Through the South to the Conference of 1901
301
For several years Mrs. White had been writing concerning the
advantages to be gained by establishing centers of influence and of
training in England and in some of the Continental countries of Europe,
and in such fields as Australasia, where the prospects were good for
raising up and educating many workers to enter the less favored regions
beyond. She had also been counseling the brethren to carry forward
an aggressive campaign in the Southern States, and had often pleaded
that this portion of the field be dealt with liberally.
“It is the very essence of all right faith,” she wrote, “to do the right
thing at the right time. God is the great Master Worker, and by His
providence He prepares the way for His work to be accomplished. He
provides opportunities, opens up lines of influence and channels of
working. If His people are watching the indications of His providence,
and stand ready to cooperate with Him, they will see a great work ac-
complished. Their efforts, rightly directed, will produce a hundredfold
greater results than can be accomplished with the same means and
facilities in another channel where God is not so manifestly working....
[381]
“Certain countries have advantages that mark them as centers of
education and influence. In the English-speaking nations and the
Protestant nations of Europe it is comparatively easy to find access to
the people, and there are many advantages for establishing institutions
and carrying forward our work. In some other lands, such as India
and China, the workers must go through a long course of education
before the people can understand them, or they the people. And at
every step there are great difficulties to be encountered in the work.
In America, Australia, England, and some other European countries,
many of these impediments do not exist.”
Testimonies for the Church
6:24, 25
(published in 1901).
Special Opportunities in the South
During her journey to the General Conference of 1901, Mrs. White
took occasion to pass through the Southern States, and to speak words
of courage and counsel to those who were laboring there. At Vicksburg,
Miss., she came in direct contact with the work carried forward from
that center in behalf of the colored people. At Nashville she met with
a larger group of workers, diligently studying the necessities of the
cause in the Southern States, and inaugurating many lines of work.