THE DISCIPLES must have groaned inwardly when Christ assigned them to the largest city in the land for their first field of labor. Jerusalem no doubt appeared to them as the most difficult and least promising of any place they could imagine. But God had a plan, and when they followed it one of the greatest evangelistic successes of all time took place. The city they feared so much proved to be their greatest opportunity.
When the prophetic utterances likewise called the early Adventist workers to labor in New York and the other great cities they, too, shrank from such a hopeless undertaking. But message after message sought to lay the burden, of New York especially, on the hearts of our people and their leaders. Certainly that burden weighed heavily on Ellen G. White, for, in addition to declaring God's revelation to her regarding New York, she frequently made strong appeals in behalf of the nation's greatest city.
" . . . And There Is New York"
In the General Conference session of 1901 great emphasis was placed on need for reaching out into unentered fields. The worldwide missionary activities of the Adventist Church were just getting under way. In this setting Mrs. White called the attention of the people to the great mission field on their very front porch. She declared: "And there is New York, that great and wicked city. Who has carried the burden for that field?
Who has felt the necessity of denying self that the work in that city may be carried forward? It is indeed a wicked city, but God had a Lot in Sodom, and He has a people in New York. . . . New York is ready to be worked. . . . The Lord showed me that His work should be established in New York. He showed me what could be done there if everyone would come up to His help. The power of God is to carry the truth in this city."—General Conference Bulletin, April 10, 1901.
A year and a half later she gave a special testimony on the work in Greater New York. After writing that the time had come for making decided efforts "to proclaim the truth in our large cities," and predicting that great power would accompany the giving of such a message, she pointed out the special needs of this work and its importance to the rest of the country and the world. She said, "Those who bear the burden of the work in Greater New York should have the help of the best workers that can be secured. Here let a center for God's work be made, and let all that is done be a symbol of the work the Lord desires to see done in the world."—Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 37.
Mission Field at Our Door
She might well have added that New York City is itself a foreign mission field. The great United Nations building in Manhattan is a fitting symbol of this city that is a composite of all nations. Newspapers must be published in 69 different languages for the large foreign-speaking segments of the city. One fourth of the population still finds English a foreign language. New York is still the front door to a new home, a new life, for the peoples of the world, and many of them never leave this great port city.
But it was not only because of its many peoples that the servant of the Lord called for special efforts to establish our work in New York. In business, in finance, in education, in the arts, in communication, in industry, in commerce, in almost every phase of national life and concern, New York is a great strategic center. And God has called for a center for His work, manned by the best workers available and to be a pattern for the whole world.
At the General Conference session in 1903 Mrs. White again called for more work in the cities. "I point you to the City of New York. One hundred workers might be laboring there where now there is but one. How many of you have taken a practical interest in the work in this city? We have scarcely touched this field with the tips of our fingers. A few faithful workers have been trying to do something in this great, wicked city. But their work has been difficult, because they have had so few facilities."—General Conference Bulletin, April 7, 1903.
After Sixty Years—What?
These strong admonitions have not been entirely ignored or neglected, but after sixty years we have made only a small beginning. This has weighed on the hearts of our leadership, as well as those responsible for the work in New York. Two years ago a serious effort was made to "do something for New York." It soon became evident that this could be no ordinary project. It was painfully obvious, too, that the way was hedged with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Much work and many prayers have now opened the way for what may well be the greatest single evangelistic project the church has ever attempted. It is in keeping with the promises and predictions given through the Spirit of Prophecy and it is measured to the challenge of the task and the opportunity that Providence now offers us.
Nineteen million people live within sight of the Empire State Building, and television beams from its tower reach a few more million in a congested area that takes in all or part of five conferences in two unions. The magnitude of the task before us makes this project too big for either the conferences or the union. First of all is the question of personnel. To gather the caliber of men needed in this undertaking calls for cooperation and participation on the part of all Our unions. To finance the great program, all of North America must be looked to for special help.
All Rally to the Task
The first step toward such a project was taken at the 1966 Autumn Council, when June 6, 1967, was set aside for a call to al: our people to contribute to this great evangelistic thrust. This should be one of the largest offerings ever collected in our churches. In the Spring Meeting of the General Conference in April of this year the North American Division voted to set up a coordinating committee to work with the Atlantic and Columbia unions for directing and promoting the work. The other unions have pledged their support by making key personnel available.
The next step involves our members and the pastors who inspire and direct them. It is almost staggering to think of what could happen in the great New York area if all our people united in earnest, persevering prayer. The financial needs for the great undertaking could be met if each member would contribute a dollar and a half, the cost of sending a Bible and a set of lessons to a good prospect. "There is not a dearth of means among our people any more than there has been in the past. . . . But in spite of this, the great field of New York is left untouched. . . The people ought to feel that the rebuke of God rests upon them because they are not working for Him in places which know not the truth."—Ibid., April 10, 1901.
