The Truth Among the Swedes.
By Gustaf A. Carlstedt
Thinking it would be of interest to the readers of the Review to know how the truth is received, and what progress it is making among the Swedish people at present, I give here a few extracts from letters lately received at the office of the Svensk Advent Harold:— A brother in Ishpeming, Mich., writes:— “Brethren, I will tell you that the Lord blesses my heart daily, and every time I read your publications; that I now read the Bible as with new eyes. Oh! that the Lord would also change the sight of all, at least those that read your publications. And may the true word of the Bible be a great blessing to all our hearts. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus. . . . I would also ask you to send the Harold to me for a year.” PETER AHLSTEN. Another, whose name I learned at the late Michigan camp-meeting at Lansing, and to whom I have since sent the Harold, writes from there:— “As I have received your paper for some time, it is my duty to give my thanks for it. . . . I like to read it, and I should like to see your chart. If you will send it to me, I will send the money right away. I would ask you to remember me, although I am Evangelical [Lutheran], but I like to read your paper. I have with carefulness looked over the contents, without seeing any objection to it.” JOAN ANDROS. He will become a paying subscriber for the Harold. A new convert in Lincoln Center, Wis., writes:— “Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I will briefly write a few lines to you, to let you know that we are very well satisfied with the reading of your publications. We are now convinced that the Sabbath is right. We wish that some of your preachers could come here and win some souls for the Lord.” He and his wife are now keeping the Sabbath alone there. In another letter Bro. Deedon says:— “The Swedish families here are about forty, the French, twenty, and the Americans, fifteen. I suppose it would cost too much to get a preacher here from Battle Creek, but I have heard that there is one at Trade Lake [referring to Bro. Carl Meijer], whom we would like to come here sometime.” Another brother in Mich. writes:— “I will most heartily thank you for the time I have had the Harold. I am Lutheran, but when I read the Harold I seem almost to be a Seventh-day Adventist. I want to be, at least; and I hope the Lord will give me his grace to this end, as I think it is right. Affectionately,” “ANDREW LARSON.” C. G. Person, of Pomeroy, Kansas, says: “Dear friends, I have received your paper and the tracts you sent me. I read them with great interest. I am thankful for the information I have received. I praise God for the light he has given me in regard to the Sabbath. I am now convinced that the seventh-day is the Sabbath, and ought to be kept in our time. I have kept the two last. I feel in my soul it is a blessed thing to keep God’s commandments, even if one is persecuted for it.” A letter from the faithful brethren in Trade Lake, Wis., contains the following:— “Dear friends, the peace and mercy of the Lord be with you. I will briefly write a few lines and let you know about us. I may first mention that though we are but a few, yet we meet together every Sabbath, and read the Bible and the welcome paper which you have so liberally sent us. “The people are much afraid of us. We have given out our papers and tracts among the people, and the Lord has blessed his word so that it has caused a great commotion [rebellion, he says] among the Baptists. A small church among them is now being divided apart, and a part of them will probably come to us. A family from another church comes also to hear us when we are together. Respectfully,” “JOHN O. ÅKERLIND.” The following letter I received from our dear brother, Eld. P. Lindblad, of Lake City, Minn. Accompanying the letter was the handsome sum of $37.00 from the friends in Lake City. Five of them donated $30.00 to the Swedish mission, and seven sent their subscriptions for the Harold. May the Lord bless these dear friends, who show their faithfulness and love for the truth, notwithstanding their late trials and the hard times:— “Dear Bro. Carlstedt, May God with his Spirit strengthen and guide you in the work you conduct. I wondered how they could get along with the Harold, until now I received your letter and see that you are in Battle Creek. It makes me glad to hear that one of our Swedish brethren takes hold of the work. I have for a long time been thinking to go out and preach, but circumstances have, up to the present, made it impossible for me. I think it will be possible for me to go out next month. I have thought to visit the churches, and after that, to go to some new field. “Charles Lee has done much to hinder us; but if the Lord is with us who can be against us? I think he is in the churches in Minnesota, seeking to influence them to mistrust and indifference for the truth. I think our Svensk Advent Harold is his greatest enemy, and he would be glad if he could get all to stop taking it. But I regard it as one of the most precious things in the Swedish mission. May the Lord bless the leading men, and carry forward the circulation of the paper. From your brother in Christ, PETER LINDBLAD.” One person that does not keep the Sabbath yet writes from Iowa that he regards our publications as the best Swedish religious literature he has seen. A letter came from Stockholm, Sweden, two days ago, wherein the writer says that he by chance got hold of the October number of the Svensk Advent Harold for 1876, and it interested him so that he sends for the paper and all our Swedish publications and five of our Swedish charts. He wants to circulate them in Stockholm. Another writing from Skane (the south part of Sweden) says that he has taken the Svensk Advent Harold and tracts sent him, and gone out with them among the people, and they accept them with readiness and read them eagerly. Many readers who are poor send in their thanks and best wishes for the Harold, and say it has been their best comfort next to the Bible, and they want to have it sent to them, but hardly feel free to ask for it. More letters like the above could be cited, but this may be sufficient now. Some of the older brethren in other places are also taking courage and coming up to the help of the Lord, as their letters and donations show. Bro. Lewis T. Gronstam, for a time connected with this Office, writes from Indiana that he is going to take hold in earnest and do what he can for the advancement of the truth. Thus facts show that there is a general revival along the lines among the Swedes, and a general awakening from the effects of the shock received from the late difficulties. The Lord by his Spirit works on the minds of the people to investigate and read. The silent messengers do their work well. The truth is working like leaven among the Swedish people. The seed sown will grow up, and there will be a glorious harvest by and by. The cry now comes from all parts of the land, Come over and help us. We want laborers, laborers who will work for God, and their fellow-men hungering and thirsting for the truth. It is time for all the friends of the cause to stand up for the truth, and, shoulder to shoulder, press on in the good old way. The Lord is always ahead of us; let us not be too far behind. Remember the Swedish mission in your hearts and prayers, that the blessing of the Lord may rest upon it, and that his Spirit may guide me in my labors for his truth. GUSTAF A. CARLSTEDT.