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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
The same principles which apply to the work in our institutions at
Battle Creek apply as well to that in the field at large. The following
extracts are from a letter written to Brother K, November 8, 1880:
“There is a broad field for the laborers, but many are getting above
the simplicity of the work. Now is the time to labor and to do it in the
wise counsel of God. If you connect unconsecrated persons with the
missions and Sabbath schools, the work will become a mere form. The
workers in every part of the field must study how to work economically
and in the simplicity of Christ and how to plan most successfully to
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reach hearts.”
“We are in danger of spreading over more territory and starting
more enterprises than we can attend to properly. There is danger of
neglecting some important parts of the work through overattention to
others. To undertake so large an amount of work that nothing can be
done perfectly is a bad plan. We are to move forward, but not to get so
far above the simplicity of the work that it will be impossible to look
after all the enterprises without sacrificing our best helpers to keep
things in running order. Life and health must be regarded.
“While we should be ever ready to follow the opening providence
of God, we should lay no larger plans than we have the help and means
to carry out successfully. We must keep up and increase the interest in
the enterprises already started.”
“While larger plans and broader fields are constantly opening,
there must be broader views in regard to the selection and training
of workers who are to labor to bring souls into the truth. Our young
ministers must be encouraged to take hold of the work with energy
and be educated to carry it forward with simplicity and thoroughness.
I am astonished to see how little some of our young ministers are
appreciated and how little encouragement they receive. Yet some of
them cling to the work and do anything and everything with unselfish
interest.”
“Narrowness and dishonest dealing must not come into the settle-
ment with the workers, high or low.... There must be more of Christ’s
way, and less of self. Sharp criticisms should be repressed. Sympathy,
compassion, and love should be cultivated by every worker. Unless
Jesus comes in and takes possession of the heart, unless self is subdued
and Christ is exalted, we shall not prosper as a people. I beseech of
you, my brother, to labor wholly in God, not laying too many plans,