Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 31, 1900

Hart, Brother and Sister

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

February 19, 1900

Previously unpublished. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister Hart:

Yesterday evening we received and read the letter which came to us in the mail from America. I had a large and important mail. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 1

I am now writing by lamp light. I could not sleep after two o’clock this morning. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 2

At present I am enjoying the best health I ever remember having. I have been making supplication to God for His special blessing, that I may accomplish the work He has given me to do. When I came to Australia, I thought of remaining only two years. But we are here still, and we can see no way of release. The aggressive warfare is carried on from place to place. Camp meetings are the only means by which we can reach the people, and in these meetings we have the greatest success. All classes, rich and poor, attend and become intensely interested. A large stock of Bibles is brought to the campground, and these are bought by members of other churches, who wish, when they attend our Bible studies, to read for themselves the texts of Scripture presented to substantiate the positions taken. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 3

In all these gatherings we carry the temperance question forward with firmness. And in every place we see drunkards and tobacco devotees convicted and soundly converted. Yet we are instructed that we must labor still more earnestly in these lines. This is the missionary work that so much needs to be done. As we near the close of time, we must rise higher and still higher upon the subject of health reform and Christian temperance, presenting these subjects in a more positive and decided manner. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 4

Our camp meetings must not be devoted to business; for in this country camp meetings are costly, though we have held meetings in a tent the year round, because we had not money enough to arise and build. Tents last only one or two seasons. When we have a chance to gain the ears of the people, we must give them the truth, for we may never again have as favorable an opportunity. We are to study and plan how we can best present the truth to the people. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 5

All who know the truth should be filled with spiritual life. They should give themselves to the Lord; then they will receive life from the source of all life. They will be given the water of life in order that they may impart it to others. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 6

Life always shows itself in action. If the heart is living, it will send the life-blood to every part of the body. Those whose hearts are filled with spiritual life will not need to be urged to reveal this life. They cannot help the divine life flowing forth in rich currents of grace. As they pray and as they speak, God is glorified. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 7

We are to show others where they may obtain life eternal without money and without price. In our camp meetings we do not gain or enjoy one half of what the Lord has prepared for us, because we do not ask. If we would exercise faith in the Word of the living God, we would have the richest blessings. We dishonor God by our lack of faith; therefore we cannot impart life to others by bearing a living, uplifting testimony. We cannot give what we do not possess. God desires us, in the words we speak to the people and in the prayers we offer, to give unmistakable evidence that we have spiritual life. The Word declares that all who have this life are “alive unto God” [Romans 6:11], and the testimony they bear gives evidence of this. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 8

There would be much more power in our camp meetings if we had a true sense of the goodness, mercy, and long-suffering of God, and if more gratitude and praise flowed forth from our lips to the honor and glory of God. We must cultivate more fervor of soul. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God.” [See Psalm 50:23.] 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 9

If everyone who claims to be a child of God was “alive unto God” [Romans 6:11], what a wonderful witness would be given to the people who come to hear the truth. How different the testimony borne would be from the testimony borne in the formal, dead churches. We are to be filled with faith and life and light. We are to realize that upon every believer rests the great and solemn responsibility of bearing witness to the precious advantages obtained through a belief of the truth. When from every believer the light shines forth in clear, distinct rays, people will realize that the truth we believe has a solemn, sacred power. Our camp meetings will be most solemn convocations, where many will be converted. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 10

Your offer to loan us some money is most gratefully accepted. Send what you can in my name to my address. We need money just now to meet pressing demands. I will be responsible for what you send. You need not feel that it is not safe to send a draft direct to me, for I keep a bank account. Sending money by way of Battle Creek makes a delay of a month. We hope your loan will come on the next boat. It will come in a most opportune time. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 11

We thank you for your Christmas gift. May the Lord bless you by opening [a] way before you whereby you may receive more to impart. I know that those who impart constantly receive more to impart. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 12

In this country we have had the same work to do that we have had to do in different places in America—in Battle Creek, in Oakland and San Francisco, and in Healdsburg. God desires to have a center in this place. Here are to be located those who can educate young people for various lines of the Lord’s work. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 13

On every hand we are cramped for means. But the Lord has kept before us the word: “Advance. You have no time to hesitate in unbelief. Go forward.” We see places to be worked on the right hand and on the left. Cooranbong bore the reputation of being the worst place in this section of the country, but it was marked out as the very place where we were to establish our school. As I have looked at Cooranbong, I have often thought of the question Nathanael asked Philip, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” [John 1:46.] 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 14

When we first came up here, we found the estate we had purchased a thickly wooded piece of land. The ground was not called the best, but it was not the worst. Our workmen began at once to clear a spot on which to erect a house. For some time we lived in tents. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 15

Well, we held meetings, and the truth began to tell on the drunkards and the tobacco devotees. When built, our house was often used as a hospital for the sick. Sara was called everywhere to attend the most critical cases of sickness. A great change has taken place. Many souls have been converted. But there is much missionary work yet to be done. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 16

The camp meeting held in Newcastle in 1898 resulted in the building of a church there. As a result of the camp meeting held in Maitland in 1899, a church will soon be erected there, if the money can be raised. We feel very anxious that the work in these places shall be successful. Newcastle is only twenty-five miles from Cooranbong. Maitland is twenty miles from Newcastle and twenty-seven miles from Cooranbong. If churches are raised up in these places, and meetinghouses built, the churches can be cared for by workers living in Cooranbong. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 17

In the towns all around us people are calling for us to come and speak to them, and we shall work every place that we possibly can. We see so much to do that we hardly know where to begin. We must erect a small house of worship at Dora Creek, a fisher settlement three miles from here. In this place a number of families have been converted to the truth, and about fifty people meet together on the Sabbath in a rented room. Meetings are also sometimes held on Sunday afternoons. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 18

At Martinsville, a village six miles in the opposite direction, we have held open air meetings again and again, for there is no room in which we can meet. There are no Sabbathkeepers in this place, but the people are all willing to take hold and help us build a small house of worship. Then the students from the school can go every Sabbath and Sunday and do missionary work. We shall see if we can buy a piece of land, and then we shall erect a small meetinghouse. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 19

When we came here, Martinsville was next door to heathenism. Many of the inhabitants lived by stealing and begging. But a great change has taken place. Sara has visited the people in their affliction, and has brought their sick to our home, and cared for them till they were well. The Lord has blessed the work wonderfully. We are convinced that we are located just where we should be. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 20

Any money you can spare will be gladly received, and as you suggest, you will be paid five percent interest. We thank you, your wife, Sister Lucy, and the other sisters who aided in sending us the donation. For some time I have been greatly straitened for means. It has cost me much to prepare my books, and my workers are continually being drawn upon to help in my General Conference correspondence. I receive many appeals for help to open up the great mission fields around us, and to build meetinghouses where churches have been raised up. I am also trying to help the school, the Health Retreat, and the Sydney Sanitarium. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 21

My salary and what I receive from my books does not come in fast enough to meet the demands, and I cannot give as much to these enterprises as I desire. Sometimes I appropriate what is my due from the publishing houses beforehand, and then, of course, I can receive but little from them. I am hoping that what I shall receive from the sale of The Desire of Ages, will help me to pay up some of my debts. In America I owe nearly ten thousand dollars, in this country nearly five thousand. This will show you how Sister White is getting rich. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 22

Well, I do not worry over the matter. The work must go; we cannot afford to let it stand still. The sanitarium must be built. The Lord will surely help us, because we have not selfishly retained anything. My greatest desire is to see the work going forward. It will go; it is bound to triumph; and we must triumph with it. 15LtMs, Lt 31, 1900, par. 23