Reports from the West

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 17, 1875

Reports from the West.

Bro. Loughborough gives the following interesting report of a recent meeting:—

“At our meeting in Oakland, Sabbath, May 29, our hall was nearly filled with attentive hearers, mostly Sabbath-keepers. The Lord gave especial freedom in speaking the word. At the close of the discourse four more were received into the church; one by letter from the Napa church, two by vote, and one, a Dane, on profession of the truth and baptism. At the close of the service we repaired to Merritt’s Lake, East Oakland, where six were buried with Christ in baptism. Two of these were cases of re-baptism, and four were persons who had recently embraced the truth, one of them being the Danish brother mentioned above. And thus the work is gaining ground at this important point.”

Bro. Waggoner writes, May 31, of the work at Stockton, Cal.:—

“After the tent was removed I remained in Stockton nearly a week. This was necessary, as some of those who had embraced the truth had not had an opportunity to hear on all points. One signed the covenant before I left. The brethren and sisters there seem to be inquiring the way to the kingdom. I feel confident that, if the little company in Stockton are faithful to their duty, there will be a large work yet done there.” Bro. W. now goes to Gilroy to join Bro. Canright.

Bro. Canright speaks as follows of his new field of labor:—

“As no suitable place opened for the tent in the vicinity of Stockton, we decided to begin in this part of the State for the following reasons: There are several villages near enough together to strengthen one another should churches be raised up in each place. Gilroy has a population of about two thousand, exclusive of Chinese and Spanish. Hollister is only fourteen miles south, with a population of about a thousand, I am told. Watsonville is only twenty miles southwest, with a population of about fifteen hundred. We have several Sabbath-keepers there now. San Juan is a small town about as far off as Hollister. Santa Cruz, with a population of thirty-five hundred, is only about twenty miles northwest from Watsonville, while Salinas, with about twenty-five hundred, is about the same distance south of Watsonville. San Jose, where we have a church, is thirty miles north of Gilroy and about the same distance from Santa Cruz.”

“We have scattered brethren in all these places. Here is work enough for two years to come, all within a radius of a few miles. All these places lie along and near the coast, and hence are very healthy. The land is fertile, and seldom fails of a crop.”

“We have our tent well located, and the meetings well advertised. Except at Oakland and San Francisco, we have not had so good an interest and so large a turnout in any place where I have been in the State. We feel confident that we moved right in coming to this field. If we get but a few in a place, we can be near by to follow up the interest and make the most of it. We are in good health, and have the peace of God in our heart.”