During the last winter I have been engaged in strenuous field work in Ministerial Association endeavor. It has been my great privilege to meet nearly all our conference workers in South America, including teachers and colporteurs. All told, they number 780; and to my surprise, nearly all these workers are South Americans. At the present time, there are only ninety North American workers in the South American Division; and this fact indicates that our work in South America is passing into the hands of South Americans. This is good; it is just as it should be. It is God's way of managing His affairs.
When I was laboring in the Australasian field, there were, at first, only North American workers there, and I well remember the time, some years later, when it began to dawn on me that the work in that field was destined to pass into the hands of the Australasians, and I was made to realize that the most important service I could render the cause of God was to do the most thorough work possible in preparing the men and women coming into the ranks of workers in Australasia for the administrative responsibilities that they were sure to take over. In due time the transfer was made, and for years our Australasian brethren have been in charge of the entire field. These brethren have not only carried on the administrative work, but have raised the necessary funds required to meet the demands of a continually growing work. All this has been a great help to the General Conference Committee, who at one time carried the financial and administrative burden of that field. The same principle has been demonstrated in parts of Europe, and now the situation is developing along the same lines in South America.
The Austral Union Conference, of the South American Division, has a list of 196 workers, of whom twenty-eight are from North America, and 168 are men and women who have embraced the truth in South America. In one of the largest and most important local conferences in the Austral Union, the president and all the members of the committee, save one, are South Americans. The conference is being well managed. In another growing conference there is but one North American on the committee.
As we study these developments we are impressed by the conviction that one supreme Mind conceived this glorious message and has directed in the adaptation of methods for carrying it forward in every land. But while the developing situation is a most encouraging omen, it is also a matter of deep concern, for it involves wise and careful direction. It is necessary that men of long and valuable experience in North America shall be united with the South American brethren in the general administrative work, and it is essential that the new workers have a clear, true vision of this message, and become experienced in right methods of administration. The young people in the training schools who are coming forth to enter the ranks of workers should be given the very best preparation possible for such responsibilities. They should be thoroughly instructed in the truths of the Bible, and in right ideals and methods of labor. Above all, these young people should be led into a deep, genuine Christian experience. All this is very essential to the well-being of the Lord's cause as the work gradually passes from the hands of our older and more experienced leaders.
With such considerations and convictions growing upon us at each new gathering of the workers in South America, the grave import of the opportunity facing us in the institutes became more and more apparent, and the burden rested heavily upon our hearts. Elder C. B. Haynes, Elder J. W. Westphal, and I conducted the studies at the institutes, and it was our united aim to deal with only those subjects which seemed of most vital importance, i. e., (1) The work to which the minister of the gospel is called, and (2) The minister's fitness for the work. In dealing with the first phase of the study, we considered it under two divisions,—first, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples," which means Christians, or saints; and second, The proper care of the disciples after they are won to Christ. As this important work was outlined from the Bible and the writings of the Spirit of prophecy, a great longing came into the hearts of these workers for greater efficiency in the solemn work to which they have been called. In all the institutes, the workers manifested a great desire for spiritual help. They wanted closer, warmer, and more constant fellowship with Christ. Time and again they left their seats and gathered around the platform to engage in united prayer, and on their knees, with tears, they surrendered their hearts to God and reconsecrated their lives to Him for truer, better service. Those were serious, yet inspiring and cheering occasions, and we believe they mark a new era in the cause of God in South America.
There was an earnest desire for studies on the Spirit of prophecy, and in order to serve the largest number at the centers where the meetings were held, these studies were given in the evening. Great interest was manifested in this subject. Our people in South America have not seen Sister White, and they have only a few of her books; they had heard but little regarding the marvelous work the Lord led her to do in this advent movement. Hence there was the deepest interest manifest in every study given.
The practical problems which confront the workers in the different fields and in the various lines of work, were given due consideration in round table discussion every day; and that this was a greatly appreciated feature of the institutes will be better understood when it is remembered that these workers are stationed at long distances from each other, many of them being cut off from everybody and everything in the world except their immediate surroundings, and that it had been four years since they had met together in meetings entirely devoted to the interests of gospel workers. The field in which they labor presents most difficult situations. Nothing short of the mighty power of God can deliver the people from the darkness that enshrouds them, and the bondage which holds them.
(To be concluded)
