p. 6 | A Great Movement by Arthur G. Daniells

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 22, 1902

A Great Movement

By Arthur G. Daniells

One of the greatest movements of a definite, practical, far-reaching, and beneficial character ever inaugurated by Seventh-day Adventists is now taking place among us. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Minnesota to Texas. It is marshaling for holy service thousands of our people. It is throwing “the life line” to many thousands of perishing men and women, and it is bringing glad relief to our debt-burdened schools. This movement is the campaign for the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” No one can have any true idea of what is being done in this direction unless he is closely watching the movement; nor can he have any just appreciation of the immense harvest to be gathered from this sowing, unless he has a clear conception of its great possibilities.

Look at what is being done. The Lake Union Conference has two schools carrying an indebtedness aggregating $85,000. This indebtedness is to be paid with the proceeds from the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” This requires the sale of at least 72,000 copies of the book in that union conference. This means the sale of four books for every church member in the Battle Creek College district, and about twice that number for each member in the Mt. Vernon Academy district.

Looked at from the standpoint of individual responsibility, the task seems small and the proposition simple. But when we look at the work and the results as a whole, the undertaking seems great. And what is true of the Lake Union Conference is also true of all the other union conferences.

The Atlantic Union Conference has a debt of about $45,000 on South Lancaster Academy, which means the sale of five or six books for each of its members. The Pacific Union Conference has an indebtedness of about $66,000 on its two large schools, requiring the sale of six books for every member. The Union College district has a debt of $78,000, to be removed by the sale of four books for each member. Although the school debts in other union conferences are not as large as those mentioned above, they have fewer members, so that the work for each member throughout the United States is about the same.

Now the difficult part of carrying out the plan for paying these school debts from the proceeds of the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons” is to get the books sold. And the only difficulty there is in getting the books sold is in getting the church members to work. And this, as we all know, is the solution of the problem. It is the key to the whole situation. If every member would sense his duty and do it promptly, the task would be but little greater than it would be if the debt on each school was only five dollars, and there was but one member in each conference to pay it.

Ohio has taken its full quota by an order for 12,000 copies. Michigan has filled its quota by an order for 18,000. Montana and Utah have ordered their full number. Iowa has completed its list by an order for 11,000 books. Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, and Manitoba have ordered their entire number. The Upper Columbia, North Pacific, and California Conferences are all in line, and are organizing to push the work from now until their full number is sold. New York, New England, and Vermont are hard at work to the same end. Oklahoma has about finished its campaign, and Texas is following hard after. Thus this movement is extending from ocean to ocean. It is taking practical and resolute shape in conference after conference. God is sounding the trumpet call to service. It is being heard throughout the land. Thousands of our dear people are being aroused to action. The cloud is lifting, and Israel is preparing for a march. This is good; for we have compassed this mountain long enough.

And now, what will come from this movement, if it is carried through as the Lord has directed?

1. The indebtedness of our schools throughout the world will be paid. This will stop the payment of an annual interest of at least $15,000. It will place our schools on a sound financial basis, and this will remove many anxious cares and perplexities from our school boards. Then we can do more in a financial way to improve our school work.

2. The payment of the school debts will release $300,000 of our people’s money for use in other branches of the work. This will no doubt swell the contributions to our destitute mission fields.

3. The three hundred thousand copies of “Christ’s Object Lessons” that will, by this movement, be placed in that many homes, will prove an unspeakable blessing to humanity. O, the harvest that will be gathered from this sowing! Who will venture to estimate it?

4. The personal service performed by those who sell the book will prove a great stimulus, a blessed inspiration, to them. Nothing does the human heart so much good as to pour its love out upon those who need it. Jesus emptied himself, and took the form of a servant to poor, lost, suffering humanity. Let this mind be in you. It is more blessed to give than to receive. The value of the service that will bring our people face to face, and heart to heart, with the millions they will meet in the sale of more than a quarter of a million of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” is beyond all comprehension.

5. The whole cause of the third angel’s message will be revived and advanced. Three hundred thousand dollars will have come to its treasury from the world. Its light will have been set in three hundred thousand homes outside of its followers. And its seventy-five thousand believers will have gained an experience in personal service that will prepare them for further and still greater service. This is a great need among us. Our tendency is to turn our religious work over to the ministers. This has been the fatal mistake of all the denominations which have gone before us. It weakens the church and delays God’s work.

Brethren, “the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,” which we hear, is the call of God to us. Let us bestir ourselves, for the Lord has gone out before us to win glorious victories for us. Some of our brethren are at work. They are truly in earnest about this matter. Theirs is not an enthusiasm akin to noise and the swinging of caps. It is that born of deep conviction, and inspired by bright prospects of sure and complete success. A. G. DANIELLS.

P. S.—Since writing the foregoing a stirring meeting has been held in the

chapel of Union College with the teachers and students, and the ministers of the Nebraska Conference. This great company of nearly four hundred had caught the spirit of this movement, and the moment an opportunity was given, the majority of them volunteered for service. The teachers led out, and scores of bright, earnest young men and women followed. After this general volunteer movement, we separated for organization. The Nebraska laborers retired to one room, and the college faculty to another. Both companies decided to take their full quotas for the conference and the school. Fifteen or twenty companies of the students will be formed to work in Lincoln and the surrounding country. These will be led by the teachers. The books required for the work have been telegraphed for, and the campaign will open as soon as they arrive. In the meantime the companies will meet frequently for counsel, prayer, and the study of the book. Thus good history is being made faster than we can write it.

A. G. D.