ed there 41 years ago, we were in debt. The people didn’t know which way to turn. I prayed, “Lord, I’ve been wanting to find out for a long time whether or not a certain pas sage in Thy Word is true from a practical standpoint.” I was refer ring to “Seek ye first, the kingdom of God [the extension of God’s king dom worldwide] and all these things [the home necessities] shall be added unto you.” That morning I preached a missionary sermon. It was my first message to the people. I did the same that evening. Then I asked the people to come back every night that week. They came and got the same challenge for missions. The second Sunday came. I can remember it as though it were yesterday. At the morning service, I announced, “We are going to hold three services to day and in each take up a mission ary offering. Every cent will go to the foreign fields.” Some people stared in amazement. But God was working. Even though we were in debt, nothing was said of the home needs. The people became so inter ested, aroused, and awakened, that they came in ever-increasing num bers. Souls were saved, and every seat was taken. They gave as they had never done before. In a relative ly few weeks, every debt was paid. We discovered that when a church puts first things first, God works in a miraculous way. God’s program never fails. The supreme task of the church is the evangelization of the world. I refer to the whole church, not merely some department of it. We’ve never had a women’s missionary so ciety in the Peoples church. I’m not against it; I’m for it. Sometimes the only missionary light shining is that from such a faithful and dedicated group. But we want all of our people involved, not just one group. Mis sions is for everyone! In a sense, every man in my church is a mem ber of a women’s missionary soci
The supreme task of the church is the evangelization of the world. You businessmen, where do you spend most of your service money? Which is the most important department? Isn’t it the one you want to develop which carries the most need? Do we put most of our money into that most important department of our Christian outreach, namely missions ? Nothing is nearer to the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ than world evan gelization. We must put missions first; everything else comes second. Some years ago, I was able to go to my treasurer at the Peoples Church in Toronto and ask two questions. First, how much do we spend on ourselves here in the home land over the course of a year? My second question, “How much did we send to the foreign mission fields of the world last year?” There must be a balance. Last year we had $65,000 for the home work while there was $329,000.00 for work in the regions beyond. Our people have caught a vision. Do you have it? Are you put ting first things first? C hapter T wo I N THE work of missions at the Peoples Church of Toronto, Cana da, the Lord has greatly blessed. We try to give at least five times as much in our foreign work as we do for the home field. Last year, at our conference we had about 150 mis sionaries present with 30 or 40 new recruits who had been accepted for various fields by different mission boards. The people gave $400,000.00 exactly for missions. We now have 403 missionaries serving under 41 accredited faith missionary societies, on 66 fields throughout the world. We don’t have a wealthy church. Most of the people are of the work ing class who don’t have vast month ly salaries. Yet they have a vision, and are putting first things first. Any church can do it. When I start- 4
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