To Dwight S. Wallack, now district superintendent in Grand Junction, Colorado, Ingathering has always been a pleasant task. He looks upon it as an opportunity to make friends as well as to get money for the cause. In addition he believes that one often sees the leading of God in making and influencing new acquaintances for God's work. This is illustrated by a recent experience that took place in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The local elder, J. E. Groves, has always been active in Ingathering and has been glad to introduce each succeeding pastor of the church to his business acquaintances in the city. One to whom he introduced Pastor Wallack was a man we will refer to as Mr. Allen, secretary of a large pharmaceutical manufacturing firm, the annual contribution of which at the time had been ten dollars.
The first time they called on Mr. Allen he increased his donation for the company to twenty-five dollars. Sometime later in a conversation with the pastor at a Ministerial Alliance luncheon, Mr. Allen stated that he had always felt Seventh-day Adventists to be somewhat distant and uncooperative in community affairs. He further stated that he was glad to see what seemed to be a new attitude on the part of the church as evidenced by the establishment of the church's excellent welfare center. He was also favorably impressed by the pastor's work in the local civil defense organization and by the fact that he was vice-president of the Kalamazoo Ministerial Alliance.
During the year Pastor Wallack made a few friendly calls on Mr. Allen. When the 1955 Ingathering call was made, Mr. Allen was in a board meeting, making it necessary for Pastor Wallack to call back a few days later. At that time Mr. Allen said that the company had changed its policy and that henceforth he would be unable to make a contribution. Since the company had increased its gift to fifty dollars, this was something of a blow. But this call had been made a matter of special prayer, and surely all would work out for the best.
In his Ingathering folder that day Pastor Wallack carried a picture clipped from the local paper, with an accompanying write-up about Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Brooks and their family. Dr. Brooks had just been appointed to the staff of the new Taiwan Sanitarium and Hospital, and since he was a Kalamazoo man, this had made a good story for the local paper. Mr. Allen noticed this clipping in the folder, and since mission work has a special appeal to him, he was much interested. After examining it further he remarked that perhaps his company could make another kind of donation direct to this institution in the form of medicine, and that, doing it in this way, they might be able to make it as much as three or four hundred dollars. Naturally Pastor Wallack was thrilled at the prospect.
He wrote immediately to Dr. Brooks, asking him to send all the pictures and information available about the hospital. He responded immediately with a fine assortment of pictures and news stories about the opening of the hospital and a more recent story about his giving his own blood to save the life of an Indonesian woman who had no money or friends. This gift on the doctor's part had greatly impressed the Chinese, and there had been a full-page report of this in the Chinese newspaper. The story was headed: "Gold and Silver Have I None, but What I Have I Give Unto Thee."
This material was given to Mr. Allen at once. A day or two later he called Pastor Wallack, greatly thrilled over the pictures, particularly one of Madame Chiang Kai-shek and another of Ambassador Rankin, both of whom had attended the opening of the institution. Most of all he appreciated Dr. Brooks's kindness to the native woman. He took the pictures home to show to his wife, and shared them with his fellow executives. He said to the pastor, "I am trying to get Dr. Brooks a really good donation of medicines, and I -will let you know in a few days how I come out."
A few days later a letter arrived stating that the firm had voted to send $7,000 worth of antibiotics to Dr. Brooks. Pastor Wallack thought there must be a mistake in the typing, and called to check on it. He was assured that there was no mistake, but that the amount stated was the wholesale price, making the retail value more than $19,000.
It took a good deal of negotiation to get this gift through customs duty-free. Regular duty would have been 50 per cent, which would have been quite out of reach of the Taiwan Sanitarium. Incidentally, the medicine was finally cleared through the Catholic Welfare Committee of China!
Later on, Mr. Allen spoke of the possibility that there might be a further gift at a later date. During the summer Pastor Wallack was transferred to Colorado, and shortly after arriving there he received more startling news. Mr. Allen wrote that at that time his company was sending to the hospital a further gift of $50,000 worth of antibiotics at the base wholesale rate, or more than $100,000 in retail value. Surely this makes one of the largest Ingathering gifts on record!
Pastor Wallack feels that Ingathering should not be considered a difficult task, but instead a marvelous opportunity for us to work with God and let Him work with us for the furthering of His world program. We need to remember that the work does not depend on our personal ability, but on our willingness to work with the Lord. His is the ability to influence the minds of men. Unexpected blessings will come to all of us if we show more friendship the year round with our business acquaintances and give willing cooperation in our communities.
