By E. L. MINCHIN - Seventh-day Adventist - BUC Historical Archive

coloured and native churchmembers)whom I like to think of asprecious "jewels" in Johannesburg.CHURCH BUILDINGSWe have five Europeanchurches in the city, three ofthem English-speaking and twoAfrikaans-speaking. The Centralchurch with over three hundredmembers has a fine church buildingand hall which cost upwardof £10,000. Being centrallylocated, the large building blockhouses the Natal-Transvaal Conferenceoffices and the churchschool as well. Our SouthernSuburbs church also has a veryrepresentive hause of warship inthat section of the city. Thenin 1945 a beautiful little churchbuilding in goldeq-faced brickwas erected in Orange Grove ata cost of .£2,500. The Melvilleand Booysens churches are stillmeeting in halls, but both havegrowing building funds ad arelwking forward to erecting theirown church buildings in the nearfuture.PUBLIC EVANGELISMThe churchmembers are veryactive in every department ofmissionary work. Last y e a rthree of the churches (Central,Melville, and Booysens) ran theirown lay evangelistic tent campaigns.In the Southern Suburbsand Orange Grove districts, whereI conducted public efforts, theconference and church officersgave all possible support. Themembers faithfully distributedsome 10,000 handbills each weekand the local church officers caredfor the interested people whocould not be handled by theconference workers. Just as wewere about to leave Johannesburgthe Senior Missiorary Volunteersof the five churches formed anevangelistic group and were allset to run a full-scale campaign.DORCAS WORKOur Dorcas Societies in Johannesburghave contributed greatlyto the prosperity of the churches.Early in 1946 a strong forwardmove was made in the organizationof a Federated DorcasSociety. The first FederationSale of Work was held in theJohannesburg City Hall in De-APRIL 11, 1947cember, and word has juq comethrough that it realized £333 net.So the societies will now be ableto do a more extensive work inhelping the needy, both insideand outside the churches.VOICE OF PROPHECYThere is a keen interest in thegreat work being done by theVoice of Prophecy. I cite onlyone instance out of the many. OnVoice of Prophecy Sabbath far1916, after conducting the serviceat our Orange Grove church, Iappealed for an offering on behalfof that work. As about fiftymembers were present (witharound thirty young people andchildren) I did not expect a verylarge offering. Imagine my surprisewhen the total offeringwas announced as £155. Withthat self-sacrificing spirit in ourchurches the Voice of Prophecy,through its radio programme, isbeing speeded over the etherwaves like an "angel flying in themidst of heaven" and the thirdangel's message is being spoken"with a loud voice" that can beheard by people in their homeshundreds and thousands of milesaway.BAPTISM AND PROSPECTSBefore closing this report Imust say a few words about someof the results of these activities.During the first six months of1946 it was my privilege to immersefifty-eight new members inour Central church baptistery.With two more received on professionof faith, a total of sixtynew members were added to ourchurches in Johannesburg. Withmany more interested and studyingthe truth, the prospects areindeed bright. We are lookingforward to reaching the goal of"a thousand European membersin Johannesburg" in the not fardistantfuture.When the Royal Family visitJohannesburg, they will meet thedignitaries of the city and will beshown over the places of interest.The king will see the bars ofgold coming from the great holes(mines) of the earth in transit toother holes (vaults) in differentparts of the world. He will watchthe diamonds being polished soonto go from factory to finger. Buthe may pass by without noticingthose who are more precious thangold or diamonds. They can restassured, however, that when theKing of kings comes "to claimHis own," He will see those liv-ing "jewels"in Johannesburg.Far He has said in His Word:"They shall be Mine . . . in thatday when I make up My jewels."Mal. 3 : 17.[It may interest our British believersto hear that Dr. G A S.Madgwick, well known to many, isa leading elder in our Centralchurch. He is the medical superintendentof our Nokuphila Hospitalin the Western Township.Sister V. Madgwick is president ofthe Federated Dorcas Society,which now includes the churchesof Pretoria, and ,Sister M. Morganis one of our Bible Instructors inthe city.]M. C. MURDOCH.Urnion NotesLONDON DISTRICT MEETINGTHE ministry of Elder L. K.Dickson, vice-president of rheGeneral Conference, was muchappreciated by the large congregationassembled in the UpperHolloway Road Baptist chapel forthe district meeting on Sabbath,March 22nd. Visits from GeneralConference officers have been veryinfrequent during recent years andwe entertain strong hopes thatElder Dickson and other leading ,brethren will definitely plan to bewith us in Britain for a morelengthy visit in the not too-distantfuture.ORDINATION SERVICE"THE laying on of hands" isalways a solemn and impressiveservice and one which is designedto emphasize the responsibilityand sacredness of the Christianministry. Such was the 2.45 p.m.service at Holloway on March22nd when Brother S. W. Beardsellwas "set apart" by ordinationto the Gospel ministry. Thisservice was conducted in responseto a request from the SouthernAfrican Division, for BrotherBeardsell has served faithfully andsuccessfully as a teacher in Africafor seventeen years.

olled up and deposited theirloads at the church doors-our.friends none the worse for theirstormy journey.In the meantime Sabbathschool,under the leadership ofour superintendent, B r o t h e rC. L. W. Cooke, had commencedwith the usual opening exercises.This was followed by an excellentreview of the previous week's lessonconducted by Brother C. D.Watson. The lesson set for theday was taken by Pastor J. R.Lewis, in which he drew a beautifulword picture of that crowningmiracle of our Lord s ministry-the raising of Lazarus.During this time the childrenhad gone to a nearby hall kindlyplaced at our disposal by theSketty Methodist church. Herethey were cared for by our goodBible-workers, Sisters Hartlandand Baird.A feature of the closing partof Sabbath-school was a tellingmissions appeal by Pastor E. L.Minchin, who afterward devotedhis time to the interests of thechildren. Thus closed a mostprofitable hour.The church was full to overflowingfor the preaching serviceat 11.30 a.m. What an inspirationit was to join in the openinghymn, "Lord God Omnipotent !"Prayer followed by Pastor F. S.Jackson. Time passed all tooquickly as we listened to a mostinteresting and inspiring messagefrom Pastor Rudge. He focussedour attention on Joshua3 : 5, "The Lord will do wonders."He applied the text to the workbefore the church to-day. Theworld is in darkness. It coversthe earth to-day in every phase oflife. But the Lord is doing wondersfor His people and in spiteof all the world's troubles andcalamities, His children are lookingfor the blessed hope. Theexperiences related by PastorRudge of the work in distantlands provided abundant evidenceof this, and our hearts were liftedup as we listened.Ar 2.15 p.m. the church wasfilling again for a short service ofpraise, which in turn was followedby another inspiring talk givenby Pastor G. D. King, vice-president01 the British Un;on Con-Cerence. He gave a briei' accountof the work in the home field,and we were thrilled as we listenedto the plans now under way forenlarging and expanding our workior God's kingdom on earth.The concluding service of theafternoon was taken by oursuperintendent, Pastor Howard,who presented to us "A DivineTableau," as found in the book ofHosea. The basic text in Hosea11:8, 9 showed how the prophetgrieved over the sins ofGod's people and their backsliding.But in spite of their sins andfaithlessness God's love remainedunchanged. His appeal to themto return is as strong to-day andHe is waiting to be gracious.At the 6 p.m. meeting, whichwas a lantern service, we had thejoy of hearing Pastor E. L.Minchin again. This lecture toldof the wonderhl work in theAustralasian field, and was illustratedby some really good pictures.Some of the experienceshe brought to our notice movedus deeply and we realized whatthis message means to our nativebelievers in the island fields. Thisbrought to a close a memorableSabbath. By now the snow hadceased and most of our visitorswere able to make their homewardjourneys, tired but happy, havingenjoyed a day that was spirituallyfull to overflowing.Sunday morning was devotedto a workers' meeting, whereplans were discussed at length,with many new ideas for futuredevelopment. Our brethren willneed the earnest prayers of everymember and their co-operation.This grand season came to afitting climax at the evening servicewhen Pastor Minchin againspoke to us on "The Triumph ofthe Cross in all the World." Nevershall we forget this message. Howwe wish space permitted to dwellon it, as he presented it. Thecross has triumphed wherever ithas been preached. Whatever raceor colour, however hard the heart,the power of the crucified andrisen Saviour has conquered.What a comfort in these dark anddepressing times !We closed with that upliftinghymn, "The crowning day iscoming " This brought to an enda time of real spiritual uplift forthe Welsh MissionW. E. HOWARE,Chzi~ch ElderFarewell to SwanseaON Sabbath, February Sth, themembers of the Swansea churchbade farewell to Brother H.Humphries as he took leave tofill his new appointment in NorthWales. Our brother had ministeredto us in word and doctrinefor a period of nearly three yearsand also left behind him amemorial in Skewen, a smallcompany of believers who weregathered up and established in thehope and expectation of theAdvent message. Already these believersare displaying enthusiasmin circulating our truth-laden literature. Punctual andregular in church attendance andliberal in their offerings, they presenta worthy example to manychurchmembers who have beenlonger in the truth.We wish our brother every successin his new field of serviceand pray his labours may not bein vain in the LordD. J. FRANcEs.Newport (Mon.) DorcasSocietyLAST year, at the Newportchurch, a Dorcas class wasorganized by deaconess SisterJones and some very hard workwas put in at the weekly meetingsand at the various homes of theclass workers. 0 f f - c o u p o nmaterials of good quality weresecured and were made up intouseful articles that were in greatdemand.In December last, a sale of workwas held, and in little more thanan hour the whole of the goodswere disposed of; also some excellenthome-made refreshments.The magnificent total of sixtypounds was raised, which reflectsgreat credit on our Dorcas leaderand her fine band of workers.This year the work is beingplanned along similar lines andwe trust the proceeds may reachthe £100 mark.To God be all the praise forconsecrated hands and hearfs anda willing people.F. S. JACKSON.

Nor$h EnglandCoderemceePresident: Pastor 0. M. DorlandOffice Address: 22 Zulla Road,Mapperley Park, NotttnghamTelephone: Nottingham 66312Youth Convention inManchesterTHE burden of the messagesthat came to us at the YoungPeople's Convention in Manchesteron Sabbath March 22nd, wasthat upon the youth of this movementthe finishing of our worldwidetask will fall.From 9.30 until 10 a.m. PastorE. R. Warland had charge of ateachers' meeting. Sabbath-schoolunder the leadership of localofficers continued until about11.15 a.m. Pastor H. K. Munsonwas there from Oldham, and tookthe review of the lesson; PastorG. W. Baird made the lesson livefor us as he gave the lesson studyfrom the desk; Pastor Warlandthrilled us when he led us to missionfields in his missions appeal.He told us of the a'mzement ofthe scientist Charles Darwin atthe results of the Gospel in thehearts of the savages of the tip ofSouth America. It pays rich dividendsto give to the cause ofmissions.The sermon in the devotional, hour was preached by Pastor E. B.Rudge. His theme was the story' of Esther. She became queen ofPersia in a time of crisis for thepeople of God. Prior to this allhad seemed secure for them. Welive in similar times. The onlyway we shall triumph is the wayshe did, and that is, to destroyselfishness by self-sacrifice.Scientists and statesmen arejoining the Adventist preachers inannouncing that the end of allthings is at hand. They offer noway out of the impasse, but wehave the message of Revelationfourteen calling men to the worshipof the Creator because JesusChrist is coming back to the earth.There is a dearth of labourersin the vineyard and the youngpeople of this cause must fillup the ranks. Young men andwomen are hearing the call andanswering it all over the world. A6young man of seventeen who hadspent only one year in our trainingschool when the war came,was caring for a group of commandosin a South Sea island,when he was betrayed by a missionboy of another cause.The Japanese in order to forcehim to tell their whereabouts,extracted his fingernails one byone. They made him dig a gravewith his lacerated hands, tied himto a tree, buffeted him and finallyin desperation smashed him onthe head with a rifle butt. Thenthey flung him into the opengrave, but the Lord saved him andhe was taken back to the hide-outby fellow Christians.Those tough commandos weptover him, bound up his fingersand offered him rewards. He replied,"Me no do it for reward,me do it for Jesus." A mightytask is before us. Who will answerthe challenge?All stood to their feet at theconclusion oi the address, andPastor Baird offered a prayer ofreconsecration for us.Brother E. A. Butters went tothe platform at 2 p.m. and led usin the singing of some oldfavourite hymns.The next part of the programmewas an open discussionin which six young people ledout in the three themes-"Youthin Fellowship," "Youth in Training,"and "Youth in Service,"This was a profitable hour notonly for the youth present, butalso for the leaders. 0Pastor Rudge spoke again in theafternoon Bible study, the topicbeing: "How we can keep ourchildren in the church." We arethe people of prophecy, thereforeour children must be the childrenof prophecy. They are likened toarrows, but they must besharpened and rightly directed orelse they will be dangerous tothemselves and to others.Children are admonished inEphesians to obey their parents,but fathers are urged not to provoketheir children to wrath. Twopersonal experiences helped usbetter to understand these verses.We must teach our children aboutGod from a two-fold setting : thatHe is a merciful God, but alsothat He will in no wise "clear theguilty." Finally, we must teachour children from their veryearliest years to pray.A very happy day came to anend with the showing of somemoving films entitled : "TwoThousand Years Ago," and"Zambesi Days." It was a daythat will long be remembered bythe young people of Lancashire.We offer our heartiest thanksto the sisters of the Parkfieldchurch for the hot drinks thatwere provided both during thelunch hour and at suppertime.E. A. BUTTERS.of sending Food, Clothing, etc., to Distressed ~ernbhrsin Germany and EuropeWE have just received word inthe Union from the Social Secretaryof the Central EuropeanDivision at Berlin, stating thatthe Adventist denomination inGermany still amounts to nearly30,000 believers. Of this number,there are at least 8,000 displacedpersons from the eastern provinces,and there are another6,000 of the believers vtrho werebombed out and have lost theirhomes and clothing, in fact allthey have. Then there are atleast 3,000 members who are oldand sick and poverty-stricken.These figures really mean thatmore than half of the total existingAdventist membership inGermany are in real need.The writer of the letter alsostates that when we consider theinterests of food and clothing, wecan say that all our German believersare in want of help.Then they did ask a favour ofus in connection with the needsof their young mothers, so if anyAdventist believers in Englandare able to send clothing or foodto our brethren and sisters inGermany, it will be accepted withthe deepest gratitude. It may be

that many believers in Englandwould like to do this, and forthis purpose we supply the informationgiven below. We have alsogiven to the conference presidents,mission superintendents, and thesecretary-treasurer of each field,lists of Adventist ministers whoare now 100 ked upon asauthorized distributing agents toAdventist believers in the Britishzone of occupation of Germany.If any of you would like to sendparcels, you can secure names andaddresses through your own conferenceoffice. The following isthe plan for sending parcels affood and clothing:Ways and Means of Sending Food,Clothing, Medicines, and MiscellaneousItems to our brethren andsisters in Germany and EuropeFOOD1 Wheve Food may be sew!:a. Where the parcel is addressedto a particular individual: Thewhole of Germany, i.e, the fourzones and all sections of .Berlinb. Where the parcel IS forgeneral relief purposes (i.e. not toa particular individual) : TheBritish zone of Germany and Berlin,Austria, Poland, Bulgaria,Czechoslovakia, Albania, Finland,France, Greece, Hungary, Italy,Yugoslavia, Rumanla.2. Procedure to be followedwhere it is desired to send foodparcels addressed to a particularindividual:a. Obtain a Customs Declarationform from the Post Office.b. After filling in the CustomsDeclaration form take the sametogether with the food parcel tothe local Food Office for franking;then,c. Take the Customs Declarationform and the parcel to the PostOffice for posting in the usualmanner.NB. The postal rates chargedbv the Post Office for ~arcels tobe sent to Germany are :Up to 2 lb. . .. .. . 2s. 6d2 lb to 7 lb ..... .. 3s 9d3. General Imtructzons.a. Only rationed food, food onpoints, food on personal points,and rationed soap can be sent.b. Food must be packed in asealed tin.c The total weight of the parcel(including packing) must notexceed 7 lb. and not more than2 lb. OY any bne particular articlemay be included.d Only suitable foods should besent, such as : tinned milk, driedeggs, flour, semolina, barley, oatmeal,macaroni, tinned beans andpeas, chocolate, sweets, dried milk,dricd fruit, tinned syrup, jam,honey, treacle, sugar, butter, margarine,and cooking fat. Also soap,soap flakes, and rationed soappowders.N.B. Butter, margarine, andcooking fats must not be sentexcept in a tightly-sealed tin.e. The food parcel must havewritten on it in legible charactersthe name and address of the donor.f. Only one parcel per monthcan be sent by any one individual.CLOTHING, MEDICINES, AND MISCEL-LANEOUS ITEMS1. Where Clothing may be sent:a. Where the parcel is addressedto a particular individual: Thewhole .of Germany, i e. The fourzones and all sections of Berlin2. Procedure to be followed whereit is desired to send clothing parcelsaddressed ho particuJw individuals:a. Obtain Custom Declarationform from the Post Officeb After filling in Custom Declarationform, take the same togetherwith the parcel to the PostOffice by posting in the usual manner.\N B The postal rates chargedby the Post Office for parcels tobe sent to Germany are :Up to 2 lb. .... .... . 2s. 6d.2 Ib to 7 lb. .. . ....... 3s. 9d.7 lb. to 11 lb. .. ... . 4s 9d3. General Instructions:a. Only clothes and footwear ofno commercial value, medicines,and supplementary medicines maybe sent, such as : second-handclothes, shoes, mending materials(excluding cotton thread), householdremedies (including cod liveroil. halibut liver oil, and vitaminextracts), books, stationery, educatidnalcommodities for children(i.e. paints and drawing books,etc.).b. The parcel must be suitablypacked.c The total weight of the varcel(including packina must not exceed11 lb.d. The following are strictly forbidden: Money, jewellery, soapsubstitutes, vegetable seeds, rubberor leather soles, postage stamps,cotton yarns, threads, and cottonmanufactures (i.e. blankets, shawls,travelling rugs, napkins of allkinds, pillow cases, bolster cases,quilts, counterpanes, coverlets, bedspreads,sheets, tablecloths, andshaped material for making anyof the foregoing cotton manufactures),electric boiling rings andboiling or heating plates, wire,nails and tacks of iron or steel,dangerous drugs, rubber tyres andtubes.e. The parcel must have writtenon it in legible characters the nameand address of the donorf No restriction as to the numberof parcels sent.2. The total value of the parcelmust not exceed $5h No food may be put in a:clothing parcel- --A CAREY.COX.-~~ February 8, 1947, the Stokeon-Trentchurch lost one of ~ts faithfulmembers, Brother F. W. Cox at theage of fifty-seven years. Brother Coxcame into the truth and was baptized in1919 through the labours of PastorA. K. Armstrong and Sister A. T.Clarke. For a number of years ill-healthprevented him from attending his dailywork but each Sabbath found him atSabbath-school, never absent, never late,unt~l about four months ago, whenhe became more feeble. Since then hecame when strength permitted. Aftera service held in the home by PastorW. Lennox we laid him to rest in theHartshill Cemetery there to await thecall o£ the ~ife-give'r on the resurrectionmornmg.E. BARRETT,Church Clerk.Mos~~w.-The Bristol church has losta faithful member in the death of ourdear Sister Moseley who passed peacefullyaway at her hdme at WinterbourneDown on the evening of Februar10, 1947. Sister Moseley had been failing In health for some tlme, but wassmiling and cheery to the end. She w~llbe greatly missed by her son, daughters,and many friends. It was in 1894 thatour sister first contacted this movementthrough Present Truth. She acceptedthe Advent message and was baptizedin 1914 by Elder Fitzgerald and was afaithful witness for her LO;~ until herdeath. The funeral service was conductedon February 15th in the Winter-bourne Down Methodist church PastorC. R. Bonney ofliciated assisted bythe local mmister. Our siiter wasblaidto rest in the parish church ard, in thesure and certain hope of tie resurrection.V. C. BENEFIELD.ww~~~.-The Ilford church regrets toannounce the death on February 131947 of Miss Edith White. at the ag;of forty-six years. Our sister had beenill for some weeks and oassed awavsuddenly after being admftted to hos-Sister White was bapttzed!$%astor West in September, 19?6.The funeral took place at RlpplesldeCemeterv. Barking. and was conductedby our minister, Brother Musgrave.A. HOWARD,Church Clerk.+++New Church AddressPLEASE note that the new addressof the Wallasey church is:Poulton Mission, SherlockLane, Wallasey.APRIL 11, 1947 I,

PPThe Ministry ofLiteraauraeDespiie Snow and FloodsMANY may have wondered howour colporteurs have been faringthis year. We are glad to reportfhat in spite of continued badweather since the Colporteurs'Council held during the firstweek in January, our faithfulmen and women have been out inall weathers applying themselvessteadfastly to their task, and thsresults they have achieved aremost gratifying.During January of last yearcolporteur evangelists worked1,900 hours' and sold literature tothe value of- £686. In the sameperiod this year 2,800 hours werereported and the sales amountedto £1,101, a most encouragingincrease of £ 315 over last year.In February 1946, 5,560 hourswere spent out in the field witha resultapt sale of £2,811 worth ofliterature; whereas this year, withall its snow,and trying conditionsthe whole month through, thehours reported were within twentyof last year's figure; and the valueof books and periodicals deliveredwas as high as £2,486, only £325less than February, 1946.The net balance on the firsttwo months of 1947 leaves usnearly £90 ahead of last year'ssales. Hearty congratulations tothe noble colporteurs of theBritish Union !Sbme of them have been soseverely affected by this winter'sextreme conditions that they wereunable to travel, anywhere in theirterritory for weeks in succession.After the snow came the floods.Miss M. Norton, of Stockport,reported that she was flooded ourof her house. Brother Qvery ofChelmsford, told us that h6 re:ceived a warning of the dangerin his distriq and was able tomove all his furniture to the upstairsof his house before the lowerfloor was~inundated to a depth