The German Emperor's Jubilee Mission Collection
By Louis Richard Conradi
In June, 1913, the German emperor celebrated the twenty-fifth year of his reign. As it was the desire of His Majesty that the jubilee should be marked by appropriate gifts to all sorts of philanthropic enterprises for the sick, aged, orphans, etc., millions of marks were given throughout the empire to launch such enterprises. But at the same time, the leading missionary authorities felt that it was an opportune time to encourage the missionary spirit and raise donations throughout the empire, and on approaching the emperor with their desire, he immediately agreed to their proposal. The Catholics desired to have their own collection, but the emperor, on the other hand, was anxious that the Protestants might unite, without respect to their belief, and present their offering as a whole, that it might then be distributed among the different Protestant missionary societies according to their strength and need. As I had returned from German East Africa in February, and had been very busy in general meetings up to the time of the General Conference, I only incidentally learned the outlines of this plan from the German colonial paper before leaving for America. Hardly thinking that we, as Seventh-day Adventists, would be considered, yet desiring to help the mission work in our German colonies as well as to take part in honoring the emperor's jubilee, we urged our brethren in Germany to have a special collection for this purpose. Considering that the regular Sabbath collection was omitted, this collection brought from the Sabbath-keepers in Germany $6,200 (26,000 marks). While we were endeavoring to find a proper way to bring this matter to the notice of the emperor, an official letter was addressed to us by the commission that had been appointed by the emperor to distribute the collection, asking us to state the number of missionaries, schools, pupils, and the amount of mission12expenses, as well as deficits, in connection with our work in the German colonies. This was the first intimation we had that we were to be considered in the distribution. In order to learn all the particulars, I called on the high official who was the secretary of the committee, and had quite a long and interesting visit with him. When he was informed that we had had our special collection, he at once urged that it be put into the general fund, in accordance with the express wish of His Majesty, to which we forthwith complied. As far as we could learn, the Catholic contribution amounted to only about $300,000, while the Protestant contribution amounted to over $800,000. During my recent visit in Berlin, I called on the secretary again, and from him learned many interesting items about the result. The basis upon which the fund was to be distributed was eighty per cent in relation to the number of mission employees, twenty per cent in relation to the number of schools and pupils, then also the medical mission work and great deficits were to be considered. The mission societies received altogether about $675,000; the medical missionary school at Tübingen received $24,000, and other institutions of similar nature in Germany about $15,000, while the sum of $120,000 was reserved for the future development of mission interest in the colonies. As to the particular mission societies, His Majesty ordered by a special decree, on October 29, that the money be distributed in sums varying from $120,000 to $800. Thus the Berlin and Basel mission societies received each about $120,000; the Barmen, Bremen, Moravian, and Leipzig, about $50,000 each; then the Bielefeld, Breklum, etc., between $25,000 and $40,000 each; the German Baptists, $23,000; and the German Seventh-day Adventists about $12,000; five mission societies received smaller amounts, varying from $8,000 downward. While this means about $6,000 more than we ourselves turned in, yet, on the other hand, we are glad that we could show our loyalty to the powers that be, and above all, our loyalty to God and his cause, and also that this loyalty was recognized by the highest authorities. We know this means much more than the money, and will be helpful in many ways in placing our work before the German public in the true light. On accepting this sum, we had to agree to the one settled condition, and that was that this money should be spent only in direct mission work in the German colonies, some fearing undoubtedly that we might use the money for the extension of our work in Germany itself. But in agreeing to this condition, we had the very best opportunity of showing that our work in the German Empire is not only covered by the tithe raised in the land itself, so that all mission gifts can go to the fields beyond, but that the German Empire today, with a tithe of nearly $100,000, already sends out $125,000 second and surplus tithes to mission fields. In other words, the work among the 66,000,000 in Germany today is carried on in its fourteen conferences and three unions at an expense of about $160,000 a year. Thus far we have begun active work in only two parts of German East Africa. But we are now taking steps to open up the work in the Kamerun Colony, where there are large and populous fields calling for both men and means. We feel grateful to our Heavenly Father that the threefold message of Revelation 14 has assumed such proportions in the fatherland that it is not only self-supporting at home, but can turn over between $80,000 and $100,000 to fields beyond, and that the mission spirit of our German believers receives recognition from the very highest authorities.