An Excellent Meeting by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 26, 1914

An Excellent Meeting

By Editor

THE meeting held on Sunday afternoon, March 1, at College Place, Wash., will long be remembered by those who were present as an excellent meeting, because of the special presence of the Holy Spirit. Such meetings are not easily described, and can only be appreciated by those who have attended gatherings of like character.

The object of the meeting was the consideration of the home missionary work. Elder I. H. Evans gave a short but earnest study on the plan and purpose of the home missionary movement, after which he gave opportunity for others to speak who desired to do so. He was followed by Elder H. W. Decker, one of our pioneers, who spoke of this phase of the message as it was in the early days of this truth, and told how the brethren and sisters worked for their neighbors and brought them into the truth without the aid of a minister.

Elder C. W. Flaiz, the president of the union, followed with a spirited talk, giving some remarkable instances and experiences showing the power of the printed page in reaching the people.

He was followed by Elder H. W. Cottrell and others; for, like fire in stubble, the spirit of the meeting caught in the hearts of the congregation, and scores arose and told of the mighty power of God in reaching souls through individual effort in cases they had seen or of which they had known. It was very noticeable that the printed page had acted a prominent part in almost every instance related.

One sister told of visiting one of her neighbors with the intention of leaving some reading matter. She laid a tract on the window sill, waiting for a favorable opportunity to present it, when, to her surprise and sorrow, it was snatched away by a sudden whirlwind. But the Lord had a care for the tract, which was whirled onto the seat of a passing movers' wagon. The occupants were very much surprised to receive a tract in that way, and felt very much impressed, as they eagerly read its message, that the Lord had sent it to them. The tract resulted in their accepting the truth and attending the camp meeting, where they told of how the message was brought to them, very much to the joy of the sister, who was present and for the first time learned why the tract was snatched away from her as it was.

The following instance was described to show what results may come from earnest, prayerful missionary endeavor: A sister sent to different families in a certain neighborhood a number of Signs. These people after reading became convinced of the truth, and six families, not one of which knew the decisions of the others, began to keep the Sabbath the same day. The next week, on learning of one another's convictions, a Sabbath school was organized, and, later, a church. Now a number of that company are workers in the cause.

Another told how God blessed a humble, prayerful effort to the salvation of souls. In a certain meeting a sister arose and stated that if she could only find one soul saved as a result of her missionary efforts, she would be satisfied; but, although she had put forth earnest efforts for years, she had not as yet had the pleasure of seeing any results of her labor. After sitting down, feeling almost discouraged, a brother arose and told how he came into the truth. He said, in brief, that he was a farmer living some distance from town. One day when he went to town, his wife, as usual, prepared his lunch and put it in a dinner pail. When he reached town, he unhitched his horses and tied them to the wagon. On returning for his dinner, to his surprise he found a tract in the pail. He wondered why his wife put it there, supposing, of course, that she did it. When he arrived home, he asked her why she put the tract in his dinner pail. She replied that she knew nothing about it. "Well," replied he, "that is peculiar. Let us read the tract and see what it is." They read it, "Elihu on the Sabbath," together, and the result was that they accepted the truth.

When this man sat down, the sister above referred to arose and said that that day she had been out doing missionary work, trying to scatter literature, but somehow nobody seemed to want it. She was turned away by merchants and by people in their homes. Finally she decided to go by and put some tracts in the farm wagons. When she came to a wagon with a dinner pail on the seat, she was impressed to open it and put the tract in the pail, which she did, after considerable hesitancy. Now her heart was rejoiced to learn the results of that effort.

We would like to give the readers of the REVIEW a fuller account of the meeting, but suffice it to say that those who were present recognized the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and felt that the Lord was putting his seal upon this movement, which aims to put into active service every believer in the message. W. W. E.