DESTRUCTION OF OUR PRINTING-PLANT AND TRACT-SOCIETY OFFICE IN VALPARAISO.
By F. H. Westphal
We are exceedingly sorry to have to communicate to our friends and readers of the Signs of the Times the fact that the fire which destroyed the Pasaje William's buildings in Valparaiso destroyed all the equipments of our printing-plant, which had been accumulated by great sacrifice on the part of our brethren, and by careful management. All the equipments of the tract society were also destroyed. In one short hour all was turned into ashes.
Why the Lord permitted this, we do not know, but we do know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Rom. 8:28. In this calamity there is a blessing in disguise. We may not see it now, but shall see it hereafter. If we wait patiently, God will open our eyes and reveal to us His kind, fatherly care for His work even in permitting this calamity.
When Jacob was robbed of his son Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, he knew not why such calamity should befall him. He thought that he must go down into the grave in sorrow, mourning for his son, whom he thought had been destroyed by some wild beast. How wonderfully God opened his eyes, when he saw that the Lord had sent Joseph beforehand into Egypt to prepare the way for the safety of his people! What joy filled Jacob's heart when the blessing disguised in the great calamity was made known unto him!
The three brethren in Babylon were brought into the great calamity of being cast into the sevenfold-heated furnace, but what joy and privilege was theirs, to find that Christ had united Himself with them in their affliction, and saved them from any harm! This experience has been recorded for the benefit and comfort of all succeeding generations, and is a testimony to us that in all our afflictions He also is afflicted. He did not permit the three brethren to enter the fiery furnace alone. Christ entered the furnace with the believers, and it is also a testimony to us that those who persecute the children of God persecute Christ. When Nebuchadnezzar cast three men into the furnace, he found that he had cast in four. He could not cast the believing children of God into the furnace without casting Christ in.
There are so many examples of the Lord's kindness in His dealing with the children of men, in permitting calamities. Daniel in the lion's den, Elijah in his different experiences under sentence of death, David hunted as a wild beast by Saul, and many others, are examples to which we might refer.
We are now living in a time when calamities of different kinds are taking place in rapid succession. The daily papers speak of floods, of famines, of murders, of war and rumors of war, of destructive storms, of tempests, of earthquakes, of robberies, of dishonest dealings, and of distrust among the nations and people. All these things speak of the fact and announce to the believing heart that Jesus is about to return. They are omens of the breaking day, and the coming morn. We are almost home, and soon our Saviour will come to gather His people to a heavenly country.
There will be strikes and disturbances of different kinds in most all of the large cities. It may be a warning of the Lord, in permitting our property to be destroyed, for us to seek some rural district for our publishing plant. In such a place we would be more free from the furious elements of the world. We shall ask God to guide us, and then move as He opens the way.
It is evident that we shall need new equipments for printing. The old press served us well, and I believe the brethren who donated in helping get it have received rich rewards for their sacrifices. This press has preached the truth to many thousands, and many have received the message of light by this means. The Señales and the Revista have been printed several years on this press; also the Sabbath-school lesson pamphlets, and several tracts of four to six pages. The tract, "Los Diez Mandamientos" (sixteen pages), was also published on this press. Thirteen thousand were published, and over ten thousand circulated, while the remaining number were destroyed in the fire.
Llama Pack Train.
We hope that all the friends of the truth will prayerfully ask themselves what donation they can make to help purchase a new press. The new press will have to be more modern than the old one, and will necessarily cost more money. We shall have to publish to a greater extent in the future than in the past, for the message will have to be published largely by the printed page. Send all your donations to the Mission Board, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. The Board will faithfully forward the money to us. F. H. Westphal.
