1892-Broad Mission Advance

“The missionary work in Australia and New Zealand is yet in its infancy, but the same work must be accomplished in Australia, New Zealand, in Africa, India, China, and the islands of the sea, as has been accomplished in the home field.”—Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 338. (Statement made while sitting in her chair on the platform and addressing those present at the opening of the Bible School in Melbourne, August 24, 1892.)EWP 3.3

A. G. Daniells’ reaction: “We were overwhelmed by the great scope of activity and development outlined with such assurance. To enter those countries; learn the difficult languages; make disciples; organize churches; establish schools, printing houses, and medical institutions—in short, to duplicate what had then been developed in North America, and to send missionaries from our little Australasian school to help do it—all this seemed like the wildest kind of speculation. Our poor minds were too narrow and our vision too constricted to follow the great sweeping advance outlined to us in this address. But some who were present have lived to see those staggering predictions strikingly fulfilled.”—Abiding Gift of Prophecy (1936), p. 309.EWP 4.1

Seventh-day Adventist Church Membership Statistics:EWP 4.2

June 30, 1892 Dec. 31, 1988 Australia, N.Z., Polynesia 856 213,066 Indonesia 14,454 Philippines 438,329 China 21,168 India 160,635 Africa 138 1,683,259 Other 32,784 3,139,992 World Membership 33,778 5,749,735

—Statistical Reports of SDA Conferences and Institutions, 1863-1902 (G.C. Archives), p. 33. 1988 figures from G.C. Archives and Statistics office.EWP 4.3