REPORTS FROM HARVEST-FIELDS ABROAD
REPORT FROM GREAT BRITAIN, 1907
I have now the pleasure of sending the report of the British work for the past financial year. You will see that this year we are able to show a general increase in the work. We are glad to do this, not only because it is more pleasant than if we had to report decrease, but because it shows that the work of the Lord goes forward, and that there is yet much opportunity to work in the Harvest field. A review of the work and the prospects show that there is, apparently, an almost unlimited field for the "harvesters," and unlimited scope for their energies; the fields are "white unto harvest," and there are but few months for the reaping. Of late we have had abundant proof that the multitudes will listen to the message of the Kingdom and to the various features of the Plan; they are glad to have the "stones gathered out" of the way. The year has been one of continued activity, and, with the exception of the shortage of books we have experienced, there have been no hindrances. When you come next year you will find very much to give you cheer and encouragement, and grateful and willing hearts who share with you in the joys and sorrows of the harvesting.
This year we are able to report an increase in the circulation of the DAWNS and STUDIES. We have sold nearly 8,000 more books, and this would have been increased to nearly 10,000 but for the shortage. The greater portion of the increase is in Vol. I., but a good proportion is in Vols. II., III., through some of the Colporteurs selling sets of three or six. There is a great mining and manufacturing population yet in almost absolute ignorance of the Truth, and the small towns and villages of England are yet as virgin soil to the workers. During the year the possibility of a colporteur of good address being able to dispose of the books in difficult ground, and that in sufficient numbers as to provide a living, has been proved several times; while in the ordinary way the average colporteur can always get on. There is no reason for a person of good address and a readiness of manner failing in the work of a colporteur, nor for thinking that there is any part of this country where the work cannot be made self-supporting.
The visit of Brother Williamson was specially enjoyed and it did much to cement the already close relationship between us and our brethren in America. The Conventions were happy and good times, and were surely blessed of the Lord.
You will see that the "Volunteer" work has gone on about as usual, and that the British friends show much activity in this work. We have yet a good supply of tracts upon which the brethren can call, and we shall be glad to have them make request.
The donation to the TRACT FUND is not quite so high as last year's total: it is good to share in the joys of the dear brethren in their giving to the Lord whether of means or of service. I continually thank the Lord for the privilege of being used to serve with them in this way.
The meetings all over the land seem to grow in zeal for the work, and we would that this should be the case with us all, and that at the same time we may grow in the grace of the Lord. While so much waits to be done it is a pity to spend any energy of mind or body in that which is merely wasted in the doing. The Lord gives us the privilege of building up each other, and thus of building up that holy city, and also of witnessing to the world, and we can do these things only as we are intent upon the work. May his grace help us to bind ourselves upon the altar and thus to each other and to the Lord.
With brotherly love and affection, and conveying the love of the British brethren,
I am yours in his grace, J. HEMERY.
SUMMARY OF THE BRITISH WORK FOR 1907
Total number of DAWN-STUDIES sold at cost.........
34,575
" Booklets, Manna, etc. " .........
7,876
"
Tracts distributed free............... 1,394,500
"
"
stated in pages................35,933,000
" Letters received......................
8,130
" " sent out......................
6,825
Cost of tracts distributed free, including L. s. d.
postage, freight, etc...........................1,564 6 4
The above, stated in U.S. money.........$7,556.20
Pilgrim and Convention expenses..................
109 2 7
The above, stated in U.S. money...........$527.11
—————-
Totals............................$8,083.31, or 1,673 0 11
Tract Fund and "Good Hopes".........$4,179.77 or 861 4 7
Deficit for 1907.................... 3,820.13 or 811 4 7
By the Lord's grace we have reached the end of another year of harvest work in Germany, ending Nov. 1st, and it seems only too short a period to have accomplished very much. At least we could wish it had been a great deal more, but we know it is a day of small things which the Lord does not despise. Neither will we think little of the possible blessing he is abundantly able to give to the large quantities of tracts scattered all over Germany. We no doubt see only a small fraction of it in our mails: much of it will no doubt be seen later, when the seed sown on the "dry land" will be plowed in by the great time of trouble impending and afterward caused to sprout by the showers of blessings and times of refreshing from the presence of the [R4120 : page 21] Lord. We take courage and lift up our heads in rejoicing, knowing that deliverance is nigh for the world as well as for God's people. The great Adversary seems to be aware of it here in Germany, and is stirring up the most religious bodies of Christian people and deceiving them with his imitation "speaking in tongues," and the secular press is not slow to make light of it and to reproach Christianity as the source of this unchristian spirit. The intelligent Christian public is fast drifting into open infidelity or what they are pleased to call a religion—"Monism"—the disbelief of the supernatural and of the future existence of the individual. An organization under this name has rapidly gained thousands of members and is flooding the country with highly enticing and well-written leaflets. Surely it seems that the devil and his angels are fighting hard, but we have the assurance of the Scriptures that our Lord will be victorious, and that Satan will be bound for the thousand years. Praise God and his well-beloved Son, our Lord Jesus!
Following is a brief statement of the literature circulated during this year, and a financial statement of the Volunteer, Tract and Pilgrim Work:—
DAWNS, BOOKLETS, TOWERS AND TRACTS DISTRIBUTED
DAWN Volumes, cloth...............................
2,556
Vol. I., TOWER form...............................
4,000
Booklets..........................................
3,576
Copies German TOWER, monthly......................
1,800
" " " for year.....................
21,600
8 page Volunteer Tracts........................... 4,000,000
8-page TOWERS.....................................
30,000
16-page " .....................................
16,700
Total in tract pages..............................41,521,600
Letters and cards received........................
4,254
" " sent out........................
2,550
FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF THE TRACT & PILGRIM WORK
Printing, postage, freight, etc...............Mks. 33,340.05
Pilgrim expenses.............................. "
1,524.12
Rent, light, heat, living expense of office
force........................................Mks.
4,064.14
————-
Total........................................ "
38,928.31
Receipts, Tract Fund, from friends in
Germany...................................... "
6,034.80
Deficiency supplied by the home office, —-------
Allegheny.........................($7,832.26) "
32,893.51
I should remark with regard to the above amount of cash received from America in the interest of the Lord's work in Germany, that the friends generally are very appreciative of this generous help and the self-sacrificing it implies on the part of their American brethren. They feel like saying: Be assured, your labor of love is not in vain in the Lord's cause.
We notice with gladness your great conventions in America, and long for that greatest Convention of all, beyond the vail. But while we still sojourn here, we are glad to have what seasons of refreshing the Lord sees best to grant us, and so we are looking forward with much pleasure to your proposed visit in the spring. May the Lord prosper you and all of his dear people in his service, and help us all to finish the work he has given us to do. And may God, our Father, according to his own good pleasure, now in the end of the age, glorify his dear Son, our Lord, and with him his Elect, to the end that his own holy name may be glorified.—John 17:1-3.
We all send much love in the Lord to you and your co-laborers one and all.
Your brother in the blessed service, O. A. KOETITZ.
Another year of opportunities and privileges in the Harvest service has closed, and the report of the Society's Australasian Branch is due.
As we consider the events of the past twelve months, we feel constrained to acknowledge, with gratitude to the Lord and appreciation of the zeal and energy of his people, that some progress has been made in bringing the Harvest message to the attention of God's people in this part of the "field;" yet we could wish that more energy had been used, more zeal displayed and perhaps more accomplished. The time is short and shortening, but the dimensions of the "field" show no signs of decrease.
The Colporteurs have been blessed and a blessing during the past year. As shown in the summary, a few hundred more cloth-bound volumes were put out than during the year before. This increase would doubtless have run into thousands, had we not been deprived, during the greater portion of the time, of the labors of three very efficient workers. There are signs of others about to engage in the service, and we may still pray for more laborers. As heretofore, a goodly proportion of the newly interested have been found by the colporteurs.
The Volunteers have been considerably more active than formerly, in some directions, in methodical free tract distribution. Nearly twice as many tracts were distributed this year as last, totalling over nine and a half millions of pages. Naturally, our figures are small, compared with those for other English-speaking countries; at the same time, we take a little comfort in the thought that only about [R4120 : page 22] one-fortieth (perhaps less) of the total number of Z.W.T. readers live in Australasia, and that if we circulate one-fortieth of the total number of DAWN-STUDIES and free tracts by colporteuring, volunteering and otherwise in this territory, we are at least keeping in line with the rest of you in this respect. Yet we know that more, much more, can be done here, so we feel free to exhort the friends to "work while it is called day." The Lord has done much for us; at best we can do but little for him.
There is some increase in the voluntary donations, too, yet not sufficient to keep pace with Tract Fund expenditures, to say nothing of overtaking our deficit. But as it was in former times, so it is now and here—"not many rich" have been called. Nevertheless, we are glad to testify to an increasing appreciation of this feature of the service of Present Truth by those who are able to take part in it, and this without exhortation of any sort.
It was the writer's privilege to visit the brethren in Adelaide and Western Australia last June, a journey of about 5,000 miles, and we hope to make other visits during the coming year.
Desiring a continued interest in your prayers and in those of the brethren everywhere in behalf of the work and workers in this part of the vineyard, I remain, dear brother,
Yours in the Redeemer's service, E. C. HENNINGES.
Copies of DAWNS and STUDIES.......................
21,903
" TOWER-DAWNS.............................
1,220
" Booklets................................
1,315
———
Total............................................
24,438
Copies of Tracts and Z.W.T. sent free.............
418,450
These represent in tract pages.................... 9,509,000
Letters and cards received........................
1,864
" " " sent............................
3,843
——-
Total............................................
5,707
Expenditures
L. s. d.
Deficit from last year............................ 606 17 1
Printing, paper, postage, freight (in and
out), rent, gas, etc............................. 161 4 11
Pilgrim work......................................
43 17 0
————-
Total............................................ 811 19 0
Voluntary donations from Australasia
Good Hopes realized....................L. 31 17 11
From other sources.....................
136 13 2
-------—168 11 1
————-
Deficit owing to Head Office..................... 643 7 11
Once again we have the pleasure of sending you a general report of the work—for the year 1907.
We are glad to note how our hearts are growing in thankful appreciation, while the loving kindness of our God toward us is ever increasing. Indeed the year's experiences remind us of the general conventions—the last is the best. And considering that wine (the fruit of the vine) symbolizes the spiritual refreshment of the Lord's people on this side the vail, as well as the "glory to follow" (Matt. 26:29), we are thinking that the incident at the marriage in Cana might be a suggestion that we should expect the last to be the best until we drink it new.
The Pilgrim service has been more extensive than last year and has done much to establish the Lord's people in out-of-the-way places; indeed, we are realizing more and more how important a part it plays in assisting us to put on [R4121 : page 22] the whole armor of God to withstand the temptations of this "evil day."
The amount of work done for the year is as follows:—
Total Pilgrim visits..............................
53
Total miles traveled..............................
2426
Public meetings...................................
10
Home meetings.....................................
212
According to the present outlook this will be the most important service for the year begun.
The Colporteur service has circulated over 600 volumes more than last year, and this we consider as doing very well, when we take into account the earthquake, the eight months drought following and the resulting financial depression. These have produced much starvation in various parts of the island and the scarcity of food is still felt.
The number engaged in the Colporteur service during the year was 24, eight of whom devoted all of their time. Some of these and many others who did "sharpshooting" were stimulated to enter the service by the hint given out in the TOWER that every reader should try to put out at least six volumes for the year. These dear brethren and sisters are receiving much favor at the hand of the Lord for the spirit of self-sacrifice which prompts them.
The number of tracts distributed was much less than last year, owing to the unsettled condition of things, and yet these "swift messengers" have done some effective work in silence, revealed to us through correspondence.
Newly interested friends are growing phenomenally. The public seems desirous of hearing something better and many are in earnest. We believe the recent experiences of the island have much to do with the spirit of investigation which has become a stimulus to the reapers to thrust in the sickle.
We were unable to hold a General Convention this year, but there were three local ones which were sources of great blessing to all. Some enjoyed them even better than all that went before.
We think that our TOWER list just now is a fair representation of good interest. The Lord is working all things after the counsel of his own will to the spiritual advantage of his dear children, and in this we rejoice.
We pray, for you and for all, the Lord's continual guidance. Pray for us.
Yours in fellowship and service, J. A. BROWNE.
Total output of DAWNS, STUDIES, etc...............
2,823
Total output of Booklets..........................
1,539
Tracts, sample TOWERS, etc........................
16,800
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
L. s. d.
Pilgrim service...................................
96 16 0
Freight, etc......................................
43 7 7-1/2
Sundries, current expenses, etc................... 119 19 9-1/2
——————-
Total expense.................................... 260 3 5
Voluntary contributions...........................
29 12 9
——————-
Deficit for 1907.........................($1,100) 230 10 8