Personal Experiences of Ellen G. White as a Welfare Worker
[While all through her life Mrs. White was mindful of the needs of those about her, there were times when these needs pressed especially hard. No attempt is made in the following pages to give an exhaustive account, but rather to present some typical experiences concerning which she happened to make a record in her diary or in her letters. These excerpts present the wide field of her welfare ministry, with larger emphasis on two periods in her life experience, one rather early and the other later in her life.
(WM 321.1)
In the “jottings” from the diary of 1859 we see Mrs. White as a thirty-one-year-old mother of three lively boys, carrying the household burdens, writing, traveling, and preaching, and at the same time assisting those around her who were suffering or in need. Through the nineties we observe her in Australia during a period of severe and prolonged depression, with heart-breaking needs on every side. With these the reader will also find a number of statements which help to trace the thread of her welfare activities through her entire life.
(WM 321.2)
The reader will observe that the E. G. White diary entries are recorded in terse diary style, sometimes in short phrases and often in the present tense. Surely it will be also recognized that the purely biographical account as Ellen White recorded her day-by-day activities does not constitute instruction for the church and therefore is not to be considered as authoritative testimony. This is true also of biographical references drawn from the E. G. White letters. Nevertheless, the example of Ellen White does add emphasis to her precept.
(WM 321.3)
The burden of heart carried by Mrs. White, her sense of her responsibility to those in suffering and need about her, and her eagerness to help, though seemingly ever hampered by limited resources, should encourage every Seventh-day Adventist to greater and more enthusiastic participation in Welfare Ministry.—Compilers.]
(WM 321.4)
E. G. White Instructed to Set an Example.—After my marriage I was instructed that I must show a special interest in motherless and fatherless children, taking some under my own charge for a time, and then finding homes for them. Thus I would be giving others an example of what they could do.
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Although called to travel often, and having much writing to do, I have taken children of three and five years of age, and have cared for them, educated them, and trained them for responsible positions. I have taken into my home from time to time boys from ten to sixteen years of age, giving them motherly care and a training for service. [From the pen of two workers who in their youth spent many months in the White home we have the following comments of what they personally witnessed.—Compilers.
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“Not only was Mrs. White a strong counselor for her husband, to guard him against making mistakes that would jeopardize the cause in any part, but she was most careful to carry out in her own course the things she taught to others. For instance, she frequently dwelt in her public talks upon the duty of caring for widows and orphans, citing her hearers to Isaiah 58:7-10; And she exemplified her exhortations by taking the needy to her own home for shelter, food, and raiment. I well remember her having at one time, as members of her family, a boy and girl and a widow and her two daughters. I have, moreover, known her to distribute to poor people hundreds of dollars’ worth of new clothes which she bought for that purpose.”—J. O. Corliss, The Review and Herald, August 30, 1923.
(WM 321)
“Elder White was himself a very philanthropic man. He always lived in a large house, but there were no vacant rooms in it. Although his immediate family was small, his house was always filled with widows and their children, poor friends, poor brethren in the ministry, and those who needed a home. His heart and his pocketbook were always open, and he was ready to help those who needed help. He certainly set a most noble example to our denomination in his largeheartedness and liberality of spirit.”—The Medical Missionary, February, 1894.] I have felt it my duty to bring before our people that work for which those in every church should feel a responsibility.
(WM 321)
While in Australia I carried on this same line of work, taking into my home orphan children, who were in danger of being exposed to temptations that might cause the loss of their souls.—The Review and Herald, July 26, 1906.
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Ellen G. White in Practical Dorcas Work
(Jottings from E. G. White Diary of 1859)
(WM 322)
January 2, Sunday—Sister Augusta Bognes was sent for to assist me to prepare for another journey. Made a coat for Edson. He will accompany us. We tried to comfort Augusta. She is cast down and discouraged, health poor and no one to depend on. She has laid aside her armor and shield of faith. May the Lord strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Gave Sister Irving a warm cloak and dress and a few other things to make over for her.
(WM 322.2)
January 3, Monday—Went to the office. Called in to Brother Loughborough’s and to my sister’s. Wrote seven pages to Doctor Naramores, then took dinner to my sister’s. Had a good interview with my father and mother. Went to the office again after dinner, and wrote four pages to Brother Orton’s family. Also wrote four pages to Brother Howland’s family and wrote to Sister Ashley, and Brother Collin’s family. Paid widow Cranson $1.00 for making a couple of shirts. Paid Sister Bognes $1.00 for making a coat. She was unwilling to take it, but I felt it duty to hand it to her. She is poor and sickly. May the Lord pity and care for her. Said Jesus, “The poor always ye have with you.”Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8. May the Lord rid us of selfishness and help us to care for other’s woes and relieve them.
(WM 322.3)
January 6, Thursday—Make a cap for Edson and a vest. At night am very weary. Give Agnes a half worn dress for her mother. They are poor. The husband and father is sick. Their crops have failed. Have breadstuff to buy and nothing to buy with. Agnes is their main support. She is only seventeen. There are four children now at home. They must suffer unless the church interests themselves in their behalf. May the Lord have mercy upon the needy, and put it in His children’s hearts to dispense to them with a liberal hand.
(WM 323.1)
February 3, Thursday—Very sick all day with sick headache. Henry Pierce from Monterey at our house. Send Sister Leander Jones some things for her children and Jenny sends her her best bonnet. May the Lord enable us to see the wants of the poor and give us a ready and willing heart to supply them.
(WM 323.2)
February 28, Monday—Mary Loughborough came here. Stopped with us for dinner. Her baby is sick in the afternoon. Went into Sister Ratel’s. Have a pleasant interview. Her babe has on an old torn white dress. The best he has except one that she keeps to put on when she goes out with him. She speaks of her children that died two years since. She does not wish them alive again. The family are all poor. The oldest girl prizes a Bible I gave her, much. She reads out of it to her parents. Sister Ratel’s health is very poor. Has spit blood today. I fear she will not fill her place in her family long. She tries to do right. Her husband is a poor, wicked, passionate man and she has great trials. May the Lord sustain her. She begs us to pray for her that she may do right at all times.
(WM 323.3)
March 1, Tuesday—Walked to the office. Called to see Sister Sarah and mother. Sarah gave me a little dress and two aprons for Sister Ratel’s babe. I then called on Sister Aurora Lockwood. Had a pleasant interview with her. She is a choice sister, beloved of God and highly respected of all the church.
(WM 324.1)
I rode down to the city and purchased a few things. Bought a little dress for Sister Ratel’s babe. Came to the office, assisted them a little there, and then came home to dinner. Sent the little articles to Sister Ratel. Mary Loughborough sends her another dress, so she will do very well now. Oh, that all knew the sweetness of giving to the poor, of helping do others good, and making others happy. The Lord open my heart to do all in my power to relieve those around me. “Give me to feel my brother’s woe.”
(WM 324.2)
March 8, Tuesday—It is a day when infirmities are striving for the victory. I suffer much pain in my left shoulder and lung. My spirits are depressed. Brother John Andrews leaves today. Comes up to visit us in the eve. Have a pleasant interview. Get together a few things for him to take home. Send Angeline a new calico dress, nine shillings, and a stout pair of calfskin shoes. Father gives the making of the shoes and the making of a pair of boots for Brother John Andrews. I send the little boy a nice little flannel shirt and yarn to knit him a pair of stockings. I send Sister or Mother Andrews a nice large cape, well wadded for her to wear. I make a bag to put them in of towel cloth. Write three small pages to Sister Mary Chase. In it write receipt [recipe] obtained from John’s.
(WM 324.3)
March 10, Thursday—Walked to the city and back. Was very weary. Purchased John F. a pair of pants. In the afternoon Sister Irving came in....
(WM 324.4)
For ten weeks the daughter has lived with us, and we paid her nine shillings a week. All but one dollar of this she has handed to her mother. Her clothes are poor, yet she does not appropriate any means to her own use. She forgets herself in her devotion and self-sacrifice to her parents. It was as affecting a scene as I never witnessed. The reluctance of the mother to accept the wages, all the wages of a daughter, through necessity and the willingness and freedom of the daughter to have all go to her poor afflicted parents. The mother and daughter wept, and we wept. We aided them some. Paid half toward a pair of boots for a little brother. One dollar. I paid one-fifty for a pair of shoes for the mother. Husband gave her one dollar in money. Henry gave her ten cents. Edson, ten cents, and little Willie ten. Husband gave her twenty-five more to buy a little luxury for the sick one. We parted with considerable half-worn clothing to make over.
(WM 324.5)
April 21, Thursday—Work on a rug. Write a letter to Daniel Bourdeau. This morning there is a feeling of sympathy among certain of the flock for Brother Benedict’s family. We have contributed a mite for their relief, about seven dollars. Purchased them different things to eat, and carry it to them. Brother and Sister Benedict visited us all day. Had a very interesting and pleasant interview. My mother came to see me, which was a great comfort to me.
(WM 325.1)
Welfare Ministry Through the Years
E. G. White Calls for Help—Dear Brethren and Sisters: The treasury in the Poor Fund, consisting of clothes, et cetera, for those in need, is nearly exhausted. And as there are cases of destitution continually arising, and one new one has arisen recently, I thought it would be well for those who have clothing, bedding, or money to spare to send it on here immediately. We hope there will be no delay, for we are going to assist some that are needy as soon as we get things together. Send your donations to Sr. Uriah Smith or myself.—The Review and Herald, October 30, 1860.
(WM 325.2)
James and Ellen White Combine Prayer and Labor—Before there were any sanitariums among us, my husband and I began work in medical missionary lines. We would bring to our house cases that had been given up by the physicians to die. When we knew not what to do for them we would pray to God most earnestly, and He always sent His blessing. He is the mighty Healer, and He worked with us. We never had time or opportunity to take a medical course, but we had success as we moved out in the fear of God and sought Him for wisdom at every step. This gave us courage in the Lord.
(WM 325.3)
Thus we combined prayer and labor. We used the simple water treatments, and then tried to fasten the eyes of the patients on the Great Healer. We told them what He could do for them. If we can inspire the patients with hope, this is greatly to their advantage. We want all that have any part to act in our sanitariums to have a firm grasp on the power of the Infinite. We believe in Him and in the power of His word. When we do our best for the recovery of the sick, we may then look for Him to be with us, that we may see of His salvation. We put too little confidence in the power of the hand that rules the world.—Manuscript 49, 1908.
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In House-to House Ministry—Before our sanitarium there was established my husband and I went from house to house to give treatment. Under God’s blessing we saved the lives of many who were suffering.—Letter 45, 1903.
(WM 326.2)
Interest in a Needy Widow—In regard to Nellie L., you know she is a widow with the care of three children, and she is struggling to obtain knowledge that she may engage in the kindergarten work, where she can keep her children with her. Let us not see the poor soul struggle for her life and sacrifice her health to do this. I have thought of the liberal donations that have been made to individuals who have married at Oakland. Would that these friends might use their means and express their sympathies to bless the widow and the fatherless that are deserving of their attention and substantial sympathy. Have not such cases claims upon us?
(WM 326.3)
I will help Nellie one hundred dollars if you will do the same. Two hundred dollars would be a great blessing to her just now. Will you do this for Christ’s sake? Will you encourage others to help her to get a start in life? It would be far better to do this than to wait and let Nellie be worn out with anxiety and care and fall in the struggle, leaving her children helpless, motherless, to be cared for by others.
(WM 326.4)
One hundred dollars from you will not be a large sum, but it will be a great blessing to her. Will you do this? Let us do it as a free gift and not let the horror of debt be upon her who is struggling under such discouragements. If you will do this, please collect in my name from Signs Office one hundred dollars for Nellie L. Let us both take stock in this matter and the Lord will bless us. I know she will struggle with all her powers to be self-supporting. Battle Creek, Mich., March 28, 1889 Brother C. H. Jones:
(WM 327.1)
Please pay to the order of -----—$100.00 (One Hundred Dollars) as a gift from the Lord who has made me His steward of means. “Ellen G. White” (Letter 28, 1889.)
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Pioneering in Australia
Prejudice Removed by Welfare Ministry—We passed through many interesting experiences while in Australia. We helped establish a school from the foundation, going into the eucalyptus woods and camping while the trees were being felled, the grounds cleared, and the school buildings erected.
(WM 327.3)
Prejudice in the community in which the school was established, was broken down by the medical missionary work that we did. The nearest physician lived twenty miles away. I told the brethren that I would allow my secretary, a trained nurse who has been with me for twenty years, to go to visit the sick whenever they called for her. We made a hospital of our home. My nurse treated successfully some most difficult cases that the physicians had pronounced incurable. This labor was not without its reward. Suspicion and prejudice were removed. The hearts of the people were won, and many accepted the truth. At the time we went there it was regarded necessary to keep everything under lock and key, for fear of theft. Only once was anything stolen from us, and that was shortly after our arrival. Now the community is law abiding, and no one thinks of being robbed.—Manuscript 126, 1902.
(WM 327.4)
Personal Interest in the People—We tried to take a personal interest in the people. If we met someone walking as we were driving to the station four and a half miles away, we were glad to let them ride with us in our carriage. We did what we could to develop our land, and encouraged our neighbors to cultivate the soil, that they too might have fruit and vegetables of their own. We taught them how to prepare the soil, what to plant, and how to take care of the growing produce. They soon learned the advantages of providing for themselves in this way. We realized that Christ took a personal interest in men and women while He lived on this earth. He was a medical missionary everywhere He went. We are to go about doing good, even as He did. We are instructed to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, to heal the sick and comfort those that mourn.—Manuscript 126, 1902.
(WM 328.1)
Economizing to Help Others—We live economically in every way and make a study of how every penny is to be laid out.... We make over and over our clothing, patching and enlarging garments in order to make them wear a little longer, so that we can supply with clothing those who are more needy. One of our brethren in Ormondville, who is an intelligent carpenter, could not go forward in baptism because he had not a change of clothing. When he was able to get a cheap suit he was the most grateful man I ever saw, because he could then go forward in the ordinance of baptism.—Letter 89a, 1894.
(WM 328.2)
New Durable Material Bought for Relief Work—Some of our people say to me, “Give away your old clothes, and that will help the poor.” Should I give away the garments that I patch and enlarge, the people would not be able to see anything of which they could make use. I buy for them new, strong, durable material. I have visited the factories where they make tweed cloth and have bought a number of remnants that perhaps have a flaw but can be purchased cheap, and will do some good to those to whom we give. I can afford to wear the old garments until they are beyond repair. I have purchased your uncle excellent cloth for pants and vest, and he is now supplied with good respectable clothing. In this way I can supply large families of children with durable garments, which the parents would not think of getting for them.—;Ibid.
(WM 328.3)
Purchasing Wood From Needy Farmers—Poverty is so widespread in the colonies that starvation is staring many in the face, and the strangest part of the matter is that the farmers seem so perfectly helpless to devise plans by which to turn their time and money to account.... We purchase wood from our brethren who are farmers, and we try to give their sons and daughters employment. But we need a large charitable fund upon which to draw to keep families from starvation. Those who need our help are not of the tramp order, but are men who have earned in prosperous times as high as twenty and forty dollars per week.... I divided my household stores of provisions with families of this sort, sometimes going eleven miles to relieve their necessities.—Letter 89a, 1894.
(WM 329.1)
Solicitous for a Needy Student—Will you please inquire of Brother ----- in regard to the clothing that he requires, and what he needs please furnish to him, and charge the same to my account. He has not received his trunk, and I fear he may suffer for the want of necessary changes.—Letter 100, 1893.
(WM 329.2)
Helping a Minister Suffering Illness—Brother and Sister A. have been laboring in Ormondville, about one hundred miles from here, with good results.... I met him in Napier, and he told me I was the one who sent him to school in Healdsburg, paying his expenses to obtain an education. I was so thankful to see the result of this investment.
(WM 329.3)
We sent Brother A.... to the institute at St. Helena.... He is a great sufferer. I have appropriated three hundred dollars to this case, although there are many cases where every dollar is needed, but I feel perfectly clear in helping in this case. It is a case where those who love and fear God must show their sympathy in a tangible manner and bear in mind that Christ identified his interest with suffering humanity.—Letters 79 and 33, 1893.
(WM 330.1)
Mrs. White Meeting the Problems of Depression—Brother M.’s family are industrious workers if they can only get work to do. We will not see them go hungry or destitute of clothing or become discouraged. They are bought, bought by the blood of Christ, and are of value with God. While in this country we will continue to help the poor and distressed as far as possible. Brother M. is in debt on his place; I met the last quarter’s interest, seven pounds, for which I expect nothing, but I would not, could not, see the family turned into the street.... We pray most earnestly that the Lord will work in behalf of this dear family.
(WM 330.2)
We are sorely perplexed ourselves to understand our duty to all these suffering ones. So many families are out of employment, and that means destitute, hungry, afflicted, and oppressed. I can see no way but to help these poor souls in their great need, and I shall do this if the Lord will. And He does will. His word is sure, and cannot fail, nor be changed by any of the human devices to evade it.
(WM 330.3)
We must help the needy and the oppressed lest Satan take them out of our hands, out of our ranks, and place them, while under temptation, in his own ranks.—Letter 42, 1894.
(WM 330.4)
Shopping to Meet the Needs of the Poor—I go to Sydney today to the yearly sales to purchase some goods. They have these sales to rid the stores of their old stock. The poor around us are suffering for food and clothing, and I can buy at an advantage by visiting these stores. We economize as much as possible, and there is need enough for it.... There are many poor who are distressed for want of food and clothing who are of the household of faith. Our purses will scarcely suffice to reach the needs of those we know. Jesus says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”Matthew 25:40. How precious are these words of comfort to the poor!—Letter 39, 1895.
(WM 330.5)
A Dorcas Society Organized—Sunday has been a busy day for us, planning for the very, very poor and setting in operation some plans which will relieve myself and family from doing everything that is to be done. Sister C., a worthy woman, is prostrated upon her bed with sciatica. She has a son thirteen years of age and an aged mother, who is an invalid with no means of support. The mother has had help from her sons in paying house rent, and as times have become harder and closer this is all they seem able to do. We have also Bro. R. and his wife with four helpless children. He does his level best to support his innocent children, but they are in want all the time. He gets little for his fruit. We now go round to the members of the church to see if they can supply us with old clothes for these destitute families. I have been buying good material at sales to make up for them, as well as supplying them with food.
(WM 331.1)
Some of our family were out on a charity expedition yesterday, and made a little beginning. Some things were collected. There are eight families that we have been helping all that we thought advisable.
(WM 331.2)
A Dorcas society is to open this week to examine and remodel old and new material to help the needy. The members of my family and I have made many donations of money and clothing. The draft upon us has not been small. We do not have to hunt up cases; they hunt us up. These things are forced upon our notice; we cannot be Christians and pass them by, and say, “Be ye warmed and clothed,”(James 2:15-17) and do not those things that will warm and clothe them. The Lord Jesus says, “The poor always ye have with you.”Matthew 26:11. They are God’s legacy to us.—Manuscript 4, 1895.
(WM 331.3)
Assisting With Food and Clothing—The poor, our family have had to assist in food and clothing, and to help the widow and fatherless by money gifts as well as food and clothing. This is part of our work as Christians which cannot be neglected. Christ said, “The poor always ye have with you,” and in this part of the Lord’s vineyard that is literally true. Doing good in all its forms in enjoined upon the Lord’s missionaries by the Holy Scriptures. Read 2 Corinthians 9. You see, not only is our work to preach, but as we see suffering humanity in the world, we are to help them in their temporal necessities. Thus we will be instruments in the hands of God....
(WM 332.1)
Those who have given themselves to the Lord will yoke up with Christ and will work in Christ’s lines, ever looking to Jesus for wisdom and correct judgment as to how to move. Many bring their zeal and natural temperaments into their benevolence; they move by impulse: they give to those to whom they take a notion to give; and others who are every bit as worthy, they, like the priest and Levite, look upon them but do not feel any particular interest, and pass by on the other side, which is the side of indifference and neglect. Doing good in all its forms is enjoined in the Holy Scriptures, but prudence and careful consideration are needed to know how to show mercy and help the really needy. The way that is profitable to both parties is to help them to help themselves; open ways before them in the place of giving them money; find some work for them to do; manifest discretion; and be sure we make such use of means as will do the most good for the Lord’s poor in the present and future.—Letter 31b, 1895.
(WM 332.2)
Work Supplied to Needy Families—There were many here who were poor and in need. Men who were trying to serve the Lord and keep His commandments could not provide food for their families, and they begged us to give them something to do. We employed them, and they ate at our table. We gave them suitable wages until their families were fed and comfortably clothed. Then we let them go to find work somewhere else. Some of them we had to provide with a suit of Willie’s clothes, to make them fit for Sabbath meetings.—Letter 33, 1897.
(WM 332.3)
Providing Work, Books, and Clothes—Those in this country who receive the truth are mostly poor, and in the winter time it is a hard matter for them to sustain their families. Since I wrote the foregoing, a letter was brought to me from ... a man who was a coachbuilder. He was in great poverty two years ago, and we gave him work. He was obliged to leave his family, a wife and five children, in the suburbs of Sydney, and come to Cooranbong, about ninety miles off, to obtain work. Before this he was in partnership with his brother, who also is a coachbuilder.
(WM 333.1)
But when he embraced the Sabbath he lost his situation, and he worked for small wages, and finally he could get no work. He is an intelligent, refined man, an able teacher in the Sabbath school, and a sincere Christian. We kept him as long as we had work that he could do, and when he left he modestly asked if we could let him have a few books on present truth, for he had none. I gave him about six dollars’ worth of books. He also asked if we had any cast-off clothing that we could give him, that his wife might make over for the children. I provided him a box of clothing, for which he was very grateful.—Letter 113, 1897.
(WM 333.2)
As Set Before Her by the Lord—Why do you not search out the cases of such men as Brother_____? He is a Christian gentleman in every sense of the word. He is a man that God loves. Such men as he are precious in the Lord’s sight. I know him well.
(WM 333.3)
I interested myself in his case.... I endeavored to anticipate his needs and never to place him where he would have to beg for work. While in Cooranbong I tried to set an example of how the needy should be helped. I tried to work in the way set before me by the Lord.—Letter 105, 1902.
(WM 333.4)
A Dorcas Society in the E. G. White Home—Last evening we had a Dorcas Society in our home, and my workers who help in the preparation of my articles for the papers and do the cooking and sewing, five of them, sat up until midnight, cutting out clothing. They made three pairs of pants for the children of one family. Two sewing machines were running until midnight. I think there was never a happier set of workers than were these girls last evening.
(WM 334.1)
We made up a bundle of clothing for this family, and thought it was about all we could do. Sister C. is now on this errand of mercy to this poor family, cutting out garments from the material provided. There are also other families to be supplied. And now comes another request, and we must supply them with things for winter wear. Thus it has been ever since we came to this country. We shall certainly heed the call to send a box of clothing to these needy ones. I merely tell you these things that you may know that we are surrounded by poverty. The wife of this fisherman is to be baptized next Sabbath. The poor have the gospel preached unto them. The people of this locality have very little of this world’s goods.—Letter 113, 1897.
(WM 334.2)
Assisting the Sick and Destitute—The sick call upon us for help, and we go to their assistance. Sister McEnterfer, my helper and nurse, is called upon from miles around to prescribe for them and give them treatment. She has had wonderful success. There is no physician in Cooranbong, but we shall build a hospital or sanitarium soon, where the sick can be brought in and cared for. In the past we have brought them to our own home and cared for them, for we cannot let human beings suffer without doing something to relieve them....
(WM 334.3)
We take no pay for anything we do, but we must have a hospital, which will cost as little as possible, where we can have some conveniences and facilities for caring for the sick.
(WM 334.4) 2 I
This is the work of Christ, and this must be our work. We want to follow closely in the footsteps of the Master. We find in this place intelligent people, who once were in comfortable positions, but poverty has come to them. We find these work, and pay them for it, and thus relieve their necessities. This is the very work to be done in order to heal the maladies of the soul as well as of the body. Christ is the mighty Healer of soul and body.
(WM 334.5)
Christ declared, “The poor always have ye with you.”Matthew 26:11. Oh, how I long to do more than I am now doing. May the Lord strengthen me, is my prayer, that I may be able to do all He has appointed me to do. Yesterday a box of clothing was sent to a poor but intelligent and industrious family. The father is a fine workman, a coachmaker by trade. He works when he can get work. This is now the third box of clothing we have sent him. Souls are coming into the truth through the influence of this family, and Brother Starr is going to Sydney to baptize several who have been converted to the truth.
(WM 335.1)
I long to see the work advancing. We shall labor on patiently, and the Lord will do the convicting and the converting. We cannot neglect the poor. Christ was poor. He knew privation and want. I use every dollar of my income to advance the work.... We mean to work while the day lasts, for the night cometh in which no man can work.—Letter 111, 1898.
(WM 335.2)
Medical Missionary Work Around Cooranbong—Sr. Sara McEnterfer, in company with Bro. James, my farmer, has just gone to visit Bro. C., who lives six miles from here in the bush. This brother has embraced the truth since we came to Cooranbong....
(WM 335.3)
Now news has come to us that our beloved brother has come down with typhoid fever. Mr. Pringle is the only man in the village who knows anything about giving treatment without drugs; but six weeks ago he was called upon to attend Mr. B., who was also down with typhoid. He has stayed with him night and day, and has now returned to his home, worn out with the strain. So he cannot be depended on to nurse Bro. C.
(WM 335.4)
Sara and Bro. J. have gone up to see what the situation is. If Bro. C. can be moved, he must be brought within our reach, even if he has to be carried on a litter. We cannot let him lie there and die, to leave his wife and children to the mercy of whoever will have mercy upon them....
(WM 335.5)
March 21. Sara has just returned with the good news that Bro. C. is much better. He was attacked, but Mr. Pringle, who was able to visit him, found him a very different subject from Mr. B. Bro. C. is a health reformer, and when his case was given vigorous treatment the fever was mastered. He is weak, but is up and dressed, and is cheerful and happy in the Lord. Sara says that the corn he is growing will help largely to sustain his family. They have a hand mill, and grind this corn over and over until it is fine. From this they make their bread, for they have not money to purchase fine flour. We shall send them some flour. This is the work that has been done in several cases. We have just helped men to help themselves.
(WM 336.1)
Bro. C. has that in him that will not allow him, if he has health, to depend on anyone. But the man who purchased his boat has paid him nothing, for he could not. W. C. White saw Bro. C.’s necessity, and borrowed eight pounds from our blacksmith and loaned it to him, that he might make a beginning. And all are glad and more than astonished to see the beginning he has made. About twelve acres have been declared and planted with sweet corn and field corn. The sweet corn they will eat, and the field corn they will sell. The vegetables that have been grown help a great deal in supporting the family. The little lads are working with their father like little farmers. They are so earnest and full of zeal that it is amusing to look at them and see how happy they are in their work. They have not much society besides their own family connections, but they are in the very best school they could be in.—Letter 48, 1899.
(WM 336.2)
First Attention to Needy Church Members—There are families who have lost their situations which they have held for twenty years. One man and his wife have a large family of children which we have been caring for. I am paying the expenses of four children in school from this one family. We see many cases we must help. These are excellent men we have helped. They have large families, but they are the Lord’s poor. One man was a coachbuilder, a cabinetmaker, and a wheelwright, and a gentleman of superior order in the sight of God, who reads the heart of all. This family we provided with clothing from our family for three years. We moved the family to Cooranbong. We hoped to help them get a home this winter. I let them live in my tent, and they put an iron roof on it and have lived in it a year. Everyone loves this man, his wife, and children. We must help them. They have a father and a mother they must support. Three families of this same order are on the school premises, and oh, if we only had money to help them build a cheap wooden home, how glad they would be! I use every penny I have in this helping work. But it makes a difference with me whom I help, whether it is God’s suffering poor who are keeping His commandments and lose their situations in consequence or whether it is a blasphemer treading under foot the commandments of God. And God regards the difference. We should make these men and women all workers together with God.—Letter 45, 1900.
(WM 336.3)
“We Helped All We Could.”—In Australia we have tried to do all we could in this line. We located in Cooranbong, and there, where the people have to send twenty-five miles for a doctor, and pay him twenty-five dollars a visit, we helped the sick and suffering all we could. Seeing that we understood something of disease, the people brought their sick to us, and we cared for them. Thus we entirely broke down the prejudice in that place....
(WM 337.1)
Medical missionary work is the pioneer work. It is to be connected with the gospel ministry. It is the gospel in practice, the gospel practically carried out. I have been made so sorry to see that our people have not taken hold of this work as they should....
(WM 337.2)
All heaven is interested in the work of relieving suffering humanity. Satan is exerting all his powers to obtain control over the souls and bodies of men. He is trying to bind them to the wheels of his chariot. My heart is made sad as I look at our churches, which ought to be connected in heart and soul and practice with the medical missionary work.—The General Conference Bulletin, April 12, 1901.
(WM 337.3)
Mrs. White Retained Broad Sympathies Throughout Life
Drawn Out to President McKinley’s Widow—I am not able to sleep past two o’clock A.M. I am awakened often at one o’clock at night with my heart drawn out in tender sympathy for the bereaved wife of President McKinley. One is taken and the other left. The strong one upon whose large affections she could ever lean, is not. While he was in health, fulfilling the duties of his office, an apparently friendly hand was extended, which President McKinley was ready to grasp. That Judas hand held a pistol and shot the President. Amid scenes of pleasant life and enjoyment came sorrow and sadness and suffering and woe. How could he do this terrible murderous action?
(WM 338.1)
My heart is in deep sympathy for the one who is left. I have been repeating over and over, Oh, how short come all words of human sympathy. There are thousands that would speak words to relieve if possible the breaking heart, but they do not understand how feeble are words to comfort the bereaved one, who in her feebleness ever found a human heart in her husband, full of tenderness and compassion and love. The strong human arm upon which the frail suffering wife leaned, is not.
(WM 338.2)
I do not wish that our sister should have less regret and less love for the faithful husband, but that she should now look to her best Friend, One whose love has been expressed to her all her life. I would speak to her the words of Isaiah 61:1-3: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.”Isaiah 61:1-3. —Diary, 1901.
(WM 338.3)
Ministering to Aged War Veterans—At one time I had some remnants of books and some complete volumes of Sabbath Readings stored somewhere in Battle Creek. Please ask Brother Amadon to make diligent search for all these things, and to send to me....
(WM 339.1)
We can use the small volumes of Sabbath Readings and other works to good advantage in orphans’ homes and in many other places where these little books will be highly valued. We could use some of them in the Soldiers’ Home at Yountville, where many hundreds of old soldiers are provided for in large government buildings. We are giving these men every attention possible. Every other Sabbath a party from the sanitarium and the St. Helena churches visits them, to sing religious hymns and to speak to them. They are interested in these meetings, and seem delighted with everything that our people do for them.
(WM 339.2)
We are sending papers to these soldiers and have placed in their library copies of my works, Christ’s Object Lessons, and some larger books of mine. Many of these men are intelligent. Our brethren and sisters are working this field, and we hope to do much more for the soldiers than we have yet done. Sometimes a talk—a short, pointed, Bible sermon—is given them, and they listen with intense interest. The gospel songs, the short prayer, and the good talk, taken together, seem to be just what is needed to interest the old men. They say, “We never have had any such work as this done for us before!”
(WM 339.3)
We desire to keep books and papers circulating among these soldiers. Please help us all you can along this line by gathering together something for them to read—books and papers full of Bible truth.—Letter 96, 1903.
(WM 339.4)
A Letter to Fatherless Children
San Jose, California June 29, 1905 Dear Children
(WM 340)
I must write a few lines to you. We wish that we could step into your home and weep with you and kneel with you in prayer. Will each one of you seek the Lord and serve Him? You can be a great blessing to your mother by doing nothing that will make her heart sad. The Lord Jesus will receive you if you will give your hearts to Him. Do all that is possible to relieve your mother from every care and burden.
(WM 340.1)
The Lord has promised to be a Father to the fatherless. If you will give your hearts to Him, He will give you power to become the sons and daughters of God. If the elder children will relieve the mother by bearing as many burdens as possible, and by treating the younger children kindly, teaching them to do right and not to worry mother, the Lord will greatly bless them.
(WM 340.2)
Give your hearts to the loving Saviour, and do only those things that are pleasing in His sight. Do nothing to grieve your mother. Remember that the Lord loves you, and that each one of you can become a member of the family of God. If you are faithful here, when He shall come in the clouds of heaven, you will meet your father, and will be a united family.
(WM 340.3) 2 I
In love, Ellen G. White. —Letter 165, 1905.
(WM 340)