L. R. CONRADI
Sabbath, May 3I, 2:30 P. M.
In the precious Word of God there are two blessings pronounced which I believe apply in a special manner to this people, and it is our special privilege to claim these two blessings. One of these is found in Daniel 12:12: “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” Have we come to the termination of these days? If so, that blessing is ours. GCB June 4, 1913, page 266.28
The other blessing to which I referred is recorded in the book of Revelation, the first chapter and third verse: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Is this also our blessing? These two blessings, my brethren, may today be ours in a special manner. GCB June 4, 1913, page 266.29
Let us for a few moments glance at the book of Daniel. Is it true that Daniel saw things in prophecy clearly and still more clearly until he saw the very time when Jesus, the promised Messiah, would die on the cross? Is that all?—No. And there, I fear, sometimes, we fail. We get much good out of the prophecies, but we so often miss the very experience of the prophet himself. Let us notice Daniel’s experience. Did he have clearer views than other prophets had, because he was given more light, or did he in some way commune with Christ himself, and thus receive clearer visions concerning God’s purpose for his people, than had been given to any other divinely-appointed messenger? You will recall that the second chapter of Daniel is a record of a night vision; the seventh chapter, of his own vision; in Daniel 8 and 9 the angel Gabriel is seen coming with light. But in the tenth chapter we find that the prophecy had not been fulfilled as Daniel had expected, and he therefore fasted and sought the Lord for three full weeks. What then? “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz.. GCB June 4, 1913, page 266.30
I shall not read all the description, but is it difficult to learn who this personage was? Was it Gabriel? My dear friends, I believe it was Jesus Christ himself, and no one else. Daniel did not see simply the prophecies pointing toward the Saviour, but he saw that Saviour face to face, and enjoyed the sweetness of personal communion. And more than this, after he had seen his Saviour and had been permitted to look into the future, he closed the record of the vision with the words which we find in the twelfth chapter. According to this record, the blessed Saviour with an uplifted hands testified by an oath to the assurance of this prophetic word and its fulfillment. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.1
I do not know anything surer than the oath of my blessed Lord that these things will be fulfilled. And this oath, this assurance, is for us today. This message does not stand simply upon the Word of God; it rests upon the firm oath of our blessed Lord himself. And after he had sent his blessed word testifying to this assurance, then he added, “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to” that very time. And to Daniel, great as he was as a statesman and prophet, was given the message, “Go thou thy way fill the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Daniel the prophet, the statesman, could pass away, but the prophetic words stand sure, and when the final fulfillment comes, we shall see Daniel standing in his lot. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.2
PHOTO-Six hundred children who applied at the mission school at Majita station, German East Africa.
Now we come to the book of Revelation. We all love to turn to Revelation 14. We all love the threefold message, but I fear sometimes that by passing on to the fourteenth chapter at once, we sometimes miss the precious lessons in the very first chapter of the book. Why, we have, so to speak, the very key-note of the book of Revelation in the first chapter. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.3
Let us for a moment review the conditions existing at that time. Opening my Bible, I find here the date 96 A. D. This revelation was given four years before the first century of the Christian era closed. At that time John, the beloved disciple, must have been an old man, nearly a century old. You see up here on the stand some of our grayheaded pioneers. Thank the Lord, we have quite a number of them, but in John’s day how many were left? Where was Peter? Where was Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles? Where was James? where were all these apostles, and some of them even prophets? All were gone, John alone was left. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.4
Do you think that that church of old loved John? I am sure, when you read his epistles, full of love as no other epistles are, you will think that not only did he love them, but they must have loved him. And he was the one who could indeed testify “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.” He had been with his blessed Lord for three and one-half years. He had been his best friend, to whom at the cross even the mother of Jesus was committed. Indeed, he had been as closely attached to our Saviour in all his joys, in his labors, in his prayers, in his sufferings as any other one. And that disciple of love had preached the gospel for many years. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.5
Instead of enjoying the privilege of remaining in the midst of his people, as these old brethren do to-day, John was taken by rude hands and banished to a lone island in the sea. In my journeys through the Mediterranean, I have seen the Isle of Patmos, away out in the sea, far away from the coast. There that disciple of Christ was banished alone. But the Lord had a purpose in all this. And, my dear friends, are we not thankful for the messages that we have from the Isle of Patmos? God’s ways are wonderful. They are sometimes hard to understand, but when they are finished we always have to say, “God’s ways are best.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.6
It was hard, undoubtedly, for John to understand all that he was recording when he wrote these words: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia.... And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” Revelation 1:10-13. He had seen Jesus in the flesh; he had seen him healing the sick; he had seen his Saviour on the cross; he had seen him resurrected, triumphant over death and the grave; he had seen his Saviour ascend to heaven; he had felt the power of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. But here was a new sight. Jesus Christ in all his glory appeared to John! I am sure that as he saw his Saviour there with glorified form, and communed with him, it was to him the greatest comfort that he could have enjoyed. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.7
The record goes on to say, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” And what was this called?—The mystery. Does the world understand this mystery? Brother Spicer showed us this morning that the world does not understand this mystery. Do we understand it? That is the question! Let us see for a moment what is the mystery: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.8
What is the mystery? Christ in the midst of his church from the day of John until the present day! [Amens.] Do we always see him? “O,” some one says, “I go to church when Elder So-and-so comes; I like to hear him speak; but as no preacher comes today, I think I had better stay at home.” My friends, that good brother, that good sister, does not understand the very first chapter of the book of Revelation! You must not go to church on the Sabbath to hear the preacher, but you must go to meet your blessed Lord in that meeting. You must go there praising the Lord that he is in the midst of that little company, even if there are only two or three present. Is not this true? GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.9
Not only does Jesus Christ meet his own here in this very camp, and in every assembly of the saints, but there is something more assured us concerning him. Here are missionaries from all parts of the globe. Young men and young women are to be sent out from this very Conference. What is there for you to understand in this book? Oh, there is a mystery herein revealed! It is that Christ has in his right hand the seven stars. I thank the Lord today that, though I am weak and have no strength, no wisdom, to stand before you, yet I know that my blessed Saviour holds me in his right hand; and this gives me confidence. And if he did not hold the minister of the gospel in his right hand, or the missionary, O where would we be? But if Jesus Christ holds the worker in his right hand, ought not we to uphold our fellow-worker, and pray for him, and help him, and assist him? Surely we ought! GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.10
My friends, this blessed revelation has particular application to us, telling us that the Saviour is at the door of every heart, anxiously waiting to sup with us. Do you sup with him often? And if so, how do the suppers taste that you have with your blessed Lord? This is a reality, it is so, it is in the book. We sometimes hear people say, “O, this was an excellent meal! It tasted so good. It was so well prepared.” But do we tell also how those suppers taste that we have with our Lord, in sweet communion with him? Brethren and sisters, should we not get a little more experience in this direction [Voices: Amen! Amen!], and talk more about it? I believe such communion would help us. GCB June 4, 1913, page 267.11
Now pardon me if I refer to some personal experiences. I do it only to give glory to the Lord, and to help those under similar circumstances. As a boy of sixteen and one-half years I came to this country all alone. I stopped first at a Methodist home, and, though I was born and reared a Catholic, they asked me to go to Sunday-school. I had never been to a Sunday-school before, but I went in response to their invitation. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.1
In the course of time, I went to Baltimore, not very far from this city. Again I was among strangers. No one cared for me. From Baltimore I went to Chicago. I heard some preaching, but I drifted farther and farther. I had no knowledge of the Bible. After six years, I went to Iowa, during a cold winter, and in the place where I stopped I met a merchant, and asked him if he had some work for me. “Sure!” said he, “out on my farm.” I rode out with him to his place. He was a Methodist, undoubtedly, perhaps a good one; but instead of asking me, “My friend, do you believe in Christ? Have you the victory over sin?” he said to me, “Now, my young man, you will find the renters on my place rather peculiar people. Be on your guard, because they keep Saturday for the Sabbath.” Well, I had never heard of such people, and I told him, “Do you think that I will ever be a Jew?” [Laughter.] GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.2
We came to that lonely farmhouse. It was a small house,—only two rooms in it, and the kitchen was one of the two rooms. And the family,—I’ll never forget it,—the father, the mother, the baby, and four other children. I asked them if I could board and room with them. They asked, “Where will you find board and room here?” The father and mother and the baby slept in one room, and in the other slept the other children. I left, but came back again; and when I appeared, the man said to me, “My wife and I have talked the matter over, and if you are satisfied to sleep in that room with the children, you can stay.” Well I could hardly understand why they were willing, but they allowed me this privilege. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.3
Toward the end of the week, the man said to me, “Now we are a peculiar people; when the Sabbath comes, we all go to church. We will give you some food at home, but we cannot warm it up for you. You will have to take it as it is.” I said, “All right, I will accept it.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.4
When evening came, I went into the house; and there I saw a sight that I had never seen in any other family in America during the six and one-half years I had spent in this country. And what was it? The father of the family read a short chapter from his Bible, and then they all knelt down, and I knelt down with them. The father prayed a short prayer, then the mother, and the children, down to the smallest; and, O, they prayed for that stranger within their door! My heart was hard, and my mind was stubborn; it was a new experience for my soul. But the next morning the same thing was repeated. I never had seen that before in America. That was something new in this marvelous country,—the greatest of all the blessings that your country can boast of! GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.5
There were nights that I was free, and then the good brother gave me “Daniel and the Revelation,” and he asked me to read in that book whenever I had time. And I did read it. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.6
The Sabbath came. The man then said to me, “You can go with us, if you wish; but do just as you think best.” Well, I went with them, but I did not go into that little church. I went down town to see what was going on; that just suited me. When I came back after the Sabbath-school and meeting and stepped into the wagon, the farmer was just as kind and sweet to me as though I had been in the meeting,—he never said a word about it at all. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.7
Another week passed. Again the children prayed, and that hard heart of mine became softer, the mind became more enlightened; and that Sabbath I dared step into that little Sabbath-school. The third Sabbath came, and by that time I stayed to the social meeting; and by the time the fourth Sabbath came, I had learned to say what Brother Spicer said this morning, the words, “Abba, Father.” O, I had found my Heavenly Father for the first time in my life! And I can say today, it was that Advent Christian home, it was the family altar, it was the prayers of those praying children, that helped me to give my heart to God. You may not be able to go as missionaries to the foreign fields, you may not be able to preach the truth in Germany or Russia or Africa; but there are opportunities like this before every one. [Voice: Truth!] Shall we improve them? When I asked that good brother later on. “Why did you take me into your house that way?” he replied, “My wife and I talked it over, and we prayed over the matter, and we thought we might do you some good.” My brethren and sisters, that is the true advent missionary spirit! I know that the Lord will bless them for it. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.8
That is the way for us to do. O, that we could keep up that family altar! that we, as parents and children, could be missionaries to the thousands and tens of thousands who are all about us here in this country! Then we might see far greater things, far greater power, and many more conversions throughout our ranks. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.9
Well, a few months passed, and my work at that place was finished, and I went farther north, where there were no Sabbath-keepers. I had quite a ways to go on the Sabbath to meeting; but I loved to go there. Soon an opportunity presented itself to me to show the same missionary spirit toward others that these people had shown me. I do not think it was more than eight months after I had opened the book of “Daniel and the Revelation” before I came to a Baptist neighborhood and town. I held Bible readings with one of the leading elders, until he asked me if I would come to their church on Sunday and teach a class in Daniel and Revelation. Well, that seemed rather hard; but I consented and went for a few Sundays. A Baptist minister came to the place, and instead of only ten being there, a hundred came, and the minister, too, and I was to teach that class. If only the floor had opened up, I should have disappeared. But, somehow I remembered the promise that Jesus would hold us in his right hand, and I enjoyed the blessing of God. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.10
I remember that I visited another Baptist family. These were Free-Will Baptists. The father used tobacco, as I had once done. The children all had scrofula, because they used so much pork. It looked rather hopeless, but I prayed and labored with them, and finally they said they would keep the Sabbath. Oh how I rejoiced at learning this, and I thanked the Lord for my first souls. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.11
Soon after, through the kindness of good friends, I found myself in Battle Creek College. I had not done anything to get there, but I know One who had to do with it, and that is my blessed Saviour. He heard prayer. He knew I needed a preparation. I would say to you young men and young women, Give yourselves wholly to God. Do missionary work where you are. Try to save souls in your own neighborhood, and you will find that the blessed Lord will call you in due time. He will have a work for you to do. Don’t wait till you are called to a distant field, but begin work right where you are. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.12
Time went on, and I received some preparation for engaging in the Lord’s work. In those days young men just beginning were not supported so liberally as they are now when proving their gift; and so when I returned to Iowa, I did so at my own expense, and supported myself several months on the seventy-five dollars I had saved from labor in the Review and Herald Office. About the time my funds had been used up, a call came for me to labor in South Dakota, and I was encouraged to go there in the employ of the Conference. This was the first money I had received while out in the field. Those were happy days. Our wage was very small, but we were laboring for souls, and the Lord paid us well. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.13
The Lord opened the way by many providences, by which I was brought into touch with those in need of spiritual help. The first farmer at whose home I made my headquarters afterward became the church elder in that community. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.14
In one of the churches in South Dakota we had an old man who stammered and stuttered. He had come from Russia. He was sixty-five years old, but he felt that God had called him to do gospel work. He wanted to go back to Russia as a self-supporting missionary. We all thought he was too old, and that he would be hindered by his stuttering. But he was not to be discouraged, and went back to Russia. I will tell you how he worked. When he was visiting his relatives and friends, he would pull out a tract from his pocket and say, “I have something here; won’t you read it to me?” And they read it. Afterward they became interested, and began to ask if he had any more tracts like that, and he would pull out another tract, and let them read it. In this way that old man distributed thousands of tracts throughout the country. Many people became interested in the truth. When the pastor of the Lutheran Church learned of what this old man was doing, he tried to have him arrested, but the people said, “He is seventy years old, and we would be ashamed to harm him.” So they let him carry on his good work. When I went over there in 1886, I found a church that had been raised up by the work of that old man. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.15
When I entered Russia the first time, in response to a call that had come as the result of the interest aroused by this aged, self-supporting missionary, it was harvest-time. Some say that during harvest-time the people are too busy to attend gospel meetings; and they often say, too, that in winter it is too cold, and in summer too hot, and in rainy weather too muddy. But I believe God is willing to help us by his Holy Spirit, no matter how unfavorable the surrounding circumstances may be. And when we visited Russia, he helped us even in the harvest-time. We had another harvest. It is true that our meetings were held at nine or ten o’clock at night; but the people flocked into them. GCB June 4, 1913, page 268.16
When we had our first baptism and organized our first church, and had just finished the ordinances, somebody called out that the police were waiting for us. The policemen called on us at the house where we stopped. They took hold of us. We did not think there was any great danger. We showed our passports; he put them in his pocket. The next day we went to the high court. On Sunday we expected surely we would be cleared, but instead we were put into prison on the charge of Jewish heresy. The prison doors were locked; high walls surrounded us, shutting us away from all the rest of the world. There we were in a strange land, among people with a strange tongue, and I at that time able to understand only a few words. But my fellow worker was with me, and I can assure you that we prayed. And we prayed more than once or twice a day, too. And in that prison cell there was a hole through which the jailer might look to see whether we were trying to dig out. Many times when he looked in, he found us on our knees praying. One day he said to me, “O, your prayers are all in vain; your God will never hear you!” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.1
Did God have his hand in our deliverance? In 1886 Seventh-day Adventists were known but very little in America. There were many States in America where we were not well known. The ambassador from the United States to Russia might have been from Louisiana, or he might have been from some other State where we were but little known; but somehow or other God had put the right man into the right place. That ambassador was a gentleman from Detroit, Mich. He had been in Battle Creek a number of times; he knew all about our denomination; and when he heard of our case, he not only wrote a letter to the minister, but he went there personally. The minister said to him, “Are these Seventh-day Adventists, Jews?” Our ambassador replied, “Upon my word and honor, they believe in Christ Jesus, and are Christians.” “Well, can you testify as ambassador to that very fact?” He said, “I can; I know them.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.2
Suppose another man had been there, who had not known our standing as Christians in the United States. I met that ambassador later in Detroit, and thanked him for what he did. He said, “Mr. Conradi, it caused me considerable work; but I was very happy, and all the other ambassadors congratulated me when I secured your release. They had feared it might not be possible.” It was not impossible, for some One else watches over this world. The book of Revelation says that Jesus holds his ministers, weak though we may be, in his right hand. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.3
Forty days had passed, and the same jailer who told us that God did not hear our prayers, had to take us out. As he led us along to liberty, he said, “I am not worthy to lead you.” I said, “Why?” “Because your God has answered your prayers.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.4
O, the world must learn that this people have a God who answers their prayers, and helps them in their need! GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.5
The news spread throughout the country that the Seventh-day Adventist minister had been put in prison, and now the work would stop. It spread as far as to a certain church in the Caucasus, nearly a thousand miles away; and the Baptist minister preached it from the pulpit, saying that he had heard such and such news. Then his members came to him and said: “My dear friend, why do you relate this with joy? You remember forty or fifty years ago we were persecuted and put in prison. Who knows whether these people may not be the servants of God? Do you not remember that in the ‘44 movement (as they call it there in the Caucasus region), we talked about keeping the Sabbath? And here this man has come, keeping the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and preaching the second coming of Christ. Who knows but that he may have light for us?” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.6
The people began to study their Bibles. Today there is a strong church there. When the minister asked them, “How did you come to keep the Sabbath?” they replied: “Did you not tell us about the Sabbatarian minister who was put into prison? That is the very preaching that set us to studying the matter.” [Amens.] Brethren, the enemy can do nothing against the truth, but for it. There is One who is guiding and directing in this work. We may believe it or not; we may see it or not; but it is true, nevertheless. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.7
Years passed by. We had great difficulties in Russia. Our first Russian minister was ordained at midnight. That man was led across the mountains, with all the other men of the church, and the grown-up girls and children were left. Shortly after this I met two of the girls whose father had been sent into exile, and I said: “Are you not discouraged? All your fathers have been carried away.” “No,” she said, “now we will work with Christ Jesus.” They went to work, and in a little while they had more members, and more men, than they ever had had before. The priests said, “It does not pay to exile the men, for then all the women will work.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.8
They carried these men to the Persian border. As a result of the faithfulness of these believers, we have a large church there now of one hundred thirty members. The probabilities are we would ordinarily have been many years in sending a missionary to that place. We did not even know where the place is; but the government, at its own expense sent the missionaries there, and today we have a large church. My dear friends, this message is from God, and the blessed Saviour is at the helm, and is directing it. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.9
At another time I visited that great empire in time of unrest. Seventh-day Adventists for the first time could preach the gospel without difficulty. We had liberty. For seven days I journeyed on the train, and preached from place to place. I traveled until I reached the very place where I wanted to go, Tiflis, in the Caucasus, Thursday night. Friday morning there were no trains running. I had gotten in by the last train, to meet the very man that I wanted to see. Well, the only way to get out of of there after I had finished my work, was to cross the mountains. Upon crossing these mountains on the way back, and reaching the railway station, a stranger said to me, “You may want to go back, but I do not think you can go very soon. I have been waiting here ten days for a train.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.10
I went up to the telegraph office and wired home that I was safe. As I went back to the station, the same gentleman met me and said, “You must have wonderful luck!” I asked him why. He said, “The trains are running again!” I hastened down to the station and took the train. We traveled for a day’s journey. Suddenly the train stopped. Thousands of people were in riot. They took away the engine, stopping the train. I looked out of the window, and the first man I saw was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, standing on the platform. He did not know I was on the train, and I did not know he was in those parts. As he caught sight of me, he exclaimed: “How happy I am that you are here! Come up and preach to us.” I went up and preached to them for three days, and then the train went on again. Now you may explain this in any way you wish, but I have my explanation. I know there is Somebody holding us in his right hand. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.11
I could tell you stories for hours of how God has been wonderfully leading the workers in the great fields of Europe and Asia. There is one incident that I must relate to you. It has reference to our work in heathen Africa. We were but weak in numbers and in means, and it seemed a hard field at first, but the millions in dark Africa having no knowledge of the gospel appealed to us. We set out to begin work in German East Africa, where there were from seven to ten million natives. I went to Berlin in the hope of securing information in one way and another. I inquired of the first man I met. He said to me: “I know your people; I met them in the South Sea islands. If you belong to the same society, I will do all I can in your favor. His excellency, the governor, has just come up from Africa, and I will see that you have an opportunity to meet him.” And I went to meet him. Just think of that—the advantage of meeting the governor in Berlin instead of having to go six or seven thousand miles to a strange country to see him. When I met the gentleman, the first thing he said to me as he extended his hand and shook it was, “Mr. Conradi, I welcome you and your mission to East Africa!” GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.12
We sat down in that hotel for about an hour, and I told him all about our faith and belief. Six months later, when we went down to Africa, he helped us in every way possible. I called on him at his residence, and thanked him for what he had done for us, and he spent over an hour with me, and later showed me many courtesies. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.13
When I first visited German East Africa, and went with our missionaries to the place we had chosen for our station, there was room in the hut on the premises for the ladies only, and I spent the entire night outside, without any shelter. I shall never forget that experience. It was a terrible night. We were in a malarious district. The mosquitoes were all about us. The next morning we were all tired out because we had not been able to sleep. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.14
Four years passed. Again I visited that mission station among the heathen in East Africa. Sabbath morning came, and we went to a nice chapel of our own. The chiefs waited on us and entered the chapel with us. The meeting hall was crowded with people; and when the minister sat down to the little organ and gave out a hymn in the native tongue, the natives would rise,—those who four years ago had never heard about the name of Jesus,—and they would sing one of our familiar hymns. One of the natives prayed, and I could noticed that the Spirit of God was inditing his prayer. I tell you, my friends, I could not hold back the tears. O, that was a sight! I am sure the angels in heaven rejoice to see the heathen converted. Six who were present had given their souls to God, and had been baptized. We had the Lord’s supper, and afterward I said to the brethren, “Could we not have a social meeting?” “O,” they said, “we never have had a social meeting!” I said, “Let us try it.” And not only the six who were members arose and testified, but, O, many other young men who had not been baptized, rose to their feet and testified for Jesus. GCB June 4, 1913, page 269.15
Another four years passed. Again I went down to our mission stations in German East Africa. On this third trip, instead of finding only half a dozen baptized believers, I found many. Why, in one recent quarter we baptized seventy-five. “But,” you may ask, “do the young people who go to that field have to undergo privations?”—Yes. “Have some given their lives for this precious message?”—Yes. “Are others, perhaps, because of these difficulties, despondent, and desirous of returning home?”—No, my friends, they are not. GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.1
It has been my lot to stand at the death-bed of several of our faithful workers. I must tell you of such an experience that came to me during my last visit to German East Africa. Last December, while holding our general meeting in that land, I was called to the bedside of one of our devoted nurses, who for twelve or fifteen years had served her Master faithfully in Germany and in heathen Africa. She was dying with black-water fever,—a terrible disease. For several days she had been unable to talk. We prayed for her, and on Sabbath day she was conscious. We stopped at her home and talked with her for a few moments. “O,” she said, “I am so sorry that during this large meeting, when so much needs to be done, I can do nothing to assist!” There was no complaint, nothing said about her hard lot. I said: “My dear sister, never mind. You rest in Jesus. He will look after you.” She said, “I know I rest in Jesus, whether I live or whether I die, and I love him.” Afterward, when public announcement was made of her death, our church was filled with natives, and when these, and the little heathen girls she had taught, heard of her death, some cried, “A mother in Israel has fallen.” GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.2
PHOTO-Friedenstal station, German East Africa
It is hard, brethren and sisters, in one way, to go to these fields and to see men and women stricken with disease. It is a sad thing when visiting station after station, to see here and there the grave of a fallen laborer. One remembers the time when these people were at one’s own home and table—bright, strong, active, willing to labor; he remembers when they started, with the best of hopes, for their mission field. Thoughts such as these crowd the mind as one looks upon their graves. But I can testify to you today, my friends, the power of Christ upholds these faithful laborers to the very end. GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.3
PHOTO-1. Our Pare missionaries at Friedenstal, German East Africa. 2. Native teachers of Pare mission.
I remember one case especially—a good sister who had gone with us on our first trip to German East Africa. Her husband was sick, and they returned. Then she became sick. They had two little children. When I called, the husband and the babies remained in the front room, while I stepped into her room. I could see in her countenance that her hours were numbered, and I said to myself, What will this mother say to me? Will she chide me because I took her to Africa? and because her husband has been encouraged to labor there? Will she speak of her children? Will she speak about herself? What will she say? But when I looked into that face, I said to myself, No complaints can come from that noble woman. There was a smile upon her face that I shall never forget. GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.4
This sister said to me, “O my dear brother, pray for us, that my husband and I may be restored to health, because we long to go back to Africa to labor for the poor heathen down there!” Ah, she had lost sight of self; everything dear to her had been placed upon the altar of loving service. Brethren and sisters, what did this indicate? Like the apostle Paul, she had learned the lesson: It is not I that liveth, but Christ Jesus liveth in me. That woman lived not unto herself. Some one had taken full possession of her heart, even Christ Jesus her Lord. Today she sleeps in him; but O, my friends, there is a resurrection! And as the result of the consecrated efforts of workers such as this dear sister and her husband, hundreds today are giving their hearts to God; hundreds are turning from heathenism to Christianity. GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.5
I will mention one more case of loving devotion to the work of the Master. Since coming upon this encampment, I have received a letter from a dear brother who is known to quite a number, perhaps, here in Washington,—Doctor Vasenius, who was graduated in this city. In December I was at his home, and, O, the family seemed so happy because the first native had given his soul to Christ! They had two children. I asked Sister Vasenius, “Would not you like to come to our general meeting?” She said: “Brother Conradi, you can hardly realize how my heart longs for it, but here we are with our two children. I cannot leave them, and I cannot take them along, but when you meet in your general meeting, where my husband has gone, will you pray for me?” I hoped to see this sister again, but on reaching Aden, Arabia, the steward knocked at my door about four o’clock, and said, “Mr. Conradi, here is a cable for you.” The cable said, “Sister Vasenius and the child are dead.” We wrote letters immediately, and here is the answer, written from the heart of Africa. Now let us hear the words:— GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.6
“A few days after I arrived home from Majita my little daughter was taken sick. We did for her all we could, and prayed the Lord to help us in our affliction, submitting at last our will to his good will and merciful care. The same morning, January 7, she slept to wake no more before Jesus comes to gather his loved ones home. Sorrow over the loss of our little one weakened my dear wife, and four days later she caught malaria, with nearly continuous high fever for several days, and later severe chills daily. All our efforts to combat the disease were in vain. She got steadily worse day after day, till death ended her life at night, January 22. She was conscious nearly to the last hour, and left us in the hand of Jesus till we meet again, on the glad resurrection morning, to part no more. Both of my dear ones are buried at the north end of our new schoolhouse, as you see in one of the enclosed pictures. Little Sarne takes life from its bright side, and says that his sister and mother sleep in the sand, repeating the words, “They will be resurrected when Jesus comes.. GCB June 4, 1913, page 270.7
The child has lost his mother; has lost his companion; but O, even that child rejoices in the thought that Jesus is coming, and his dear mother will be resurrected again! My dear friends, when we read these letters, and go through these experiences, we learn to know that Jesus holds his workers in his right hand. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.1
There may be imprisonment, there may be sickness, there may be death,—whatever may come to us, it will not stop us if we know he holds us! In the glad resurrection morning, all prisons will be opened, all sickness will cease, all the dear ones departed will arise again to immortal life. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.2
But I wonder sometimes, while God is so good to us as ministers and people, whether we always count all the blessings we receive, whether we are grateful unto him for all the mercies we obtain; and I wonder on this Sabbath day, after we have received so many blessings, so many evidences of God’s care, after God has done so much for this people, if we today love our Heavenly Father enough to thank him indeed, to be truly grateful to him. I believe, my brethren and sisters, if we sin in anything, and sin grievously, it is in not showing enough gratitude, because we are not grateful enough to our Heavenly Father. We do not realize all the many blessings this truth has brought to us,—those beautiful blessings in Daniel and the Revelation. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.3
I wonder how many in this large audience count their blessings, how many recognize the blessings of this Conference, and today unite in saying: “Lord, I want to bring to thee a thank offering. It is not much, it is not valuable. There is nothing good in what I bring, but, Lord, all that I am and have I joyfully place upon the altar for the finishing of thy work.” That is the greatest sacrifice, the greatest thank offering, that we can bring to the Lord. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.4
When I was down in that very country where some of our men have given their lives and their all, I met twenty-five young men who had been converted from heathenism only two or three years,—some for four or possibly five years,—and I asked them to consider what the Europeans were doing for them, and to decide whether they also were willing to give their lives to the work of God in distant lands. These twenty-five young men all sprang to their feet, saying, “Here we are; we are ready to go.” And several of them have already gone. We are thankful for this. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.5
A good lady and her husband, working in Africa as teachers, paid from their scanty earnings a faithful tithe and were liberal in their offerings; and yet when they heard how much the people in America and over in Europe were giving to help the poor people in Africa, they desired to do more themselves. In fact the woman came to me and said: “We want to give more, but we cannot; for we have no more to give. But would you not take my hands for two weeks, and send what I can earn in that time on to the missions beyond?” That came from a heart converted from heathenism only a few years ago. Is that the love of Jesus Christ? [Voices: Amen!] O, that we might have more of it ourselves! I believe such people almost put us to shame, when we see what the power of God can do in the heathen soul when it is touched by the Spirit of God. May we during this meeting not rest until we shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, until the same love is poured out in our hearts. And we shall have more and more of it, if we praise and thank the Lord for all his blessings. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.6
I would ask, this afternoon, how many there are in this company, who if they had an opportunity after this meeting to praise him, would be willing, not only to praise him and thank him, but to give all they have and all they are to his service, and place themselves unreservedly upon his altar? May I see your hands this afternoon? [A large number of hands were raised.] GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.7
May the blessings spoken of in Daniel and in the Revelation be upon us, and become greater and greater until this work is finished. Amen. GCB June 4, 1913, page 271.8