A Unique and Successful Camp Meeting

Ellen White was provided with a little rented cottage about three minutes’ walk from the campground, where she could rest and work (8 WCW, p. 363). She wrote a report of the camp meeting for the January 7, 1896, Review and Herald in which she declared:4BIO 230.5

During the meeting we have had abundant evidence that the Lord has been guiding both in the location and in the work of the meeting. A new field has been opened, and an encouraging field it appears to be. The people did not swarm upon the ground from curiosity, as at our first meeting in Brighton, and as at Ashfield last year. The majority came straight to the large meeting tent, where they listened intently to the Word, and when the meeting was over, they quietly returned to their homes, or gathered in groups to ask questions or discuss what they had heard.4BIO 230.6

As she continued, she wrote of the topics of the evening discourses delivered by Prescott, Corliss, and Daniells:4BIO 231.1

All presented the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.... In every sermon Christ was preached, and as the great and mysterious truths regarding His presence and work in the hearts of men were made clear and plain, the truths regarding His second coming, His relation to the Sabbath, His work as Creator, and His relation to man as the source of life appeared in a glorious and convincing light that sent conviction to many hearts.4BIO 231.2

There were not sufficient seats in the tent to accommodate the people who came to the evening meetings, and many stood outside.4BIO 231.3

Having discovered the great value of the evangelistic camp meeting as held in New Zealand and Australia in 1893 and 1894, the initial plans for this meeting called for a convocation of three weeks’ duration. During the mornings of the first week, sessions of the Australian Conference and the Australasian Union Conference were held.4BIO 231.4

Writing in the very midst of the camp meeting, W. C. White reported to Abram La Rue working in Hong Kong:4BIO 231.5

Yesterday afternoon our large eighty-foot tent was crowded full, and about four hundred stood outside. Mother spoke with power, and many were deeply impressed. In the evening also the tent was packed as full as it could be, and some scores stood around outside. Elder Prescott spoke. “Christ and the Sabbath” was his theme. Some whom I have met today say he was inspired. Certainly he spoke with great clearness and power, and never in my life did I see an audience listen as his audience listened last night.4BIO 231.6

During the week the attendance averages about one hundred in the afternoon and three hundred in the evening. Everything about the management of the ground is moving along pleasantly. Quite a large number are spending their afternoons visiting the people and inviting them to the meetings. My wife is out engaged in this kind of work this afternoon.—8WCW, p. 368.4BIO 231.7