The Bloemfontein Camp-Meeting by R. C. Porter

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 25, 1911

The Bloemfontein Camp-Meeting

By R. C. Porter

THIS meeting was held March 16-26. It was a representative meeting, being a union of the Natal-Transvaal and Cape Colony conferences and the South African Union Conference. The meeting was not a large gathering, there being only about two hundred present. This number represented nearly all of the churches, and all but one of the mission stations. The key-note of the meeting was, The love of Christ in the heart the only true basis of Christian life and activity.

From the very beginning there was a ready response on the part of the people to the appeal from the ministry for a higher standard of personal experience in the love of Christ. It was very marked that the Lord was leading, as day by day the message lifted the people higher and higher in Christian experience. Brethren who had differed on plans and policies for the advancement of the work were perfectly united and of the same mind.

The first three days of the meeting it rained hard and quite continuously, greatly to the discomfort of the campers; but there was no murmuring in the tents. The last week the weather was delightful.

The business meetings were participated in by all present. No race nor national disunity appeared; the meeting was in every respect a union conference.

Elder H. J. Edmed was elected president of the Natal-Transvaal Conference, with Brother F. Macdonald as secretary and treasurer. Elder W. S. Hyatt was unanimously chosen president of the Cape Colony Conference, and J. V. Willson as secretary and treasurer. The writer was continued as president of the union, with J. V. Willson as secretary and treasurer. It was recommended that more help be provided for the office.

The past two years showed a marked gain in tithes and offerings, book sales, and general missionary work. The tithes showed a gain of $3,249 for the union. The First-day offerings showed $630 gain, and the Sabbath-school offerings, $1,015.

The attendance at our mission schools and out-schools has increased from 1,215 to 2,158. The book and paper sales also show a large increase. More than twenty thousand dollars' worth of books has been sold and delivered in the last two years.

The spirit of the meeting was deep and earnest. A meeting was called for the purpose of raising money to relieve the indebtedness of the Plumstead Sanitarium and the Claremont Union College. This was the most remarkable meeting I ever attended. It began at 9:30 A. M., and continued without intermission until 3 P. M. Dr. G. W. Thomason first gave a report of the sanitarium, and Brother C. P. Crager followed with a report of the college. These reports showed that the patronage at both the sanitarium and the bath-rooms and the attendance at the college had doubled during the past two years.

Following these reports a brief statement was made showing the importance of raising a fund for relieving these institutions of the burden of debt. The sanitarium first responded through Dr. Thomason and his associates offering to become responsible for raising five thousand dollars within the next two years if the people would raise an equal amount. All cash and pledges raised by the people were to be divided equally between the two institutions.

The sweet spirit of Christ rested upon the people, and amid flowing tears they began to give. Hand after hand went up for $500, then for $250, for $125, and for $100. These sums were followed by smaller amounts. Even little children caught the spirit of the meeting, and appealed to their parents for an offering for Jesus, and none were turned empty away. Children and wives at home were also remembered, and offerings given in their names. The good spirit of giving did not end here; for offerings were given in memory of loved ones now sleeping in death. The poor were accounted as those who gave, this being made possible by those who are more favored with this world's goods. Outside persons present gave willingly and cheerfully. There was no urging. Once or twice it was suggested that the meeting close, but the suggestion was not heeded. The workers from the dining-tent came with their fruit and vegetables, and prepared them for the noon-day meal in the rear of the large tent, that they, too, might share in the blessing of the service. None present doubted that we were being visited by the promised refreshings of the latter rain.

The "Christ's Object Lessons" and "Ministry of Healing" campaigns for the relief of institutional indebtedness were presented, and several hundred of these books were subscribed for. When the meeting closed, people lingered to learn the amount of the offering, and were happily surprised to find it totaled approximately seventeen thousand dollars.

It is needless to say that those who attended this meeting were lifted higher in their Christian experience, and returned home to work more earnestly than ever before to hasten the coming of Christ, and his blessed kingdom of peace and love, that we may enjoy such gatherings throughout an endless eternity. R. C. PORTER.