General Conference Appropriations for Mission Work
By William T. Knox
EACH year the General Conference Committee makes provision by appropriations for all those portions of the world-wide field not able to meet fully their own necessities. These appropriations are designed to provide for the mission fields in foreign lands, the home mission fields,—as the great cities of the East, with their vast foreign populations, the millions of colored people of the South, the frontier regions beyond the resources of the local conferences of Canada, and on the border toward Mexico,—and the general administrative and departmental expense of the General Conference. At the autumn council of the General Conference Committee, held in October, the following appropriations were made:— Brazilian Union Conference...$ 9,000
Bahama Mission ............ 500
China Union Mission ........ 49,000
Hawaiian Mission .......... 450
India Union Mission ........ 33,500
Japan Mission .............. 12,300
Korean Mission ............. 14,000
Malaysian Mission .......... 5,750
Mexican Mission ............ 10,000
Philippine Islands Mission ... 4,500
Singapore Mission .......... 3,000
South African Union Conf..... 25,500
South American Union Conf... 21,750
West African Mission ....... 7,000
Canary Islands ............. 1,500
West Indian Union Conf. .... 13,250
Atlantic Union Conference.... 25,500
Canadian Union Conference ... 9,300
Columbia Union Conference ... 23,000
Southeastern Union Conference 6,700
Southern Union Conference... 6,800
Southwestern Union Conference 7,000
Western Canadian Union Conf. 1,800
Negro Department ........... 31,500
Jewish Work ................ 2,000
North American Foreign Dept. 3,000
Loma Linda College ......... 1,000
Blind Work ................. 6,000
Asiatic Division ........... 2,500
(Gen. Conf. laborers in field .... 25,000
Departmental and executive ex. 42,000
Gen. Conf. Office laborers ..... 2,500
Obligations to Gen. Conf. Assn. 5,000
Obligations to Gen. Conf. Corp. 15,000
Emergency ..................... 50,000
Total .......................$476,600 As a partial offset to the appropriations voted to the Atlantic, Columbia, Southeastern, Southern, and Southwestern Unions, the General Conference will receive approximately $35,000 from the percentage of their tithe voted to the General Conference to assist in meeting its expenses of 1912. Though many of the local conferences are weak in resources, and are carrying heavy burdens, yet they prefer to fully unite with the stronger conferences in the general plan of division of tithe with the Mission Board. The estimated expenses of all fields were most carefully studied, and every item that could possibly be eliminated was stricken out, so that the amounts above seem to be the smallest that can safely be set apart for the needs of any of the fields. An important question for every Seventh-day Adventist to consider now is, How can this expense be met? As it totals almost a half-million dollars, it will appear at once that this large sum can not be secured by the General Conference without the most thorough cooperation on the part of every lover of the truth. It is estimated that the surplus tithe voted to us by the different conferences for 1912 will total about $125,000, leaving $350,000 to be provided for from the offerings of the people. The record of 1910 shows only $300,000 received from these sources, with the probability that the amount of offerings for 1911 will be no greater. It will be seen at once, therefore, that the recommendation of the council at Friedensau, that the amount of donations be raised from ten to fifteen cents per week per member, is very essential. No one desires to see the work retarded at this time. The only way that we can expect to see our hopes of an aggressive work realized will be by greater liberality on the part of all. Already nearly all the conference organizations of America have by vote signified their acceptance of the Friedensau recommendation to increase the rate of our mission offerings, and some of the conferences by their reports are demonstrating their ability to secure such increase for us. Thorough work in the Harvest Ingathering campaign and increased liberality on the part of our people in their annual offerings will greatly help us in attaining the increased amount desired. By the time this paper reaches most of the readers of the REVIEW the season of prayer will be upon us. In view of the great needs of the fields and of the depleted condition of our treasury, it behooves all of us to give careful consideration as to what should be the extent of our offerings on this occasion. The remittances sent out to the fields for the month of November leave the treasury with a deficit of over $20,000. This amount should be entirely made up, and a reasonable sum placed in the treasury to begin its operations for 1912.