The Work in Wales by W. H. Meredith

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 27, 1906

The Work in Wales

By W. H. Meredith

Annual Report to the British Union Conference

W. H. MEREDITH

ANOTHER year has passed, and we have much cause for thankfulness to God for his tender care and great blessings. There have been perplexities and trials. The enemy has not been idle. But through it all we can report a forward move, and, far from being a failure, our work has taken a deeper hold, and with God's help we are confident it will develop more rapidly than ever.

The following words of encouragement taken from the “Ministry of Healing” and quoted in the REVIEW AND HERALD have been a source of great help to us:— “Many who sincerely consecrate themselves to God's service are surprised and disappointed to find themselves as never before, confronted by obstacles, and beset by trials and perplexities. It is because God is leading them that these things come upon them. Trials and obstacles are the Lord's chosen methods of discipline and his appointed conditions of success. The fact that we are called upon to endure trials shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious, which he desires to develop. If he saw in us nothing whereby he might glorify his name, he would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into the furnace. It is the valuable ore that he refines.”

“The potter takes the clay, and molds it according to his will. He kneads it and works it, he tears it apart, and presses it together. He wets and then dries it. He lets it lie for a while without touching it. When it is perfectly pliable, he continues the work of making of it a vessel. He forms it into shape, and on the wheel turns and polishes it. He dries it in the sun, and bakes it in the oven. Thus it becomes a vessel fit for use. So the great Master Worker desires to mold and fashion us. And as the clay is in the hands of the potter, so are we to be in his hands. We are not to try to do the work of the potter. Our part is to yield ourselves to be molded by the Master Worker.”

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4: 12, 13. So our trials and perplexities tell us that Jesus sees something in us worth developing, and he is doing the work of refining in his own good way.

Our hearts rejoice in his goodness, in his tender compassion and long-suffering to usward.

If ever a year was filled with signs of the near coming of our Lord, we feel that it is the one just passed. The distress among the nations speaks volumes of the proximity of the strife, unrest, rebellion, anarchy, and the trouble between capital and labor, which fill the world, cry aloud to every student of prophecy, telling plainly of the awful cataclysm ready to break upon us. The workings of the enemy in causing division in the ranks of the church, leading men to arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them, are omens of the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, telling us plainly to “look up, and lift up our heads; for our redemption draweth nigh.” As we look over the field, we are led to exclaim, O Lord, how long, how long must the people dwell in darkness?

The Welsh revival has certainly left our field worse than before. Ministers of the other denominations are saying that this is so. Confusion and division, heavy debts as the result of building large chapels, prevail all around, and all kinds of schemes are planned to meet these difficulties. We have the message that alone can save, and yet how slowly we move! We have only just begun to touch the edge of our field. Truly the harvest is great, and the laborers are few.

Our work as yet is chiefly confined to two counties, Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, although our canvassers have gone into nearly all the others, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthen, Radnor, and Breconshire especially. The total population of the Wales Mission is 1,864,696. The population of Glamorgan and Monmouth alone is 1,158,248. This leaves 706,448 for the other eleven counties.

We have churches in Cardiff, Pontypridd, Newport, and Abertillery, and companies in Blaenavon, Abergavenny, Aberdare, Barry, and Swansea. Aggressive work has been carried on during the year in Abergavenny, Blaenavon, Blainau and Cardiff.

Considering the membership of our field, we note that we have lost by death two, by apostasy eleven, and by transfer five, a total of eighteen. Our present membership is one hundred and eighty-five as against one hundred and seventy last year. Besides these we have about twenty who are preparing for baptism, which shows a total increase of over forty Sabbath-keepers.

Our Sabbath-schools also are prospering, and during the year we have organized two new schools, making our present membership two hundred and seventeen. Our offerings to missions have increased accordingly. The tithe report for the year ending June 30, 1906, showed the receipts to be fourteen hundred and ninety dollars, or an increase of two hundred and nineteen dollars.

We have placed a Bible van in the field, in charge of Brother and Sister G. W. Bailey, which we hope will be a means of reaching many with present truth.

One young man who accepted the truth a few months ago, has been working with his brother, who is a Baptist minister, with the result that the brother has decided to obey, and throw in his lot with the remnant people. This brother will need our prayers, for he is preparing to preach the truth in his church, and do all in his power to save his people.

We have a Young People's Society in Cardiff, where we hope to develop some who will be of good service to the church, and also for other fields of labor. They hold regular meetings each week, and have a missionary meeting once a month. One of their number reads a paper on some subject of interest, and they study different phases of the truth. During the few months of their existence as a Young People's Society they have bought and given away twenty-five thousand tracts, sold some hundreds of papers, written missionary letters, taken part in Christian Help work, and given as they could to those in need.

Our canvassers are few, and seem to have worked with small books at least for the greater part of their time; so the value of books sold is not very high; but a great work has been done with tracts and periodicals, and when the gathering time comes, we shall see

much fruit from these precious seeds sown by the faithful canvassers. There is scarcely a home in south Wales that has not had the opportunity of purchasing our books and tracts.

We believe this message with every fiber of our being. We are glad to hear of its advance in the earth. We are ready to do our little to help it on. We have no sympathy with those who would break away from the pillars of faith given to us by the great Master Builder. We believe the foundations are sure, and the more we know of them, the more we love them. We are looking for the triumph of this people. We are looking for it in this generation. We pray that God will help us to be faithful, and prepare us for the outpouring of his Spirit, which will finish the work. We need it for our work in Wales, for while the Lord has blessed us, we still crave greater blessing, greater wisdom, and power to do the work commissioned to us. Soon may the truth reach the uttermost parts of the earth; soon may the faithful be gathered out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people; and in that glad day may you all, and many from Cymru's land, be found among the faithful, is our earnest prayer.