Onward in Europe by William Ambrose Spicer

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 20, 1904

Onward in Europe

By William Ambrose Spicer

I THANK God for what I have seen and heard in Europe this summer, as I have mingled with the believers in their general and local meetings.

I have heard the tramp of marching thousands coming in to re-enforce our ranks. Over three thousand souls have taken their stand with us in Europe in the last two years. And in all our meetings I have heard the shout of victory and the sound of the keynote of the message, the warning cry that the second coming of Christ to this earth will not be long delayed.

But a few years ago the vast field of Europe presented rather the aspect of motley companies of believers, set down here and there amid the nations, working away with little relation to one another. Now we see the spectacle of a great organized missionary army, every division of it pressing on according to the one common plan of battle.

It is a tremendous field to cover,—one third of all the population of the world,—but the bounds have been drawn, and workers assigned to all the great divisions of the field, and, best of all, our brethren and sisters know that the set time is come, and that God is able to give them the victory speedily.

There was a time, not long ago, when it seemed that the work in Europe depended largely for its strength on the help from America. Now it is rooted in its own soil. If we were unable to help further, the forces already in Europe would press the work forward, and to the finish. Their tithe for 1903 was over twenty thousand dollars more than in 1901. The believers know the message and the genius of our work, and they have their eyes upon the world-wide field beyond their own borders.

But they still need our help to cope with the greatness of their task—the warning of five hundred million souls. They appreciate this, and thank God for what America has done for that field. The splendid growth of the work has opened doors on every side which must be speedily entered. The local strength and organization of the field are such that men and means from this side may be made to count in the campaign as never before. Pray that they may be quickly forthcoming; for the battle is on, and no time is to be lost.

No one can watch the speeding of the message among those many-tongued millions to-day without seeing another sign that the end is at hand. The mighty hand of God is preparing the way for a quick work in Europe, the mother land of modern nations. It has stirred my soul to see it. W. A. S.