California-Nevada Conference
By Stephen N. Haskell
Our conference year is just closing, and we thought the readers of the REVIEW might be interested in a report of the progress of the work in this part of the field. The Lord has greatly blessed the work, for which we are truly thankful. Three years ago the condition of the educational work was not very encouraging in this conference. In June, 1908, at a special session of the California Conference, it was voted to close Healdsburg College. There was a debt of about forty thousand dollars on the school when it was closed. The closing of this school left the conference with no advanced school, and about a thousand Seventh-day Adventist young people within our borders. Two small intermediate schools and twenty-one church-schools were all the educational institutions we had in the conference at that time. At present we have the Pacific College, which was purchased by this conference for sixty thousand dollars, and then voted over to the Pacific Union Conference. This school is now in its second year, is well filled, and is doing good work. We also have the Lodi Normal Academy, worth forty thousand dollars. It is now in its third year, and has a fine class of young people in attendance. We have two good intermediate schools, at Armona and Sanitarium, and thirty church-schools, with eighteen church-school buildings. The present value of these school properties is one hundred twelve thousand dollars. All the property is in a prosperous condition; and when the pledges made by our brethren are paid, the debt will be less than it was three years ago, when we had no advanced school in this conference. At the time of our general camp-meeting last summer, our entire school indebtedness had been reduced to eighty thousand dollars. During that camp-meeting and the one following, over thirty-six thousand dollars was received in pledges; and these, together with pledges previously made, place us in the condition stated above. This has been accomplished because our brethren and sisters of the California Conference, like Israel of old, have had “a mind to work.” They have given liberally, and we fully expect that they will go forward, and lift the entire indebtedness from the schools. The missionary work is onward. During 1908, $43,324.64 worth of literature was sold by our tract society, and distributed in the conference. During 1909 the amount sold reached the value of $43,667.42, and during the past year, of $52,713.82. The sale of literature for the past three years has amounted to $139,705.88. The distribution of this large amount of literature was accomplished chiefly by lay members, who have bought books and tracts and papers and distributed them in their home fields. Faithful canvassers have devoted their entire time to selling literature, and they have done good work; but their sales alone would not have equaled this amount. It was sold because the people not only had “a mind to work,” but actually took hold and did the work. The first year, when we tried to arouse an interest in the distribution of literature, some of the good brethren said it would react. We found that it did react, but not as they supposed. The meaning of react is “to act again,” and it has reacted each year. For years the message has been given that the time has come when our literature should be scattered like the leaves of autumn, and why should we hesitate to go forward and do the work? When we speak of the seed sown, our thoughts naturally turn toward the harvest. Eternity alone will give the full result of the distribution of so large an amount of literature; but the Lord has permitted us to see some fruits of the labor put forth. As a result of the literature distributed, united with the efforts of the workers in the conference during 1908, nine churches were organized; during 1909, seven; and during 1910, ten; making twenty-six churches that have been organized in the conference during the past three years. During the past year, 1910, over three hundred new members have been taken into our churches on profession of faith and baptism. We have tried to heed the call to work the cities. Some time ago we gave the readers of the REVIEW an account of the way we were conducting the work in San Francisco. Our workers in San Francisco have distributed large quantities of literature, and have tried to work thoroughly the parts of the city where they were located. Two churches have been organized in San Francisco as a result of the work done by the two companies located in the Sunset and Western divisions of the city; and twenty-two new members have been taken into the old San Francisco church as a result of the efforts of the company who have worked near the old church. A fourth company has recently begun to work in the Mission district of San Francisco. Our work among the Japanese is going forward surely and steadily, if not very rapidly. This year three intelligent Japanese have been baptized, uniting with the church, and others are interested. We now have two young Japanese doing faithful work for their own countrymen. The tithe of the California Conference for 1910 was $79,995.93, and the Sabbath-school offerings for the year were $8,581.82. This conference has not been unmindful of the needs of the work in other portions of the field. The donations to the work outside of the California Conference, that have been reported through our office, amounted to $32,440.54. This does not include the liberal offerings sent by individuals directly to needy fields. The relief book work has not been forgotten, although we have not done as much as we had hoped to. The St. Helena Sanitarium is in a prosperous financial condition, and very generously gave the schools the privilege of selling “Ministry of Healing” as well as “Christ’s Object Lessons.” Two thousand four hundred seventy-three of these two books have been sold in the conference. We feel thankful to our Heavenly Father for the prosperity that has attended every department of our work the past year, and we hope to receive much of God’s blessing during our coming conference. S. N. HASKELL.