Those who heard Elder W. A. Spicer's concluding sermon at the 1930 General Conference session, will recall how he suggested that our faith had sustained us while the tithes came rolling in, mission lines advanced, and converts were added by thousands. "But what," he asked, "will be the reaction of our people, and what their experience, should the resources dwindle, and our missionaries begin to return home to stay? Will their faith sustain them then?" I have pondered that statement often; for since my earliest childhood I can recall only stories of missionary advance and the prospect of an ever-extending work. It is true that when he uttered those words, we had passed through the crash of 1929, but our work was still forging ahead, and no special change was apparent. And somehow it was our hope that the panic would never affect this cause.
It has been my endeavor, since realizing that the remnant people will suffer keenly with the rest of the world, as we reach the time of the end, to see in our experiences the fulfilling of the things which have been preached as a theory for decades. We have told the world that a time of universal unrest is coming, which will tax the resources of the greatest statesmen. We have spoken of the difficulties which will come to the rich, and the despair of the poor; we have forecast events of the first magnitude in the political, social, and moral realms, and they are here. We realize that we are the people the prophet pointed out as "the remnant." Why not accept the responsibility of sorrow which is to purify, make white, and try the chosen people of God?
For months I have been constrained to preach that every trial endured, every loss sustained, identifies us with the people of prophecy; with the result that instead of apathy, our people in Boston feel that now is the time to make their faith manifest in works in this day of God's preparation. Instead of financial losses in every department of our work, consecrated, God-fearing, humble souls are bringing their gifts to the altar, and leaving them there. When depleted finances at the conference office made it impossible longer to supply a liberal budget for evangelism, prayer brought a gift of one thousand dollars from a sister who works for a living. Later this amount was increased by others, that the work might not be retarded through lack of funds.
With a budget which called for nine thousand dollars a year to keep the doors of the Boston Temple open, it seemed that we could not carry on another month . Then we laid our need before the Lord, and He sent money from sources we knew not, and helped us to carry on. By self-sacrifice on the part of our staff, and by thoroughgoing economies, we have been able to reduce this budget one third; but a larger and still larger number of our men have either lost their positions or had their wages cut until even our lessened load seemed heavier than before.
To reach and exceed our missions quota of sixty cents a week; to keep the stream of tithe flowing strongly in spite of the fact that many of our members are out of work; to ask our people to contribute to the evangelistic fund to enable us to carry on public efforts; and to bring in five hundred dollars a month from our four hundred members for the budget, has required faith. Often when we feared failure, we have seen some humble child of God, without, urging on our part, come forward and make an offering, with the result that we have been able to carry on in spite of the depression.
We have felt that above all times, this is the time when we should stress aggressive evangelism. And we have urged our people to use these periods of unemployment to do missionary work for their neighbors, with the result that we are systematically distributing large amounts of literature. Twenty of our members so engaged in one suburb led us to pitch a gospel tent the middle of May to follow up the interest created. This is a new thing, to hold a tent effort so early in the season in Boston,—but it has the advantage of making contacts with people before they leave for their vacations. By the accession of new believers we have been able to keep the missionary spirit alive and financial streams flowing undiminished toward the mission fields, with a record tithe to the conference, while at the same time applying thousands of dollars in reducing the mortgage on the Temple building.
Boston, Mass.
