The Work in Washington by J. S. Washburn

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 17, 1907

The Work in Washington

By J. S. Washburn

The removal of our headquarters to Washington in 1903 is now acknowledged by all our people to have been a great advance step. Already the wisdom of this forward move, taken through the guidance of the spirit of prophecy, has been demonstrated. In this great center of influence the truth has been brought into close touch with the leading men of the nation.

Had this step not been taken, it is almost certain that Sunday laws would have been passed, and our work made very difficult before it had climbed to the height where it could speak to the nation and to the world, as it must, with a loud voice, before the end. No friend of the cause desires any backward step, or that the onward march of this work should be stopped.

One hundred thousand dollars was a very small sum with which to establish our work there, and to provide the institutions directly called for by the spirit of prophecy. That amount was raised, and there was an overflow of more than fifteen thousand dollars. This shows the intense interest of our people in the work in Washington.

The buildings of the College, although not completed according to the original plan, have been pushed forward so far that the school work is going on prosperously. The General Conference offices were built, and are occupied. The sanitarium work was started in the city, but the whole amount necessary for the Sanitarium in Takoma Park was by no means supplied by that fund; hence the necessity that one third of the $150,000 fund should be sent to Washington to establish the Sanitarium in that important center.

We feel certain that there is not one loyal Seventh-day Adventist who will not be glad to help in the completion of the good work in Washington already so well begun. A brother living a few miles from the city, who came into the truth as a result of the tent-meetings in Nashville last summer, has just sent in one hundred dollars for this great fund. Many of our dear brethren and sisters who have long been in the faith could much more easily give ten times that amount, probably, than this new convert to the faith. May our people be rebaptized with the same zeal and interest in the work which they had when they first came to the faith; then will not only the $50,000 for Washington be quickly raised, but the whole $150,000 fund be supplied; and as in the case when offerings were given for the Washington Memorial church and for the $100,000 fund, there will be a great overflow. A blessing awaits those of the people of God who will now make a real sacrifice to push forward this great work to glorious victory. J. S. WASHBURN.