Self-Supporting Missionary Work
By C. H. JONES
For years the Lord has been calling our attention to the importance of giving this message to the people in the large cities, and also showing us that this work has been sadly neglected. We quote the following from “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 40:— “When I think of the cities in which so little has been done, in which there are so many thousands to be warned of the soon coming of the Saviour, I feel an intensity of desire to see men and women going forth to the work in the power of the Spirit, filled with Christ’s love for perishing souls. Those in our cities—living within the shadow of our doors—have been strangely neglected. Organized effort should now be put forth to give them the message of present truth. . . . We all need to be wide awake, that, as the way opens, we may advance the work in the large cities.” We appreciate the fact that this is a difficult problem to deal with on account of the expense. In many of the large cities tent-meetings can not be held on account of local restrictions, and hall rent is almost prohibitive. We are convinced that the work of warning the people in these large cities will have to be done largely through our publications, and if taken hold of in the right way, it can be made nearly or quite self-supporting. Our pioneer paper, The Signs of the Times, can be used as an entering wedge. The special number on the subject of Capital and Labor will be a splendid one to begin with. Then let this be followed by the sale of the regular issues, securing subscriptions, and selling small books, tracts, and pamphlets. We have these covering almost every phase of the message. Brother George A. King has been engaged in this work in New York City for many years. We quote the following from a letter recently received from him:— “I think the time has come when we can work faster with the message by using The Signs of the Times as a pioneer for the book work as well as for Bible work and ministerial work. I have been working for several years on the difficult problem of reaching the people with books in these large Eastern cities. We have sold many thousands of dollars’ worth of books, and have done a good work, but I think it is clear now that for the future the Signs or some other paper will have to play an important part in our work here.” As to the value of our periodicals, and especially The Signs of the Times, in this work, the following extracts from the Testimonies are right to the point:— “Our missionary paper, The Signs of the Times, is doing its work everywhere, and is opening the way for the truth to be more fully presented.” “Our brethren do not all see and realize the importance of this paper; if they did, they would feel greater personal interest to make it intensely interesting, and then to circulate it everywhere.” “This silent preacher, the Signs, enriched with precious matter, should go forth on the wings of prayer, mingled with faith, that it may do its appointed work in shedding the light of truth upon those who are in the darkness of error.” “It is a fact that the circulation of our papers is doing even a greater work than the living preacher can do.” It is the purpose of the publishers to make The Signs of the Times all that its name implies, by calling attention to current events, and showing what they mean in the light of prophecy. The subject of Capital and Labor can not be exhausted in one number, and this question will be discussed in future issues. Then there will be articles covering every phase of the message, presented in such a way as not to create prejudice, thus making the Signs truly a pioneer paper. The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Are there not those who will volunteer to take hold of this work in the large cities?