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Mission To Black America-3

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Nov. 19 - Mission To Balck America-3

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There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free ..., for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:28, ESV.

Edson White's mission boat had one major problem. It was hundreds of miles from his target audience and at least 20 miles from any large body of water. No problem for the inventive Edson. He floated his craft down the Kalamazoo River to Lake Michigan, across Lake Michigan to the Chicago area, across Illinois on the river system linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, and down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the American South, where he set up headquarters.

But White had one other problem--money! Not being trusted by the Adventist Church leaders, he and his colleagues were self supporting in their mission. But like his father, one of Edson's talents was raising money.

One project he used to finance the mission was the publication of the Gospel Primer, a book simple enough to use in teaching illiterates to read while conveying Bible truth in the process. The sale of that successful little volume helped finance the mission.

From Vicksburg the work spread to the surrounding countryside, often in the face of White resistance and violence. By the early years of the twentieth century the mission had nearly 50 schools in operation. In 1895 Edson's self-supporting mission organized as the Southern Missionary Society. Then in 1901 the society became a part of the newly established Southern Union Conference. Eventually the publishing arm of the enterprise also came under denominational ownership as the Southern Publishing Association, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

The mid-1890s also saw the establishment of a training school for Black workers. The General Conference opened Oakwood Industrial School in 1896 on a 360-acre plantation near Huntsville, Alabama. Oakwood soon became the center for training Black leaders, becoming a senior college in 1943 and a university in 2007.

The tardy mission to Black America harbors a much-needed lesson. It is all too easy to get excited about going as, or sending, a missionary overseas, while at the same time neglecting our neighbors next door.

Lord, help us to get our people values straight and to let You use us right where we are
today to shed Your love.

 

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Lord, help us to get our people values stright and to let You use us right where we are today to shed Your love. 

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