Dios es Amor It seems your publication isn't ready to go worldw | Page 67

Innovative Administrator
into leading out. When she asked those to stand who would cooperate in the work she
had set forth, all the patrons and many others stood. Seventh-day Adventist work in
Jasper County was alive again.
The next day school started operation with 22 students. Construction on the building
continued after school hours.
On weekends Anna conducted Sunday religious meetings in two locations, as had
been her practice before leaving for India. Then several people offered to meet on
Sabbath afternoon instead of Sunday. When the conference president visited six months
later, he found nine candidates ready for baptism. Among them were Anna’s mother,
two of her sisters, other relatives, and community members.
During summer months when school was not in session, the conference employed
Miss Knight to visit churches and companies of believers. She taught Bible lessons and
prepared interested people for baptism. At a workers’ meeting in Vicksburg attended by
both black and white workers, she delivered lectures about mission work.
It was inevitable that Anna Knight would face a decision about whether she could make
a greater contribution by returning to India than by remaining in the South. Some advisors
did not see it as a difficult choice. Repeatedly Anna would hear one of her peers say something like, “If I had my way, I wouldn’t let you go back to India. We need you here. Let the
white folk go to India, but you stay here and work with us.” It was true that workers for
black people were scarce. Few had received adequate training or preparation.
Anna was puzzled. She was looking at two great needs. However, she was only one
person. Fortunately, she had a mode of operation that could see her through this time of
uncertainty over God’s will for her life. She wrote, “While I could see that the colored work
in America really did need workers, to me, the needs of India were greater by far. However,
I prayed and worked on.” (From Knight, Mississippi Girl, p. 168, emphasis supplied.)
This was not the only time in her life that Anna Knight found it wise to pray for
wisdom and, while waiting for God to answer, to work on. The puzzle eventually
resolved, to the glory of God and to Anna’s satisfaction.
Miss Knight received an unexpected invitation from the Southeastern Union
Conference to help develop a new sanitarium for black people in Atlanta. This was in
1910, when she expected soon to be returning to India. Still longing to know the will of
God, Anna took the letter of call to her room and spread it before the Lord, as King
Hezekiah had done with a letter that caused him great concern. After praying fervently,
she decided to find out who had extended the invitation to her. If they were people who
did not know about her commitment to India or did not value her work there, she
would not take the call seriously. However, if this invitation had been passed on to her
by some of the General Conference leaders who knew of her dedicated work both at
home and abroad, their guidance would be significant. She wrote to inquire. While
waiting for a response, she prayed and kept working.
The letter of reply mentioned leaders who knew and valued her overseas mission
service and had now approved her call to Atlanta. A check for transportation was

67