Missionary Department

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Aug 12, 1875

Missionary Department.

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Eccl. 11:6.

Reporting.

OUR State Secretary writes in a letter of recent date: “The church in ——, of district No. ——, made no report the last quarter. What does it mean?”

It is the duty of every member to report, and this furnishes material to the librarian so that he can make out a report. ART. V., Sec. 5, of the Constitution says: “It shall be the duty of the librarian to see that each member of this church has a small memorandum book in which he shall keep a record of his labor, to report for each quarterly meeting. It shall also be his duty to furnish each member with suitable tracts for distribution, and to keep an account of the same. He shall also furnish to each member a blank report to be filled, and see that it is returned to him in season for him to send it to the district secretary before each district quarterly meeting. He shall also receive money for memberships, sales of publications, and donations, and forward the same to the director of said district. He shall keep an account of the number of pages of tracts and pamphlets given out by him to each member, that he may report the same to the director or district secretary before each quarterly meeting.”

Of the importance of the reporting system Bro. Haskell says:—

“The reporting system will give life and interest to the tract and missionary meetings. If there is no labor reported, no experience related, it will be impossible to give proper instruction. In fact, the mentioning of commendable acts that result in good is following the example of Christ and the apostles. We should have had at least one book less in the New Testament had not the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ been written. The New Testament would lose much of its beauty were its writings to consist only in doctrinal instruction. No individual is exalted by thus magnifying the work of God, but God is honored inasmuch as others are provoked to love and good works. By letting our light so shine, others, seeing our good works, are led to glorify our Father which is in Heaven.

“Each member of the Tract Society should keep a record, and report the number of pages of reading matter distributed by him. This can easily be done in one of two ways. First, make an account of the number of pages you have on hand, then when you receive a package of tracts from the librarian, note its number of pages also. Put it all down in a little pass-book. Then, when you are furnished with a blank to fill out, subtract the number of pages you then have on hand from what you have received, and the number of pages distributed will at once appear; and thus you can fill out the blank. Or, secondly, you can keep the pass-book with you and note down the number of pages as you distribute the tracts. Also, keep an account of the number of periodicals distributed; and also all money you have paid to the librarian, or director, or to any one else that goes to the tract and missionary interest; and report the same in filling out the blank. Then each blank report should be forwarded to the district secretary, through the librarian or director; and the district secretary will make out a report from the blanks received, to be read at the quarterly meetings. It is by these reports that he can tell how much money has gone into the different funds of the Tract Society during the quarter. The director is responsible for the money.

“Then a report of all money received, with the entire proceedings at the quarterly meeting, is made by the district secretary to the State Tract Society Secretary. The director will pay the money received into the hands of the State Treasurer. Then at the general quarterly meeting, the report of the State Secretary will agree with the Treasurer’s report. If they do not agree the error can be detected at once. This system is simple and plain, and will keep the financial matters of the Tract Society straight. We again appeal to our brethren and sisters to fill out the blank reports sent to them at the close of each quarter, and return them to the church librarian or district secretary.

“There are many friends who have not seen the utility of reporting. They will scatter our publications, manifest an interest in the missionary work, donate freely to it, and would do nothing to retard the tract and missionary enterprise for their right hand; and yet these very individuals are really impeding the work by not reporting. Their influence would add very much to the up-building of the cause could they see the utility of reporting. If we have adopted a right system as far as we have gone, and the results clearly indicate that we have, then we should heartily and cheerfully support it. If we can amend it, we shall do so. But there is no individual member of the Tract Society, who sees and feels the importance of this work, who would raise a hand to abolish the reporting system. A united effort is what gives strength to any system.

“If in the fear of God we act faithfully our part, no matter how small and insignificant that work may appear to be, in the end it will prove that that very work was important, and by it we were up-building the cause of Christ. Do we say that we will rejoice in its prosperity and at the same time refrain from putting forth that individual effort that is necessary for its accomplishment? If so, we shall meet with an irreparable loss.

“Now is the time to secure to ourselves the applaud, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ These are golden moments lent to us for the accomplishment of a certain work. If they pass by without being faithfully improved, they are lost forever. If they have been rightly used, they will yield us a golden harvest throughout eternal ages.”

J. N. L.