Name: Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists
Author: Ellen G. White

Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists

Ellen G. White

Imprimerie Polyglotte · Basel · 1886

PREFACE.

At the annual meeting of the European Council of Seventh-day Adventist Missions, held at Basle, Switzerland, in the fall of 1885, a request was made for the publication of a work to contain a brief history of the three European missions, a report of the proceedings of the Council of 1885, and a record of the visit of Mrs. E. G. White to the principal churches in these missions. It was then thought that a few pages would be sufficient to record the establishment and progress of these missions, and that the report of the Council would be the leading feature of the work. But as the preparation of the sketches has gone forward, many interesting incidents have been found in the experience of the pioneers in the missions, which deserve to be recorded in such a work as this, and many facts that are of value as showing the character of the work that has thus far been accomplished, and the nature of the efforts that will be required to secure future prosperity.

Since the publication of these sketches as at first planned has been unavoidably delayed, the publishers have been enabled to add a full and interesting account of the establishment of the mission in Australia and New Zealand, and at the last moment before going to press to obtain a sketch of Eld. L. R. Conradi’s visit to Russia, with the facts concerning his arrest on the charge of teaching Jewish heresy, his prison experience, and his final release through the intervention of the American Minister at St. Petersburg.

In the “Historical Sketches” it will be found that the writers have not only recorded briefly what has been accomplished in these missions, but they have presented, in connection with the narrative, many facts pertaining to the countries already entered, and those adjacent to them which present equally promising fields, showing the extent of the work yet to be accomplished before the warning messages brought to view in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation shall have been proclaimed to all the nations and peoples of the world. To aid the reader in the study of these fields, and to show what has thus far been accomplished, four full-colored maps have been added to the book, showing Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and, in the large folded map, all of Europe. On each of these maps, the location of churches and small companies of Seventh-day Adventists is plainly marked.

In the “Practical Addresses” of Mrs. White, given at the Swiss Conference and the Missionary Council at Basle,

there are many words of instruction and admonition that may be studied with profit by home missionaries as well as those laboring in foreign lands, and there are also many thoughts for the encouragement of those who would be helpers in the great work in its various branches, according to their circumstances and ability.

The “Notes of Travel,” giving a brief account of the journey from California to Switzerland, with a fuller account of Mrs. White’s labors at the various places visited in England, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Italy, present many items of interest about the places visited, the habits and customs of the people, their religious beliefs and practices, and their present attitude toward religious reform, with frequent references to the part which their ancestors acted in the great Reformation of the sixteenth century.

The illustrations that have been obtained for the “Historical Sketches” and “Notes of Travel,” especially those of the buildings just erected for our missions at Basle and Christiania, will, we are sure, be appreciated by the reader. These, with many of the other cuts, have been made especially for this work.

In the closing pages will be found appeals for a more general and thorough system of educating and training men for mission work, a discourse on the duty of parents to train their children to have a missionary spirit, and an appeal for means to carry forward the work in the missions that have already been established, and that could do a much greater work if they were better supplied with men and means.

We believe that our readers will find a study of the experience of those who have entered these different mission fields to be both entertaining and instructive; for as we note the difficulties which these men have met, and the means by which they have surmounted them, we are brought in contact with those circumstances, customs, and prejudices which the laborer in these countries must meet and become accustomed to. By this means we are brought more in sympathy with the missionary and his work; and those who may sometime be called upon to share the burdens and perplexities of these labors, may gain valuable ideas as to the preparation that is necessary to fit one for this work.

If this volume shall be the means of arousing in the hearts of some a deeper interest in the salvation of their fellow-men, if it shall lead some to ask themselves whether they are using to the best advantage the talents of means which the Master has intrusted to their care, if it shall encourage some to become laborers in missionary fields, the design and wish of its publishers will be fully realized. PUBLISHERS.

THE question has often been asked why Seventh-day Adventists should have chosen Central Europe, with its diversity of languages, as the first field for their foreign missionary operations. Certainly there was nothing, as subsequent reflection will show, which made this field one peculiarly favorable to the proclamation of the present truth. Why, then, should this field have been chosen in preference to that, for instance, of England, which, being the mother country to that in which the message had its birth, had the not inconsiderable advantage of having a common tongue? It would naturally be supposed that Great Britain, which has done so much in the circulation of the Scriptures and the extension of the gospel, would have been the field earliest sought as the first foreign ground on which to plant the standard of the last great work of reform.

It may not be for us to discern why it was not thus, and it certainly would be idle to question the inscrutable providence which permitted it to be otherwise. It will, however, be of interest to note the exterior circumstances which led to this result, and made it almost a matter of course that the men who had charge of the general direction of the work decided upon the early measures which they took in the establishment of this mission.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.

THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN MISSION.

The means which God uses in his work are often those that to the view of human prudence could have only a contrary result; and many times he employs for the accomplishment of his purposes agents that have altogether a different work in view from what they are in reality doing. Men lay plans and select what seem to them the best agents for their accomplishment; but God turns their most sagacious designs to confusion, and by his infinite wisdom lays the foundation for the progress of his own work. The light of the third angel’s message first began to shine on the continent of Europe, in the countries now comprised within the limits of the Central European Mission; and of those who first received this light there still remain some as faithful witnesses to the truth.

As those who had for years been preaching that the great truths of the message must ultimately go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, saw them being planted, not by their own efforts, but by the overruling providence

of God, among these people of foreign tongue, it was only natural that they should have their interests and sympathies called out to extend a helping hand in the endeavor to carry forward the good work which had thus been commenced. It was not strange, therefore, that the first missionary sent to the Old World should have come to Central Europe, where there were already hearts anxiously inquiring for more light and a better knowledge of the great truths of this last message. It will be of interest to the reader to note the peculiar circumstances which led to this early planting of the truth in this field, and thus to the establishment of the first Seventh-day Adventist mission in Europe.

In the year 1864, Eld. M. B. Czechowski, a Polish Catholic who had been converted to Protestantism, and who, visiting America, had also received the truths of the third angel’s message, returned to Europe from America. It had been his desire for some years to come as a missionary of the Seventh-day Adventists; but as there existed certain reasons why it was not thought advisable to intrust him with so important a mission, he received no encouragement from them. Being determined, however, to come, he applied to the first-day Adventists; and when he finally set sail for Europe it was nominally as their missionary. Doubtless those who employed this zealous, earnest, but unfortunate man, little thought that he was to be the agent in planting the Sabbath truth, in connection with the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, in several countries of Central Europe. And yet such proved to be the result.

Eld. Czechowski went first to the Piedmont Valleys, where he remained about fourteen months, encountering much opposition from the pastors, and suffering privations in his work. At the end of this time he went to Switzerland, where he labored with great energy and perseverance, and established a periodical entitled, The Everlasting Gospel, which was published regularly during the period of two years. During this time he preached in different localities, everywhere proclaiming the Sabbath in connection with the other doctrines which he advocated. Among the largest of the companies that accepted the truth through his preaching in Switzerland, was that of Tramelan. Several families of those who received the Sabbath in this place are still faithful to the truths of the third angel’s message. Financial difficulties and other obstacles in the way of his remaining longer in Switzerland, led him in the winter of 1868-9, to go to Roumania, where he still continued to propagate the truths of the Sabbath and second advent, though under additional difficulties from his lack of knowledge of the Roumanian language. Some, however, who received the truth from his efforts in these places, have remained faithful to it, and it is through their adherence to the faith that efforts have been made toward the propagation of the truth in Roumania.

Passing in silence the unfortunate experience which especially marked the later career of this energetic but misguided man, we simply record his death, which took place at a hospital in Vienna, in the early part of the year 1876.

But the seeds of truth which he had been instrumental in scattering did not die with him. Naturally enough, from his relation to the first-day Adventists, while propagating a truth which they bitterly opposed, he avoided giving to his converts any clue, on the one hand

to the people from whom he received a partial support, or on the other hand to those from whom he received his knowledge of the Sabbath truth. But even during the period of his labors, some in Switzerland who had become interested in the great truths of the message, learned by accident the address of our Office of Publication in Battle Creek, corresponded with our people, and by means of this correspondence and of our periodicals, became acquainted with our work in America. As they learned of the work there, they became desirous of connecting themselves with it, and sent appeals for help to our brethren there.

REPRESENTATIVES SENT TO AMERICA.

In response to these appeals, the Swiss brethren who had been in communication with the General Conference through Bro. Albert Vuilleumier, were invited to send a representative to the General Conference to be held at Battle Creek in May, 1869. To this invitation they gladly responded, as they were very desirous to become more fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists which they had espoused, and to connect themselves with the work of our people. The choice would naturally have fallen upon Bro. Albert Vuilleumier, as he was not only the elder of the little company, but was partially acquainted with the English language; but as he could not leave home for so long a stay, Bro., now Eld., James Erzenberger, a young German Swiss Sabbath-keeper, was chosen to represent the infant cause in Switzerland.

Wholly ignorant of the English, not knowing how he was to communicate with those to whom he was sent, but trusting in God for guidance, Bro. Erzenberger left Europe in the month of May, 1869, reaching Battle Creek the 18th of June, but too late for the General Conference. It was thought best by the American brethren that he should spend some time among them to become familiar with the truth and also the English language, as a means of extending his own knowledge of our doctrines that he might thus be prepared to assist others. He remained in America sixteen months, making such progress as to be able to speak in English at the various camp-meetings which he attended. During the summer of 1869 he attended the camp-meetings which were held in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and in 1870 those held at Oneida, N. Y., South Lancaster, Mass., and Bordoville, Vt. He sailed from New York on his return voyage, Sept. 8, 1870, feeling that the period of his stay in America had been one of rich blessing to him. In the month of June, Bro. Adémar Vuilleumier was also sent to America by the Swiss Sabbath-keepers, and for the same objects; namely, to represent the work among them, and to obtain a preparation, by the study of the truth, the language, and the manner of working among the American brethren, for future usefulness in his native land. He remained over two years in America, working in the Office, giving lessons in French, and during the tent season acting as tent-master for Brn. E. B. Lane and D. H. Lamson during a course of lectures at Armeda, Mich.

A MISSION ESTABLISHED.

These earnest appeals, this active interest in behalf of the propagation of this new light among their fellow-countrymen, on the part of these worthy souls who had, through the providence of God, received the present truth, this stirring call which came alike by the living

voice and the written epistle to “come over and help us,” led our brethren to decide upon the permanent establishment of a Seventh-day Adventist mission for Central Europe, and induced the General Conference to recommend that one of its oldest and most respected laborers, one of the pioneers in the work of Sabbath reform as connected with the great Advent movement of this last half century, Eld. J. N. Andrews, be selected to take charge of this important and difficult work. The definite action of selecting Eld. Andrews for this mission was taken by the Conference at its session held Aug. 14, 1874; and Sept. 14 of the same year he sailed from Boston on the S. S. Atlas, of the Cunard Line, accompanied by the remaining members of his family, a son and daughter, and Bro. Adémar Vuilleumier. After visiting, in company with Eld. Wm. M. Jones, the Sabbath-keepers of England and Scotland, Eld. Andrews and party arrived safely at Neuchatel, Oct. 16, 1874, where they were welcomed by Brn. Albert and Luc Vuilleumier.

A SURVEY OF THE FIELD.

It will be necessary to an intelligent survey of the comparatively few though important years which have passed since this mission was decided upon, to give at least a hasty glance over its field of operation, and to take somewhat into account the diversities of its physical and moral character. Let us look first at its geographical features. The reader will be able to gain a clearer idea of the work before the mission, by a reference to the maps which accompany this sketch.

One of the things which most vividly impress the traveler from the New World as he journeys among these older nations of Central Europe, is their limited territory as compared with their immense population; and to assist the reader in this imaginary journey through these countries which are yet to be illuminated by the light of the present truth, we will give some statistics as to their comparative size and population. Let us begin with the great empire of Germany; great in the extent of its political influence, great indeed in its extensive population, which, according to the latest census, numbers not less than 45,000,000 souls; great in its relation to a work of moral reform like that in which we are engaged, since it was the birthplace of the grand Reformation of the sixteenth century. This great empire with its numerous population covers a territory of 210,148 square miles, and in its physical aspect is one of the richest, most productive, and most inviting countries of Europe. To the south-east of it lies the empire of Austria with its population of 39,000,000. A reference to the accompanying map, on which are marked the localities where there are churches and companies of Sabbath-keepers, will show that in all this vast empire of Austria there is not yet a single company of Sabbath-keepers. Beyond it to the south-east is Roumania, into which country the light of the truth has already to some extent penetrated. With its own population and that of the adjacent countries, there are nearly 10,000,000 who speak this tongue.

In the south of Europe lies sunny Italy, a country which, but for the degrading influences of the system of religion under which for so many centuries it has been held in civil and political bondage, would be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. With a delightful climate, and a naturally productive

soil which yields the greatest variety of fruit and vegetables in profuse abundance, nothing, so far as the gifts of nature are concerned, seems lacking to make this country a veritable paradise. Of the peculiar situation of its 30,000,000 inhabitants we will speak farther on.

To the west is the republic of France, a country of a strangely diversified character and history. In population it is nearly equal to the empire of either Germany or Austria, as it is also in the extent of its territory. A beautiful country indeed is “la belle France,” and were the moral and religious character of its people equal to the natural and physical advantages which this country enjoys by reason of its favorable situation and its genial climate, it would be indeed an inviting field for the work of the message. The impulsiveness of the French nation is as proverbial as their politeness; infidelity and skepticism are interwoven in every grade of society; a predominating Catholicism has left its blighting stamp here as elsewhere; but the land whose soil was drenched with the blood of the Huguenots still holds as honest souls, and hearts as loyal to the right, as those who have in past times laid down their life for the truth.

Beyond France to the south-west lie the countries of Spain and Portugal with a much less dense population than the other countries mentioned, the former having only 17,000,000, the latter 5,000,000. Like Italy, these countries bear the marks of the religious despotism which has ruled them for centuries, and which still holds a powerful control over the common mind.

In the north lie the countries of Belgium and Holland. Although small, they contain an immense population. To help the American reader in forming some idea of the density of the population in these countries, let us institute a comparison. For instance, Belgium has a less area than that of the States of Delaware and Vermont combined; yet it has a population of more than eleven and a half times that of both these States. The State of Maryland is but little less in area than Holland; the latter has over four millions population, while the former has less than one million. The German empire lacks more than fifty thousand square miles of having as much territory as the State of Texas; but it has a population thirty times as large as that of this State. Notwithstanding the thousands of industrious and enterprising emigrants that this empire has sent to the New World, its present population is nine times that of our great Empire State.

THE POSITION OF SWITZERLAND.

In the midst of these nationalities which we have named is found one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Insignificant indeed as to its extent and population, she has nevertheless maintained for centuries her national existence and independence, in the midst of the great powers who might seemingly have easily divided her territory among them. May we not believe that the hand of Providence has been in this, and that God has designed to preserve this little country in its national neutrality as a favorable field from which to send the truth of the third angel’s message to the populous countries of Central Europe? That it has thus maintained its national existence and independence in the midst of these great powers, that its inconsiderable territory and power have left it in a much-to-be-coveted position of neutrality, are facts which indicate the natural propriety of

choosing this country as the location for the establishment of a mission designed to extend to all these nationalities.

There does not exist toward Switzerland that national prejudice so evident among the great powers toward one another. She holds in an eminent degree the position of neutrality among them; as illustrated by the fact that when the famous international arbitration occurred in the years 1872-3, by which the difficulties that threatened war between England and the United States were peacefully adjusted so that the impending calamity was averted, Switzerland was the ground chosen for this arbitration, and among its instigators were found the people whose undisputed position of neutrality gave them the right to be the bearers of the olive branch of peace.

In this free republic of Switzerland, so centrally situated, and so admirably adapted, by its political relations, to become a center for the great work among these various nationalities, the Central European Mission was to be established. With three tongues, the French, the German, and the Italian, as its national languages, with no sectional barrier of prejudice to stand between it and the surrounding nations which were to be united with it in the common brotherhood of truth, no other locality could have been selected so well adapted for this work as the one which, it would seem, Providence had thus prepared for it.

We only add by way of summary as to the great extent of the work before this mission which was about to be planted, that the countries which we have already named, to say nothing of the smaller countries adjacent to them, or of their possessions in Africa, and in the islands of the Mediterranean, contain a population of 188,744,882 souls, or nearly four times that of the entire United States.

OBSTACLES TO BE ENCOUNTERED.

But there are other considerations of even deeper interest and importance as relating to the character of the work which must be done in order to a successful presentation of the truth in these countries. It may not be out of place here, or lacking in interest to the reader, to refer to the moral and religious condition of the people in these countries; and we will speak of these points with respect to the obstacles which they present.

One of the characteristics the most generally remarked among all these nations of continental Europe, is that of aversion to change or innovation in the habits and customs of the common people. The sudden political changes and spasmodic revolutions which have characterized in particular the history of France and Spain constitute no real exception to this remark, as these relate rather to the political character of the nation than to the habits of the people. In general, the people follow the customs of their ancestors, and are content to do this without desire of change. Without doubt it is true that many of the more progressive minds, those who have been more willing to change and to adopt new and improved ideas, witnessing the tendency to maintain the conservative customs of other years, have left their native land in search of more congenial society in which to gratify their desire for change and improvement. The result of this has been to leave more to the quiet of its undisturbed routine the general tenor of the common thought, so that the people have been slow to imbibe the spirit of change and of progress so

marked in the New World during the present century.

If the common habits and customs of the people, so far as relates to their every-day life, have remained fixed and unchanged, much more has this tendency been prevalent in regard to their religious faith. The people pride themselves on the fact that their faith is of ancient date; the more ancient the more honorable. They are content to believe as their fathers believed, and are satisfied with the religious customs which their fathers practiced. Indeed, with the masses, religion consists more in formality, the practice of exterior observances, than in the real change of heart, and the living operation of the Spirit of God. In addition to this, the people are in general very ignorant of the Scriptures. This among certain classes arises not so much from the fact that they do not have the Scriptures, and do not read them, as from the fact that this is done mechanically, as is all their religious service in a great measure, so that while they read the Bible they receive no new ideas from its sacred teachings. Thousands of people are destitute of the word of God, and in order to receive its truths, have to be taught its very first principles, even as one would teach those who have not had the privileges of the gospel.

It will be seen that all these circumstances conspire to make the work in general among these nations slow and difficult. The people have to be educated from the beginning; and when it comes to the question of introducing religious duties, and obedience to the word of God which demands sacrifice, self-denial, and the breaking away from long-established customs, it requires no small effort to lead them to do this. When men have been educated for long years to believe that all that is necessary to constitute them Christians is to follow the form of the church, and to profess faith in Christ without any special or any real exercise in Christian experience, it is indeed no small task to lead them to accept and live out the practical truths of the third angel’s message.

Assuredly we would not be understood as representing that there are no exceptions to the prevailing conditions which we have mentioned above; for that there are such exceptions the history of the work even to the present time has abundantly demonstrated. There are honest souls who know what a true Christian experience is, and who, walking according to the best light they have received, are anxiously desirous of a better knowledge of the will of God, and knowing it, they are willing to obey it at any sacrifice. It is such that the message will search out. They will be found here and there among the nations, and, receiving and obeying the light, they will be prepared to meet our Lord when he shall return to gather his chosen ones; but under the conditions we have described, it will naturally be much more difficult to accomplish the work among these nations than in those localities where the general conditions of the people are more favorable.

Such, in general, was the field which presented itself before Bro. Andrews on his arrival in Switzerland to undertake the work to which he had been assigned. Unacquainted with the languages of the people for whom he came to labor, it was indeed a task requiring no small degree of courage and faith in God to undertake. Already advanced in years, the acquisition of the languages to such an extent as to be able to

do public and literary work in preaching and editing was of itself a serious undertaking; but Eld. Andrews applied himself to this work with that diligence and perseverance for which his former studious habits had given him an eminent qualification.

During the early months of his stay in Switzerland he devoted himself principally to the study of the French language, in the meantime visiting the various companies of Sabbath-keepers, and speaking to them by interpretation. With a view to giving greater publicity to his work, and at the same time to ascertain, if possible, if there were others, of whom he had as yet no knowledge, who were already observing the Sabbath of the Lord, he began to advertise in some of the most widely circulated papers of Central Europe. In these advertisements he invited correspondence on the part of those who were either observing the Bible Sabbath or desirous to investigate its obligations. He hoped by this means, while laboring to organize the work among the limited number with whom he was directly associated, and enlisting them in more active efforts to carry the truth to others, to extend his acquaintance, and thus prepare the way for a broader work to be accomplished.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK IN SWITZERLAND.

The first general meeting of Sabbath-keepers after the arrival of Bro. Andrews in Switzerland, was held Nov. 1, 1874, at Neuchâtel. There were representatives present from the little companies in Tramelan, Locle, Chaux-de-Fonds, Fleurier, Bienne, and Buckten. This meeting, which was somewhat informal, was devoted to a free interchange of thought as to the best plans to be adopted for the advancement of the work, and the best means of gaining access to the people. The brethren manifested an earnest desire to do their duty, and a willingness to co-operate in any way possible, with their American brethren, to whom they expressed their thanks for the help sent them. Not having concluded upon any definite plan of action, another meeting was appointed to be held at Locle two weeks later. At this meeting the urgent necessity for publications was considered, and it was voted to raise the sum of 2000 francs to commence the work of publishing. The brethren present donated the sum of 1800 francs at once, and a committee of three, consisting of Brn. Andrews, Albert Vuilleumier, and Louis Schild, was chosen to take the oversight of the work for the ensuing year. It was designed that these funds should be used in the publication of such tracts as had already been translated into French, and of others that were in preparation. This work of publishing was commenced in the early part of the following year.

The most general assembly, however, of these early believers was convened at Chaux-de-Fonds in January, 1875. This meeting, which according to the report given of it at the time was “for the transaction of business, for the celebration of the ordinances, and for the worship of God,” still remains engraven in the memories of some as the first occasion of the kind in which they had ever participated. It was a season of encouragement to all. It was at this time decided that Brn. Andrews and Erzenberger should immediately visit the German Sabbath-keepers of whom they had learned in Prussia. To meet the expenses of this journey the Swiss brethren cheerfully raised the sum of 300 francs. The meeting closed

the evening of January 31, and the next day these brethren started on their journey for Elberfeld, three hundred miles directly north. On their arrival here they found a company of forty-six adult Sabbath-keepers scattered over a territory some fifty miles in width. Some facts concerning the history of these Sabbath-keepers, and how Eld. Andrews came to have a knowledge of them, will, we are confident, be of interest.

Continue reading: SABBATH-KEEPERS IN GERMANY.