Open Doors in Europe by Arthur G. Daniells

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 18, 1902

Open Doors in Europe

By Arthur G. Daniells

THE readers of the REVIEW will remember that a number of delegates were sent from America last spring to attend the European General Conference, and to visit the different local conferences of Europe. This was an important step. From present indications it marked the beginning of a new policy by this people in behalf of foreign fields. Evidences and reasons for this will appear in this series of articles.

The European General Conference was held in London. This was its second session, and it was a great occasion for our people and cause in the European field. It was attended by the presidents

of conferences and the superintendents of mission fields, by our leading school men and physicians, by the editors of our papers and the managers of our printing houses, and by the leading members of various committees and boards of management.

The reports presented by the delegates, and the questions discussed in the conference made a deep impression upon the American representatives. The conference was indeed a revelation to us. We were made to realize that our ideas of the European field, and of the proportions to which our work had grown, of its relation to the work in America and to the cause in general, were too small and crude. New views, broader conceptions, and fresh inspiration came to us regarding that field,—the victories already gained, and the great work yet to be done.

Three facts were made especially prominent and impressive; namely, that the field to be worked is vast; that its doors are open for our messengers; and that our work in that field has reached a point where it must be reckoned as a greater factor, and receive a larger share of attention, than it has in the past.

I have wished many times that every believer in this message in the United States could see that field as we saw it. There is no question as to what would be done. A stream of workers and means would flow to those populous and neglected fields so white for the harvest. Does not the Lord of the great harvest bid us to lift up our eyes, and look on the fields, because they are white already to harvest? The European part of this great field is in many respects the most interesting and important part of the world for carrying on the work God has committed to us.

The European General Conference embraces all the countries of Europe, European Russia, the Balkan States, Turkey, Servia, and Egypt. The territorial area of this field is seven and one-half million square miles. The population is five hundred million. This field contains thirty separate nations, speaking thirty different languages. It has thirty different governments, with twenty different rulers.

We in this country can scarcely realize the magnitude of the European field. Its area is more than twice that of the United States, including Alaska, while its population is one third of that of the world, and six times that of the United States. The complications involved in giving this message in so many languages to people living under so many different governments, with their varied and complex laws, can be appreciated only by those on the ground.

But with all these conditions confronting our laborers who have gone to that field, they have been hopeful and courageous and have had a good measure of success in their work. Scattered among the vast multitude of that field, there are now eight thousand Sabbath keepers. These are organized into three hundred churches. There are laboring in the field sixty-two ordained ministers and thirty-two licensed preachers. Besides these regular conference laborers there are, eighty-three licensed missionaries, most of whom are doing self-supporting work by selling our publications.

The various parts of this great field have been well organized. Under the European General Conference there are three union conferences, and two union mission fields. Within these union conferences there are eleven local conferences, and twenty separate local mission fields.

The union conferences are the British, with a population of 42,000,000; the Scandinavian, with 12,500,000; and the German, with 255,000,000. The union mission fields are the Latin, having a population of 98,000,000, and the Oriental, with 56,000,000.

The British Union Conference has two conferences and three mission fields. The conferences are the North of England and the South of England, each containing a population of 15,000,000. The mission fields are Scotland, with 5,000,000 people; Ireland, with 5,000,000; and Wales, with 2,000,000. Altogether there are one thousand Sabbath keepers in these conferences and mission fields, with their enormous population. Of all this field, the words of our Saviour—“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few”—are most emphatically true.

The British Union Conference has one ordained minister and four licensed preachers. The South of England Conference, with its 15,000,000, has but two ordained ministers, one licensed preacher, and three Bible workers. One of these ordained ministers is the editor of The Present Truth and Bible teacher in the London Bible School. The North of England Conference, with its 15,000,000, has two ordained ministers, one licensed preacher, and three licensed missionaries. Scotland, with 5,000,000 people, has only one ordained minister, one licensed preacher, and two licensed missionaries. Ireland, with the same number of inhabitants, has one minister, one licensed preacher, and three licensed missionaries. Wales, with a population of 2,000,000, has one ordained and two licensed preachers. Thus this interesting and most promising field, with a population half as great as that of the United States, has eight ordained ministers, ten licensed preachers, and eleven licensed missionaries,—a total of twenty-nine public laborers; while the United States, with only double the population of Great Britain, has one thousand public laborers in the field.

If we were to distribute the laborers according to the population, we would have to send three hundred of our laborers in the United States to Great Britain. When we look at the number of believers in each field, every one of whom should be a light, we see that the British field stands in a still more neglected condition than would appear from this uneven distribution of laborers: In the United States we have one believer for every 1,500 people, while in Great Britain there is one believer in this message for every 42,000 of the population. This great difference does not exist because of a difference in the character of the people in the two countries. It is not that the British people are infidel, heathenish, or illiterate that there are so few believers among them, compared with the large number among the American people. This great difference is due to the fact that the message has been proclaimed in this country more than twice as long as in Great Britain, and because the great majority of the ministers have labored here, and a large proportion of all the funds of the denomination has been expended here, and nearly all the facilities are located here. Great Britain is a most promising field for this message. It is a land of books, churches, and missionary societies. No other nation has done so much to evangelize heathen lands. No other people has done so much to put the Word of God in the hands of all nations. Even to-day it is a great training ground for missionaries. It is as clear as a sunbeam that our American conferences need to share their laborers and their tithe with their British brethren across the sea. And we thank God for the willingness manifested to do this. Last spring, ten consecrated canvassers went to Great Britain. Within the last two months two small companies of laborers have gone to that field, and on the 26th of November another large contingent will sail from New York for London. This is right, and may this good work go on until the British field is well supplied with efficient, consecrated laborers. Then we shall see thousands of believers added to the church.

The time in which we live, and the character of the message that we have to give the world, demand far greater activity on our part. We must not neglect this work for any selfish motives whatever. God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and so he is calling us to tell all people that Christ is closing his work in heaven, and that as soon as men take their stand for or against righteousness, he will close the gospel work, and come to this world. He has sent us to proclaim this, and we are to have no other interests in the world

. We are not to be divided in our minds. We are not to throw our energies into anything else on earth. Let us consecrate all to this end. Let us plunge into this work with all our hearts, and finish the work God has given us to do. A. G. DANIELLS.