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Colporteur Ministry
These may do a good work in canvassing if they will obey the words:
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine.”
1 Timothy 4:16
. Those
who give evidence that they are truly converted, and who take up the
canvassing work, will see that it is the best preparation for other lines
of missionary labor.
If those who know the truth would practice it, methods would be
devised for meeting the people where they are. It was the providence
of God which in the beginning of the Christian church scattered the
saints abroad, sending them out of Jerusalem into many parts of the
world. The disciples of Christ did not stay in Jerusalem or in the
cities nearby, but they went beyond the limits of their own country
into the great thoroughfares of travel, seeking for the lost that they
might bring them to God. Today the Lord desires to see His work
carried forward in many places. We must not confine our labors to a
few localities.—
Testimonies for the Church 6:329, 330
(1900).
Two and Two—Canvassers should be sent out two and two. Inex-
perienced workers should be sent out with those of more experience,
who can give them help. They can converse together and study the
word of life together, praying with and for each other. Thus both the
younger and the elder Christian will receive the blessing of God.—
Manual for Canvassers, 17
(1902).
In the Service of God—Canvassers should be impressed with the
fact that the canvassing work is the very work the Lord desires them
to do. They should remember that they are in the service of God.
[59]
Painstaking effort is required; instruction must be given; a sense
of the importance of the work must be kept before the workers. All
must cherish the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice that has been
exemplified in the life of our Redeemer.
Sixth of Isaiah—Let the canvassers read the sixth chapter of Isaiah,
and take its lesson home to their hearts:
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and
said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away,
and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom