Selections from the Testimonies for the Church For the Study of Those Attending the General Conference in Oakland, Ca., March 27, 1903

Chapter 12—The Work in the South

The Lord has laid upon me a heavy burden in behalf of the work in the Southern states of America. In the past I have received much instruction regarding this work, and for years I have followed the movements of the workers with intense interest. As it now is, this field stands as a reproach against those who claim to be fulfilling the commission that Christ gave His disciples just before His ascension. PH151 59.1

Oh, that the presidents of our Conferences would encourage the church-members to take an active interest in the work in the South, and to do all in their power to wipe out the reproach resting upon Seventh-day Adventists because of the condition of this field! Our people are believers in the Bible, but they are pursuing a course that is bringing reproach upon themselves and upon the cause of God. PH151 59.2

Recently the question was asked me by the Lord: “Will you do that which many of your ministering brethren would be only too pleased to see you doing? Will you keep silent? Will your voice no longer be heard presenting clearly and distinctly the needs of this long-neglected field? If so, you yourself will share the reproach that rests on the ministers and people who have not done for the Southern field the work the Lord has given them to do, who have passed by on the other side those who are their neighbors, treating them with indifference and cruel neglect.” PH151 59.3

There are ministers who have stood on Satan's side of this question, as men who do not desire to become interested in the work for the South. To those who were inclined to send help to the work in Nashville, they have talked their own unbelief so discouragingly that this place, which God has said plainly should have special advantages, has not received the help that it should have received. PH151 59.4

There are many who have engaged in the work of gathering up and spreading evil reports, many who have made mountains out of mole-hills. Christ has told them plainly how He regards work of this kind. But they do not heed His instruction. Why?—Because they do not will to do the will of God. They want to carry forward just the lines of work in which they themselves are specially interested, and they think that the means in hand should be used in these lines of work. PH151 60.1

Of these the question was asked: “What influence are you bringing into the Lord's work by following such a course? You have used time and money to impede the work already started. Might not this time and money be better employed? Had you striven to fulfil the commission given by Christ, had you acted as Christ would have acted in your place, lines of work that would have glorified God would have been started and carried forward in many places. But you have turned from the instruction given by Christ.” PH151 60.2

As yet there are only a few places in the South that have been worked. There are many, many cities in which nothing has been done. This field, in its unsightly barrenness, stands before heaven as a witness against the unfaithfulness of those who have had great light. When I think of this long-neglected field, and of the way in which it has been treated, there comes over me an intensity of feeling that words cannot express. I can only pray that the Lord will raise up workers to enter this field. PH151 60.3

It is time that every city in the South that can be entered should be worked. The people, both white and black, are to hear the testing message for this time. Our people were directed to Nashville because in many respects it was a favorable place for the publishing work and other important lines. Our workers find it easier to labor there for the uplifting of the colored race than in many other cities of the South. Prejudice against the introduction of plans for the education of the colored people is not so pronounced in Nashville as it is in other places. PH151 61.1

In Graysville, in Huntsville, and in many other places, God has been opening the way for the establishment of interests that will be as lights in a dark place, and will prepare the way for the acceptance of saving truth. PH151 61.2

Our churches in the South are to have a spiritual resurrection, and the Lord, through His Holy Spirit, will graciously bless the means employed by His servants to bring this about, if the brethren will not hinder the work as they have done in the past. The psalmist prayed, “That Thy way may be known upon the earth, Thy saving health among all nations.” Psalm 67:2. Let this prayer be ours. Let us pray that the healing influence of divine revelation, as a heavenly current of vital air, may come upon God's people, imparting physical and spiritual health and vigor. Let us pray that the leaven of His grace shall work in church after church, till God's name is a praise among them, because of His wonderful works. We shall extend His kingdom by doing the work close by us that is waiting to be done. PH151 61.3

Christ says to us, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” John 4:35. PH151 61.4

A great work is to be done, and there should be no delay in its prosecution. The work demands the union of gifts possessed by workers in different localities. The Northern element must be brought into connection with the Southern element. Had there been among Seventh-day Adventists the unity that God desires, the Southern field would have been more fully worked. PH151 62.1

It is not the Lord's will that the work in the South shall be confined to the set, “regular lines.” It has been found impossible to confine the work to these lines and gain success. Workers daily filled with zeal and wisdom from on high must work as they are guided by the Lord, waiting not to receive their commission from men. PH151 62.2

Camp-meetings are to be held in the Southern states. One should be held in Nashville, or a few miles from the city. The people of the South must be warned. The judgments of God are about to fall upon the world. We have no time to lose. PH151 62.3

God sees the end from the beginning. He has given us an expression of His love for the world,—an amazing manifestation, that can never be computed. He is constrained, by His love and His goodness, to delight in the well-doing and the happiness of the beings formed in His image. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. He gave His Son as the propitiation for the sins of a guilty world. This is the message that is to be borne throughout the Southern states. What a work there is before us! The Lord desires the desert places of the South, where the outlook appears so forbidding, to become as the garden of God. PH151 62.4