OUR WEEKLY OFFERINGS by Foreign Mission Board

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 5, 1901

OUR WEEKLY OFFERINGS

By Foreign Mission Board

While all heaven is interested in the last message of mercy, and holy angels would gladly have borne it to earth's remotest bounds, our Heavenly Father has conferred upon man this inestimable privilege. From the beginning, the history of God's work has been the history of sacrifice. As it was impossible for our Saviour to redeem the world without sacrifice, so we can not enter into His labors unless we are filled with the same spirit.

The early Church counted no sacrifice too dear, if it enabled them to carry to their fellow men the good news of a risen Saviour. Of the believers in Macedonia, it is written that “the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For according to their power, . . . yea and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord.” 2 Cor. 8: 2, 3, R. V. This unselfish devotion will attend the closing work of the everlasting gospel, before it goes with that mighty power that will lighten every land with its glory.

At first thought, it may seem strange that the progress of God's cause is so dependent upon money; nevertheless it is true. When the treasury is full, the work is prosecuted with vigor and earnestness; but when the gifts are withheld or offered sparingly, the workers are handicapped, and the stringent conditions are felt throughout the entire field.

Constant advance is the law of missionary success. The work can no more stand still in foreign fields than at home. If we neglect to enter open doors, we may expect our work to languish, and possibly die. Already the servant of the Lord has said that “our foreign missions are languishing.” Note the reason: “The missionaries are not sustained as God requires they should be. For want of funds, workers are not able to enter new fields.” We are thankful to report that since these words were penned, there has been a material increase in the offerings to foreign missions; but what has been done is merely a beginning compared with what we may do if every member of this denomination simply carries out the suggestion of giving the regular weekly offering of at least ten cents, as has been recommended by the majority of our Conferences. Many, very many, can do much more than this, but there is a large number who can not give even ten cents a week; so that, in the aggregate, if an average of ten cents from each person is realized, some must do more.

The report of our offerings for 1900 shows an increase of twenty-three thousand dollars over those of 1899. This is encouraging. It gives evidence that God's people are being touched as they see the situation in foreign fields, and that they are responding in a practical manner. Although in 1900 we gave one-third more than during the previous year, yet our entire offering amounted to very little over what it would have been during one quarter had each person averaged ten cents a week.

During 1899, with seventy-eight thousand dollars, just about the amount we should realize quarterly from the ten-cent-a-week plan, between two and three hundred workers were supported in foreign fields. It can be readily seen that if all were to respond to this call, there might be four laborers

where to-day we have one. How gladly these would be welcomed by those already on the grounds, who have so repeatedly called for help; and what a weight of responsibility it would lift from already overburdened shoulders! In many fields every additional worker could be used in entering openings that have been made. The Lord says that there should be one hundred workers where now there is one, and that “home missions and foreign missions are to share equally of God's trust money.” We see omens of this in the plan that has been inaugurated during the last two years; for it will ultimately lead to systematic, self-denying, and proportionate giving, and thus to the placing of a largely increased force of laborers in the field.

We should not depreciate the larger gifts from those who love God's cause better than their possessions. Let them come, and come more abundantly. But we also need the regular weekly offering from the rank and file of our people. Shall we not give with the burden of the work upon our hearts, with our souls drawn out in prayer to the God of missions that His blessing may rest upon His people and His work?

During the holidays, as at no other season of the year, the spirit of giving takes possession of every one, rich and poor alike. And at this time a large number remember the foreign mission work with a gift. To some extent this is true in other denominations, and is indeed commendable. Our annual offerings usually amount to about one-fourth of the entire contributions for the year, and, coming at a time when we are settling with our laborers, are an important factor in our work. In fact, it does not seem as if the work could be carried forward without them. But this is not enough. In the business world, there is always a reaction expected after the busy holiday season, and all sorts of ingenious plans are devised to induce the people to spend their money. A similar reaction is very likely to occur in our offerings, and as a result our missions suffer, unless this work occupies the most prominent place in our thoughts, our prayers, and our gifts, every day of the year.

If you expect to help the cause of God this year, now is the time to begin. It is far easier, in almost all cases, to give a small sum each week than to make one large offering at the close of the year. Oftimes when it is left so long, one is not in a position to do as much as he had hoped, and a year of opportunities to help advance the work is forever lost.

If you can not send your offerings regularly to your church or State tract society or to the Foreign Mission Board, do not neglect to lay them aside at your home. Have a receptacle in which they may be placed, and in a short time you will be surprised to see how much you have accumulated for the Lord's work. No other investment will yield larger returns. What we are permitted to see here fully repays for all sacrifices made, but the hereafter will reveal far more glorious and eternal results.

As your offerings are made, let the work and the workers be remembered daily in your prayers. Pray for them by name around the family altar. Let the children become accustomed to hearing the progress of Christ's kingdom made a part of the daily worship. As most of our offerings are a sacrifice on our part, let them be followed with our prayers. We need to seek God for help to appreciate His work in all its magnitude, and our relation to it, and He will cause us to know the blessedness of being partakers with Him in sacrifice.

FOREIGN MISSION BOARD.