Missionary Department by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Sep 16, 1875

Missionary Department.

By John Norton Loughborough

"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.

Work to be Done.

Where? What? When? Such is the response we hear from those desirous to labor in God's cause when it is announced that there is "work to be done," while those who do not love labor will profess not to have heard the call, appearing like a class of men I have heard described on this coast who traverse the country "looking for work," yet it is said "praying that they may not find any work," still expecting of course to be favored with meals and lodging free as they go.

I do not believe that our Tract and Missionary members are of that class, but indolent professors who feed on the truth and fail to do anything for others' good are the same in a spiritual sense that such are among laboring men literally. In homely phrase they here call them "Bumers."

I write to our readers, as to a class ready and desirous of filling some humble place in the cause, anxiously inquiring for some labor which they can perform. To such we will point again to what seems to us a golden field, white already for the harvester's sickle. Do you ask what it is? It is in obtaining the names of your friends or of any one who will candidly read the SIGNS for three months, either with or without paying for it. Obtain names anywhere of those who consent to read, and to such send copies of the SIGNS.

Cases too numerous to mention, come to light all the time, of persons who have embraced the truth by reading the SIGNS. For us as a people to be indifferent at such a time, in the matter of extending the circulation of the SIGNS as fully and as rapidly as possible, would certainly be very unwise. Only last week we learned of a man near Hollister who, with his wife, is keeping the Sabbath as the result of reading copies of the SIGNS which were sent to a party in this town who never read them. I have just received a letter from one of our brethren, who, a few weeks since passed through Shasta Co., and left a few copies of the SIGNS and some tracts with a family. He says, a few days since, on his return home, he called on the same family, and to his glad surprise he found they had read, decided on the truth, and the man and his wife were keeping the Sabbath. The man became a paying subscriber to the SIGNS.

Don't wait till your seed sprouts before you sow it, nor be impatient for it to grow as soon as it is in the soil, and child-like dig it up to see if it is going to grow, but make earnest efforts, trusting in God for his blessing to water the seed sown. None of you know what might result from your efforts, and eternity alone can fully declare the results.

Now is a favorable time to circulate reading matter. The hurry of summer labor is about over, evenings are rapidly growing longer, and people will have more leisure to read. Now is the time to make earnest efforts to get the paper before the people. Here is work to be done. Now, and onward indefinitely, is the time to do it. The place where to do it, is anywhere that candid readers can be found. Who will improve this golden opportunity, take hold of the work, and use this effective means of saving souls?

As explained in instructions heretofore given in the SIGNS, let those obtaining trial subscribers for three or six months, whether paid or unpaid, keep a list of said subscribers with the date of the close of their trial time, and either by calling on them, or by correspondence with them near the close of their time, ascertain whether they are interested and wish to continue the paper, and report on their cases to the SIGNS Office. Who will do this work? J. N. L.