Missions Overseas

Adventists object to the word foreign when applied to missions. So many of our readers traveling over the earth have been made conscious of the fact that we are all foreigners as soon as we get outside our native land. We speak of overseas missions every country can use that term—but none of our missions are “foreign.” The Adventist concept of church and mission is neither racial nor national. We have a message to all mankind—“every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” is the Bible expression. (Revelation 14:6.) This ideal of Holy Writ has been strengthened and explained to us in many messages from the Lord.FSG 247.1

“Our field is the world; our work the proclamation of the truths which Christ came to our world to proclaim.”—Testimonies for the Church 8:204.FSG 247.2

“God’s people are not to cease their labors until they shall encircle the world. The vineyard includes the whole world, and every part of it is to be worked. The waste places of the earth are to be cultivated. New territories are to be worked. At this time there should be representatives of present truth in every city, and in the remote parts of the earth. The light is to shine to all lands and all peoples. It will not be long before every one will have heard the warning and made his decision. Then shall the end come.”—Testimonies for the Church 6:24.FSG 247.3

The fruitage of these many messages on the need of a world-wide mission work is seen today in our round-the-world our church activities. But the result of them is also seen in our church organization. The ideal of one world field, one message, and one church had brought forth the other ideal of one mission board and one mission treasury for the entire world. In other words, several guiding principles have grown out of these ideals.FSG 248.1

The first of these principles is that the world-wide Adventist General Conference has no foreign-mission board. Other churches almost without exception, if they carry on foreign missions, have a foreign-mission board, and some of them have more than one. We have foreign missionaries and missions evangelistic, medical, and educational, in hundreds of countries, but we have no foreign-mission board. The General Conference Committee, which is the highest administrative authority among us, is our mission board, but it supervises the work in every land alike. It has general oversight of the work in China or Italy or any other country, as it does the work in the United States, where its headquarters are located.FSG 248.2

A second important principle in the Adventist denomination is that we have no foreign-mission treasury. The General Conference treasury is a treasury for all the world, and all the funds belong alike to the work everywhere. Adventists believe in private property. They think every man has a responsibility for what is his own, but they do not believe in private interests and concerns within the church. The church is one and the treasury is one, as has been set forth so beautifully again and again through the prophetic gift.FSG 248.3

The funds all belong to the Lord, and He has but one treasury. This applies not only to mission offerings but to the tithe. In the early years of this movement a local church, and especially a conference, would speak of its tithe as though it were its own. Some would say, “The tithe belongs to my conference; the offerings to missions overseas.” This has been changed, so that it is well recognized that the tithe as well as the offerings belong alike to the work at home and across the sea. This splendid arrangement has come through a study of definite principles laid down by the Spirit of prophecy.FSG 248.4

Again and again the messenger of the Lord had urged a different distribution of men and means so that our overseas work would be more liberally supported. But, it was not till the General Conference session of 1905 that the light given us was followed by a definite decision to share with fields overseas both tithe and offerings on an equitable basis. One of the greatest reports ever rendered by a General Conference president to a session was the report of A. G. Daniells that year. He said:FSG 249.1

“An Equal Distribution of Facilities Required. Never since our first missionary crossed the Atlantic have more cheering reports come to us from the mission fields than during 1904. Everything invites and encourages this denomination to push on into the region beyond.FSG 249.2

“There surely must be a different, a more equal and consistent, distribution of laborers and means. Who can tell why seven hundred and twenty of our ministers should be located in America among one twentieth of the world’s population, while only two hundred and forty of our ministers are sent forth to work for the other nineteen twentieths? What good reason can be given for spending annually $536,302.76 tithes among seventy-five millions, and only $155,516.57 among fourteen hundred millions of the world’s perishing? ...FSG 249.3

“Dividing the Tithe With Mission Fields. A movement which possesses great possibilities for good, and which has gathered considerable strength during the last two years, is that of dividing the tithes of strong conferences with the mission fields. In other words, it is a move to make the tithe the basis of support for the missionaries in foreign mission fields, the same as in organized conferences in the homeland. A number of conferences have deliberately and openly adopted the principle of sharing their tithes equally with the mission fields. Others have expressed their recognition of the correctness of the principle, and have gone as far toward an equal division as their present situation seemed to permit. The rank and file of our people are pleased with these arrangements. The idea has taken firm, deep root, and unless I entirely misunderstand conditions, the day is not far off when this will be recognized by all, and adopted as a part of our regular plan of administration. This arrangement alone will place at least two hundred thousand dollars annually in the treasury for mission fields.”—The Review and Herald, May 11, 1905, page 9.FSG 249.4

The figures given then seem small when compared with our figures today, but the principle is the same.FSG 250.1

In an effort to carry out the light given by the Lord concerning a fair and equitable wage for all our denominational workers in all lands, and “with a view to bringing about a better degree of uniformity in the wage scale,” the General Conference Committee, on July 7, 1913, chose a special commission to study the matter and report to the autumn council that year. That large committee, in reporting, said:FSG 250.2

“From the information we have been able to gather we find that the cost of living for the same standard of personal and household expenditure is about the same throughout the world. That is to say in every country the necessities of life such as food, clothing, rents, fuel, etc.,” are very much alike. “We believe that the remuneration of all who are employed in our organizations and institutions should be placed on a missionary basis. By missionary basis, we mean remuneration sufficient to provide a fair and reasonable support without regard to the remuneration that might be secured from the world. We believe that the remuneration of all should be equitable and just.”—Autumn Council Report, 1913.FSG 250.3

On the basis of that committee report the council then worked out a detailed statement of wage for all our employees. While that scale has had to be changed and raised many times since, it has remained the foundation on which we have built, and has been a marvelous unifying factor which gave both a fair treatment to all and general satisfaction.FSG 250.4

It is not an overstatement to assert that the general wage scale then adopted and since followed is of such existential importance that without some plan of that kind the advent movement would have suffered great loss and fallen apart. Thus in this delicate matter did the light from the Lord lead and help us.FSG 251.1

There are few churches, if any, that, according to their size, own and operate as many institutions and as strong institutional community activities as the Adventists. In the early years, and even later, in our church some of our leaders were opposed to institutions. They claimed that these would consume time and means to little purpose, and held that we should confine ourselves wholly to what they called the preaching of the gospel, by which they meant the work of the ministry. James White, the first great leader among us, on the other hand, instructed by the messages from the Lord, urged strongly that institutions should be established, and his love for these gospel instruments should never be forgotten. Only a short time before his death he said, “My life has been given to the up building of these institutions. It seems like death to leave them. They are as my children, and I cannot separate my interest from them, These institutions are the Lord’s instrumentalities to do a specific work.” “With tears he expressed his anxiety for our institutions,” saying “with deep feeling,” “Where are those who will have an unselfish interest in our institutions, and who will stand for the right, unaffected by any influence with which they may come in contact?”—Testimonies for the Church 1:106.FSG 251.2

It is in the spirit of these touching words that we have begun publishing houses, health centers or sanitariums, schools, orphans’ homes, food factories, and vegetarian eating places, the chief institutions which have been established and guided by the messages of the Lord. Some of these phases of service are more prominent in one part of the world than in another. In Australia it is the manufacture of health foods. In Northern Europe, where nearly a tenth of our members are engaged in health work of some kind, it is medical missionary work. In America we find all these branches of Christian work.FSG 252.1

At times there have been those who would overdo this matter of many institutions. On that point we have the following caution and counsel from the Lord’s messenger:FSG 252.2

“Our time and energy must not be so largely employed in establishing sanitariums, food stores, and restaurants, that other lines of work will be neglected. Young men and young women who should be engaged in the ministry, in Bible work, and in the canvassing work, should not be bound down to mechanical employment.”—Testimonies for the Church 8:229, 230.FSG 252.3

From the very first, the one controlling purpose of all our institutions, as we are taught of the Lord, has never been personal gain but always unselfish service for others. This is stated so clearly and repeated so often that these divine directives need but be quoted from.FSG 252.4

Every church that devotes time and resources to conduct hospitals, schools, etcetera, knows that even though its institutions bring progress and prestige, they also produce problems and perplexities. These concern not only finances but discipline, standards, efficiencies, and godliness. Then too, it is not easy to find workers who are both capable and consecrated. Too often men of outstanding skill in their line prefer to labor for themselves in the world, where they can direct and dictate as they choose. Some seem to dislike the harness of organization even though the teamwork be good. However, Adventists have found many thousands of noble men and women who have been glad and willing to toil unselfishly in group activities for the good of humanity and to the glory of God. To these Christ-spirited doctors, nurses, teachers, publishers, and writers the church owes a debt of gratitude that can never be paid. The Spirit of prophecy messages have commended them in the highest terms.FSG 252.5

Soon after the beginning of the great revival in the early nineties our church began many institutions—in no other period have we founded so many. And, to the joy of all, they greatly prospered. The publishing, medical, and educational activities seemed to have taken on new life; but their very success was a danger. As stated elsewhere, one publishing house was moved, as were two or three schools. In our medical work we witnessed a large development. But seeds of skepticism and error were being sown. Later pantheism came out in the open, and we lost our largest medical center. To stem, or if possible to remove, these perils, many, many words of correction and censure came from the messenger of the Lord. Now, though some used these testimonies in a way that seems outright dishonest, and others in a manner that is positively painful, the great majority of our members followed the plain instruction of God, applying it to themselves rather than to others. These messages were given not only for correction but for guidance. Though not all these communications were printed, our ministers of that day generally had them, and they proved a marvelous help in ending wrongs and building up the good. Even now it is well to study principles as to institutional endeavor though we can only give a few striking statements that make plain the tenor of the instruction bestowed.FSG 253.1

“Every institution that bears the name of Seventh-day Adventist, is to be to the world as was Joseph in Egypt and so were Daniel and his fellows in Babylon.”—Testimonies for the Church 8:153. “The character of Christ is to be manifested ... in every institution established by God’s people.”—Testimonies for the Church 6:11. “Our sanitariums are to show forth to the world the benevolence of heaven.”—Testimonies for the Church 6:228. “In all their departments [they] should be memorials for God,” “centers from which a work of healing, restoring, and educating shall be carried on.”—Testimonies for the Church 6:225.FSG 253.2

Volume 6 was first printed in 1900, right when the struggle for our institutions was on. It has scores of similar statements. The following are a few of the plain messages concerning our institutions sent by the Lord’s servant:FSG 254.1

“He who is selfish and grasping, eager to take every dollar he can get from our institutions for his services is binding about the work of God; verily he has his reward.”—Letter 41, 1890.FSG 254.2

“In every institution among us, in every branch and department of the work, God tests the spirit that actuates the worker. Does he have the mind that was in Christ, the earnest spirit and fervent devotion, the purity, the love that should characterize the laborer for God? Does he bear the fruits of self-sacrifice that were seen in the life of our divine Lord? It is required in those who labor in the cause that the heart be enlisted in the enterprise, that they may give their services not merely for wages, not for honor, but for the glory of God, the salvation of lost man.”—Letter 41, 1890.FSG 254.3

While our institutions provide a livelihood for many members—a thing not to be overlooked—Adventists must never yield to the selfish motive of trying to use them for their own advantage. The Testimonies protest strongly against all unfair dealing or oppression or exorbitant demands in work or fees or profits of any kind in these centers; and at the same time they clearly set forth the untold blessings of these instrumentalities for humanity and the church. As are the hand and feet to the human body, or as are grown sons and daughters to a family, so are institutions to the church of Christ. They give character to our work overseas and they mold our youth and influence every church in the conferences at home. The truth is that the future prosperity of the advent movement is most closely connected with the unselfish spirit of our institutions. More than many realize, they hold the key to our future.FSG 254.4

“When physicians make manifest the fact that they think more of the wages they are to receive than of the work of the institution, they show that they are not men to be depended upon as unselfish, God-fearing servants of Christ, faithful in doing the work of the Master.”—Letter 41, 1890.FSG 255.1

Concerning this the messenger of the Lord has said:FSG 255.2

“As these things were presented before me, my Teacher said: ‘The institutions that depend upon God and receive His cooperation must ever work according to the principles of His law. To charge a large sum for a few minutes’ work, is not just. Physicians who are under the discipline of the greatest Physician the world ever knew, must let the principles of the gospel regulate every fee. Let mercy and love of God be written on every dollar received.’ ...FSG 255.3

“When a time comes that physicians cannot do this, the Lord would have no more medical institutions established among Seventh day Adventists. High prices are current in the world; but correct principles are to be brought into our work. The Bible standard is to be maintained.”—MS. 169, 1899.FSG 255.4

“In the medical missionary work Jesus is to behold the travail of His soul. Human beings are to be snatched as brands from the burning.FSG 255.5

“But a change has come that has hindered the work which God designed to move forward without a trace of selfishness. All heaven is watching with intense anxiety to see what is to be the outcome of the work which is so large and so important. God is watching, the heavenly universe is watching; and souls are perishing. Is the enterprise of mercy through which in the past God has manifested His grace in rescuing and restoring, to become a matter of selfish merchandise? ...FSG 255.6

“The Lord will withdraw His blessing where selfish interests are indulged; but He will put His people in possession of good all through the world if they will use this for the uplifting of humanity. His work is to be a sign of His benevolence, a sign that will win the confidence of the world, and bring in resources for the advancement of His kingdom.”—Letter 38, 1901.FSG 255.7

In studying these strong words the reader should remember that they were given in the years of greatest crisis for our schools, sanitariums, and publishing houses. There was then a studied effort being made to alienate our institutions from God’s work, and these appealing messages really saved them for the Adventist Church. We think that no such test will ever come again to the entire church, yet it is well to know that the Lord has spoken in order that we may take the right stand. The Evil One hates our institutions. No other Christians have as many and as subtle temptations as teachers, doctors, ministers, and institutional managers. To preserve godliness and proper standards, to build for economy and efficiency, in short, to guide our institutions aright and keep them separate from evil, will ever remain a major problem of the advent church.FSG 256.1

As already indicated, the question of proper remuneration is always an important one in every missionary endeavor. It is the Lord’s design that all who are directly and actively engaged in His service shall be paid a fair wage. In the early messages that came to the remnant church on the matter of wage, we were reproved because the wages of church workers were too uncertain and too meager. This was true of all laborers. Thus in a testimony written in 1890 we read: “The chief physician himself should have larger wages.”—Testimonies for the Church 8:142. At that time, too, as well as in later years we were warned against working for wages.FSG 256.2

“I was shown that some who have been engaged in our Office of publication, in our Health Institute, and in the ministry, have labored simply for wages.”—Testimonies for the Church 2:518.FSG 256.3

“Men who are controlled by selfish desires should not remain connected with our institutions.”—Letter 41, 1890.FSG 256.4

There are two important observations to be made concerning such stern instruction as the foregoing. The first is this: It would be most unfair to take such words that applied to a certain group of men at a certain time and place and apply them to all our institutions in all lands and in all times. It would be just as wrong as to take the strong words of condemnation uttered by Jesus against the Pharisees as recorded in Matthew 23:23-29, and pin them on every church and every Christian in every age. We must only apply the divine corrections where the principles expressed are being violated. The second observation is a question: What was the result of these words of reproof? We are happy to state that the fruitage of these messages in the nineties and the early years of this century was excellent. There came a deep revival of mission spirit and faith in our schools. Our publishing houses and literature mission took on new life. Though we lost one sanitarium because some there would not heed the Lord’s warning, after that loss came a new spirit and an amazing growth to our medical activities in all the earth. Then, too, these messages—sometimes misused by certain smiters of the brethren—were an evidence that God loved us and recognized us as His people. They led us to change many matters as we studied anew the Lord’s ideal for our institutions.FSG 257.1

Adventists do not consider the work of an institution satisfactory even though it appears to be prospering in a material way. That a publishing house sells large quantities of literature, that a school has a large enrollment and does well in finances, or that a sanitarium has many patients and keeps out of the red, is not, to their minds, certain evidence that the institution meets the ideal of the Lord. If there is a selfish spirit, a lack of unity, or evil things, whatever they may be, we think they should be carefully corrected. We do not think of institutional endeavor as something which ought to be commercialized as a worldly business. The spirit of sacrifice, not the hope of personal gain, must ever remain the motive and rule of service. This is clearly taught in the Spirit of prophecy messages. An institution that is weakened by criticism or selfish practices, will, like a decayed tooth, spread poison through the body.FSG 257.2

As the reader will discern, it is the spirit of our institutional enterprises which is the deciding element. This ideal has given us certain well-defined principles to follow that have made our institutional activities the great boon and blessing which they are today.FSG 258.1

As a member of many, many institutional boards through the years I have been led to thank God many times for the marvelous services these render to the cause of Christ, and I esteem most highly the courage and faithfulness of our many employees. I have also met some problems and have learned that almost without exception the root cause of every difficulty is selfishness. Concerning wages, the servant of the Lord says of some:FSG 258.2

“They think they are entitled to large wages because of their service.... We are not to esteem our work as worthy of large recognition. God will reward us in accordance with the spirit that has characterized our work.”—The Review and Herald, July 31, 1900, page 481. “Generosity begets generosity. Selfishness begets selfishness.”—Testimonies for the Church 1:150. “Selfishness is abomination in the sight of God and holy angels.”—Testimonies for the Church 2:551.FSG 258.3

Concerning our many institutions, especially our larger ones from the early years, we read:FSG 258.4

“These institutions were founded in self-sacrifice. They have been built up by the self-denying gifts of God’s people and the unselfish labor of His servants. God designs that they shall manifest the same spirit of self-sacrifice.”—Testimonies for the Church 7:145.FSG 258.5

At this late day we ought zealously to preserve the pioneer spirit of selfless living and serving so manifest in earlier years.FSG 258.6

When we speak of wages for church employees, it should be noted that Adventist ministers and other laborers do not take up collections for themselves. Indeed, from the very beginning of our church activity it has been understood that all collections and even personal gifts that come to a worker are to be reported to the institution or conference which employs him. It is a wise plan for a mission worker never to solicit or even accept gifts from anyone.FSG 259.1

There is a third principle followed in our organized work, and especially in our institutions, that is of urgent importance. It is that no one individual shall control for his own selfish purpose any property belonging to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In our early years the working capital of an institution was often raised. by the sale of stock or rather shares, one or ten dollars a share, as the case might be. These shareholders would have votes according to the number of their shares. That may be a common practice in other business concerns in the world, but among us, both in our institutions and in our missions or conferences, we follow the rule that church property should be kept separate and distinct from private property. Some disappointments and experiences in that matter taught us the value of the instruction from the Lord.FSG 259.2

There was a time when faithful but new missionaries in faraway fields found that by having goats or cows on the mission grounds they could have quite an income, partly for the mission and partly for themselves. There have been institutions where some of the people claimed that houses or other property belonging to the institution should be controlled by them for their own use or profit privately. But little by little the Lord has given us grace to follow the principle set forth that in God’s church the church owns the resources that have come to it.FSG 259.3

A fourth principle has come to us through the Spirit of prophecy, and has been of the greatest value. It is that all our institutions are nonprofit institutions. What is meant is that no one who works in the institution has a part of the income of the institution as his own. We found, for instance, in some lands overseas where we had printing shops that some workers felt they should have personal gain from the earnings, so that if the net income was larger their wages should be higher. The same thing applies to our teachers or doctors or writers. But we hold loyally to the principle that all our workers receive their salaries and that they have no income out of the business of the institution with which they are connected. In other words, they receive their regular income and are not financially responsible for the loss, nor do they profit by the gains, of the institution.FSG 260.1

These four principles have given a solidarity and spirit of unselfishness to our church work in all the world, the value of which can never be overestimated. Long quotations from the Spirit of prophecy on these points could easily be inserted, but anyone who will study the Testimonies will see at once how carefully and yet how clearly principles of unselfish service for Christ are set forth, out of which these basic in their leaders.FSG 260.2

Our members know that when anyone talks for an institution or sells his books or seeks to raise money for a mission he gets no percentage of what he is raising. In America, of course, that principle is well understood, but in many lands, especially those under Catholic influence, conditions are very different. It has often been found that people scatter the rumor that the preacher will get so much a head for everyone he baptizes, or that a doctor or teacher is working for himself and not for the welfare of the institution and those for whom the institution was established.FSG 260.3