The October Collection by I. H. EVANS

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 6, 1906

The October Collection

By I. H. EVANS

IN harmony with the recommendation of the last General Conference, the donation to be taken in all our churches the first Sabbath in October is for the benefit of the colored work in the South.

Last year the donation to this fund reached nearly thirteen thousand dollars. This is the largest ingathering of funds for our work for the colored people that has ever been received in any year. The distribution of this fund among the various conferences of the South has imparted a new impetus to the work among the colored people of that field.

The work in behalf of this people will always appeal to the liberalities of those who love the third angel’s message. Their needs will never be fully supplied. One who studies this interesting race as seen in the North alone, will never be able fully to appreciate the great contrast between the colored people in the North and the colored people as seen in the South.

In this great southland are living millions of these people. This is their home, the land of the nativity of the great majority of them. In this very generation they were liberated from bondage. Without land or money or education, they were thrown upon their own resources under conditions the like of which history offers no parallel. No Sabbath church bell invited them to worship; the door of no schoolroom welcomed their little ones to seek an education. No home of their own threw open its portals, inviting them to rest and comfort. For generations they had been benighted heathen or a race of slaves. Their liberty did not give them knowledge, or land, or home. They started as an orphan child starts, having only physical strength to toil and suffer as their capital.

This people needs our sympathy and help. To but few other people can the truths of the third angel’s message bring a greater blessing than to the colored man in this country. It teaches him to labor and to economize. To understand it, he must read his Bible daily, and learn to commune with his God. It teaches him the laws of health, and insists that he practise temperance in all things. It puts an inspiration into his life which makes a new world for him.

Besides, the colored race is a religious people. Their hearts are easily touched with sacred things. The word of God makes strong impressions on their hearts. There will doubtless be many of this people who will shine as bright stars in the kingdom of our God, as the result of their acceptance of the third angel’s message.

We hope our churches will plan for a liberal offering on this occasion. The Sabbath on which the donation is to be made will be our regular quarterly meeting occasion, October 6. All donations should pass through the usual channels.

I. H. EVANS.