A New Method of Pledging
By E. M. Graham
"Mr. Kil, the Korean pastor of the large Central Church in Pyeng Yang, having felt for some time that a kind of coldness had come over the Christians in the city, resolved to go to the church every morning at dawn with one of his elders to pray. These two men of humble, trustful faith, met thus in prayer every morning a little after four o'clock for about two months, without speaking to any one about it, in fact, I think no one knew of it. But somehow when the fact gradually became known to a few, some score or more united with them in these morning prayers. Then the pastor, seeing there was a desire on the part of others to join him, announced to the church on Sunday morning that any one wishing to pray with them might do so, and the bell would be rung at 4:30 A. M. "The next morning at one o'clock the people began coming, and by two o'clock several hundred had gathered. When the bell was rung, there were four or five hundred Christians present, and after a few days the number each morning was between six and seven hundred. On the fourth morning, while praying, the whole congregation suddenly broke down weeping for their sins of indifference, coldness, and lack of love and energy for work. Then came the joy of forgiveness and a strong desire to be shown ways and means to work for God. Four more mornings were thus spent in prayer, singing praises, and asking God's direction. The pastor now thought it was time to do something, and asked how many would give a whole day to go out and preach to unbelieving souls. All hands went up. Then he asked how many would go for two days. Again nearly all hands were raised. At the request for three days fewer hands went up, and so on through four, five, and six days, the number gradually lessening, but even for seven days there were quite a number. The total number of days of service promised at that early morning prayer-meeting was over three thousand."—"Korea for Christ," pages 33, 34. Since the early days of this message, our people have been used to pledging money for the cause of God, and the Lord has blessed them in so doing. Would it not be equally pleasing to him if we were to adopt this Korean plan, and definitely give to him, to be used in giving this last warning message, a certain portion of our time each week? Let us consider the possibilities there are in this. We have now, according to the latest statistics, 114,206 Sabbath-keepers. If these devoted, on an average, one hour a week to giving this message to others, it would be equivalent to the work of 1,627 persons, for ten hours a day, for one year. An average of four hours' work a week from every Sabbath-keeper would be an equivalent of 6,508 persons working ten hours a day, for a year, a number more than our entire force of conference workers, who, including colporteurs, number 5,101. These figures help us to understand why the Lord says, through the spirit of prophecy, "If every church-member were a living missionary, the gospel would speedily be proclaimed in all countries, to all peoples, nations, and tongues."—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. IX, page 32. It is because the general systematic work of our people would add so enormously to the working force in the field. In view of these facts, would it not be well for every Sabbath-keeper to consider the advisability of devoting a portion of time each week definitely and sacredly to the Lord's work, allowing nothing to interfere with it, save that which absolutely cannot be overcome? That this is in harmony with the instructions given in the testimonies is shown by the following statement: "In every church the members should be so trained that they will devote time to the winning of souls."—Id., Vol. VI, page 436. Let not those who can give but one hour a week, or perhaps even less, think this small amount of time not worth devoting to the Lord. It is these small amounts of time, taken together, that make up the mighty whole. So all of it is worth while. But careful planning will enable many to increase the amount of time which is all they at first believe they can give. Let us deal liberally with the Lord, for he deals with us exceedingly bountifully, giving us even more than we can think or ask.