OUR WORK AND WORKERS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 21, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 46.

OUR WORK AND WORKERS.

THE enrollment of students at Walla Walla, (Wash.) College is now upward of 180.

ELDER OSCAR HILL left College Place, Wash., on the 5th inst., for Boise, Idaho, where he will labor during the coming winter.

ELDER J. S. WASHBURN has removed from Southampton, England, to Kettering, and, together with Brother H. Champness, of London, began meetings September 29, with a good interest. His address is 86 Broadway, Kettering.

AT Bladensburg, Iowa, Brethren L. F. Starr and Wm. Guthrie report twelve keeping the Sabbath of the Lord, as a result of recent labor, and a Sabbath school of twenty-three members has been organized. At Delta they report five additions to the faith.

A CARD from Elder J. W. Scoles, dated West Salem, Illinois, November 8, says: “The trial of Brother J. F. Rothrock, of this place, takes place at Albion, next Tuesday. Also the trial of John Foll, Ross Foll, George Dunlap, J. C. Schnell, and Charles Schnell, will come off the next day at Olney, Richland County.”

AT Long Creek, Or., Elder S. H. Kime met a decided opposition lately, and a certain church building where he had been holding meetings was closed against him. But a number of people secured the town hall for his services. He was agreeably surprised soon after to find, where he expected about eight to take their stand on the commandments of God, that twenty were ready to obey the truth.

THE Southern California camp meeting was one of the best ever held in the state, and the largest ever held in that section. About five hundred Sabbath keepers were in attendance. The attendance from the outside was good. The last Sabbath of the camp meeting was a remarkably refreshing season. There was an earnest seeking of God on the part of almost the entire camp. Old soldiers were encouraged, backsliders reclaimed, and there were many hopeful conversions. May God help them all to prove faithful to the blessings bestowed. That will be to go on to greater blessings.

ALL the cases against our brethren in Rhea County, Tenn., for Sunday labor, have been disposed of. At the present term of court there were five cases—one against E. R. Gillett, one against Wallace Ridgeway, one against N. B. England, and two against E. S. Abbott. The case against Brother Gillett was dismissed for want of a prosecuting witness, and the others were found “not guilty.” Ex-Senator H. C. Snodgrass and Judge Lewis Shepherd, two eminent lawyers, volunteered to defend the prisoners, and did so in an able manner, showing that there was nothing in the work done that could be construed as a “nuisance” within the meaning of the law, and that quiet work done without intent to offend never can be a “nuisance” when done on Sunday any more than when done on any other day. A report of Brother D. W. Reavis, in the Review, says of the plea that the counsel Entered upon the question of Sunday laws in no mild manner, showing thoroughly, though briefly, their evil effects, also showing the origin of Sunday observance and the folly of the American courts forcing its observance upon Christians in the face of the positive command of the Lord Almighty. In doing this they traced the life of Christ and his experience with the Pharisees upon the Sabbath and its observance, showing that the Pharisees were doing no more than those people in Rhea County, Tenn., are doing now, who are prosecuting the Adventists simply because they do not observe the Sabbath according to their straight-jacketed ideas.

THE following item of interest is from Elder H. P. Holser: “In company with Elder A. T. Jones, I came to Constantinople to hold a Bible school with believers who reside in Turkey. The school is held in that portion of the city called Stamboul, which is the same as ancient Byzantium. The attendance is composed of Greeks and Armenians from the city, from Nicomedia and from Cilicia. Although the school is not yet closed, there is good prospect that a number of new workers will be sent forth in this field.”

In a later note Brother Holser adds: “Our school still continues, except evenings, as our brethren fear to be on the street after dark. We close here next week, and adjourn to Bardizag, a village in Nicomedia, where the last week of the school will be held. Matters are pretty unsettled here, and ready to tumble to pieces as soon as the Lord’s work is done.”

ELDER A. T. JONES, editor of the American Sentinel, and another American brother, together with six Armenian brethren, were recently arrested by the police in Constantinople, and their valises searched. Of course the American brethren were arrested because they were in company with Armenians, all of whom are now under suspicion in that city. In a short time, however, an officer came along who recognized the Armenian brethren, and at once vouched for the orderly character of the “Sabbatarians.” On reporting the situation to police headquarters, the prisoners were ordered released, and they were treated with the utmost respect. It is well for those who profess to “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” to live blameless lives, so that their enemies may “not find any occasion” against them, except, as in the case of Daniel, it be concerning the law of their God. But it is a significant omen when the Christian people who uphold the law of God are respected in Mohammedan Turkey, while the same class are persecuted and imprisoned in the so-called “Christian nation” of the United States.