church has been built and dedicated, and will be free from debt when the pledges are paid. We can now see more fully than ever before that it was the hand of God that led us to build a larger church, for it would have been impossible to get our present congregation into our old church building. Our church, which will seat nearly three hundred, is well filled every Sabbath. The attendance at our Sunday night meetings has more than doubled since the new church was built.

Last Sabbath was a jubilee day for us. The report of our Sabbath school secretary for the quarter ending March 25 showed that the donations from the Sabbath school alone amounted to $419.20, the thirteenth Sabbath offering reaching $237. When we take into consideration the hard times through which the people of the South have passed during the last year, we are compelled to say, “What hath God wrought!”

We are planning to pitch our tent for a strong summer’s effort, and we earnestly solicit the prayers of all our people that the results of the summer’s work may be the gathering of many souls into the kingdom of God.