The Work in Australasia by George A. Irwin; A. T. Robinson

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 9, 1902

The Work in Australasia

By George A. Irwin; A. T. Robinson

It is now just one year since we landed in Australia, but up to the present time we have sent no report for publication in the Review. Much was said at the last General Conference and published in its proceedings, relative to this field; hence we have not thought it wise to take up valuable space merely with repetitions. Moreover, we wished to become acquainted with the field, so that we might speak intelligently, because of a personal knowledge.

As we become better acquainted with the field, and with the work that has been done, we see abundant evidence of God’s leading hand in it all. This is not to say that mistakes have not been made, and some needless expense incurred in carrying out the plans in detail, but the greatest mistake of all was that those of us who at that time occupied positions of responsibility in the United States did not sense the need as did those in this field, and did not come to their assistance as we should have done, and as the brethren had good reason to expect.

While not all has been accomplished the past year that we should have been pleased to see, yet we have had abundant evidence of God’s leading and prospering hand in the work.

Sixteen years ago there was not a Seventh-day Adventist in Australasia except the few who were sent from America to start the work. These persons landed in Melbourne, and began their work under very discouraging circumstances. Opposition was encountered from both pulpit and press. The brethren worked as best they could, visiting, distributing papers and tracts, selling books, and holding Bible readings where they could find an opening. Many tears were shed, and prayers offered, in connection with this first year’s work. But angels of God watched over and watered the seed sown, and after many days it began to spring up and bear fruit.

From this beginning the message spread from city to city, until, as time passed, churches and companies of believers have been raised up, and conferences formed in every State. In addition to this, and an outgrowth of the work, printing houses, schools, sanitariums, and treatment rooms have been established in different parts of the field, each of which is exerting a far-reaching influence through the dissemination of Bible truth bearing upon the various reforms connected with the message that is to call out a people and prepare them for the return of the Lord.

Since our last union conference, three conference meetings have been held. Camp meetings were held during the past season in each of the seven States. These meetings, with one or two exceptions, were well attended, and fully one hundred persons have accepted the truth as the result.

The last meeting of the season was held in Perth, West Australia. Being the first meeting of the kind ever held in the State, it was quite largely attended, not only by our own people, but by others. Several persons accepted the truth at this meeting, and a good impression was left upon the citizens.

A conference consisting of one hundred and fifty-two members was organized. This completes the sisterhood of conferences, making one in each of the seven states in Australia.

During the year ending Dec. 31, 1901, a gain of one hundred and twenty-five members is reported. Add to this number those who have accepted the truth the past summer and autumn, and the number will be doubled, making a total membership of twenty-three hundred and thirty-six.

Several new companies and churches have been organized during the year, and five new church houses built, and one purchased.

The regular Sabbath-school offerings for missionary purposes the past year aggregate over two thousand dollars, while the specials exceeded five hundred dollars. The annual week-of-prayer offerings the past year exceeded those of the former by eight hundred dollars. A considerable increase is also reported in the tithe.

At the beginning of the year it was feared that the union conference would run behind in its expenses several hundred pounds, but instead, it has been able to reduce its indebtedness six hundred and twenty-five dollars.

Since the last union conference $6,580 has been raised for the material fund for “Christ’s Object Lessons.” The first edition of ten thousand has been shipped out to the different States, and over twenty-five hundred dollars has been returned to the school from those already sold. The second edition of ten thousand is now being printed, and arrangements are being made for a vigorous campaign.

The Lord has blessed the school with a good attendance of well-disposed, interested, and industrious young people, who, in the main, seem determined to make the most of their opportunities.

While crops at no great distance from the school were almost an utter failure because of the drought, the school has raised sufficient vegetables and maize to supply all its needs.

The Avondale Health Retreat has been blessed with a liberal patronage, which has enabled the institution, through a spirit of economy and self-sacrifice on the part of both managers and helpers, to meet all its running expenses, and pay upward of one thousand dollars on its indebtedness.

The Sydney Sanitarium has been slowly moving on toward completion, the lack of funds being the hindering cause. Over thirty-five hundred dollars second tithe has been received thus far, and expended in plastering and finishing material. While this work has seemed to move slowly, there have been abundant evidences of God’s leading and guiding hand in the enterprise. So far the building is well and substantially constructed, and when finished according to the plan, it will be a credit to this branch of our work in Australasia. The donation of five thousand dollars recently received from the Mission Board toward this enterprise, came as a god-send, and has put new heart and life into the work and workers. This amount has been augmented by a loan of ten thousand dollars at a low rate of interest from a good brother in Tasmania, so that now the success of the enterprise, as far as funds are concerned, is assured. It is expected that the building will be ready for occupancy by the first of October.

A hygienic vegetarian café has recently been started in Sydney in connection with our health food store, which is having phenomenal success. This is one of the means which the Lord is blessing to bring a knowledge of his truth before the people.

The Echo Publishing Company is having a fairly prosperous year, and its managers hope to come out at the end of their fiscal year with a balance on the right side of the ledger.

The company has recently enlarged its field of usefulness by the establishment of a branch in Natal, South Africa. It is expected that this will make an opening for a large number of our evangelistic and health books, and thus enable the office to run largely upon our own work, and reduce the commercial work to the minimum.

Much in detail that would be of interest might be said of the work, but space forbids our going further at this time than to mention a few items in regard to our island mission work.

Within the past year one thousand copies of a small book of Bible readings in the Fijian language have been published by the Avondale press. These books are now being sold in that group of islands.

The launch for the Fiji Group, toward which our first quarter’s Sabbath-school donations were given, has been finished, and probably the engine has arrived by this time, so that the boat is now ready for use.

The latest report from Brother Fulton stated that fifty persons have recently accepted the truth through the influence of reading matter and the labors of Brother Pauliasi Bunoa, our native preacher.

A three-thousand edition of “Christ Our Saviour” and a thirty-two page tract on the coming of Christ, in the Maori language, have also been published by the Avondale press, and sent to New Zealand for sale and distribution.

One thousand copies of “Christ Our Saviour” have been printed in the Raratongan language, and are being sold in the Cook Islands. One teacher has gone to that field, and has begun work. The work in general on Raratonga is steadily gaining ground. Land has been secured for a meeting house, and preparations are being made to erect the house at once.

Brother Butz has just returned to Tonga from the United States, and is entering into the work with renewed energy and vigor. He is calling loudly for literature in the Tongan language.

Pastor Gates has just returned from an extended trip in the East Indies. While there, he spent some time with Elder Munson in his mission and school located at Padang, Sumatra. Together they visited Deli, Pehang, and other points, with a view of opening work there in the near future. Brother Gates reports many interesting incidents of his trip as an evidence of God’s opening providence.

As I expect to report oftener, I will say no more at this time, except to assure our many friends to whom we cannot write personally, for lack of time, that we are all enjoying excellent health, and are of good courage in the Lord, determined to press the battle to the gate. GEO. A. IRWIN.

ROCKHAMPTON.—At the last annual sitting of the Australasian Union Conference Executive Committee, we were invited to connect with the work in the Queensland Conference, in view of Brother and Sister Colcord’s departure for America. Accordingly, about the middle of June we severed our connection with the work in the New Zealand Conference. After a stormy, four days’ voyage from Wellington, New Zealand, to Sydney, New South Wales, we had the pleasure of remaining a few days at the Avondale school, in Coorambong.

After spending two Sabbaths in Brisbane, where we formed many new and pleasant acquaintances, we again took steamer, and after a run of about forty hours, landed in Rockhampton. We were met at the wharf by Brother Alfred Robie, an acquaintance of former years, a son of Brother and Sister Robie, of Kensington, N. H. We greatly enjoyed a few days here, while sharing the hospitality of Brother and Sister Robie. They have had charge of the bath and treatment rooms at this place for about a year, and have worked hard, meeting many discouragements; but, notwithstanding the hard times financially, caused by the fearful three-and-one-half years’ drought which has prevailed over the greater portion of Queensland, the Lord has greatly blessed their efforts. By self-sacrifice and economy, and by putting their own means into the work, they have saved it from disgrace and failure, to which it seemed doomed at one time. The patronage which the institution is now sharing is from the well-to-do and most influential people in the town. The middle classes and the poorer people, from whom such an institution usually realizes its greatest patronage, are almost wholly debarred from all luxuries, such as Turkish or other baths. In many country places the people have to carry all the water they get long distances, often a mile or more. Of late Brother and Sister Robie have feared that they would have to close the bath and treatment rooms; but the Lord has continued to open the way before them, so that they have been able to keep running, and have managed to pay off all the debts which had been incurred in the establishment of this enterprise. The work is favorably regarded by many of the people in the town. Recently a man came to Brother Robie, and told him that if in case of an emergency he needed money, to let him know, and he would loan him what he needed. But they have learned that paying debts is not so easy a matter as borrowing. I believe that the Lord has a good work to be accomplished by the treatment rooms here, and that he will provide ways and means to keep this work going until times shall improve a little, and then the work will surely prosper again. Brother and Sister Robie have already sent as many as eight good-paying patients to the Avondale Health Retreat. They have also led many to the study of the truth for our time, and some have begun the observance of the Sabbath, and desire baptism. Mrs. Robinson and I have rented a house, and are planning to remain here

for several weeks.

We have sent to Brisbane for the tent, which we are to erect on a plot of ground in the center of the town. We expect Elder Irwin and Dr. Kress to be with us several weeks. We hope to see a good work done here. The Rockhampton church is the first company of Sabbath keepers that was raised up in Queensland.

We might draw a terrible picture of this drought-stricken country. Millions of sheep and cattle have already died of starvation, and millions more will die unless rain comes soon. For hundreds of miles scarcely a spear of grass is to be seen. It is really pitiful to see the cattle roaming about and bellowing, as if perplexed. I never before saw the force of Joel’s prediction, “How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea the flocks of sheep are made desolate.”

As I read in the Review a few days ago of the prosperity that is smiling upon the whole country in the United States, I was led to wonder if our people in that favored land realize their blessings. I believe that our brethren and sisters in this country are as faithful in the payment of their tithes as our people in the United States are, but in this drought-stricken conference the tithe for the last year has fallen off nearly if not quite one half. What shall we do? Shall we allow the Lord’s work to stop?—No; we say to our people, We will share with you in the spirit of sacrifice. We will take for our labor just what we are obliged to have to live upon, but the work must be pushed forward.

I believe that our people in America have little idea of the sacrifices made by those who have labored many years to establish and build up the work in this country. But God is not unmindful to forget their work and labor of love.

If the Lord should put it into the hearts of those who have an abundance of the good things of this life, but are so situated that they cannot go to foreign fields, to send some of their means to help the work in less favored countries, they might thus add many stars to their crown of rejoicing, by being the Lord’s instrumentality in saving precious souls.

Some years ago we were told by the spirit of prophecy that there should be a meeting house built in North Brisbane, which is the natural center for our work in Queensland. There is a company of earnest Sabbath keepers there, who continue to hold their meetings in a hall. They have been putting by small amounts for some years, and now have less than one hundred pounds as a building fund, besides a small fund with which to purchase an organ. We hope, after the tent season is over, to hold a course of meetings in North Brisbane, making a strong effort to strengthen the work there, and to put up a church building.

I would not have any one get the impression from this article that I am in any wise cast down or disheartened. Not by any means. “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”

A. T. ROBINSON.

Aug. 1, 1902.