NOTES FROM KANSAS by D. T. Bourdeau

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 21, 1878

NOTES FROM KANSAS.

By D. T. Bourdeau

Having enjoyed the privilege of attending our General Conference, and nearly one month's profitable stay at our good Sanitarium, I attended the Southern Kansas camp-meeting with Bro. and Sr. White and Bro. Haskell.

This was indeed a refreshing season. The presence and labors of Bro. and Sr. White removed a great amount of prejudice that had been raised against them and their work, especially against our views on temperance, which had been greatly misrepresented. Sr. White's clear, reasonable, and forcible exposition of Bible temperance was appreciated by many outside of our ranks as well as by our brethren; and her discourse on progressive sanctification was very instructive, and must have been a great relief to those who had been annoyed by the preaching of the spurious article,—instantaneous sanctification. She showed that those who are the farthest advanced in holiness are the last ones to boast of sanctification and perfect love; that the nearer we get to God the more we see the need of humbling ourselves in view of our imperfections, and in view of the great work we have to do to imitate our perfect pattern; that those who boast of sanctification while indulging in calumny, and breaking God's commandments and encouraging others to do the same, are very inconsistent; and that if such men as the prophet Daniel, the man “greatly beloved” of God, and the beloved apostle, the disciple whom Jesus loved, could unite with others in the work of confession and humiliation, and if they felt to recoil under the sense of their unworthiness when wrapped in holy vision, and seeing the spotless purity of God and Heaven, we should be exceedingly modest in our pretensions to holiness.

Bro. White's discourse giving the reasons of our faith and hope was triumphant, and we trust that his valuable remarks on the Christian ministry will not be forgotten; and who that loves the missionary work could help thanking God for Bro. Haskell's instructions on this subject and on the subject of sacrifice?

This meeting was indeed a success, so far as setting the duty of the people before them, and receiving the heavenly indorsement is concerned. The day before the meeting closed, as most of the congregation engaged in the work of humbling themselves and seeking the Lord, God set his seal to the work by drawing especially near to his people by the illuminating and strengthening influences of his Spirit. It was a season long to be remembered.

Since the close of this meeting, I have been actively engaged in carrying on the same good work for the Oswego church and those connected with it. Here the opposition has raged high, and precious souls have been prejudiced and misled. But I have visited much and have spoken eight times, fortifying the disputed points of our faith, and several are coming to the light and settling on the sure foundation of the messages.

Here I unexpectedly met dear brethren and sisters with whom I formed very pleasant acquaintances in Iowa twelve years ago, when there was not an organized church in Kansas. Now there are nearly as many Sabbath-keepers in Kansas as there were in America when I embraced the truth, and four camp-meetings must be held in one season to meet the wants of the cause here. And this is but a sample of what has been done in other fields. May God speed on the work to its most glorious conclusion!

I shall not forget the French in the West.

D. T. Bourdeau.