THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY EMPHASIS STORIES  
VOLUME I  
Prepared Jointly  
By  
Norma Youngberg,  
The Ellen G. White Estate,  
and  
The General Conference  
Department of Education  
January, 1979


Copyright 1979 by  
The Ellen G. White Estate  
The General Conference Department of Education  
All Rights Reserved  
No part of this material may be reproduced by mimeograph,  photocopy,  
or other means without written permission of the copyright holders.  
Printed in the United States  
of America


PREFACE  
In 1964 the White Estate launched a program for Seventh-day Adventist  
elementary schools known as "Spirit of Prophecy Emphasis Week." Stories,  
pictures and class aids were prepared for five days of worships or class  
sessions. The emphasis in each program was the role of Ellen White as the  
Lord spoke through her in dreams and visions. Eventually a six-year cycle  
of materials was produced on such topics as "Prophets and Visions," "The  
Human Interest Story," "A Worldwide Church," and "Ellen White and Her 
Friends.11  
After several years of revising and updating, it was suggested that the  
programs should (1) be put in more permanent form, and (2) be written for  
upper and lower grade levels. A committee composed of elementary teachers  
and supervisors met for three weeks in the summer of 1977. They combed through  
Emphasis Week materials, books, manuscripts and other White Estate sources,  
selecting what they considered to be the best stories available.  
Norma Youngberg was then asked to adapt and write the stories for two  
grade levels, and Edna Mae Loveless prepared teacher discussion ideas for  
each story. Finally, the White Estate and the General Conference Department  
of Education cooperated in organizing and producing the books.  
This book, then, is the first in a series of four books containing stories  
on two grade levels that will eventually be prepared. There will be four  
b ^d subject areas in each of the four cycles: (1) Human Interest,  
Center roi rtuvenuw. • - 
Andrews University  
Berrien Springs, Michigan


(2) Prophets, Visions, and Insights, (3)  Your House is the World, and  
(A) Experiences Related to the Spirit of Prophecy. Stories will be the  
central focus, with class ideas and eventually pictures and other supple- 
mentary teachers' aids.  
The stories in these books are not in print in this form anywhere  
else. They are copyrighted by the White Estate and the General Conference  
Department of Education, and should not be reproduced without permission.  
We do hope that you will find that these stories, prepared exclusively  
for Seventh-day Adventist elementary schools, inspire you as a teacher as  
well as provide a valuable tool to build the trust and confidence  of your  
students in the prophetic gift as witnessed in God's remnant church.  
Paul A. Gordon  
Ellen G. White Estate  
Washington, D.C.  
January, 1979  
iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS  
VOLUME I  
PART I, Grades 1-4  
HUMAN INTEREST  STORIES 1  
Early Life: Two Little Surprises 2  
Middle Life: From a Little Girl to  a Teenager 10  
Later Life: When God Chooses Messengers 16  
PROPHETS, VISIONS AND INSIGHTS 24  
The Big Bible 25  
What is a Prophet? 31 
What is a Vision? 36  
The Ames, Iowa, Campmeeting 41  
A Horse and Carriage 46  
A Bridge of Ice 51  
YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD 57  
Africa: The Bushman's Dream, Part I 58  
The Bushman's Dream, Part II 62  
Europe: New Light Shines in Europe, Part I 68  
New Light Shines in Europe, Part II 72  
South America: Italy to Uruguay 77  
Far East: Kondima Named Her Dolly Ellen 82  
Australia: Ellen in Australia 88  
Inter-America: Juan Wanted to be Rich 93  
EXPERIENCES RELATED TO SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WRITINGS 97  
The Girl Who Giggled 98  
Ellen and the Sabbath Day 103 
Ellen's Gold Watch 108  
iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS  
VOLUME I  
PART II, Grades 5-8  
HUMAN INTEREST STORIES 112  
Early Life: Lost in a Storm at Sea 113  
Middle Life: Stocking Behind the Door 121  
Later Life: Ellen's Last Home—Elmshaven 126  
PROPHETS, VISIONS AND INSIGHTS 134  
God Chose Ellen 135 
Ellen's Longest Vision 140 
Ellen and the Bicycles of Battle Creek 147  
Nellie Sisley Never Forgot, Part I 152 
Nellie Sisley Never Forgot, Part II 156 
A Horse and Carriage 160  
A Bridge of Ice 165  
YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD 170  
Europe: Your House is the World 171  
Asia: The Dove and the Book 176  
South America: Crisis in Argentina 181  
Australia: Instead of a Windmill 186  
Southern Asia: A Book and a Baby 190  
South Sea Islands: Harvest on Pitcairn Island 195  
North America: Ellen and the Madison School 200  
EXPERIENCES RELATED TO SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WRITINGS 206  
Mountain Adventure 207  
Lost and Found 213  
Wine, Grapes and Other Things 218  
v


/  
HUMAN INTEREST STORIES  
Early Life: "Two Little Surprises"  
Middle Life: "From a Little Girl to a Teenager"  
Later Life: "When God Chooses Messengers"  
1


TO THE TEACHER:  
This first story is designed as a background on which to build  
understandings for the stories of Ellen White's life that will follow.  
The names and ages of Ellen White's older brothers and sisters  
at the time of her birth are listed for the teacher's use as desired.  
month of each  birth is not known  •  
Caroline G.  age 15  born 1812  
Harriet  age 13  born 1814  
John B.  age 12  born 1815  
Mary P.  age 7  born 1821  
Sarah B.  age 5  born 1822  
Robert Jr.  age 2  born 1826  

Married a minister.  
Married F. E. Belden who 
wrote and composed many  
Adventist songs.  
Died in his early twenties.  
2


TWO LITTLE SURPRISES  
Mr. Harmon stood on the back steps of his farm house near the little  
village of Gorham in Maine. November snow covered the ground. He rang  
the old metal cowbell loud and long. Its clanking sound sent out the  
message to his three oldest children, "Come to breakfast! Breakfast's  
ready!"  
In the barn, Caroline, who was 15 years old, and Harriet, who was  
13, heard the bell. Caroline finished milking the cow while Harriet put  
more hay in the manger. In the chicken house, twelve-year-old John threw  
some wheat to the hens. Then the children dashed into the house. On the  
rch, they stamped snow from their boots then crowded into the kitchen.  
"Whew!" exclaimed Caroline, handing her father the pail of fresh,  
foaming milk. "It's cold outside. I'm ready for something hot to eat!"  
After they had washed, Mr. Harmon called the three younger children.  
"Mary! Sarah! Robert! Come and sit down." He tied a bib around little  
Robert's neck and lifted him into his highchair.  
"No, Papa," Robert whined, "I want Mama do it."  
"Where jls Mama?" asked five-year-old Sarah looking around. 
"Yes, where is she?" asked Mary who was seven.  
The older children looked into the twinkling eyes of their father.  
They knew.  
"Papa! Papa! Did Mama have the baby last night? Did she?" asked  
Mary.  
Mr. Harmon smiled and nodded his head. Everyone started talking at  
3


once.  
"Is it a boy or a girl?"  
"I want a little brother."  
"No, I want a baby sister."  
"Is it a girl?"  
"It's a boy, isn't it?"  
"Tell us Papa! Please tell us!"  
Mr. Harmon put up both hands for silence. "In a little while I will  
let you see for yourselves," he said. "Right now, children, your mother  
needs to rest. But as soon as we have eaten and all the chores are done,  
I will take you to your mother's room. I want her to have the fun of  
showing you what God gave us."  
The children did their chores with unusual speed. The girls washed  
the dishes and put them away. They filled the kitchen pail with water from  
the well. They swept the floor and made the beds. John filled the box  
behind the big black stove with split wood, then he watered the chickens and 
put a big armful of hay in the stall where old Bossy stood munching her  
grain.  
"Well done! Well done, indeed!" exclaimed Father Harmon. "Now,  
follow me."  
On tiptoes they followed him up the stairs. Mr. Harmon opened the  
bedroom door and peeked inside.  
"Are you ready, Eunice?" he whispered to his wife.  
"Ready, Robert," she answered softly.  
Father Harmon turned to his children and put his finger to his lips.  
He opened the door and they stepped inside. Quietly they gathered  around  
the bed. What a surprise met their wide eyes! In their mother's right ar- 
4


was a tiny baby, but that was not all. Her left arm was around another  
iny baby. The children looked from one baby to the other and then into  
their mother's eyes.  
Mother smiled. "You have two baby sisters," she said. "Aren't they  
lovely! God gave us two precious little gifts to love and care for."  
"Twins!" whispered Harriet. "Twin sisters! What are we going to name  
them?"  
"Well," said Mother, "Why don't you think of names today? Because our  
babies are twins, perhaps it would be nice to choose names that begin with  
the same letter. Write a list of names you think of. That will help your  
papa and me decide what to call these little ones."  
"Children," father announced, "No hat making this morning! You may  
celebrate the babies' birthday by doing whatever you wish. This afternoon, 
though, I'll need your help as usual. We are now a family of ten—Father,  
mother, and eight children. We shall make and sell more hats, plant more  
garden, and fill our home with more love."  
"We'll all help," Caroline promised.  
"Yes, we will!" chimed the others. "We will! We will!"  
That evening, at the supper table, father collected the list of names  
the children had thought of during the day. Then, while they were cleaning  
up after supper, he took the names up to Mother's room and shut the  door.  
The supper dishes were washed. The children waited. They even set the  
table for the next day's breakfast. Still they waited. Finally Father came  
down the stairs.  
"What names did you choose?" six eager voices asked. 
"Come, gather around the table," Father invited. He put the big family  
"^ible on the table and opened it to a special page. "This is the page on  
5


which are written the names of all the people in the Harmon family."  
The children crowded around. At the top of this page were the  words:  
ROBERT HARMON AND EUNICE GOULD, MARRIED JULY 11, 1810 
Right underneath were the names of all the children and the year each  
one had been born. They watched Father dip his pen into the ink and add  
the names of their little twin sisters.  
ELLEN GOULD HARMON BORN NOVEMBER 26, 1827  
ELIZABETH HARMON BORN NOVEMBER 26, 1827  
"Ellen and Elizabeth," the children said. "Ellen and Elizabeth," they  
repeated. "What pretty names."  
Ellen and Elizabeth grew like most little girls. They learned to walk  
and talk and sing. They learned to play with Robert, who was only two years 
older. They learned to help with the work.  
Every morning, just before breakfast, Mr. Harmon had family worship.  
Every evening, just before Mother tucked the little ones into bed, he read  
from God*s Word. Then the family knelt and Father  prayed. Mother prayed.  
Then, beginning with the oldest, each child prayed.  
Every Sunday they went to the Methodist Church for Sunday School.  
Ellen and Elizabeth grew up loving Jesus and talking to Him.  
From their house, the garden and pasture land sloped gently down to  
a little creek. Trees grew on both sides of the stream. The children liked  
to play there.  
One day in autumn, Ellen ran down the sloping hillside  to watch the birds  
and little wild animals. The squirrels scurried up the trees and hopped  
from branch to branch. Their fluffy tails sparkled in the sunshine like 
silver. Meadow larks were singing their happiest songs.  
6


Several neighbor children were playing by the creek. Ellen joined  
«.hem in their fun. They kicked the fallen red and yellow leaves high in  
the air. They laughed to hear the leaves crackle and crunch under their  
feet.  
"Oh, look what I've found!" one of the older boys called. Everyone  
came running.  
"Hickory nuts!" they exclaimed. "Look at that pile of hickory nuts  
right there in that hole in the tree." Eager hands reached in to grab some  
nuts. Some of the boys began filling their pockets with the nuts.  
"Please don't take the nuts," Ellen called. "Those are the squirrels'  
nuts. They don't belong to us."  
"Oh, don't worry," the children laughed.  
But Ellen did worry. "Please leave them there," she begged. "The  
squirrels worked hard to gather all those nuts. They need them to eat when  
winter comes. "  
Most of the children didn't listen. One girl who had cracked a nut and  
was eating it called out, "The squirrels can find some more. They have  
plenty of time."  
When Ellen saw the nuts disappear, she ran home  to the dried corn bin.  
She picked out several large ears of corn and carried them back to the  
tree. Her playmates had gone. Ellen's small fingers pressed hard to shell  
the corn from the cobs. She stuffed the corn kernels into the tree hole, 
then pushed leaves up against it.  
"I'm sorry they took your nuts," she said, hoping the squirrels might  
understand when they discovered that their nuts were gone. "You won't like  
corn as much as what you had, but it's the best I can get for you."  
7


Even as a young child, Ellen loved God and His special creatures;  
and she knew that by being kind to them she was pleasing Jesus.  
8


TWO LITTLE SURPRISES - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand Ellen's family setting.  
To be aware of the human tenderness exhibited by Ellen.  
For discussion:  
1. What do you think would be fun about being a twin? 
2. What do you think you might not like about being a twin?  
3. What would you like about being part of a big family?  
4. What would you dislike about being part of a big family? 
5. Think about your responsibility to animals as you decide which  
of the following would be very important to  you to do, which would  
you do if you had time, money, or know-how for it, which would you  
probably never do?  
a. Feed a hungry animal.  
b. Rescue a treed cat.  
c. Get help for an orphaned animal.  
d. Put out food for birds when the snow limits their food supply.  
e. Feed a pet regularly.  
f. Stop someone you know who is teasing an animal.  
g. Stop someone you don't know who is teasing an animal.  
h. Teach a pet to obey orders.  
(For this exercise, you might arrange a continuum along the side of  
the room or on the chalkboard, and ask the students to stand under 
the words that describe their position as you read each item. Take  
their responses seriously. )  
I'D NEVER I'D DO IT I MIGHT I WOULD IT WOULD BE VERY  
DO IT IF TOLD TO DO IT USUALLY DO IT IMPORTANT FOR ME TO DO  f? * m f Iff  
6. What is really important to you in the care of animals?  
7. Based on the story we have just heard, think of a  word to describe  
Ellen. (Possible responses: kind, thoughtful, independent, twin.)  
9


FROM A LITTLE GIRL TO A TEENAGER  
"Wake up, little twins," Mother Harmon called. "Your father is  
almost ready to load your bed on the wagon." Ellen and Elizabeth stretched  
and opened their eyes. They saw an empty bedroom—no curtains, no chairs.  
Sarah and Harriet's bed was gone. Even the little braided rug beside their  
own bed was not there.  
"Remember?" questioned Mother. "Remember? This  is the day we leave  
the farm and move to Portland."  
Of course they remembered! Only yesterday Father and John had taken  
a load of things the twelve miles into Portland. Of course they remembered:  
Like a flash, four feet landed on the board floor. They pushed their arms  
and legs into the clothes Mother had ready for them. The twins didn't want  
to miss one minute of the excitement. The family had eaten breakfast.  
Mother insisted that the girls each eat a bowl of hot porridge and drink  
a cup of warm milk. They swallowed the food at record speed. Soon they  
were running around trying to help, but getting in the way.  
Finally the wagon was loaded. The chickens were in little screened  
boxes. The cow was tied to the wagon so that she could walk behind it.  
The children climbed up on the wagon. They squeezed into little places  
here and there. Father picked  up the reins and started the horses on a  
slow walk.  
Ellen was excited about doing something new, but she couldn't help  
10


feeling sad as they started down the long hill. Their farm at the top of  
j hill was such a beautiful place to live. Every day they had been able  
to look down into the valley and then far away across the Connecticut  
River to the beautiful White Mountains.  
Once more Ellen asked, "Do we have to leave our home?"  
"I know how you feel, Ellen," Mother Harmon comforted her. "This is  
where you children were born. We have had both happy and difficult times  
here. We are a big family now. It isn't easy to make a living on the  
farm. In Portland, where more people live, Father can sell more hats. Be- 
sides, we want you to have a good education, Portland has a good school."  
When Ellen was a little girl, Portland was not a big city as it is to- 
day. There were no streetcars or automobiles. Houses were farther apart.  
Many people had barns in which to keep their cow and horses and wagon, 
^ar the town were pastures and meadows where  cows and horses might graze  
during the spring and summer.  
The Harmons were soon settled and busily caring for their animals,  
planting a garden, and making hats to sell. Everyone in the family helped.  
One day, Mother handed Elizabeth and Ellen a sack lunch. It was to  
be their first day at school. The twins walked along the path beside the  
road to the Brackett Street School. John was with them, and probably Sarah,  
too. 
The twins studied hard and were soon able to read and write. They made  
many friends. Mother never allowed them to stay and play after school, nor  
were they to linger on the way home. Chores waited for each one to do.  
The school years and the summers slipped by quickly until the twins were  
nine years old and in the third grade.  
One afternoon, Ellen and Elizabeth, and a classmate came out of school  
11


and started for home. As they walked hand in hand across the park square,  
an angry thirteen-year-old girl followed them. We do not know why, but  
she shouted and threatened them. The girls hurried on as fast as they  
could. When they were nearly across the park, they heard angry shouts  
again, louder and meaner this time.  Ellen turned her head to see how  
close the big girl was behind them. At that moment a large rock came hurt- 
ling through the air. It struck Ellen full in the face. The angry girl 
turned and ran. Ellen fell to the ground, unconscious. The rock had  
smashed the delicate bones in her nose and  also injured her face.  
For three weeks Ellen lay at home unconscious. The doctors came.  
"There is nothing we can do to help her," they whispered sadly. "She  
will die." And they went away.  
Mother Harmon never gave up. She had a big cradle built for Ellen.  
Mrs. Harmon rocked her child and talked to her even though Ellen was un- 
conscious. She rubbed the thin little legs and arms and kept them warm.  
The family and friends prayed for Ellen. They missed her sunny, happy  
ways. Finally Ellen began to awaken. She did not remember anything about  
the accident. She did not know why she was so weak and thin. Many more  
weeks passed before she could even sit up.  
During this time Ellen often talked to Jesus. She told Him all her  
troubles. She asked Him to forgive her sins. She felt that He was her  
very dear Friend. She wished that all her playmates, and even the girl  
who threw the rock, knew that Jesus was their Friend, too.  
After a long time, Ellen returned to school. How eager she was to  
make up the lessons that she had missed! Perspiration dropped from her  
forehead. When she tried to read, all the words seemed to run  together.  
When she tried to write, her hand trembled so badly that she could not  
control it.  
12


After a few weeks Ellen's teachers said she was too weak and sick to  
iy in school. They invited her to return when she was stronger. Several  
times after that Ellen tried to go on with her schooling, but each time she  
had to give up. This was the greatest disappointment in her young life.  
When Ellen was twelve years old, William Miller came to Portland.  
He held meetings every day. There were meetings in the mornings, in the  
afternoons, and in the evenings. People brought their lunch baskets and 
stayed all day. They listened to the wonderful, yet most solemn news that  
Jesus was coming soon. At the close of one meeting, William Miller invited  
those who wanted to be ready to meet Jesus, to come to the front for special  
prayer. Ellen went forward.  
"Lord," Ellen prayed, "I can never be good enough to enter heaven."  
For weeks she was filled with great sadness because she felt that her sins  
were too great. Jesus could never save her. She did not tell anyone, not  
in her mother, how sad and lost she felt.  
The following summer, Ellen went with her parents to the Methodist Camp- 
meeting. She was glad to have this special time to learn more about Jesus.  
The Holy Spirit helped her understand that the very first time she had asked  
God to forgive her, He had gladly done so.  
Ellen's pastor told her, "All you have to do is to believe that God has  
forgiven your sins. Thank Him. Trust Him. Be happy and joyful in His loving  
care. He will save you."  
When Ellen understood this, the peace of Jesus filled her life. She  
wrote: "The sun shone bright and clear. . . . The trees and grass were a  
fresher green, the sky a deeper blue. The earth seemed to smile under the  
peace of God. . . . The birds sang more sweetly than ever before."1 Trust- 
ing her Saviour changed Ellen's sadness to gladness.  
13


She saw the loveliness of the flowers which her mother had planted  
around their  home. Ellen walked over and touched the delicate petals of a  
pink rose. She thought: "How perfectly God has made  this beautiful flowt-,  
He takes care of the flowers and so I know He loves and guards us, His  
children." Then, in great happiness, Ellen exclaimed, "I am God's child.  
His loving care is around me. I will be obedient. I will praise His dear  
2  name. I will love Him always."  
One day Ellen told her pastor that she wanted to join the Methodist  
church. He wrote her name in the church book. Ellen looked forward to being  
baptized after she had proved that she truly wanted to follow Jesus.  
On June 26, 1842, Ellen was baptized with twelve of her friends in the  
Casco bay near Portland, Maine. The wind was blowing, and the waves dashed  
upon the sandy beach but the peace  of Jesus was in Ellen's heart.  
"I belong to You,  Jesus," she whispered as she walked back up on the  
beach where her mother wrapped a blanket around her.  
God, who was watching and listening, knew the wonderous things that  
Ellen would do for Him, but no one else did. Only God knew.  
* * *  
^ Life Sketches, page 24.  
2 Adapted from Testimonies for the Church,  Vol. 1, page 19.  
14


FROM A LITTLE GIRL TO A TEENAGER - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand that God's providences are constant in spite  
of calamities and that they are designed to lead people to Him.  
For discussion:  
1. What advantages do you think Ellen had in her early childhood  
and teen years?  
(Possible responses)  
a. She lived in the country some of that time.  
b. Her parents loved her.  
c. She had a twin sister.  
d. Her parents believed in God.  
e. She got to hear William Miller preach. 
f. She got to go to campmeeting.  
2. What disadvantages were Ellen's?  
(Possible responses)  
a. Lack of extensive education;  
b. Poor  health;  
c. Damaged looks.  
3. In what ways do you think Ellen's lack of advantages were used to  
glorify God?  
(In spite of her limited schooling and poor health, God enabled her  
to deliver powerful messages beneficial to His work.)  
4. If someone said to you, "I can never be good enough to please  
God," what would you like to tell him?  
15


WHEN GOD CHOOSES MESSENGERS  
God always has had special messengers. The first ones were in Bible  
times. Let me tell you about some of them.  
One time, many of God's people were discouraged and sad because when  
they went to worship at the sanctuary, they saw their leaders doing wicked  
things. God wanted this wickedness stopped. He wanted to save His people  
How could He talk to them? God knew that He could trust the young boy  
Samuel who was working in the sanctuary. The priests were doing evil things,  
but not Samuel. Everything he did or thought was pure and good and true.  
"I will speak to My people through Samuel," God said.  
One night God called "Samuel! Samuel!" When the boy knew it was th  
Lord calling, he listened to what God wanted him to say and do. God asked  
him to do a very hard thing, but he did it. All the rest of his life  
Samuel was God's messenger."'"  
Hundreds of years later, God's people became too busy to think about  
Him. Many of them went to church, but in their thoughts they did not worship  
the Lord. They repeated prayers, but they were saying words only. They 
thought of God as being angry and far away.  
God longed for them to  know what He was really like. He asked a young  
2  
man, named Isaiah, to be His messenger. But Isaiah thought that he was too 
young to give God's messages to  people.  
While Isaiah was thinking about this, God gave him a vision. A vision  
is something like a dream. Suddenly Isaiah saw dazzling light all around  
him. He saw the eternal King of kings, the Lord God Himself, sitting on  
16


high throne. Bright, glorious angels surrounded Him. They reverently covered  
leir faces as they sang praises. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. . . . The  
whole earth is full of His glory."  
Isaiah felt too sinful to stay in God's holy presence, but the Lord sent  
an angel to touch the young man's lips and say, "Isaiah, all your sins are  
taken away."  
Then the Lord asked, "Whom shall I send as a messenger to My people?  
Who will go? Who will speak for Me?"  
Isaiah humbly answered, "Here am I. Send me."  
For sixty years Isaiah was the Lord's prophet. He taught and wrote  
about God. He helped people know how much God loves them. He helped them  
understand the visions God gave him. You can read about these visions in  
the book Isaiah wrote. You can also read the beautiful prophecies about  
Jesus who would come to earth and be born a baby.  
Again after many years, God's people forgot Him. They did not obey  
His commandments. They were selfish and stubborn and rebellious. God chose  
a boy named Jeremiah to be His special messenger to these people. This  
messenger would need to be strong and brave. Jeremiah wrote his own story  
telling us how God called him to be a prophet. Let's read what he wrote.  
(Jeremiah 1:4-9 TEV)  
"The Lord  said to me, 'I chose you before I gave you  life, and before  
you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.'  
"I Jeremiah answered, 'Sovereign Lord, I don't know how to speak; I  
am too young.'  
"But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say that you are too young, but go  
to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say.  
Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the  
^ord, have spoken!'  
17


"Then the Lord reached out, touched my lips,  and said to me, "Listen,  
I am giving you the words you must speak.'"  
Many times the people did not want to hear what God said. They blamed  
Jeremiah for all their troubles. They put him in a dungeon. They beat him. 
But nothing  could stop him from telling them what God had said. He warned  
them of what would happen if  they insisted on being selfish and rebellious.  
He told them what wonderful things the Lord would do for them if they obeyed  
and loved Him.  
No matter what Jeremiah did they refused to listen. But, oh, how they  
wished they had listened when they were kidnapped from their homeland and  
taken as slaves and captives to live in Babylon. And there in Babylon God 
chose another young man, Daniel, to be His prophet to these lonely captives.  
The Bible is full of stories about other faithful men and women who have  
been God's prophets. When we read about what they have written, we are  
really reading what God is telling us.  
On October 22, 1844, God's people were disappointed and oh, so sad!  
All that day they had waited, expecting Jesus to come with His holy angels  
to take them to heaven. But He did not come. In Portland, Maine, sixteen- 
year-old Ellen Harmon and her family had waited. When the day was over they  
were so disappointed that they could hardly bear it. Ellen had expected  
Jesus to give her a new, healthy, beautiful body. Her sadness was great,  
but she with many other Adventists said, "God's words are true. We will keep  
on trusting Him. We will keep on praying. He will help us understand why  
He did not come."  
God did not want His faithful people to be sad.  He had great and wonder- 
ful plans for them. They were to study to better understand the Bible. They  
were to grow in numbers. They were to tell all people on earth the good n  
18


of His love for everyone and that He is coming soon. Then,  and only then,  
ould He come. God needed a messenger—a messenger through whom He could  
guide His people and give them courage.  
On a December day, a few weeks after Ellen's  seventeenth birthday, she  
went to a friend's home to pray and study the Bible with four other young  
ladies. Ellen did not know the Lord had  chosen her to be His messenger.  
She did not know that on that very day He would give her a vision.  
While the young ladies were kneeling, praying, Ellen felt herself sur- 
rounded with bright beams of God's glory. She seemed to feel herself rising  
higher and higher from the earth. She turned to look for the other Adventist  
people, but she did not see them. Then a voice said, "Look again. Look a  
little higher."  
Ellen looked up. She saw a long, narrow path high above the earth.  
The Adventist people were walking on this path. Jesus was leading them.  
i was encouraging them and showing them the way to the Holy City. A bright  
light at the beginning of the path shone along the way.  
Ellen heard some of the people say, "This path is too steep and narrow.  
It is too hard to climb. That is not Jesus leading us." Then Ellen saw the 
light shining on the path at their feet go out. They fell into the dark  
world below.  
Other Adventists kept their eyes upon  Jesus. "We are safe," they said.  
"Jesus is our leader." Ellen climbed up the steep path with them until they  
reached the Holy City. She felt her heart would burst with joy when Jesus 
smiled upon her and put a glittering crown upon her head!  
Christ swung the great pearly gates wide open and said, "Your sins have  
been forgiven through My death on the cross. You have stood bravely for  
My truth. Enter in!"  
Ellen went into the city with the others. She walked on streets of  
19


gold. She saw beautiful homes Jesus had built for His people. She saw  
the dazzling throne of God with the eternal rainbow circling  it. She saw  
the river of life and the tree of life with its fruit that looked like gold  
and silver mixed. She touched her golden harp and made delightful music.  
Then God showed Ellen how beautiful this old earth will look when it is  
made all new. She walked through its green fields and forests. She picked  
the brightly colored flowers. She touched the soft fur of the lions and  
lambs as they played together and followed her. She saw God's glorious 
temple. She saw a silver table many miles long. Around this table Godfs  
people will sit and eat someday. On the table were all kinds of lovely  
fruits and nuts.  
"May I eat some of the fruit?" Ellen asked Jesus.  
"Not now," He answered softly. "Not now. But if you are faithful you  
shall eat fruit from the tree of life and drink water from the fountain near  
God's throne. Ellen," Jesus added, "You must go back to earth again and  
tell people  what I have shown you." Then Ellen felt an angel gently carry  
her down, down, down to this earth.  
During the time Ellen was in vision, she had not breathed. Her friends  
with whom she had been praying, thought she was dead. After a long time, they  
saw her take a little breath,  then a big, deep breath as she filled her lungs  
with air.  
"Thank You, thank You, Lord!" they exclaimed wiping tears from their  
cheeks.  
Ellen had been in the brilliant light of heaven and so at first, when the  
vision ended, everything seemed very dark to her. Gradually she  began to  
see her friends.  
"Where am I?" she asked.  
"You are right here in my house," said her hostess.  
20


"What?" she asked, surprised. "Here? I am here? Don't you know"  3  
ere I've been? Her friends were happy when she told them she had been  
with Jesus and the holy angels. She told them about the beauties of heaven.  
Ellen told the Adventist believers in Portland what God had shown her. They  
felt comforted to know the Lord was leading them and caring for  them.  
A week later God gave Ellen another vision  in which she knew He was  
asking her to be His  messenger. "I have a message for you to bear." You  
must travel and talk to people everywhere, was the Lord's command. "You 
must write out for the people what I give you. Write! Write!"  
"Lord, I cannot do it; I cannot do it," Ellen pleaded. Up until  
then her trembling hand had  not been able to write a line. She was told  
to go, speak before the people, but she could hardly speak above a whisper, 
this timid, frail young girl of seventeen years.^  
But Ellen wanted to obey the Lord. She talked with her father about  
>d's will. Mr. Harmon put his arm around his daughter's small, thin body  
and said, "Don't be afraid, Ellen. If God asks you to travel, He will open  
the way. If He asks you to write, He will guide your hand. If He asks  
you to speak, He will strengthen your voice. Trust Him.""'  
Finally Ellen answered the Lord. "I will do whatever You ask. I will  
trust You to give me the wisdom and strength. I will trust You to keep me  
humble."  
During the next 70 years the Lord gave Ellen about 2,000 visions. He  
used her to let people know of His love for them, and of His soon return to  
earth. He opened the way for her to travel from country to country. With  
her own hand, she wrote messages from God which are now printed in more  
than sixty different books. Her life was filled with exciting stories. She  
is one of the many messengers God has used to show us the way to heaven.  
21


"'"Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, Oakland: Pacific Press  
Publishing Association, 1890, 1913, p. 581.  
2 
Ellen G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, Oakland: Pacific Press Pub- 
lishing Association, 1948, p. 749.  
^Arthur White, Messenger to the Remnant, Washington, D.C.: Ellen G.  
White Estate of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1954,  
1969, p. 6.  
4  
Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Vol. 1, Washington, D. C.: Review  
and Herald Publishing Co., 1958, p. 101.  
See also Ellen G. White, Early Writings, Washington, D.C: Review  
and Herald Publishing Co., 1945, pp. 13-20.  
^Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, Oakland: Pacific  
Press Publishing Association, 1915, p. 70.  
NOTE: According to the level and interest of the children, the teacher  
may wish to read Ellen White's own words describing her first vision as  
found in Early Writings, pages 13-20.  
22


WHEN GOD CHOOSES MESSENGERS - Study Questions  
Objectives: To understand that God's power to work through people is  
not limited by their age, health, education, or any  other personal advantage.  
To understand God's consistent provision to encourage His  
people in times of need, crises, and disappointments.  
For discussion: 
1. What evidence did God give to Ellen's friends that she was in  
His care during her vision?  
(He gave her life without needing to breathe.)  
2. How is following Jesus like climbing a mountain?  
a. (You're getting higher all the time.  
b. It demands effort.  
c. One can see his progress when he reaches the top.  
d. The reward waits at the top.)  
3. Name one thing that Ellen saw in her vision that you will look for  
when you get to heaven.  
a.  (Streets of gold  
b.  Beautiful homes  
c.  God's throne  
d.  The eternal rainbow circling God  ' s throne  
e.  River of life  
f.  Silver/gold fruit on the tree of  life  
g- Golden hay  
h.  Green fields and forests  
i.  Lions, other animals  
j • God's temple  
k.  Miles-long silver table)  
23


PROPHETS, VISIONS, AND INSIGHTS  
The Big Bible  
What is a Prophet?  
What is a Vision?  
The Ames, Iowa, Campmeeting  
A Horse and Carriage  
A Bridge of Ice  
24


THE BIG BIBLE  
Dennis lay on the living room floor with an open book in front of him.  
"Mother," he called, "here is a picture of a big Bible. It says that Ellen  
Harmon held it in her outstretched hand for half an hour!"  
Mother came and looked at the picture. "Of course you know, Dennis,  
that she was in vision all the time she held that heavy book. God gave  
her strength to do it. She couldn't have held it otherwise."  
Dennis had heard stories about Ellen White ever since he could remem- 
ber. He knew that she was Ellen Harmon before she married Elder James  
T,Thite. He knew how she had held a heavy Bible above her head while in  
vision. She held it in her left hand for about thirty minutes. He  
wished he had been there to see it. He wished he could have seen Ellen  
White just once, but she had been dead for several years already.  
Mother broke into his thoughts. "Dennis, remember; next month is  
our vacation and we are going to Washington, D.C. Maybe we can see  
that big Bible."  
"Oh, Mother!" Dennis jumped up from the floor. "Do you really think  
we could? I'd like that so much!"  
The following month found the family in Washington, D.C. enjoying a  
long-planned vacation trip. They visited museums, art galleries, cemetaries,  
the Capitol, even the White House. They attended concerts and out- 
door programs. Every day they went back to their motel tired but eager  
see more sights the next day. Every night  Dennis asked, "When will  
25


we see the big Bible?"  
"Can we go tomorrow?" Dennis wanted to see that Bible more than any  
other sight in Washington.  
Early the next morning Dennis wakened his daddy and mother. "Today  
we are going to see the big Bible."  
"Yes, we surely are," Daddy told him.  
Father drove to Takoma Park, a cozy town on the boundary between  
Washington, D.C., and Maryland. He stopped the car in front of two big  
buildings. Daddy pointed to one and said, "That's the GENERAL CONFERENCE  
building. Let's go there first."  
Inside big glass doors they met a friendly lady who guided them through  
the building. Dennis saw a door with a name-plate on it, GENERAL CONFERENCE  
PRESIDENT. "Can we see him?" he asked.  
"I'm sorry; he's away on one of his long trips," the guide told him.  
"If he were here, you could see him."  
Then, on the ground floor, Dennis  saw a sign, WHITE PUBLICATIONS.  
The guide led them into a large room. Dennis wondered if the big Bible  
could be in this room. No, the lady was leading them down some steps  
into a vault. The vault had two rooms without windows. There were 
shelves of books lining two walls  of the first room. The guide opened  
some of the books. A few were so old that their pages were yellow and 
spotted. She showed them a Review and Herald dated 1850, and the first  
Adventist youth paper — The Youth's Instructor — dated 1852. No Bible!  
Then they went into the inner room where the walls were covered  
with cupboards  of little drawers. The guide explained that over half of  
the drawers held Ellen White letters and the others held manuscripts for  
her articles, and sermons and diaries that Ellen White wrote. All the  
drawers were numbered and indexed so that any person could find the  
26


material he wanted to see.  
"What grade of school are you in?" the guide asked Dennis.  
"I'll be in the fifth grade this coming September." 
"You know that Ellen Harmon had to leave school after the third  
grade, but look at this letter that she wrote when she was nearly twenty.  
Can you write that well?" Dennis looked at the neat letters. No, he 
couldn't write that well yet.  
"The Lord strengthened her hand because He knew she would spend her  
whole life writing," the guide explained as she showed them a letter that  
Ellen White wrote at the age of eighty-two. She also showed them birthday  
letters she had written to her boys, old diaries and old pictures. Dennis  
enjoyed seeing the letters but felt restless. "But where is the  Bible?"  
he asked.  
"We usually save that until the last." The guide smiled at his eager- 
aess. "It's in that first room. We will see it on the way out and you can  
hold it in your hands."  
Finally they saw it and it was indeed a big Bible. The guide told  
them that it weighed eighteen and a half pounds. Ellen White had weighed  
less than 100 pounds when she held this huge volume  in her outstretched  
left hand for almost half an hour. "Remember that she was in vision and  
the angels were strengthening her."  
The guide placed the big Book in Dennis's hands. "I want to hold it  
out in my left hand just like she did," Dennis said. But he found it  
hard to hold the big Bible in both hands for even a very short time. He  
almost dropped it. Then his father took it. He held it out in his left  
hand for almost two minutes. He was a strong man, but he couldn't hold  
•*t any longer. As he placed it on the table, the guide told the story  
27


behind the vision in which Ellen Harmon held the Bible.  
"Ellen Harmon's first vision showed her the path which God's faith- 
ful people must walk before reaching Heaven, and the glories they would  
find waiting them there. In her second vision she was told to 'make known  
to others' what the angel had revealed to her. Her heart was troubled.  
How could she, a frail girl of seventeen years, go about preaching to  
people and showing them the truths of God? She asked that the burden be  
removed from her.  
"While in this troubled state of mind, Miss Harmon attended a meet- 
ing held at her family's home. Those gathered there prayed for her, and  
she consecrated herself again to God. She was willing to go where God  
wanted her to go. While praying, a bright light, 'like a ball of fire,  
came toward her, and as it fell upon her, her strength was taken away,  
and she seemed to be in the presence of Jesus and of angels.' Again she  
was told to 'make known to others what I have revealed to you.'  
"In the room where the vision was given there was lying on the bureau  
a very large family Bible. The book measured eighteen by eleven inches  
and weighed a little over eighteen pounds. She arose while in vision,  
took the heavy Bible in her left hand and held it out to her side. She  
continued holding the Bible for about a half hour.  
"One who was present exclaimed, 'Here, indeed, was a wonder! A  
delicate girl, weighing (less than 100 pounds), holding a heavy Bible for 
over half an hour in a position in which a strong man could not hold it  
for two minutes; . . . Those who saw it regarded it as most clearly a  
manifestation of the  Spirit of Him who spake from the burning bush. Such  
manifestations as these . . . carried convincing proof' that the power of  
God was in the visions.'"'""  
28


Dennis felt satisfied. He had seen the big Bible and he knew now for  
sure that Ellen Harmon, a frail, young girl, could never have held  that  
Book by herself. The power of God must  have been upon her. He felt sure  
that the same power had been upon her when she wrote the messages she  
had given in her books. Gently he touched the large Bible again and  
resolved to read every book Ellen White had written.  
^ Adapted from J. N. Loughborough, Rise and Progress of Seventh- 
day Adventists, General Conference Association of Battle Creek, Michigan,  
1892, pp. 102-104.  
29


THE BIG BIBLE - Study Questions  
Obj ective: To recognize that God gives strength sufficient  for  
any task we need to perform for Him.  
For discussion:  
1. Try  holding an object that weighs 18% pounds at arm's length.  
Time yourself. How long are you able to hold it?  
2. Why do you think God provided this special demonstration of His  
power working through Ellen White on the occasion of her third  
vision?  
30


WHAT IS A PROPHET?  
One day not long after Dennis was in Washington and had seen the big  
Bible that Ellen Harmon held for half an hour in her outstretched hand, he  
straddled a chair in the kitchen where his mother was mixing a batch of  
cookies. "Mother," he began, "what is a prophet?"  
Mother smiled and went on mixing nuts and chocolate bits into the  
cookie dough. "A prophet is a person that  God talks to. He tells what  
11 happen in the future. He leads God's people. He gets messages from  
God and gives them to the people."  
"Ellen White was a prophet, wasn't she?" Dennis asked.  
"Yes, but she didn't speak of herself that way. She called herself  
'the Lord's messenger.'"  
"Did she always tell the people the bad things that would happen to  
them if they didn't obey God?"  
"No she often told them of the good things that would happen if they  
did God's will. One time she told a lady named Nellie Druillard that if she  
would help the new Madison School, and give her money and her time to it,  
the Lord would lengthen her life."  
"And did God do that for her?"  
"Yes, He certainly did. Nellie was past sixty years old when God  
.d her that and Nellie thought that her work was almost done, but she  
31


joined the new Madison School and did what God asked her to do. She lived  
more than thirty years longer, and died in her nineties.  
"Tell me more," coaxed Dennis.  
"When Ellen Harmon  first began to have visions, God's people were  
few and very poor. They did not feel able to have church schools and pay  
the teachers' salary. But God showed Ellen that the children in our churches  
needed to be trained for God's work. The public schools were training them  
for worldly things. She wrote to the church, "In every place where there 
is a church, large or small, there a school should be established."'  
"And did the people do what she told them God wanted?" Dennis wanted  
to be sure.  
"Yes, the people established church schools. Do you know how many  
children are going  to church schools right now, all over the world?"  
"No, but I suppose there are a lot."  
"In New Guinea alone 6,000 children are learning to become workers fc  
Jesus. In Africa tens of thousands are in church schools. All over the  
world as many as 350,000 children are learning to love Jesus and to under- 
stand His Word."  
"That's a lot of children." Dennis sat quietly for a moment thinking  
about it. He could smell the cookies baking. "Did Ellen White ever tell  
people that bad things would happen to them if they refused to obey God?"  
"Yes, she did." Mother put the last of the cookie dough onto pans.  
"One time she told  the church members at Battle Creek that God would judge  
them for their disobedience to  His will. The Review and Herald was pub- 
lishing books that were not pleasing to God. Also too many of them had  
settled there in Battle Creek and they were refusing to scatter out and  
spread the  light in other places, even though God had sent them warnings  
many times."  
32


"And did a bad thing happen?"  
"It surely did. Fire destroyed the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and just  
a few months later fire took the Review and Herald Publishing House."  
"Did that make the people feel sorry?" Dennis felt surprised that  
God's people would be that stubborn. "Didn't the fire make them want to  
do God's will?"  
I'm sure that many of them did repent and turn to do God's will, but  
some hardened their hearts and refused." Mother checked her cookies and  
took the first ones from the oven." "I want to tell you about one time  
when Ellen White sent several letters to a wealthy family in South Africa  
telling them to turn to God and obey Him. They kept putting it off. Then 
she sent another letter telling them that they would lose  their money  
and their most valuable possession would turn to ashes because they had  
neglected to do God's will.  
Dennis paused in eating his warm cookie. "And what happened?"  
"Those people went to Australia for a holiday and while they were  
there, word came that most of their money had been lost in a bank failure."  
"I guess they changed then and did what God wanted." 
"Well, not right away. They had left a valuable diamond necklace in  
a bank vault down in Johannesburg in South Africa. It was worth $25,000.  
So they went to Johannesburg to get the necklace. They could sell it and  
have enough money to be comfortable for a long time. The necklace had 
been put in a tight case, laid carefully on velvet. When they opened the  
box, they saw that the diamond necklace had turned to ashes. The velvet  
had not been burned. No fire had touched anything around it, but there  
it lay. Each diamond had turned to a tiny spot of ashes." 1  
"But I didn't think diamonds could turn to ashes. They are too hard."  
Dennis tried to see the scene in his mind.  
33


"Well, these diamonds had turned to ashes. God had said they would  
and they did. The people they belonged to knew that God had done it;  
they repented and turned back to God and asked Him to forgive them.  
Most of that family were faithful to God all the rest of their lives."  
Mother took the last of the cookies  from the oven. Dennis thought  
about the stories Mother had just told him. "I'm glad God has given  us  
a prophet," he finally said. "I want to read all the books Ellen White  
has written. If God loves us enough to send us those books, we ought to  
love Him enough to read them."  
^ For verification of the Wessel story, see Document file #506 in  
the Ellen G. White Estate vault in the General Conference of Seventh- 
day Adventists in Washington, D. C. 
34


WHAT IS A PROPHET? - Study Questions  
Objectives: To understand that God's messages to us through the  
prophets have always been sent in love.  
To recognize that a prophet's messages may be words of  
reproof, encouragement, or instruction.  
For discussion:  
1. What different kinds of messages does God send through His prophets?  
2. If God had not sent instruction about establishing Adventist  
schools, how would the progress of the church be different?  
How might your own life be different?  
3. Why do you think God was so concerned that too many Adventist people  
were living in Battle Creek that He sent a warning?  
4. What advantage do you think Adventist people seek when they live  
in an Adventist community?  
5. What advantages do you think come when Adventist people spread out  
into areas where few other Adventists live?  
6. What is one thing you can learn from God's warning to a family  
that they will suffer loss if they fail to do  God's will?  
7. What i£ a prophet? How does Ellen White qualify as a genuine  
prophet?  
35


WHAT IS A VISION?  
One day Dennis sat watching his mother make a new shirt for him.  
First she laid the pattern on some blue cloth and cut around the pieces.  
He liked to watch Mother sew because he could talk to her and she could  
answer his questions while she worked.  
"Mother," he began, "What is a vision? We read in the Bible about  
the visions Daniel had, and John and Isaiah. Ellen White had visions, too.  
Were they all the same kind of visions?"  
"Yes and no. You see, the Bible says visions come in many ways to  
prophets.1 But the same God sent them all. They were sent for the same  
purpose—to comfort and teach God's people and to warn of coming events.  
The Bible tells us a lot about visions. God used both visions and dreams  
to send messages in Bible times." Mother snipped away with her scissors  
and laid the cut pieces of cloth in a neat pile. "Dreams are not the same  
as visions. When a prophet has a vision God takes that person's mind and  
all his thoughts right away from this world, and he doesn't know or see  
anything that is going on around him. We know that Daniel did not breathe  
. . „2  in vision.  
"He didn't breathe! How could he go on living?" Dennis had learned  
in swimming class that people can go only a very short time without  
breathing.  
"Mother," he said, "did Ellen White breathe while  she was having a  
vision?"  
"No, she didn't, and often her visions lasted quite a while. Once she  
36


was in vision for almost four hours. When God  took her mind away from earthly  
lings, He took her breath away, too. Just like the prophet Daniel.  
Dennis thought for a while. "I wish I could have seen her while she  
was in vision."  
Mother uncovered the sewing machine and started sewing. "Maybe you  
would like to hear what her own son said about her visions. He saw her  
many times while God was speaking to her in vision."  
"Oh, yes, I'd like to hear that." Dennis pulled his chair closer  
while Mother began to seam the pieces of blue cloth together.  
"Willie White said that just before a vision came, Ellen White and  
other people in the room could feel the presence of angels hovering near."  
"How does that feel, Mother? Have you ever felt angels near?" 
"Yes, Dennis, I believe so. There was a feeling of great joy when  
Ellen White was in vision. The air seemed to quiver with angel excitement  
^nd the vibration of their wings. The next thing that happened, Ellen  
White would shout, 'Glory!' or 'Glory to God!' Sometimes she shouted the  
words two or three times. Then she became weak, for the mighty power of God  
rested on her. Then God would touch her and she received great strength,  
much more than her ordinary strength. That's the kind of strength she had  
when she held that big Bible that you saw when we were in Washington."  
Mother continued sewing without interrupting her talk. "Although  
Ellen White's heart went on beating steadily and her cheeks remained rosy,  
she did not breathe. She talked sometimes in her natural voice about the  
things God was showing her."  
Dennis listened with his full attention. "Oh, how I do wish I  could  
have seen her in vision like that. What did the people who saw her think  
T.bout her not breathing?"  
37


"Sometimes when she was in 'open vision' and many people were present,  
some would be so frightened, they would leave the room in great distress.  
Of course all those who knew about her and about the Bible prophets under-
stood that Ellen's visions were just like Daniel's or John's or Ezekiel's.  
"Willie White said that his mother's eyes were always open during  
vision and she had a bright, eager look in them, as though she were watching  
something very interesting. She sometimes stood or walked around and moved  
her hands and arms in graceful  gestures as she talked about what she was  
seeing."  
"And all the time she didn't know anything that was going on in the  
room or the house or the church or wherever she was?" Dennis asked. "And  
she didn't bump into anything?"  
"That's right, Dennis. When Ellen White was in vision she knew nothing  
of what happened around her. The Lord protected her, too. When  she came  
out of vision she drew a deep breath and in about another minute she drew 
a second deep breath. Then in a short time she breathed naturally again."  
"I wonder how the world looked to her after she had been with God and  
the angels." Dennis tried to think how it would be.  
"She often remarked how dark and lonely the world seemed after she had  
been with Jesus in vision. She sometimes said that she felt lonesome for  
heaven," said Mother, quietly.  
Mother smiled, "I think that will be a good thing to remember. One time  
Ellen White had a vision that lasted half a minute. Her son Willie described 
that short-short vision. It came during a Minnesota campmeeting when Willie  
was sixteen. He remembered that she spent about two weeks writing all the  
things that God had shown her in that short vision of a half minute."  
Dennis knew that he had never before realized how close an acquaintance  
38


Ellen White had with God. He remembered that the people in Washington had  
.^plained that Ellen White received visions from God over a period of seventy  
years, from the time she was seventeen until her death at the age of eighty- 
seven. How God must have loved her! Dennis began to feel a warm and tender  
love springing up in his heart for that frail and gentle messenger of Heaven  
who had lived among us and left so many precious writings.  
Dennis looked at the blue shirt, now almost completed. "You know, Mother,  
whenever I wear that shirt you are sewing, I'm going to think about Ellen  
White's visions."  
^ Hebrews 1:1  
2  Daniel 10:17  
39


WHAT IS A VISION? - Study Questions  
Objective: To permit God's great accommodation to human need by  
communicating through people who will be His spokesmen.  
For discussion:  
1. What special manifestations did God provide of His presence when  
Ellen White was in vision?  
2. How was Ellen White's behavior while in vision different from  
that of a person who is sleeping or in a coma?  
40


THE AMES, IOWA, CAMPMEETING  
Father threw open the door of the little white house in Des Moines,  
Iowa. He always came home from work whistling and opened the door with  
a shout of joy. His two little daughters flew into his arms and he held  
them close or swung them up in the air. Then he kissed Mother and Baby  
Brother.  
Bert and Mary Rhoads were Seventh-day  Adventist Christians and the  
time was nearly 80 years ago. On this evening in early spring Father  
had great news! "I think we should all go to campmeeting this year,"  
he announced as he sat down to supper. "You know, Sister White has just  
ome back from Australia a few months ago and we think she will come to  
our Iowa campmeeting at Ames."  
"Where is Ames?" asked five-year-old Norma.  
"Not too far from here," said Father as he filled the girls' bowls  
with potato soup. "I am so eager for you, Norma, to see Sister White.  
She is in her seventies now and she has been sickly and frail all her  
life. You may never have a chance to see and hear her again."  
When supper ended, Mother took three-year-old Ruth and Baby Jamie  
to bed. Norma followed her father into the living-room of the small house;  
and when he had settled himself into his comfortable chair, he lifted  
Norma onto his lap and they began their usual evening visit.  
They talked about Ellen White. Father had seen her many times and  
had talked to her. She had even visited his home when he lay very sick with  
41


inflamatory rheumatism and she had told Grandma Rhoads how to care for  
him so that he got  well and strong.  
Of course, Father loved Sister White. He believed everything she  
said or wrote. He knew that God spoke to her and sent her visions. 
"Isn't it wonderful how God has sent us a true prophet!" he said to Norma.  
"And now you will get to see her and hear her talk."  
Norma looked at her father and realized how very important he re- 
garded Ellen White and how dearly he loved her. His face shone with joy  
while he explained how they would go to Ames and camp with the other  
believers there. "We may have to camp in the open meadow," he said, "but  
the weather will be warm and we will take blankets and pillows, and we  
can look up at the stars and the moon. You will see, it will be fun."  
"What will we eat?" 
"Mama will fix raisin bread and we will take along potatoes and bean- 
and other things to cook outside. We won't be hungry. All the other  
people will be doing the same thing," said Father.  
Then Father told Norma about other campmeetings, like the first  
meeting at Wright, Michigan, where believers gathered on a farm in a maple  
grove, sat on plain plank seats or large logs, and listened to the  
speakers out in the open. Even the children were remembered at the first  
carapmeeting. Though there were no special meetings for them, "James  
White gathered them together, taught them, talked to them, and gave each  
one a small book of stories" to take home.1  
The days passed much  too slowly. Then one day Mother began making  
raisin bread. She made the crust like pie dough and pressed it into  square  
or oblong baking pans. Then she put on it a layer of soaked raisins with 
some brown  sugar. Norma watched her lay another layer of pie crust on to  
42


and prick it all over with a fork. She baked it until the sweet, brown  
juice bubbled through the fork holes. Then she cooled the slabs of raisin  
bread and packed them away. When the family started for campmeeting,  
Mother had the lower half of her big trunk  packed full of raisin bread.  
At the campground some of the people had tents, but most of them  
camped in the meadow. Norma found it great fun. Father took her to all  
the meetings in the big tent.  
"Where is Sister White?" Norma asked.  
"The people say that she will be here tomorrow. She will stay just  
one day."  
Sure enough, just before the eleven o'clock preaching service, Father  
pointed out a  little grey-haired lady walking toward the big tent. "That's  
Sister White! Come, we will stand up and I will hold you on my shoulder  
-o you can hear every word she says."  
At eleven o'clock Norma sat high on Father's shoulder near the back  
of the tent. She could reach up and touch the rolled canvas of the tent's  
curtain. Then the little lady stood up to speak. She wore a  dark blue  
dress with a very white collar. Her face was plain looking, but her smile  
shone so warm and pleasant that Norma forgot everything else and listened  
to the clear sweet voice. The big tent held a great crowd of people,  
and hundreds more thronged outside, but everyone could hear.  
Words from God! Words from heaven! Precious words from God's prophet!  
She might never hear such words again, Father had said, and she drank  
them in and knew she would never forget. Now Norma knew why Father loved  
this gentle lady so very much. Norma felt her own heart fill with a great  
love for this little grandma who spoke so tenderly of Jesus, and who seemed  
be filled with such great kindness for all people and all living things.  
43


All too soon the service ended and Father lifted Norma down.  Her  
world would never  be the same again. She had seen God's messenger. She  
had heard her voice and felt a deep affection that would last the rest  
of her long life.*  
* Norma Rhoades grew up and married Gustavus Benson Youngberg. She is the  
principal author of these stories.  
A. W. Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, Vol. II,  
Review and Herald,  1962, p. 10.  
44


THE AMES, IOWA, CAMPMEETING - Study Questions  
Objective: To re-live in imagination the experience of a small child  
visiting campmeeting and hearing Ellen White speak.  
For discussion:  
1. Locate Ames, Iowa, on the map.  
2. What do you think made Norma like Ellen White?  
3. When you listen to a speaker in an adult meeting, what pleases you? 
4. If you could have gone with Norma to campmeeting, what question  
would you have liked to ask  Ellen White?  
5. If you have ever been to a campmeeting or church retreat,  tell  
how your experience was like Norma1s. How was it different?  
6. What do you think you would have liked about going to campmeeting  
at Ames, Iowa, when Norma attended there? What might you have  
disliked?  
45


A HORSE AND CARRIAGE  
During the early years of their marriage James and Ellen White expe- 
rienced hard times. They had little money and Ellen was so frail. She 
often rose from her sick bed to go somewhere or carry a message to some-
one because God told her to go. For these journeys, He always strength- 
ened her, but much of the traveling they did was difficult and tiring.  
When they must travel long distances they went the best way they  
could with what money they had. Automobiles and airplanes were not known  
in those days. Sometimes they went  in a carriage  or sleigh loaned by  
friends. Often they traveled by second-class railway or on the  lower decks  
of small ships where thick clouds of tobacco smoke choked Ellen and  made  
her faint. At night they slept on the floor or on boxes or bags of grain.  
They used overcoats and shawls for blankets. When they closed their eyes  
and tried to sleep, swearing and obscene words from the other passengers 
rang in their ears and kept them awake; deck passengers often played cards 
and drank until very  late in the night.  
One day a request came for Ellen to speak to a group of believers at  
Sutton, Vermont. They would have to make the forty-mile trip in a stage- 
coach that ran over the rough, dusty roads through the hill country. The coach  
stopped for fresh horses every ten miles, giving the passengers a series of  
ten-minute stops. When they finally reached their destination, Ellen  
46


looked so weak and tired that the friends who welcomed them at Sutton were  
"armed and concerned at her condition. Even James, her husband, looked quite  
"used up."  
These believers at Sutton were dedicated, warm-hearted people who wanted  
to see the message go quickly. Also they realized how important the Whites  
were to the growing work and valued their ministry. They decided to do some- 
thing. They called a secret meeting. There they talked the  matter over and  
decided to take up a collection and purchase a horse and carriage. "Then  
these dear people can drive  wherever the Lord sends them in so much more com- 
fort."  
They did take up the collection and gave generously. When they counted  
the offering, they had $175.00 which they felt sure would purchase both car- 
riage and horse. They selected a well-built, comfortable buggy, but after  
discussing the horse, they decided to give the Whites a choice of several  
Lmals being offered for sale.  
On that Sunday night before the Whites were to leave Sutton, and return  
to their home in Rochester, Ellen found herself in vision. She stood at a  
cross-roads where  several men had gathered. They had three horses with them  
and they asked James White to look them over and choose one. One horse was a  
high-spirited sorrel. When the men stepped forward to examine this one, the  
angel in the vision turned to Ellen and said, "Not this one."  
Then someone brought forward a large gray horse, clumsy-footed and awk- 
ward. Again the angel spoke, "Not this one."  
The third horse was a big dappled chestnut with an  intelligent face, and  
arched neck and sway-backed. "This is the one for you," the angel said.  
Ellen told her husband about the strange vision.  
The following morning the Whites were taken to the crossroads where about  
47


twenty men greeted them. Then they brought out the three horses. Ellen  
immediately recognized them as the same horses she had seen the night befc 
in vision, the nervous sorrel, the clumsy gray and the big sway-backed  
chestnut named Charlie. Of course the Whites chose old Charlie. Then the  
men presented the Whites with the beautiful new buggy. They harnessed Charlie  
in a fine new harness and fastened him between the shafts of the shining  
buggy.  
James and Ellen had never owned a carriage before. They had known which  
horse to choose because of the vision, but they knew nothing about the fine  
carriage. Such a surprise almost overwhelmed them. They might even have  
hesitated to accept so beautiful a conveyance had it not been for the vision.  
They knew that God understood all about this particular horse and this par- 
ticular carriage. He approved of these humble and obedient servants of His  
having a nice, new buggy to travel to His appointments for Him. They thanked  
the good people of Sutton with all their hearts and especially they thank  
God who had shown them this great mercy.  
Driving home to Rochester through the beautiful fields, groves and pas- 
tures in the sweet air of the open country was so much more enjoyable than 
the stuffy, smokey stage coach. They loved old Charlie and he loved them.  
They always took good care of him and although they took long trips in their  
carriage, they never drove their horse too far in one stretch, or failed to  
give him good care. That same autumn while traveling the five hundred miles  
between their home in Rochester, New York, to Bangor, Maine, they drove through  
miles of orchard land where apples hung ripe on the trees and fallen fruit  
lay on the ground. Charlie could  never pass up a red apple without wanting  
to eat it. James White loosened the check rein so that Charlie could get his  
head down to the ground where he nuzzled the apples to his heart's content.  
48


The long trip of one thousand miles lasted two months and faithful old Charlie  
vrought the little family safely home in better health than when they started  
the long journey.  
The Whites were always generous with their horse and carriage. When  
other workers needed to go on trips in Godrs service, James and Ellen allowed  
them to borrow old Charlie and the carriage.  
Although old Charlie never knew it, he was a specially favored horse.  
God showed him to Ellen White in a vision and chose him to be her faithful 
servant.  
49


A HORSE AND CARRIAGE _ Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize that God's care is evident in the decisions  
of life that affect our safety, comfort, and usefulness.  
For discussion:  
Choose all the answers that you consider correct for each item below.* 
1. Why do you think the people of Sutton gave a horse and carriage  
to Ellen and James White?  
a. They were generous people.  
b. They saw the Whites' need.  
c. They were motivated by the Spirit of God.  
d. They wanted to see progress in God's work.  
2. Why do you think God showed Ellen in a vision the three horses  
she would choose from?  
a. To assure the Whites that God wanted them to accept the gift. 
b. To help the Whites make the best choice in something they  
knew little about.  
c. To show the Whites how interested God was in their affairs.  
3. Why do you think Charlie was a good choice?  
a. The high-spirited horse might not have been safe.  
b. The awkward horse might have given poor service.  
c. Charlie was good-natured and intelligent.  
d. God chose him.  
4. What advantages did Charlie have in belonging to the Whites?  
a. The Whites loved Charlie.  
b. They did not over-drive Charlie.  
c. They allowed Charlie to eat apples, which he loved.  
*Use the questions in this exercise as simple questions, or provide  
the possible answers. All answers may be considered correct. You may want  
to ask the students which answers they consider to be most significant.  
50


ellen a. WHITE RESEARCH  
Andrews University  
Bernen Springs, Mich, 49ic  
A BRIDGE OF ICE  
Winter had come and James and Ellen White went to Illinois to visit  
some of the believers who had moved west. They stayed in the homes of  
Josiah Hart and Elon Everetts in Round Grove. These two men had preached  
the message of Jesus' second coming for a while, but then they got some of 
the rich, new land and were spending their time farming. God used James  
and Ellen White's visit to show them that they ought to go back and work  
for the Lord again.  
One evening, while at their home, Ellen had a vision. She saw the  
sad condition of some believers at Waukon, Iowa. She told her husband,  
'We must all go up to Waukon and help the brethren there."  
Waukon lay on the other side of the great Mississippi River, about  
two hundred miles away. They would have to travel by wagon or sleigh. That  
was the only possible way.  
Since winter had begun with heavy snowstorms, Josiah Hart and Elon  
Everetts decided to take the Whites to Waukon with their sleigh and team  
of horses.  
The night before they planned to start, rain began to fall. It came  
down hard all day and the snow started to melt. "What about the trip to  
Waukon?" Josiah Hart asked Ellen White.  
"We shall go," she spoke with firm determination. 
"Yes, if the Lord works a miracle," Josiah Hart shook his head. Melting  
snow would make the journey dangerous and uncomfortable.  
51


That night Ellen White rose from her bed several times to look out the  
window to see if the weather had changed. She knew how much the believei  
in Waukon needed their encouragement. Several of them had left the work  
of preaching Jesus' coming and had settled down to become farmers. She 
prayed that if God wanted them to go to Waukon, He would  change the rain to  
snow.  
About daylight the weather turned colder. Snow began to fall so  
sleighing could be enjoyable. They started their journey north about five  
o'clock that  afternoon, in  the sleigh behind a team of lively horses.  
Snow fell all the way to Greene Vale, where they stopped to hold some 
meetings with believers.  
So much snow fell that they were snowed in for a week. "What about  
Waukon?" Elon Everetts asked Ellen White.  
When they felt  that their work for God in Greene Vale was finished,  
they started on their way. Again, the snow turned to rain. They came to  
the banks of the Mississippi River. No bridge crossed the river, but it  
had frozen during the cold weather and the men thought they could cross  
safely on the ice. People on the shore warned them, "Look, the rain had  
made the ice all mushy on top. Several teams of horses have already broken  
through the ice and barely escaped drowning."  
Now Josiah Hart reined in the horses at the river's edge. On top  
of the ice lay water a foot deep. He  stood up in the sleigh and pointed  
his whip handle at the broad river. "Is it forward to Iowa or back to  
Illinois? We have come to the Red Sea. Do we cross?"  
Ellen White raised her voice. "Go forward, trusting in Israel's GodI"  
Josiah eased the horses and sleigh down onto the ice. The water came up  
almost to the sleigh box. The horses splashed slowly forward. They all  
52


prayed. Any moment they might strike a weak spot and plunge into the icy  
waters.  
Now people began to gather on the far bank to watch  them cross. They  
had passed midstream now and approached the Iowa shore. The same God who  
had divided the Red Sea now froze the waters of the Mississippi in the  
path of the sleigh.  
They reached the shore and were welcomed by glad shouts from the crowd  
who had been watching. They pressed on toward Waukon, but still had a  
long distance to  go, as Friday evening darkened around them. They stopped  
at a hotel in Dubuque and spent the Sabbath there. In the hotel parlor  
they held meetings and sang gospel songs. The hotel keeper and all his  
guests delighted in such unusual entertainment. They begged them to stop 
on their way back.  
On Sunday morning they started on. Sleet and snow driven by a fierce  
and chilling wind struck the riders in the open sleigh. They wrapped quilts 
and buffalo robes around them and watched one another's faces. "Sister, 
your nose is freezing! Brother, your ear is white," they called to each  
other.  
For four days they rode on and finally on Wednesday evening, they  
reached Waukon, but found no warm welcome awaiting them. They received 
a chilly reception, but they were not discouraged. "We have come in  
the name and power of God," Ellen told her husband. "Let us pray for  
victory."  
On Thursday evening they gathered to sing old Advent hymns, and the  
sweet melodies warmed their  hearts. James White spoke. Brother Hart  
and Brother Everetts told of their experiences. The glow of their first  
love began to warm those cold hearts in Waukon.  
53


They knelt to  pray and God gave Ellen a vision. He showed her just  
why these believers had backslidden. When she came out of vision she spok«_  
to them. "If you will open the doors of your hearts now, Jesus will come 
in and walk in our midst with power."  
John Loughborough's wife stood up. She spoke to James and Ellen  
White. "I am so glad you have come. I have been wrong. I have sinned.  
I influenced my husband to leave God's work. God forgive me! Lord Jesus  
come into my heart. It is all Yours!"  
Many confessed their sins, and the love of Jesus came in. The meetings  
held over Friday into Sabbath. Those who had been cold were brought back. 
John Loughborough stood up. "I have laid up my hammer. I have driven  my  
last nail. From this day I hold only the Sword of the Spirit, and I will  
never give it up, so help me God."  
When James and Ellen White left Waukon, John Loughborough went with  
them. He took up active work for God, never to lay it down for the  
remaining seventy years of his noble life. His uncle and aunt were  
converted. So was the family of Cyprian Stevens. One of the Stevens girls,  
Angeline, married John Andrews the following spring. Their children and  
grandchildren have  been faithful to God's  truth and have given many years  
of service in many fields.  
Ezra Butler who had done such dedicated work in the eastern states  
rekindled the fire of his' devotion and stood firmly for God again. His 
son, George, had also wandered, but he, too, came back and became a mighty  
worker for the Lord, standing like a rock before the rising tide of wrong.  
At that Waukon meeting the believers were strengthened to meet the  
trials that God knew would come. The work in Iowa went forward with great  
strength and as a result, many workers for Christ trace the beginning of  
54


their strength and dedication back to Iowa.  
So the bridge of ice that God laid under the sleigh of his servants  
that wintry day so long ago carried the fire of heaven to Waukon and  
kindled a flame that shall burn even to eternity.  
55


A BRIDGE OF ICE - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand that the Lord brings surprising success tc  
His people who dare to do His will against odds.  
For discussion:  
1. What reasons for not going to Waukon do you suppose Satan  
suggested to Ellen White?  
(Weather; danger in crossing the Mississippi River; the indifference  
of the believers in Waukon.)  
2. Complete the sentence:  
"Instead of complaining about being snowed in at Green Vale,  
Ellen White ..."  
3. Complete the sentence:  
"Instead of bemoaning the delay at the hotel at the river, Ellen  
White ..."  
4. Complete the sentence:  
"Instead of accusing the believers at Waukon of losing interest,  
Ellen White ..."  
5. Complete the sentence:  
"After Ellen White's visit, instead of farming in Waukon the  
believers . . ."  
56


YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD  
Africa: The Bushman's Dream, Part I  
The Bushman's Dream, Part II  
Europe: New Light Shines in Europe, Part I  
New Light Shines in Europe, Part II  
South America: From Italy to Uruguay  
Far East: Kondima Named Her Dolly Ellen  
Australia: Ellen in Australia  
Inter-America: Juan Wanted to be Rich  
57


THE BUSHMAN'S DREAM, Part I  
In the great Kalahari desert of southern Africa lives a tribe of  
small brown people called Bushmen. A grown man stands about five feet 
tall and the women are even smaller. These little people live in  small  
family groups that wander over the desert gathering roots, fruits and  
nuts for their food.  
The Bushmen's only neighbors are the Bantu people, the chief race  
in that part of Africa. The Bantus are not related to the Bushmen,  
have little to do with them and do not trust them. Although the white  
men regard the Bushmen as ignorant savages, these little people have  
great intelligence and knowledge. They are rich in desert lore and  
know the secrets of the vast sandy lands. They know how to live in a  
world where other men would die of thirst and hunger.  
Sekuba is a Bushman. One cold night in 1953 he crawled into the  
family hut of grass and twigs. All day the family had hunted for food.  
Now Sekuba pulled his bow and his quiver of poisoned arrows close to  
him. Even in his sleep, he must be prepared for the enemies that  
prowled the desert.  
That night Sekuba dreamed a strange dream. He saw a shining being  
speak to him out of a fire that hid him by its great brightness. The  
voice out of the flame told the Bushman to find "the people of the  
58


Book." Then the shining being mentioned other books these  people would  
have: "Four brown books that are really nine."  
When Sekuba tried to tell his family about the Shining One they did  
not understand, but they realized that his dream was very important, so  
urgent that he must begin that very day to search for the people of the  
Book. His decision troubled his family. He would have to journey  
across the great desert that held so many dangers. "How will you talk  
to the people of the Book?" his wife asked him while he gathered a 
few things to take along.  
He told the dream over again. "The Book talks," he told her. "The  
Shining One taught me the language of the Book. I will understand the  
words it speaks."  
The little family did not try to hinder him. They went along with  
him and hunted food as they walked toward the eastern border of Bechuana- 
land. In a few days they left the desert wasteland behind them, and  
came to a more populated region where they met a few Bushmen who lived  
near some of the Bantu tribe. Sekuba decided to leave his family near  
these Bushmen. He told his wife that he must push on and find "the  
people of the Book" but he would return when he found them. Carrying  
only his blanket made from the hide of an antelope, a handful of dried  
meat and his bow and arrows, he journeyed on alone.  
He had now come about 150 miles from his grass hut home where he  
had first seen the shining visitor. With a lift  of his heart, he saw  
before him in the distance a Bantu farming village. It belonged to the  
Bamangwato tribe. Suddenly all his natural fear of strangers sprang  
up in his mind. Had he not been so convinced of  the importance of his  
journey, he would have turned back.  
He came near the village and one of the Bantu men looked up. Se- 
59


kuba saw the Bantu's face fill with surprise and fear to see this one  
little brown man coming across the dusty plain. Sekuba came on slowly 
trying to look as peaceable and harmless as possible. The Bantu seemed 
to lose his fear and waited until Sekuba stood before him.  
"I see you." the Bantu said according to his accustomed greeting  
and the usual African manner.  
Sekuba returned the greeting with courtesy. "Where will I find the  
people with the Book?"  
The other man stood amazed and silent for a moment.  
Sekuba spoke again. "I have come to find the people who worship  
God."  
"You speak our language! You speak Tswana!" the Bantu farmer at  
last blurted out his astonishment. "Few Bushmen can speak Tswana."  
"The Shining One taught me," Sekuba said and then seeing the  
puzzlement on the Bantu's face he quickly told him about his dream.  
"Can you take me to someone who will teach me about the Book?"  
"This is a marvelous thing!" The Bantu continued to stare at the  
little brown man. "I will take you to our pastor."  
The Bantu farmer went into his hut and told his family about the  
strange little man who had come out of  the desert looking for a minis- 
ter and they all trooped outside to see the Bushman who said that a  
Shining One had taught him to speak Tswana.  
Then the Bantu led Sekuba along a dusty path toward some other  
scattered huts. Village people began to follow them,  excited and  
curious about the little man's strange story. They went with Sekuba  
and his Bantu guide to the pastor's house where they all tried to tell  
the story at the same time.  
The Bantu minister raised his hand for silence. "These seek to  
60


speak for you" he said to the little brown man, "But I want you to tell  
me your story yourself."  
The minister took a chair from his house and went out to sit in  
front of the people. His black coat and his clerical collar gave him  
great dignity in their eyes. Now Sekuba stood before him and  
Tswana told of the Shining One who had come to him in a fiery dream and  
told him to find "the people of the Book." The villagers listened in  
solemn awe. "Have I found the people who worship God—the people of the  
Book?"  
The pastor went into his little house and came back carrying a  
Bible. Sekuba recognized it at once. "That's it!" He bowed his head  
and clapped his hands softly. "That's the Book!"  
"Your journey has ended," the Bantu pastor told him. "You must  
stay with me tonight." After the pastor had led the group in prayer the  
people, still talking about Sekuba's strange story, scattered to their  
huts.  
The pastor loaned the Bushman a sleeping mat and allowed him to  
sleep in his cookhouse. He ordered his servant to prepare a meal for  
Sekuba. So with a full stomach and a glad feeling because he had found  
what he hoped for, he fell asleep.  
During the night the Shining One appeared to Sekuba again. "This  
is not the true  church," he said, "You must seek farther. You must  
find the Sabbath-keeping church and ask for Pastor Moyo. He will have  
the Book. He will also have the four brown books that are really nine."  
Then Sekuba remembered that he had forgotten to ask the Bantu  
pastor about those brown books.  
61


THE BUSHMAN'S DREAM, Part II  
Sekuba, the Bushman, had journeyed many days alone across the  
desert in search of "the people of the Book" which a shining being had 
revealed to him in a dream. His search led him to a Protestant minis- 
ter in a Bantu village. But during the night the Shining One again  
appeared and told him to search farther for a people who kept the  
Sabbath.  
The next morning the Bushman arose early, left the pastor's cook- 
hut and waited until the Bantu pastor came out of his hut. "I must  
leave you." Sekuba said politely. "I cannot stay here. The Shining  
One came in the night to your cook-hut and he told me that I must go on  
further and find the people who keep the seventh-day holy."  
The startled pastor finally recovered from his shock enough to  
say, "But this is the chief's church! Would the chief of the Bantus be  
wrong? You must not have understood the Shining One. He did not tell  
you to seek another church."  
"Sir, I understand the Shining One perfectly. He showed me what  
I must do. There are people who worship God on the seventh-day.  
Please tell me where I may find them."  
The Bantu pastor became quite angry and raised his voice. Now he  
began to threaten the tiny Bushman. The people streamed out of their


huts to see what caused the  noise. The Bantu pastor told them that the  
Bushman had insulted their chief. They began to abuse Sekuba and to  
ridicule him, but Sekuba still insisted on finding "the Sabbath Church."  
They threw him into a truck and took him 40 miles to their capital and  
dragged him before their chief.  
The chief knew the Sabbath-keeping church very well, for his own  
wife belonged to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, but he didn't want this  
story spread around for it would bring favorable attention to the  
Sabbath-keepers. He told Sekuba to keep still, but the little brown  
man said, "No, I will tell everyone about the Shining One and the church  
he has told me to find."  
Then the chief took the Bushman to the District Commissioner, a  
European employed by the colonial government. The Commissioner listened  
with patience to all the details of Sekuba's story. He seemed to res- 
pect the little Bushman who had the rare ability to speak fluent Tswana  
and who had journeyed so far to find the Sabbath-keeping church.  
The crowd, still  in an ugly mood, waited for the Commissioner to  
pronounce judgment. He spoke to Sekuba, "You have committed no crime.  
You are free to tell anyone of your faith." The Commissioner sent the  
crowd away and Sekuba took up his search again.  
He walked out into the desert, but he saw that the sun would soon  
be down. He found a sheltered spot under a clump of thorn-bushes and  
sat down to think. He had no idea which way to go, but he knew that 
the Shining One would not leave him to wander aimlessly. He prayed  
earnestly that some kind of sign would be given him. Then he lay down  
and dropped off into contented sleep.  
In the light of early dawn, he saw  on the horizon, a small cloud.  
Such a cloud is a rare sight in that semi-desert country and he took it  
63


for the sign he had asked and followed it. Each day the cloud hovered  
in the northeast and each day he walked toward it. He journeyed for  
seven days - a distance of 115 miles - using the cloud as his guide.  
Then he saw buildings in the distance. They belonged to a little set- 
tlement on the railroad running from the Congo down to Capetown. Then 
the cloud disappeared, and Sekuba knew that he would find the Sabbath- 
keeping church in that town.  
Day had begun to darken into night and again he decided to stay  
outside the town among the desert shrubs as he had for the last week.  
He knew that the Shining One had led him aright and tomorrow he would  
find the church that worshiped God on the seventh-day Sabbath and they  
would have the Book and also the four brown books that were really  
nine books.  
He wakened early and started walking toward Tsessebe, for that was  
the town's name. As he approached the settlement he met a Bantu. He  
asked if the man knew pastor Moyo, and the Bantu was able to direct him  
to the right house.  
When Pastor Moyo, a Banto, came to the door and found the little  
Bushman he looked very surprised, but spoke a courteous "Good Morning." 
Then Sekuba's skin blanket slipped off his shoulder and revealed his  
quiver of poisoned arrows which startled the Adventist pastor again,  
but still he invited the Bushman inside.  
Again, in fluent Tswana, Sekuba told his dream and explained what  
the Shining One had taught him. "He told me to find the people with the  
Book, who worship on the seventh-day Sabbath."  
Pastor Moyo went to a crude shelf hanging on the wall and took down  
his own Bible. "That's it! That's it!" Sekuba clapped his hands soft- 
ly. "And where are the four brown books that are really nine?"


The pastor reached for the four brown volumes, his set of Testi- 
monies For the Church. Joy thrilled the Bushman's heart. "Yes," he  
said, "you are one of the people the Shining One told me to find."  
All day they talked. Pastor Moyo explained the precious teachings  
of the Bible. He helped the little Bushman to understand a little about  
the great God who had sent His shining angel to teach Sekuba to speak, 
to read, and to write the Tswana language, and had guided him to the  
Seventh-day Adventist church.  
Pastor Moyo taught him about Jesus, God's Son, who came to our  
world as a baby and lived among us for  33 years, then took Him back to  
heaven. He taught him that Jesus is soon coming again to take us all to 
be with Him.  
Although the miracle of the Bushman impressed the pastor, he still  
could not shake off the distrust all Bantus have of the desert people.  
So God sent Pastor Moyo a dream. In it he saw a text with  light shining  
all around it. He rose from his mat, lit  a candle and read the verses  
in Ezekiel 36: 8,9:  
But ye, 0 mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth  
your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of  
Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold I  
am for you and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be  
tilled and sown.  
Then Pastor Moyo knew that the Bushmen in the desert were ready to re- 
ceive the Bible and its truths.  
Sekuba spent two  weeks with Pastor Moyo. He knew that he must re- 
turn to his family. He stood before the pastor to say "Goodbye." He  
looked into the kind eyes of his new friend. "You will come to us?  You  
will teach my people?"  
"Yes, my brother, someone will come to teach your people."  
And someone did come. A year after Sekuba's first dream Pastor  
65


Daniel Mogegeh baptized Sekuba and  his wife. Pastor Mogegeh taught  
and preached to Sekuba1s people. The next year his brother and sister  
were baptized. The Bushmen, accustomed to passing stories from gener- 
ation to generation were able to learn long passages of Scripture  
and retain them in their mind.  
Sekuba never lost his heaven-sent ability to read, write and  
speak Tswana. He was ordained a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist, and  
pastor of the first Bushman church. Sekuba lived only four years  
after his visit from the Shining One. He saw ten of his tribe baptized  
into the church he learned to love  so much. Today, more than fifty  
of these little brown Bushmen have joined the remnant church.  
And the Shining One who came to Sekuba's little grass hut is  
still among them, watching over the precious gospel seed sown to God's 
glory and praise by angel hands.  
66


THE BUSHMAN'S DREAM - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize that God is limited by no circumstances in  
reaching people with good news about what He wants to do for them.  
To discover the lengths to which God will go to lead  
people who will respond to Him.  
For discussion:  
"Four brown books that are really nine" (p.59): This refers to  
Testimonies for the Church, which includes nine volumes, but frequently is 
bound into four books, two to each except for volumes 7, 8, and 9— which  
are together.  
1. Do you suppose other people in remote areas have had dreams  
similar to Sekuba's but they have chosen not to respond?  
(See Matthew 22:14 for some ideas on this.)  
2. How is Sekuba's story similar to an event recorded in Acts 2:5-8?  
3. How is Sekuba's story similar to an event recorded in Matthew  
2:2, 3?  
4. What are God's surprises in the story of Sekuba?  
(He sends Sekuba a dream about things that exist but Sekuba  
has never seen.  
He gives Sekuba ability to speak a strange language. 
He sends Sekuba a second dream to direct him further. 
He sends a cloud of smoke, an unusual sight, for Sekuba to follow.)  
67


NEW LIGHT SHINES IN EUROPE  
PART ONE  
God often begins to prepare His wonderful plans a long time before  
people can see them coming to pass. He had chosen the town of Tramelan,  
Switzerland, to be the first place in Europe for the Seventh-day Adventist 
light to blossom and spread.  
First a former Catholic priest from Poland, who had become a Seventh- 
day Adventist, came to Tramelan and taught some of the people Bible truth.  
On New Year's day of 1867, he organized these believers into a company.  
They honored the Sabbath day and looked forward with joy to Jesus'  
coming back to His earth again. But the former priest did not tell them 
that other people across the ocean in America believed the same things  
they did.  
After two years the converted priest left Switzerland and while some  
of the Adventist believers were looking through his papers they found  
some old copies of the Review  and Herald. At once they wrote letters of  
inquiry and soon made contact with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in  
America.  
The Roth family belonged to that company in Tramelan. They were  
merchants. Father Roth, (Oscar,) and his eldest son owned a tailoring  
business. The second son managed a large bakery. Father Roth and his  
sons also owned and managed a large department store. During the 1770's  
the citizens of Tramelan could buy their hats, clothing, shoes, groceries,  
68


or bakery goods from the Roth family and be sure of good merchandise and  
courteous treatment. The town's people valued the whole family as  
honest people and  good citizens, but they often remarked about the peculiar  
religious customs of the Roths. These people did not attend church on  
Sunday, but every Saturday morning they met in their own large parlor for  
a worship service where they sang and prayed and the father, Oscar Roth,  
taught them from the Bible. He gave interesting talks that his own  
children would enjoy and so would any neighbors or friends who chose to  
gather with them.  
Now May of 1886 had come and wonderful news reached Tramelan. Ellen  
White had come to Europe a few months earlier and now, this coming Sab-
bath, she would be at the Roth home and she would speak to them.  
On that Friday  the two younger boys, Jean and Andre, prepared the  
parlor. They polished the furniture and then polished it over again.  
"Do you suppose Ellen White will say anything to us boys?" Jean asked  
his younger brother.  
"I don't care whether she talks to us or not." Andre smoothed and  
rubbed a table top where a Bible would rest tomorrow. "I can hardly  
wait to see a lady that Jesus and the angels have  talked to."  
Jean looked the  parlor over and decided that it looked neat enough  
even for a lady that Jesus had talked to. "Come,  Andre, let's get our  
clothes ready for Sabbath. We won't have time later."  
Early in the afternoon Ellen White and her friends came and when  
the boys looked into her kind, grey eyes, they knew that she was their  
friend already.  
That same evening the Roth family gathered in their parlor to hear  
Ellen White speak. Eleven visitors came from the town. The boys could  
69


see that she was tired, but her words were so precious to all of them  
and she could be with them such a short time that they listened with  
eager attention, thankful for every moment of time they might spend in  
her presence.  
The next morning all the people came back to Sabbath School  and  
Ellen White spoke during the church service. In the afternoon they  
gathered again to have a testimony meeting where almost everyone got  
up and thanked the Lord for all His blessings and especially for sending 
Ellen White to be with them for a little while.  
On Sunday morning, Father Roth said, "Now, boys, we are going to  
drive over to see the old convent. The ride goes through such beautiful  
mountain scenery that I know our guests will enjoy it. Do you boys 
want to go along?"  
They certainly did.  
They had not driven far when clouds gathered, lightning flashed, and  
thunder rolled. Then hailstones, some as big as hickory nuts, pelted  
down. Cattle, sheep, horses, and barnyard fowls ran about in wild panic.  
Father drove the carriage into the barnyard of a farmhouse. The  
farmer saw him coming and threw open the big barn doors so the horses  
could run right in, drawing the carriage behind them. Jean and Andre 
felt glad and thankful to be sheltered from the wild mountain storm.  
They could hear the hail beating on the barn roof and they could look 
out and see the white drifts of hail across the new green grass. Then  
Jean looked at Ellen White. Her face beamed with joy, her eyes sparkled  
with delight. She had no fear at all, only pleasure in the boisterous  
weather.  
The people who  lived on the farm came out. "Do come into our house,"  
70


they urged. "And take a cup of coffee or some cake and wine."  
Ellen turned her laughing face toward them. "Oh no, thank you.  
I do not want to miss this beautiful sight for anything!" Then with Jean  
and Andre, she got down from the carriage and rushed  out into the fresh- 
fallen hail. They gathered up handfuls of the shining balls of ice and  
ran back to the carriage where they sat eating the delicacy the stormy  
skies had provided.  
Then the farmer came and unharnessed their horse, put him in a stall,  
and fed him with grain, then put him back in the shafts again. The storm 
had passed and they went on their way. Jean knew that he had never enjoyed  
a storm so much.  
He saw that Ellen White enjoyed the old convent, but the trip home  
through the pine forest pleased her more. They drove through high 
uountain country, freshly washed with the storm. Their guest exclaimed  
again and again over the shades of living green displayed on every side.  
The glistening evergreen pines with the lighter shades of maple and ash  
mingled together in a tapestry of green on green that no artist could copy,  
no weaver could imitate.  
Such a happy day] Jean could not remember ever having enjoyed a  
ride so much, and he knew why. Jesus had been with them. He knew now 
that angels went everywhere with Ellen White and made a special kind of  
happiness. That's why the mountains had been so lovely today.  
71


NEW LIGHT SHINES IN EUROPE  
PART TWO  
After Ellen White visited the Roth family, they decided that they  
wanted to follow Jesus in a new way that would let their light shine  
out to their neighbors. "We have decided to build a little church 
right here on our property," Father told them one evening at worship.  
"Yes, and if we get it done soon," Mother clapped her hands with  
joy, "we can have Ellen White come back here to Tramelan and dedicate  
it for us."  
The whole family rejoiced together over this good news, especially  
Jean and Andre, How beautiful it would be to have their own church!  
Father called carpenters and stone masons, and the family helped,  
especially Jean and Andre. Before the end of the year a neat little  
chapel stood ready for worshippers, but first Ellen White must come and  
dedicate it. She came from Basel where they had just had a heavy snow-
storm and some of her friends came with her. They took the mountain 
train on December 24th. Winter winds blew off the Alps and snow piled  
high in the mountain passes. Ellen White looked out the window at whole  
mountainsides covered with snow-laden trees. "I never saw anything so  
72


beautiful!" she exclaimed.  
Christmas in Switzerland! Mountains covered with evergreens all  
frosted with feathery snow! And in Tramelan, a new little chapel waited 
to be dedicated on Christmas Day. The Roth family welcomed their guests  
and took them at once to see the new meetinghouse, the first Seventh-day  
Adventist Church to be built in all of Europe.  
Jean and Andre sat that Sabbath afternoon in the front pew of the new  
chapel and listened to Ellen White. She told them of other little churches.  
"The first one built in Battle Creek was only a little larger than this,  
. . . but in two  years it had to be given up for a larger one. Then, be- 
fore long a third one had to be built, and now we have the present one  
which will seat three thousand persons."  
Then in Oakland, California, the church had been poor, but they  
decided to build. In San Francisco the congregation felt that they  
could not afford to build, but they started anyway. When they realized  
their lack of resources they asked Elder James White, "Can you help us?"  
"Yes I can, but I will have to sell everything I have to do it."  
So he kept his word and the two churches were completed.  
"Now," Ellen White told them, "the one in Oakland has proved to be  
too small and has been sold. A larger one must take its place."  
Then she looked around on all the people and said, "We hope and pray  
that the Lord will so bless your work that this house will prove too small  
for you." Jean looked at the beautiful little chapel and already, in  
his imagination, he saw it crowded with eager worshippers.  
Ellen White told them that they should reverence this place. "In  
entering the house of worship you should remember that it is the house of  
God. . . . You should teach the children reverence. .  . . neither the  
house of God nor His day, the Sabbath, should be used for visiting, but  
73


thoughts should be upon heaven and heavenly things. . . . God will  
meet you in this house (Ms. 49, 1886).  
Many townspeople from Tramelan had come to the dedication and many  
more wanted to come and see Ellen White and hear her speak. So Father  
Roth arranged with the trustees of  the big Baptist Church for her to  
speak there on Sunday afternoon. Then, on Saturday night, he went  
to ask the Baptist minister to announce Ellen White's meeting at his  
morning service on Sunday.  
"Oh, no. I will not announce it!" he said with a frown. "Your  
Ellen White will tell my people to keep Saturday for the Sabbath. Be- 
sides, my people have heard that she has visions, therefore she must be 
a sorceror!"  
In spite of his refusal to make a public announcement, Ellen White  
spoke in that Baptist Church to more than three hundred people on Sunday  
afternoon. She did not preach about Saturday. Through her interpreter 
she spoke about the love of God and the gift of His Son to our world.  
After the service, the Baptist people reproached their pastor, "You  
should have announced that meeting," they told him. "We would all have  
been there. Mrs. White is a good woman who loves the Lord."  
Two months later Ellen White visited Tramelan again and that same  
Baptist minister  hurried to the Roth home and asked to speak with her.  
"Mrs. White," he said, "I want to apologize for my rudeness to you at  
Christmas time. I am president of the Temperance Organization here in  
Tramelan. Would you be willing to speak to my church on that subject?  
Many people have urged me to make this request. I, too, am eager to  
hear you."  
She accepted with gracious assurance and spoke for nearly two hours  
in the National Chapel on one of her favorite subjects—temperance. The  
74


people listened with eager attention. No one slept, yawned or appeared  
uneasy.  
The following morning Ellen White and her friends prepared to leave.  
They rode in a sleigh to the station and took the train back to Basel.  
None of them would ever forget the dear Roth family and their little  
new church, the first Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe.  
To the Roth family and the believers in Tramelan her visits had  
brought great blessing. Differences had been settled, young people had  
dedicated themselves to God's service. God had come very near. Mother  
Roth expressed the feelings of the Tramelan people when she embraced  
Ellen White and bade her good bye. "Peace has come to my house!"  
75


NEW LIGHT SHINES IN EUROPE - Study Questions  
Objectives: To recognize that God's love and providence stretch acro^o  
the sea and His plan is that His followers show similar concern for world need.  
To understand that it is God's will that church structures  
be erected to His glory.  
To understand that joyful interaction with the environment  
enhances one's own witness of his trust in God.  
For discussion:  
1. Some people spend a lot of time and energy complaining about the  
environment and circumstances. Follow Ellen White's example by 
doing this: Make some joyful observations about —  
a. A snowfall d. Daylight saving time g. Rules j. Music  
lessons  
b. A rainfall e. School h. Lunch  
c. A thunderstorm f. Sermons i. Chores  
2. Why do you think Ellen White chose not to preach about the Sabbath  
in the Baptist Church?  
(See her words in Evangelism, p. 302: "Dwell not on the negative  
points of questions that arise, but gather to your minds affirmative  
truths.")  
3. Because of her judicious choice of subject matter at the Baptist  
Church, what invitation came to Ellen White?  
4. If Ellen White visited your home, what do you think you would show  
her? What would you talk about?  
5. What advice might Ellen White give us about our church building?  
76


FROM ITALY TO URUGUAY  
Vacation time had come and Dennis and Mother had more time to spend  
together. They worked in the flower beds and dug dandelions out of the  
lawn. They did all the spring house-cleaning and even went for long  
walks and carried a picnic lunch. Often their conversation turned to  
Ellen White and her work, her books, the events of her life and travels.  
This particular morning they rested for a few minutes under the elm tree,  
for the sun shown hot and bright. They took  off their hats and enjoyed  
the light breeze.  
"Mother, in school we learned about South America. Did Ellen White  
/er go to South America?" Dennis watched his mother fan herself with  
her sun hat. She didn't answer him for quite a while. At last she  
spoke.  
"Ellen White never visited South America. She spent two years in  
Europe and nine years in Australia, but she did not go south of the border."  
"So we don't have any stories from South America?"  
"Not about her experiences there, but her influence went there, too,  
of course." Mother laid her hat on the grass and looked earnestly into  
Dennis's face. "I am thinking of one quite remarkable story which I will  
tell you. While Ellen White lived in Europe she took a great interest in 
the mountain people of Northern Italy. You see, they were descendants of  
the Waldenses."  
"You mean that the children of those people the Catholic church  
.irsecuted still live there?"  
77


"Yes, and Ellen White went to their mountain valleys. She saw the  
refuges God provided for them and the secret hiding places. Even the  
spots where angels had walked and talked with them and delivered them  
from the armies of the Pope. She held meetings for them and spoke to  
them about God's truth and His wonderful plans for their future."  
"Did lots of those people come out to her meetings?"  
"No, I don't think any big crowds came to hear her, but little  
companies of those mountain people came to  listen; among them, the  
Cayrus family, who had a 12-year-old  son named Elias. They listened  
to the little lady with the beautiful clear voice and the heavenly mes- 
sage, but they did not obey it. The years went by and Elias grew to be  
a man. He married and had a family. Then he and a number of other  
Waldenses crossed the Atlantic Ocean to South America and settled in the  
fertile country of Southeastern Uruguay."  
"Then, I suppose he remembered the words Ellen White had spoken back  
in his mountain home."  
"I don't think he had ever forgotten them, Dennis. The Holy Spirit  
kept bringing those memories back to his mind, and of course, he had 
his Bible which he studied with reverent devotion."  
"Then, somehow, God put him in touch with Seventh-day Adventists  
again." Dennis felt sure that he knew how the story would turn out.  
"One day he went to visit one of his friends and saw a religious  
magazine on his table. He borrowed it and read it through with great care.  
He knew that the magazine taught the same truth that he had heard in his  
mountain home from Ellen White so many years ago. He subscribed to the 
magazine. Then one day a missionary came to his door, a missionary  of the  
Seventh-day Adventist church. He talked with Elias Cayrus and found  
78


him well instructed in Bible truth, almost ready for baptism."  
"What magazine was it?" Dennis was curious.  
"It may have been El Centinela, the Spanish Signs of the Times, or  
it may have been an Italian magazine, because  I suppose those Waldenses  
who came from Europe still held onto their own language, and the neighbor  
who had the magazine may have been a fellow Waldensian. The Signs of the  
Times has been published for more than a hundred years, you know."  
"Are any of the Cayrus family workers for God now?" asked Dennis.  
"Yes, all of Elias's nine children were baptized through the years.  
His wife resisted until after Elias died, but she, too, finally surrendered  
to the compelling truth of the Advent message.  
"One day a church school teacher in Uruguay Academy spoke to his  
class about the life and work of Ellen White. A young girl named Sofita  
raised her hand and said, 'My grandfather knew Ellen White.'  
"The teacher looked at her. 'How can that be? Ellen White never  
came to South America and you have never been outside Uruguay.'  
"'My grandfather knew her in Northern Italy when she visited his  
mountain village and  taught the truth there. He was a boy 12 years old,  
but he always remembered and he told us about it many times.'  
"This young academy student was Sofita Cayrus, a granddaughter of  
Elias. Many of that family are workers and members of the Seventh-day  
Adventist church in South America. All are the fruits of Ellen White's 
visit to the Waldensian mountains and valleys in Northern Italy."  
Dennis thought for a minute. "The Bible says that none of Christ's  
words fell to the ground. I guess that is true of Ellen White's words,  
too."  
79


Mother said, "Maybe if  we look in the Yearbook we will find several  
workers in South America by the name of Cayrus."  
And, sure enough, they did!  
80


FROM ITALY TO URUGUAY - Study Questions  
Object ive: To understand the way God continues to work with people  
who have heard but not responded to the truth about Him.  
For discussion:  
Look in a current SPA Yearbook for workers by the name of Cayrus.  
Locate Uruguay and North Italy on a globe or map. Place a string  
representing a stream of light from North Italy to Uruguay. Where did the  
"stream of light" begin? (Place a string from Connecticut to North Italy  
to represent the beginning of the publishing work and its spread to Europe.)  
1. What story might Elias Cayrus tell Ellen White when they meet  
in heaven?  
2. Read the story of the sower (Matthew 13:4-9; 18-23). Elias  
Cayrus was like which kind of soil?  
3. Tell what you know about the Waldenses. (See The Great Controversy,  
pp. 61-78, for information.)  
81


KONDIMA NAMED HER DOLLY, ELLEN  
Kondima lived in the mountains of North Borneo. She had never been  
outside her little village. She had never seen the ocean. High, jungle- 
covered mountains shut in the ridge where the bamboo huts clung like fuzzy 
caterpillars to the steep slope. She loved the smell of the wet jungle  
and the thick foliage which came right down to the village. Tough, thorny  
vines formed a tangled wall where monkeys played and chattered and birds  
built their nests. The village children often played in the edge of the  
forest where they could swing on the giant vines and sometimes they found  
fresh mushrooms deep under the damp green moss.  
One day while she hunted mushrooms with her friends, Kondima found  
a strong vine that promised a wonderful ride. She clung to it and swung  
herself far out over the hillside. When the vine swung back, it threw her  
into a clump of thorns. She struggled to free herself and a needle-sharp  
thorn pierced her eye. It stabbed deep, clear through her eyeball and  
the terrible pain made her twist and lash in such a way that the thorn  
broke off right where it had entered her eye. She screamed with fright  
and pain and her little friends came running. They dragged her into the  
village where her frantic shrieks soon drew a crowd of sympathizing women.  
Her mother carried her to the spot where a giant bamboo poured a stream  
of cold water into a wide pool. She washed the hurt eye and bathed Kondima's  
head, but none of the women could think how to take the thorn out. Even  
82


when Father came home, he could do nothing but hold his little girl in  
his arms and speak comforting words in her ear.  
Thus began days and weeks of pain for little Kondima. She had once  
been a bright-eyed, happy little girl; now she hid herself in dark corners  
and spent hours crying. After many days the terrible pain went away, but  
the wounded eye could see nothing and  Kondima knew from a glance in the  
pool how terrible the eye looked. Everyone who saw her seemed shocked and  
frightened by the sight. So, more and more, she kept to herself. After  
many weeks, the thorn finally came out by itself, but the eye had now be- 
come a horrible gray mass that stuck out of  the eye socket so she could  
not close her eyelid. Now the good eye began to be red and painful.  
Then one day the Tuan (missionary) came to the village. Kondima  
had always looked forward to the Tuan's visits. Now, remembering her  
terrible eye, she hid herself, but Mother dragged her out of her dark  
corner and took her to the teacher's house and thrust her into the room  
where the Tuan sat. He had been asking for her. Now he took one look  
at her ruined face, gathered her into his arms and snuggled her close.  
Kondima's sad little heart glowed with comfort and happiness. The horrible  
eye made no different to the Tuan, he loved her just as he always had,  
maybe more. She could feel the tenderness in the warm arms that held her.  
After most of the villagers had gone from the teacher's house, the  
Tuan spoke to Father. "Little Kondima has had a bad accident and some- 
thing should be done about her bad eye."  
Father spoke in a sad voice. "What can be done? Two moons have  
passed since the thorn pierced her eye and she will never see again out  
of that eye. What can be done?"  
83


The Tuan, still holding Kondima close, said, "What you say is true.  
She will never be able to see out of that eye again, but if we don't get  
help for her other eye, she will lose it, too, and be completely blind. 
Let me take her home to my house and we can have her eye taken care of."  
Father thought for a moment. "I don't think her mother will allow  
her to go but I will ask her." He took Kondima from the Tuan and carried  
her home.  
After she had lain down to sleep, she heard Father speak to Mother.  
"The Tuan wants to take Kondima to the city where a doctor can look at  
her eye...."  
"No, no, my little girl was born here and she will stay here. I will  
never let her go."  
Father tried to persuade her but she would not listen. Kondima  
cried herself to sleep as she had done so often these last months.  
Next day the Tuan found her under a coconut tree playing with the  
teacher's puppy. He sat down beside her and told her a story:  
"Once a pretty little girl lived in a beautiful village—a little  
girl about as big as you are right now. The little girl went about  
singing merry songs all day long making everyone happy with her cheerful  
ways.  
"Then, one day a terrible thing happened. This little girl walked  
beside her sister on her way home from school. A naughty girl picked up  
a stone and threw it hard. Just at that instant the little girl turned  
her head. The stone hit her right in the face. Oh how that cruel stone 
hurt the little girl! It broke her nice straight little nose and made  
her sick for a long time.  
84


"The little girl  could never be proud  after that.  She looked into  
her mirror and saw how terrible her poor smashed face looked. It would  
never be right again. She cried herself to sleep every night for months."  
Kondima spoke, "Tuan, did people ever like the little girl anymore?"  
"Oh yes. You see, the little girl felt so lonely that she learned  
to talk with Jesus and He loved her and comforted her. She became so  
sweet and gentle in all her ways that people loved her more than ever be- 
fore in spite of her broken and scarred nose. God let her live to be an  
old, old lady and she did a great deal of good."  
"What did they call the little girl. Did she have a nice name?" 
"They called her Ellen." Tuan smiled at Kondima, then went to pack  
his belongings for he must leave the village that day.  
Kondima did not forget the story about Ellen. It comforted her  
and she didn't cry herself to sleep any more, she talked to Jesus, "Dear  
Jesus, make me a good girl, make me sweet and kind to everyone. Make  
me like little Ellen."  
After the Tuan had gone and the days went by, Kondima's Mother and  
her Father saw that her good eye got worse every day and when the Tuan came  
back a couple weeks later, they decided to let her go to Singapore. She  
was gone from the village for four months and had many wonderful adventures.  
The doctors took out her ruined eye and fitted her  with a glass eye that  
looked just like the one the thorn spoiled. They made her all well and 
all the nurses and the doctors loved her and gave  her many lovely gifts.  
Kondima's most treasured present was a beautiful dolly with black hair,  
rosy cheeks and brown eyes. She named her  Ellen and kept her beside her  
all the time while she stayed in the hospital.  
85


When Kondima returned to her village, everyone came out to look at  
her hurt eye. It looked new, all healed and well, but Kondima flipped he^  
glass eye out and held it in her hand to show them that it was a false eye,  
but she wore it all the time because it made her face look good again.  
Kondima kept her dolly Ellen as long as she lived and she never for- 
got the story that had comforted her so much. And she did not forget  
Jesus, who loved and comforted her just as He had loved and comforted  
little Ellen.  
86


KONDIMA NAMED  HER DOLLY ELLEN - Study Questions ^  
Objective: To understand that comfort can be derived from discovering  
that another person has suffered yet achieved ultimate goals.  
For discussion: 
1. Locate Borneo on a map.  
2. Why do you think the missionary chose to tell Kondima about  
Ellen's accident?  
3. How might Ellen's story comfort Kondima?  
4. Name two ways that Kondima is like you.  
a. (She has loving parents.  
b. She is concerned about looking presentable.  
c. She likes to hear stories.)  
5. Name two ways that Kondima, aside from her eye problems, is  
unlike you. 
a. (She lives in Borneo.  
b. She speaks a different language.  
c. She is not close to medical care.)  
6. Arrange the following events in order of happening.  
a. The missionary told Kondima's father about a doctor who might  
help her.  
b. The missionary told Kondima the story of Ellen White's accident.  
c. The missionary held Kondima in his arms.  
8. Try to imagine what the missionary was trying to make clear to  
Kondima in each of the events above. Match the words below that 
best fit the missionary's action described above.  
d. "You're a valuable person even with your ruined face." 
e. "I'd like to see you feel better and see better."  
f. "You can be useful, loving, and loved, even if you have a  
miserable eye." o7


ELLEN IN AUSTRALIA  
One rainy Sunday morning in April, Mother told Dennis to bring out  
the big atlas, "I want to tell you a story about Ellen White in Australia."  
Dennis ran to get the atlas. More than anything else he enjoyed  
hearing stories about Ellen White. "I didn't know that she went to  
Australia. What did she do there?"  
"She went to Australia in 1891 and expected to stay there for only  
a few months, but she stayed for nine years." Mother opened the atlas  
and found a big map of Australia.  
Dennis looked at it with new interest. He had studied about it in  
geography class. "It is called the 'Island Continent,' isn't it? It 
looks like a big island."  
"Yes, and it is a big country, as large as the United States without  
Alaska and Hawaii." Dennis ran his finger over the map wondering where  
Ellen had lived during those nine years.  
"Here in New South Wales." Mother pointed to  a district on the  
southern side of the great island. "This is where Ellen White spent  
most of her time, because God showed her that He wanted a school started  
here."  
"Did He show her that in a vision?" 
"Yes, He showed her the exact place. A plow had just made a short,  
deep furrow across it. She saw the furrow in her  vision and later when  
88


she went to look at that piece  of property, she saw the strange furrow  
and knew that this must be the place." Mother took her pencil and  
marked the little town of Cooranbong. "It's about seventy-five miles  
north of Sidney and thirty miles south of New Castle. Today it is called  
Avondale College and is known all around the world."  
"The furrow isn't still there, is it?"  
"No, but a monument stands there. That furrow was God's marker and  
sign. No one wants to forget the exact spot where Ellen White first saw  
it." 
"Was the land good?"  
"Yes, it must have been. God promised Ellen White that it would  
be a beautiful school property, would produce delicious fruits, vegetables,  
nd flowers and grain." Mother looked at Dennis and smiled, "But that  
piece of land contained 1500 acres and the men who looked at it said it  
was no good. One of them said that a bandicoot would have to carry his  
own lunch if he came there."  
"What's a bandicoot?" Dennis laughed.  
"A bandicoot is a small animal of the kangaroo family. It may be  
as small as a rat or as big as a cat, but it eats very little, just a  
few seeds and roots."  
"And they went ahead and bought the land anyway?"  
"Yes, even though some of the men insisted on sending a sample of  
the soil to an expert and he reported that the land was worthless; they  
bought the whole fifteen hundred acres because God had showed Ellen that  
89


furrow plowed across the land and He had told her that it would produce  
an abundance of good fruit and vegetables—so much food that it would  
supply the students and workers who would come to live at the new school."  
Dennis thought for a moment.  "What God said came true, didn't it?  
And what the men said proved to be false."  
"Yes, Dennis. Every promise God made about that school has been  
fulfilled. Even in its first year when it was being conducted in Melbourne  
with fewer than thirty students, God revealed through Ellen White that  
students from that school would carry the Advent message to the great mis- 
sion fields north and west of Australia and to the eastern island. They  
would build schools, hospitals, publishing houses and churches." ^  
"Has that all happened?" Dennis could hardly believe it. 
"Yes indeed." Mother closed the atlas and set it on the shelf. "One  
more great work began at that time, too. God had shown Ellen White that  
health foods should be made at our school in Avondale for two reasons: to  
teach people to eat good, wholesome food and to provide work for students  
who otherwise wouldn't have money enough to get an education."  
"I suppose the health food business turned out to be a big  success,  
too."  
"Well, not at first. God had said it should be carried on at the  
school, and instead it was started in the city of Melbourne. It didn't do  
well until they did exactly what God had told them to do. They joined it  
to Avondale College and it began to prosper. Now it is a huge business  
employing almost 2,000 persons and selling more than $25 million worth of  
health foods every year all over the Far East."  
Dennis thought for a moment about the story he had just heard, how  
God was interested in even the smallest detail—like the plowed furrow  
and the location of a food factory—and how God had guided the work in  
90


Australia to include a world-famous college, a sanitarium and a very impor- 
.it food company. Then he wondered just how God would guide in his own  
life as well.  
See Ellen G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, Nashville,  
Tennessee: Southern Publishing Association, pp. 201-211, for more infor- 
mation on Avondale College's establishment.  
91


ELLEN IN AUSTRALIA - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand that God's Word is dependable. 
For discussion:  
Provide a map of Australia and locate New South Wales, Sidney,  
Cooranborg, New Castle, Avondale College, Melbourne.  
1. When God said, "This land will produce fruits and vegetables  
bountifully," and the soil experts said, "It won't," here's  
what happened: . . .  
2. When God said, "Make health foods at our school," He was  
hoping to benefit which two groups of people?  
3. Suppose someone had said, "God told us to make health foods;  
we're making them, but the business isn't flourishing. We need  
another vision." What could you say to that person?  
92


JUAN WANTED TO BE RICH  
In a city in Guyana (on the northeastern coast of South America)  
lived a young man who wanted to be a Spiritualist. Juan thought it would  
be wonderful to have  the spirits come to talk with him and give him in- 
formation about his neighbors and friends. The more he thought about  
it, the more attractive the life of a Spiritualist seemed. He felt  
sure that he could soon be a rich man. After all, wouldn't the spirits  
give him information about business deals and land values? He could  
get inside information about lots of things from the spirits.  
Juan thought about it for several weeks. Then one day he visited  
is uncle. He talked to him about his desire to become a Spiritualist.  
"Don't you think it would be a fine idea?" Juan questioned. "The  
spirits could tell me about prices, land, and business deals. I could  
become very wealthy in a short time!"  
His uncle thought for a moment. Then he said, "Yes, it does seem  
like a good idea. I know some Spiritualists who get inside information  
from the devil, because that is what Spiritualism is, and he tells them  
how to make money." The uncle gave Juan a searching look. "If you  
want to be rich more than anything else in the world, maybe that's a  
quick way to do it."  
Juan thought about what his uncle had said. Did the devil really  
speak thtough Spiritualism? He hadn't thought about that before; maybe 
it was so, and he hesitated to turn his future life over to the devil.  
The next time he went to visit his uncle he saw a new book lying on  
93


the table. He read the title on the cover, The Great Controversy, by  
Ellen White. "Where did you get this book?" Juan asked.  
His uncle replied, "I just bought that book from a traveling book- 
seller and I paid a lot of money for it."  
Meanwhile Juan had opened the book to a chapter entitled, "Spiritism."  
At once a great wish sprang up in his heart. He wanted that book! He 
wanted to read what the book said about Spiritualism. He wanted to know  
if the devil really had anything to do with it, as his uncle had said.  
He did not dare ask his uncle to lend him the book, and he did not know  
where to buy one. Besides, he did not have the money. Right then he  
planned to get that book. He would come back in the middle of the night 
and steal it. He felt sure his uncle would leave it on the table because  
it looked so beautiful there.  
So Juan waited for a dark night when heavy rain beat down. Sure  
enough, he found the book on the table and took it to his own house. So  
0  
eager was he to know what the book said about Spiritualism that he didn't  
go to bed that night. He sat up and read the book.  
First of all, he read the chapter that had caught his attention. He  
read it twice. Then he began reading the chapter entitled, "The Origin 
of Evil." He read almost the whole night and the more he read the clearer  
he saw the error of Spiritualism.  
Why, it was a tremendous hoax the devil was playing on human beings,  
this Spiritualism! He realized that God had something far better for him  
to do with his life than to  become a Spiritualist.  
Juan did think about what his uncle would say if he knew he had  
stolen the new book. But the truth had captured his heart and he decided  
94


to read the whole book before he would give it to anyone.  
He decided to become a Seventh-day Adventist and sought out the  
Seventh-day Adventist people and attended their church. He told them  
how the truth of God's word had come to him through the stolen book and  
he asked them what he should do about the book.  The Adventists advised  
Juan to return the book to his uncle and confess his wrongdoing. He  
took the book back to his  uncle's house and laid it on the table. He told  
his uncle that he felt very sorry for taking the book without asking, but 
he was so happy that he had found  the truth of God. He told his uncle  
that the book and its message had saved him from the snare of the devil.  
"You were right, uncle, Spiritualism is of the devil," Juan confessed.  
From that time forward, Juan devoted himself to a study of God's  
Word. The church people helped him get a copy of Great Controversy for  
himself. They also showed him how to study his Bible and mark the texts  
that spoke to his heart. They taught him how to pray to God, and he  
learned to communicate with his Saviour and to know Him as an intimate  
Friend and Guide. Before long Juan was baptized and joined the Seventh-
day Adventist church.  
Many times Juan said to his family, his neighbors, and his church,  
"I once wanted to be a Spiritualist because the spirits could reveal the  
future to me and make me rich. Instead, God has shown me His truth  
and now I am truly rich! The God of heaven walks and talks with me and  
guides my life."  
95


JUAN WANTED TO BE RICH - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand the power of the Word of God to convince  
of truth.  
For discussion:  
1. Do you want to be rich more than anything else in this world?  
If not, what other desires come first for you?  
2. What can you expect from the devil when you seek his help in  
gaining wealth, knowledge, friends, or any other desirable goal?  
(The devil also assumes cruel, destructive  control.)  
3. Look at some of the pages in The Great Controversy, pp. 492-504,  
and 551-562. Find a sentence that you think helped Juan  discover  
the dangers of Spiritualism.  
4. Instead of talking at length on the evils of Spiritualism, Juan's  
uncle followed this counsel:  
"We are not to dwell on the great power of Satan to overcome us.  
Often we give ourselves into his hands by talking of his power.  
Let us talk instead of the great power of God to bind up all our  
interests with His own."—The Ministry of Healing, p. 253.  
a. What did Juan's uncle actually do when Juan showed an interest  
in Spiritualism?  
b. Name something that is better to talk about than Satan's power.  
5. What made Juan "rich"?  
96


EXPERIENCES RELATED TO SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WRITINGS  
The Girl Who Giggled 
Ellen and the Sabbath Day  
Ellen's Gold Watch  
97


THE GIRL WHO GIGGLED  
Mother called her children in. "Jean, please come wash up and get  
dressed; then you can help me get the other children ready. We are going  
out this afternoon."  
"Where are we going, Mother?" asked ten-year-old Jean. 
"Remember those tents we saw the other day near Hamilton Park? I  
have learned that it is a religious meeting. People come and camp in the  
small tents and attend meetings in the big tent. They have meetings for 
children, too. It is called campmeeting."  
"What church is it, Mother?" asked Jean as she slipped into her new  
dress.  
"I believe the people are Seventh-day Adventists. I really do not  
know what they believe and teach, but we will listen and find out. I have 
been told that anyone who wants to come is welcome."  
Soon Mrs. Coleman and five of her children walked under the large wel- 
come banner and onto the campground in Hamilton, Australia (near Newcastle).  
The younger children hurried to find the meetings for their age group, and  
Jean went with her mother to the big tent. They had come late, and the only  
empty seats were on the front  row. Jean and her mother walked down the long  
aisle and slipped onto the bench. Jean was surprised to see a woman preach- 
ing. The lady was short, grey-haired and elderly. She wore a black dress  
98


with a neat, white  collar. A friendly person sitting next to them saw their  
.rprise and whispered, "That lady is Mrs. Ellen G. White, a well-known  
teacher and writer."  
They began listening, and Jean wondered, "Where can this lady be from?  
She sounds so different." Jean had never  heard an American speak before and  
the more she listened, the funnier she thought Mrs. White's accent was.  
She began to giggle to herself.  
At first she covered her mouth with her hands, but she couldn't control  
the shaking of the bench on which she sat. Her mother nudged Jean, put her  
finger to her lips and warned her to be quiet. Jean tried not to laugh, and  
for a few minutes  she almost succeeded. But before long she started giggling  
again, and couldn't stop, even though she knew she might be punished. Her  
embarrassed mother tried in vain to make Jean stop laughing.  
Ellen White  couldn't help noticing the commotion in the front row, but  
she continued speaking. Everyone else in the tent seemed to be listening  
carefully to her words.  
After the meeting Jean's mother gathered her family and started for home.  
Ashamed now of her misbehaviour, Jean kept wondering, "What will Mother do?  
I know she intends to punish me for laughing at that American lady's accent."  
She did not have to wonder for long. When they entered the house her  
mother said, "Sit down, Jean. I feel very disturbed because your giggling  
must have made the American woman, a guest in our country, very uncomfortable.  
She is an honored servant of the Lord. I fear she thought you very rude,  
especially since you were sitting on the front row where everyone could see  
you."  
"It was her American accent," Jean said. "It was so funny it made me  
igh."  
99


"I'm concerned that the giggling brought discomfort to the American  
lady. It is very important to be concerned about the feelings of other peop  
It helps to restrain yourself."  
"I know, Mother. I am really sorry that I giggled." 
"It is important, too, that the American lady understand that you are  
sorry. Let's plan to go tomorrow to see her."  
"Oh, Mother, how could I face her?" cried Jean. 
"In the morning we can pick a basket of grapes and a beautiful bouquet  
of rosebuds. You can take them to the American lady and apologize."  
The next day Jean and her mother took a street car which stopped near  
the house where Ellen White was staying. At the gate Jean hesitated, trying 
to pick up enough courage to go in. A kind looking gentleman came out and  
asked, "Did you wish to see someone?"  
"I want to talk to Mrs. White," said Jean, clutching the flowers and the  
basket of fruit in her trembling hands.  
The man took her inside the house and showed her up the stairs to Mrs.  
White's room. At every step Jean wished the floor would open and swallow  
her up. Fright almost overcame her, but finally she stood before the American  
lady.  
Mrs. White admired the fragrant rosebuds which Jean handed to her, and  
she thanked Jean for the lovely grapes. Then she invited the girl to sit down  
and rest for a while.  
After a little more friendly conversation, Mrs. White asked, "Jean, do  
you love Jesus?"  
"Yes, I do love Jesus," Jean answered, surprised. She had never heard  
anyone talk about Jesus as though He were a personal friend.  
Jean enjoyed her visit and would have liked to stay longer, but she  
100


remembered her mother was waiting downstairs, and she quickly said, "I  
st tell you why I came."  
The American lady must have seen the troubled look on Jean's face.  
She pulled the young girl onto her lap, hugged her close and encouraged her  
to go ahead. Jean blurted out her apology, then began to cry.*  
Mrs. White kissed her and told her to forget all about it. "And I  
won't think of it any more, either," she said. And she gave Jean a pretty  
Bible verse card and sent her back downstairs.  
Of course, Jean felt very happy after the ordeal was over, although  
it was such a struggle for her to yield and apologize.  
Ellen White's kindness to a scared little girl was the first step that  
led Jean to examine the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Soon 
after that she made her decision to be baptized and join the church. She  
o-eally loved Ellen White after her visit and always honored and respected her,  
*Stop reading the story here. Ask the children to guess what Mrs. White 
said and did, based on what they know about her. Be accepting rather than  
judgmental about responses. Then continue reading the story with this  
statement: "Let's find out what actually happened after Jean apologized."  
CWj-faA^nts, R  
101 enSpr«>Ss, Michigan


THE GIRL WHO GIGGLED - Study Questions  
Objective: To become acquainted with the human, approachable manner  
of God's messenger Ellen White.  
For discussion:  
Find Newcastle, Australia on the map.  
1. Name someone who has helped you learn that Jesus is Someone you  
want to know.  
2. Read Ecclesiastes 3:4. Describe a good time to laugh.  
3. At which times in the story should Jean have followed the instruc- 
tion in Ecclesiastes 3:7?  
(She should have kept silent at the meeting. She should have  
spoken—and she did—when she went to apologize to Mrs. White.)  
4. Read the following excerpts from Testimonies, Vol. 6, pp. 106, 107,  
and Life Sketches, pp. 346, 347, for a description of early camp- 
meetings in Australia. What do you think made Jean's mother decide  
to go to such a meeting?  
("Far and near the sound went out concerning this city of tents,  
and a most wonderful interest was awakened. Every afternoon and  
evening the tent was filled to its utmost capacity, . . .  Thousands  
visited the encampment, and  expressed their delight and astonishment  
at the order of the grounds, and the nicety of arrangements in the  
clean, white tents."—Life Sketches, 346.  
"The same spirit of earnestness, attention, and order that character- 
ized the services among the older ones, marked the children's meetings.  
Both in the class-work and in the general review exercises the work  
was so arranged that the children had a part in doing as well as  
listening, and in this way they soon felt at home, and their eager- 
ness to hear some part of the work testified to their interest."  
—Testimonies, Vol. 6, p. 106.)  
102


ELLEN AND THE SABBATH DAY  
One day after school Dennis came into the kitchen where Mother was  
setting supper on the table, "Oh Mother, we're studying the Sabbath in  
our Bible class at school. I wish we could keep on Sabbath just like  
Ellen White and her family kept it when Elder White was still living  
and the boys were home."  
Mother looked up in surprise. "That's a wonderful idea, Dennis.  
I'm sure we can find out just how they got ready for the Sabbath and the  
interesting things they did." She looked at the wall calender. "All  
Sabbath-keeping begins early. Since today is Monday, we will begin to  
get ready for the Sabbath right away."  
Dennis felt a little surprised himself. "What can we do on Monday  
that will get us ready for the Sabbath?"  
"We will make our marketing list for one  thing. Do we have the  
things you need to wash and polish the car and get it ready for going to  
church?" Mother handed him a note pad, and Dennis wrote down soap and  
car wax. "We can plan now what we will have for Sabbath breakfast and 
dinner. Ellen White had special treats for her family at both those meals."  
"Let's have fresh strawberries for breakfast; they are just coming  
on the market."  
"Good! Write down strawberries."  
"Could we have a pie for Sabbath dinner?" Dennis waited for a hint  
103


that his favorite dessert would be on the menu.  
"Surely we can have a pie." A big smile spread over Mother's face.  
"What kind do you think would be best?"  
"Would lemon be all right?" Dennis began to feel glad that he had  
suggested his plan for the Sabbath.  
"That sounds good. Write down lemons and cornstarch on your list.  
I think we are out of both those things."  
Then Mother and Dennis planned the other food they would need for  
Sabbath meals. "And we won't pick our lilacs until Friday  afternoon,  
so they will be fresh for Sabbath," mother added.  
Father came in and as they sat down to supper they talked about  
the kind of Sabbath the White family used to have a hundred years ago.  
"Do you remember," Father asked, "that James White called God's holy  
day, 'our dear friend, the blessed Sabbath'? The entire family rejoiced  
when this 'dear friend' made weekly visits to the White home."  
"Did Sabbath angels come, too?" Dennis liked to think of angels  
hovering around.  
"I think that God is pleased when we ask Him to send special angels  
to our homes on the Sabbath day. They always bring special gifts. Can  
you think of some gifts angels might bring, Dennis?"  
After thinking a moment he replied, "they bring peace and joy. They  
bring singing, and sometimes they bring people that we like to see."  
"One thing the Bible and Ellen White's teaching emphasizes is the  
gladness and delight we should have on the Sabbath Day." Father  pushed  
back his chair. "You have planned what we will eat next Sabbath and  
what we will wear. Maybe we should plan what we are going to do."  
"We'll go to church and Sabbath School," Dennis said.  
"Yes, Sabbath morning will be spent in church and Sabbath School.  
104


Then in the afternoon, after dinner, what shall we do?"  
"If it is raining we can read our Sabbath papers and Sabbath books."  
Dennis loved stories. "If the sun shines, Daddy, you can take us out to  
that place where we start the hike into the hills. The flowers are bloom- 
ing now. Maybe we will see some deer or we can hunt for rocks. We might  
even see a new bird!" Dennis had a book where he wrote down on a separate  
page a description of every new bird that he saw. Then when he found out  
more about that bird, he added the information to that page. He had  
already listed  over fifty birds. This summer he wanted to start a book  
on butterflies.  
"You can think of a lot of things to do out in the hills, Dennis,  
but don't forget our singing," Father added. "In Ellen White's home  
they sang lots of songs and listened to a lot of music." Mother began  
to gather up the dishes.  
"They always sang at worship and at the beginning and the end of  
the Sabbath hours." Dennis thought the Sabbath plans were shaping up  
well.  
Mother spoke up again. "We ought to leave some place in our plan- 
ning for visiting sick people, and shut-ins. We can carry some of our  
flowers to Grandma Elliot. She loves flowers so much and now she's all  
crippled up and cannot take care of her garden any more. Mrs. White  
did that, too."  
"We should go to see the Fredericks' too," Father added. "They sel- 
dom get out to church services anymore and they miss the services a lot."  
When Sabbath morning dawned, Dennis' first thought reminded him that  
it was God's holy day. "Let us be glad and rejoice in it." The words  
rang in his mind.  
105


Down in the dining room Mother had set the breakfast table with her  
pretty yellow dishes. A huge vase of lilacs perfumed the whole room, anv.  
a big bowl of fresh strawberries waited at each place. What a lovely  
Sabbath day! Dennis knew the angels had come. He and his parents had  
morning worship and sang a song before they ate.  
How smoothly and quietly everything went. His clothes were all  
laid out where he had put them the day before. His polished shoes and 
a pair of clean socks lay beside them. In no time at all he stood  at  
the front door ready to leave for church. Mother wore her beautiful  
green dress and Father looked young and handsome in his light brown  
suit.  
The Sabbath School  and church service gave him special pleasure, and  
the thought of the lovely afternoon they had planned added to his good  
feeling.  
Then at the door of the church, Mother stopped to talk to a tall  
man who held a small boy by the hand. He heard her invite the man for  
Sabbath dinner. Then Dennis knew that in all their planning they had 
forgotten this one thing that Ellen White always did. But Mother had not  
forgotten. Ellen White always shared her home, her food, her table,  
anything God had given her, with visiting  strangers.  
When Dennis saw how much their visitors enjoyed the delicious meal,  
and when he saw the eager joy on the little boy's face when they took  
their nature hike back into the hills, he felt that this had been one of  
the best Sabbaths he had ever enjoyed.  
At sundown when they bade farewell to their "dear friend, the blessed  
Sabbath," he resolved that in the future he would help his parents plan  
every Sabbath Day like the ones Ellen and James White used to enjoy.  
106


ELLEN AND THE SABBATH DAY - Study Questions  
Objectives: To understand that Sabbathkeeping involves preparation.  
To become acquainted with appropriate Sabbath activities.  
For discussion:  
1. What preparation did Dennis's family make for the Sabbath?  
2. Which of the preparations made by  Dennis's family sound like  
the ones your family makes?  
3. What other preparations does your family make for the Sabbath? 
4. Recall a Sabbath day that was especially a happy day for you.  
Tell what made it so.  
5. List appropriate activities to do on the Sabbath. (Dennis engaged  
in several of these. Can you think of others?)  
107


ELLEN'S GOLD WATCH  
Through the seventy years that Ellen White fulfilled her ministry  
on this earth, her work required writing many letters and articles, and much  
traveling. She did not desire this work, nor ask for it. God laid it upon her  
and in His strength and with His Spirit she wrote the letters of warning and 
encouragement.  
Although these letters, sermons and articles were all given in  
love and gentleness, with never a trace  of personal repugnance or anger toward  
even the worst offenders, still her work aroused anger among those who had  
drifted away from God and from those who had never known Him. Years after  
she had died, her youngest granddaughter said of her, "She never accused  
with her eyes."  
Most people take some satisfaction in seeing, or making people who  
do not agree with them suffer; but Ellen White had none of the persecutor in  
her. Not even "with her eyes" did she accuse them.  
Ellen White attended campmeetings almost every year. These were  
times of earnest work for the young people. Many of them came only because 
their parents brought them. They had no wish to sit through long meetings or 
to listen to words of tender pleading that made them uncomfortable in pursuing 
their own perverse ways. These unsaved youth always wakened Ellen White's  
108


most prayerful interest. She longed to see them turn their eyes on Jesus and  
surrender to Him, who had such great treasures to share with them.  
At the campmeetings Ellen White usually had a tent right on the  
grounds where people could come and talk with her. Often the nights were hot,  
because campmeetings were usually held in summer. Often she would toss on 
her bed trying to sleep when a knock would come on her tentpole and a voice  
would speak softly in the darkness, "Mrs White, we have a problem. We need  
help. Can you talk and pray with us?"  
She never refused such a plea. Her tiredness would vanish and  
she got up and welcomed the young people into her tent. Often they talked  
and prayed for hours and those young people never forgot the words she spoke  
to them.  
At one particular campmeeting a large number had come to get a  
special blessing and Ellen  thanked God  for these noble youth who craved the  
mercy of God and opened their hearts to His Holy Spirit. Some of them became  
leaders in God's work.  
At the same meeting another group of young people set about to  
cause as much trouble as possible. They became Satan's army of resistance  
by being noisy, rude and scornful. They mocked the youth who had come to  
campmeeting to get a blessing, or tried to lure them into mischief. They  
made fun of Ellen White.  
One day one of these young men, Jack, asked his friend, Eddie,  
"Did you hear Mrs. White's sermon this morning?"  
"Yes, I toughed it out." He held his head and yawned. "She talked  
about how Adventists should live simply, dress plainly and give most of their  
m y to the church."  
109


"That's the main point of all her sermons," Jack sneered. "But  
did you notice what she had pinned onto her dress for everyone to see!" An  
ugly grin twisted Jack's handsome face. "A gold watch, that's what? She 
preaches one thing and practices another."  
"Let's ask her about it." Eddie pointed to the people just coming  
from the prayer tent. "There she is! And we've got a real complaint."  
So looking innocent, the boys walked up to Ellen White. She and  
the others in that tent had just been praying for these unconverted youth  
and her heart went out to these two boys in tender yearning. Jack spoke, 
"May we ask you a question?"  
"Certainly," she smiled at them.  
"We've been listening to  your sermons and many people come to hear  
you, but some of them  wonder why you don't practice what you preach."  
Ellen White looked at them in surprise. "What do you mean? I  
don't understand."  
Eddie spoke up. "Well, this watch," he pointed to the small,  
open-faced time-piece pinned to her dress. "You tell us that we shouldn't  
wear gold, and the Bible says that, too. But you wear it yourself. Why  
shouldn't people wonder whether you believe your own preaching?"  
Amazed, Ellen looked down at the watch. Then  she looked at the  
two boys and recognized them. "I will take care of the problem," she told 
them and hurried on her way to the next appointment. Her mind flashed back  
to the day, a short time ago, when some kind person had given her the little  
old watch. No one would ever wear it out of pride. It looked old and  
110


battered, but it did keep excellent time. She unpinned it and held it in  
her hand. Getting to meetings on time had been so much easier since she had  
worn the little watch. Now, she would never wear it again. Not by the least  
thing would she give cause of offense to anyone.  
Jack and Eddie went to find their young friends. "We really  
caught her this time."  
"What did she say?"  
"Not much," Eddie laughed, "but she looked like a baseball had just  
hit her on the head." Both boys held  their sides with glee.  
Prayers continued for the unconverted young people on the campground  
and the victory came. Seventy-five persons were baptized before the meetings  
closed. Perhaps Jack and Eddie were among them.  
A short time after this experience, Daniel Bordeau in Geneva,  
Switzerland, sent Ellen White a gift watch as "a memorial of my kind regards 
to one whom I love as a mother."  
This watch came as a Christmas gift in the year 1885 and Ellen  
cherished it and used it with no criticism from anyone. No doubt she carried 
it in her purse.  
Ill


ELLEN'S GOLD WATCH - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand the Christian grace that makes another  
person's concern more important than my own.  
For discussion:  
1. What argument or defense might Ellen White have used when the  
boys attacked her for wearing a gold watch?  
a. (But I'm not wearing it for ornament. 
b. It's not particularly attractive.  
c. It happens to keep good time.)  
2. How is Ellen White's gold watch like the food offered to idols  
described by Paul:  
"If we do not eat /food offered to idols/, we are none the worse,  
and if we eat, we are none the better. ... If food be the down- 
fall of my brother, I will never eat meat /food offered to idols ' 
anymore, for I will not be the cause of my brother's downfall."—  
1 Corinthians 8:8, 13, NEB. (See all of 1 Corinthians 8 for a  
complete discussion.)  
3. Number the following in order of their importance to Ellen White.  
Use facts in today's story to help you decide.  
a. Making sure people know I'm right.  
b. Influencing people to love God.  
c. Arguing when falsely accused.  
d. Being free to do the will of God as I understand it.  
112


THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY EMPHASIS STORIES  
Volume I, Part II  
Grades 5-8


LOST IN A STORM AT SEA  
To the Teacher:  
The following story is found in Early Writings, pages 23, 24.  
Mrs. White's brief account is supplemented by documented material written  
by H. S. Gurney kept in the Ellen G. White Estate vault.  
Ellen was visiting in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, probably staying  
in the home of Joseph Bates. Her sister "who usually accompanied me at 
that time" was Sarah.  
An outline on the chalk board,  
uch as given here, will help the  
113


LOST IN A STORM AT SEA  
Ellen and Sarah Harmon were visiting in the home of Joseph Bates in  
Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Ellen was sharing the wonderful things the  
Lord had shown her  with all the believers there. Someone told her about  
a family who lived on a nearby island. This family was sad and discouraged.  
They felt that God had forgotten about them.  
"I must visit these dear people," Ellen exclaimed, "but how can I  
get to West Island?"  
A friend said, "I am  sure that Mr. Gurney, our Adventist blacksmith,  
will take you if you ask him."  
The next morning Ellen asked Mr. Gurney if he could take Sarah and  
her to visit these lonely believers.  
"I will be happy to do what I can," Mr. Gurney promised. "I have a  
friend who often loans me his boat. We will sail down the bay, past the  
point, and out Into the ocean to get to the other side of West Island. 
Only two families live on the island, and they are on the far side. When  
would you like to go, Miss Harmon?"  
"As soon as possible," Ellen replied. "Could we go this afternoon?"  
"Yes, if the boat is available," Mr. Gurney replied. "I will come  
to the house where you are staying and take you to the sailboat."  
That afternoon when Mr. Gurney came for the young ladies, he found  
Ellen very sick.  
114


"Do you still want to go to West Island?" he asked.  
"Oh yes," she said weakly. She tried to get up, but fell back on the  
bed. 
"Would you go if you were well enough?" Mr. Gurney asked.  
"Yes, yes," Ellen answered. "That discouraged family must hear  
quickly the good news God has sent us."  
Without another word, Mr. Gurney knelt beside Ellen's bed. He asked  
God to heal her so that she could take His love to the people who felt  
so lonely and forgotten.  
As soon as Mr. Gurney  had finished his prayer, Ellen sat up, then  
she stood  up. God had taken away all her pain and sickness. Ellen,  
Sarah and another lady went with Mr. Gurney to the sailboat and started  
their journey. It was already late afternoon.  
After they had gone out into the ocean, past the point, suddenly the  
wind began to blow, strongly at first, then fiercely. Dark clouds  
quickly covered the sky. Lightning flashed! Thunder roared! Then rain  
beat down upon them in torrents. The little sailboat rocked back and  
forth. The blackness of night came and still the storm continued to  
toss them this way and that. Mr. Gurney did not know where they were.  
They could not see through the darkness. No matter how hard Mr. Gurney  
tried to steer the boat, he could not control it. They were lost in the  
oceanexpecting the boat to sink any moment, frightened and terribly afraid.  
Holding tightly to the boat, Ellen knelt down and asked God to save  
them from drowning. And right there God gave her a vision while the  winds  
were shrieking, lightning flashing, thunder crashing, and waves washing  
over the sides of the boat drenching Ellen and the others.  
115


In the beauty and quietness of the vision, Ellen knew  God was with  
them. He told her that they were safe. He said that before He would  
let her drown, He would dry up every drop of water in the entire ocean!  
He told Ellen that her work for Him was just beginning.  
The vision ended. Once again Ellen heard the storm all about her.  
She felt the boat plunging into the waves, but now she was not afraid. 
She felt great peace and joy for they were in God's hands. Quickly she  
told the others what God had shown her. Immediately their fears vanished  
for they too knew that the Creator of all nature was right there with them 
in that terrible storm.  
The boat was tossing so badly that Mr. Gurney decided to throw the  
anchor overboard. After what seemed a long time, the anchor finally 
caught on a rock or something on the bottom of the sea.  
"The water is shallower here," he said. We must be near land."  
Cupping his hands to his mouth he called loudly, "Help! Help!" It  
seemed to him that the wind carried his voice away. Over and over he called  
again.  
There were only two houses on the island. In the  home closest to  
the shore, everyone was asleep—everyone but a little girl. As she lay  
in bed listening to  the wind wailing around the house, she heard a faint,  
"Help! Help!" Had she imagined it? She listened carefully and again  
heard the call.  
"Help!" She jumped out of bed and ran to her father's bed.  
"Father, Father! I heard something! I think I heard somebody  
cry for help!" Her father sat up in bed and listened. Then he heard 
it, too.  
116


"Someone is in trouble!" he exclaimed jumping out of bed. Quickly  
he dressed for the storm and ran down the path to his little boat. He  
untied it and started rowing out to sea in the darkness.  
"I'm coming!" he shouted loudly, "Where are you? I can't see you."  
"Over here! Over here!" came the reply. Mr. Gurney kept calling  
"This way! Over here!" until the two boats came together.  
The man threw one end of a rope to Mr. Gurney and told him to tie  
it to the sailboat. He would try to tow the sailboat to shore. The two  
men held the boats as closely together as possible while the three ladies  
climbed into the row boat, then Mr. Gurney stepped into it.  
It was hard work rowing back to land. Probably the two men pulled  
the oars together. The waves were high and strong. Suddenly the tow rope  
broke. The sailboat was free for the waves to wash it out to sea.  
Finally the weary people reached the shore. Their new friends gave  
them dry clothes and built up the fire. How good it felt to be dry and  
warm! How the little girl's eyes sparkled when Ellen hugged her and  
thanked her for hearing their  cry for help! How thankful everyone was to  
their Heavenly Father for saving their lives!  
The next day the storm was over. The trees and flowers and grasses  
reflected the bright yellow sunshine. And the family's sadness and dis- 
couragement were gone. Their faces reflected the happiness of knowing  
God loved them. Their hearts were warmed because friends cared enough 
about them to come through the storm.  
The father of the family took them back to Fairhaven in his sailboat  
because the borrowed sailboat was lost. The trip was beautiful. Gentle  
winds filled the white sails. The boat glided over blue waters.  
117


But what about the lost borrowed sailboat? What could they say to  
its owner? How could they ever pay him for it? They were poor people who  
spent their time and money to spread God's message. Silently each one  
prayed. Together they prayed.  
"All-powerful Lord, last night during the storm we called on You for  
help. You saved us. This quiet morning we are again in trouble. Only  
You know where that borrowed sailboat is—lost far out in the ocean, or 
washed upon rocks somewhere battered and broken along the shore, or maybe  
at the bottom of the sea. Lord, You know we have no way to repay the owner.  
Once again we cry to You for help."  
On and on they talked with God until in the distance they saw the  
home of the man who owned the lost sailboat. They steered toward the dock  
where the boat was kept. As they came nearer, suddenly they opened their  
eyes wider and wider. Was it? Was it really so? Could it be possible?  
"It is! It is!" they exclaimed. "It is the lost sailboat by the  
dock, right where it is always kept. Lord, we don't know how it got there,  
but thank You. Thank You!"  
The sailboat owner thought that Mr. Gurney had already returned the  
boat, so he was surprised when Mr. Gurney exclaimed, "I see your boat  
is back already!"  
"Well," said the owner, "didn't you bring it back early this morning?"  
"No," Mr. Gurney replied. "No, we lost it in that terrible storm."  
He looked at the lost boat returned unharmed,  then asked,  "Who guided that  
sailboat through the ocean storm, back to  Fairhaven, and right up to its  
dock where you keep it?"  
118


Reverently the owner answered, "It could have been none other than  
j>el sent from heaven." The others agreed and joyfully they knelt and  
thanked God for His tender watch care over them.  
119


LOST IN A STORM AT SEA - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand God's providence in using the events of  
life to demonstrate His love.  
For discussion:  
1. Why did God save Ellen's life? (Her work for Him had just  
begun, E. W., p. 23. Children may think of other reasons also.)  
2. Why do you think God had an angel return the boat undamaged?  
(Only a few Adventists lived at this time. Each person in the  
boat was a child of God. Each one worked for Him by giving and  
spreading the good news. What might have happened if they had  
had to pay for the sailboat?)  
3. Recall two occasions when a storm frightened Jesus' disciples.  
(See Mark 4:35-41; Matthew 14:25-31.)  
4. For what events do you think Satan might have been responsible  
in this story?  
("In accidents and calamities by sea and land, in great conflagra- 
tions, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests,  
floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place  
and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power."—  
The Great Controversy, pp. 589,590.)  
5. How did God use the outcome of a storm to demonstrate His presence  
to some discouraged people in the story we have heard today?  
(Ellen White's account ends with: "We spent the most of  
that night in thanksgiving and praise to God for His wonderful  
goodness unto us."—Early Writings, p. 24.)  
6. No doubt Ellen White had planned what she would say  to the dis- 
couraged family. Perhaps she was going to say, "Don't be dis-
couraged. God still loves you." By the time she saw the family,  
however, she had something else to say about God. What do you  
think she said?  
120


STOCKING BEHIND THE DOOR  
During the early years of their marriage James and Ellen White  
traveled a great deal in the eastern states. When God directed them to  
go to a certain town or neighborhood, they did not ask where they would 
stay or if they would have a comfortable bed. They went where God called 
them to go and put up with whatever inconvenience they met in order that 
the work might grow, and that the little paper THE ADVENT REVIEW AND SAB- 
BATH HERALD might be published and sent out to the believers on time.  
They never complained, but counted it a great honor for which they praised  
Him every day.  
Yet often when walking along  a street James and Ellen would see a  
cottage with a FOR RENT sign on it, they  would pause, go up the walkway,  
look in the windows and dream about the time when they might have a house  
they could call home with furniture so they could entertain friends. One  
evening in Rochester, New York, they saw such a  place and went up on the  
porch and sat down on the top step, trying to feel how it would be to have  
a home of their own. "I am really going to hunt for a house," James said  
holding Ellen close. "I'll start tomorrow."  
James had passed his thirtieth birthday and Ellen was twenty-four.  
Surely, James thought, God would be pleased for them to have a home. When  
he found a big, old residence on Mt. Hope Avenue that he could rent for  
$175 a year, he hurried home to tell Ellen. "It's big enough for us and 
the workers who  will be helping us. We can set up the printing press that  
s coming from New York right in the house. That will save us $50 a year.  
121


Ellen approved and James rented the house. Then they began to look  
for furniture. James searched for bargains and bought chairs and tables  
and other pieces one by one. He bought two old bedsteads for twenty-five  
cents apiece. Six old chairs he purchased for one dollar. None of them  
matched. Then he found four more old chairs and bought them for sixty-four  
cents. They had no seats, but Ellen tested the frames and found them 
sturdy, so with needle and thread and strong drill fabric reinforced  with  
hammer and tacks, she transformed these chairs into something usable  to  
add to the chair collection. Now the Whites owned ten usable chairs. James  
fashioned a table from two packing barrels with a wide board laid across 
the top. It would not hold  much food and it didn't need to. They had  
little to eat.  
Spring drew on and fresh vegetables were scarce, but turnips were  
plentiful and cheaper than potatoes. Ellen boiled the turnips without but- 
ter, but she did make something she called "sauce" out of flour, water  
and salt. Poured over the turnips, it tasted good.  
Although poor, they did not complain. "God has provided this place  
for us," they told each other. "Let us praise Him."  
What God had planned for them, they accepted willingly and gladly.  
Other workers soon joined James and Ellen, who welcomed them into their  
home. The printing press came, too, and James with his helpers set it up  
with joy and thanksgiving. This printing press marked a big step forward  
and would make printing the "little paper" much easier.  
The family grew to number fifteen persons; seven of them were strong  
men and husky boys with big appetites. This meant they would have to  
enlarge their table. Also they began to get a little income from the sale  
of tracts, pamphlets, and magazine subscriptions. James could give Ellen  
122


a certain amount each week to buy  food and run their large household. Now  
they did not eat turnips every day.  
They also found a young girl, Jenny Frazier, who helped with the  
cooking. She understood that money was scarce and she knew that a dollar's  
worth of beans would go father than a dollar's worth of any other food.  
By this time twenty-two-year-old Uriah Smith had joined the family. One  
day he remarked, "I really have no objection to eating beans three times  
a day for 365 days of the year, but when it comes to making them a regular  diet,  
I plan to protest." Everyone enjoyed a hearty laugh and passed their plates  
for more beans.  
Ellen, who managed this large household and directed all its activi- 
ties, decided that she ought to save some money regularly. After all,  
James did give her an allowance for food, so one day when no one was around,  
she drove a nail in a dark corner behind the pantry door. From the nail  
she hung a long, black stocking, making sure that it had no holes or weak  
places in heel or toe. No one knew about the stocking.  She regarded it  
as her private savings bank and every week she dropped something into it.  
Sometimes she held the toe in her hand and felt the  little wad of money  
accumulating there. It have her a comfortable feeling. She did not count  
it. She only thanked God that she could add to the little hoard every  
week.  
Then one day James came in with a worried look on his face. "Ellen,  
the paper for our next issue of THE REVIEW is at the express office, but  
you know that our people have been slow about paying up their subscriptions.  
I just don't know what to do, I can't possibly pay for it!" He flung him- 
self onto a kitchen chair.  
"How much do you need?" Ellen came and Stood with her warm, little  
hand on his shoulder.  
123


"Sixty-four dollars!" His voice sounded hopeless and discouraged.  
"But it might as well be a thousand. We haven't a cent."  
Without a word, Ellen went to the pantry door and reached for the  
stocking. James watched wide-eyed and speechless while she emptied  the  
contents on the table. They began to count: fifty cent  pieces, an occa- 
sional silver dollar, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. The pile of  
counted coins grew. Would there be enough? "Fifty dollars, sixty, 
sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-four!" James' voice shouted in 
triumph. He drew his little wife close and kissed her with that special  
kiss that said, "Thank God, thank God for a wife like you!"  
Then he hurried to the express office and enjoyed the look of sur- 
prise on the clerk's face when he paid for the paper with all this small  
change. The REVIEW AND HERALD reached its readers on time that spring of 
1852.  
Ellen White practiced strict economy herself and she advised others  
to do likewise. She advised young people to save some of their wages  
each week. When she saw children spending all their money on candy,  
it grieved and troubled her for two reasons. Food eaten between meals is  
harmful and the nickels and dimes wasted on such indulgence could have been  
saved for useful things. To Ellen White, every dollar was a sacred trust  
from God.  
124


THE STOCKING BEHIND THE DOOR - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize that the amount of income is not so  
important as the use one makes of it.  
For discussion: 
1. If Ellen were arranging the following facts of life in order of  
great concern to her, which would she number (most important)?  
Number the rest as you think she would.  
a. We lack money.  
b. We have to eat beans, and I don't like them.  
c. We should live on what we can afford.  
d. The people don't pay for the paper as they should.  
e. We need to save some money every month. 
f. Our chairs don't match.  
g. We need to keep the good news about God before the people.  
2. How should a young person act if he wishes to avoid waste?  
Think of as many answers as you can. 
a. (Put only the food that he is able to eat on his plate;  
b. Choose nutritious food rather than junk food;  
c. Speak up against litter;  
d. Buy food in containers that can be recycled or returned, etc.)  
3. How would a person behave who places importance on using his money  
to help others?  
4. How would a person behave who places importance on saving?  
125


ELLEN'S LAST HOME: ELMSHAVEN  
One spring morning when Dennis came to breakfast, Mother had a surprise  
for him. "Father has a vacation soon, and we have decided to go to Califor- 
nia to visit Uncle Don. Would you like to see Ellen White's last home,  
Elmshaven? "  
Dennis jumped for joy, then sat down to eat. "Yes! Yes! When can we  
go? Will we see the room where the angels came?"  
Mother laughed at Dennis's enthusiasm. "Dad's vacation is in two weeks.  
We will see Elmshaven  soon after we arrive in California."  
While Dennis ate his breakfast Mother said, "When Ellen White was comi..0  
back to America from Australia, God told her that He had  prepared a 'refuge'  
for her. That refuge was her home at Elmshaven."  
What kind of place would it be, Dennis wondered. A refuge for God's  
beloved messenger - that would be something wonderful to see!  
Vacation time arrived. Father, Mother and Dennis traveled to San Fran- 
cisco. A few days later they drove toward the mountains. Dennis watched the  
road that wound among the green California hills. "Did Ellen White see the  
hills look like this?" he asked.  
Father gazed at the lovely green-carpeted hills. "I suppose she did see  
them as beautiful as this. She delighted in lovely scenery and graceful trees.  
In all these natural beauties she saw God's hand of love," Father said.  
126


In a short time  they arrived at Pacific Union College. After lunch  
and a leisurely walk around the campus, they returned to the car and drove  
up a curving lane to a big old-fashioned farmhouse with porches and bal- 
conies and lots of windows. "This is Elmshaven." Father smiled as he  
drove around the house and parked  in the back yard. A great oak tree  
stood near an old-fashioned square building. "This used to be the office  
building," Father said. Off to their left, workmen seemed to be putting  
the final touches on a roomy new cottage. "It must be for the new caretaker  
and his family." Father stopped to look at it. "The lady living at  
Elmshaven right now is a granddaughter of Ellen  White and looks a lot  
like her."  
They climbed the steps to the front veranda where a tall, old gentle- 
man waited for them. After introductions, he invited them into the red  
carpeted front hall. A large, stained glass window near the steep stair- 
way splashed colored light into the whole room.  
Dennis looked around on everything with a hushed awe. He could al- 
most see the figure of Ellen White climbing those stairs with the colored  
light from the high window shining on her white hair. Beautiful! So this  
was the "refuge" God had prepared for Ellen's last years!  
He turned to the left and looked into the sitting room with its com- 
fortable sofa and a fireplace that warmed the downstairs rooms. An old  
organ stood in one corner and interesting pictures and books filled the  
room with memories of ancient treasures. Dennis remembered that angels  
had walked and talked in this house, familiar friends of the gentle,  
little woman who had spent the last fifteen years of her life here.  
They had been in the house only a short time when other people came  
p the front steps  and the guide went to welcome them. The  guide led  
127


them all upstairs to Ellen White's bedroom. All the rooms had unusually  
high ceilings which made them feel spacious. The bedroom furniture that 
had belonged to Ellen White was plain, but solid. Dennis looked down at 
his feet and knew that he stood where angel feet had stood, for Ellen had  
received many visions from Jesus while she slept in this room. The  
sense of awe that enveloped him convinced him that angels still lingered 
about this place.  
Their guide led them down the carpeted hall to the writing room at  
the other end of the house. The sense of angel-presence grew stronger.  
"This room is the heart of the house. Here Ellen White spent most of  
her time in a comfortable chair with her writing board in front of her. 
Light from the southeast corner windows flooded the place where she sat.  
Certainly no spot could be better for writing. She wrote nine books  
here," and Dennis looked up to see all nine of them on the fireplace  
mantel.  
"At the threshhold of this room she tripped and fell on February 13,  
1915, and this lovely room had been turned into a sickroom where loving  
nurses had used  all their skill to make her comfortable. Four months  
later, on July 16, 1915, she died in this room. The nurse on duty  
stopped the mantel clock at the exact moment she drew her last breath, 3:50  
p.m. on Sabbath afternoon." Dennis studied the hands of the clock as he  
listened to the guide.  
After Dennis and the other visitors returned to the first floor living  
room, the caretaker's wife came out to meet them. She looked like her 
grandmother, Ellen White, the same short figure, same gray hair, same  
sparkling smile and pleasant face, same kindness of manner which endeared  
Ellen White to so many people. "I learned to walk in this house." She  
128


pointed to the stairs. "I crawled up those stairs and then crawled down  
nead first many times."  
The little woman appeared so friendly and kind that Dennis ventured  
to ask a question: "Will you tell me what Ellen White kept in that  
great big cupboard in the writing room upstairs?"  
"Yes, certainly." The lady sat down on the living room sofa and  
motioned for Dennis to sit beside her. "Grandmother kept  bolts of new  
cloth in that cupboard. She was always buying bolts of good material  
that she thought would make attractive garments. Whenever she learned of 
some poor family that had suffered the loss of their things through fire  
or flood, or who had become desperately poor, she would tell the women  
who helped her to get out the bolts of cloth and make suitable garments  
for them."  
"Did she give her worn clothes to the poor, too?"  
"No, I can't remember that she ever did. She always gave good, new  
things," said the lady. "One time in Australia one of her dear friends came 
to visit and saw Sara Hughes hanging  the washing on the clothesline. She  
looked at the under-garments and said, 'I have never seen clothes so  
patched; they have patches on patches. Whose garments are those?'  
"'They are Mother's (Sara Hughes always called Ellen White, Mother).  
She gives her good, new things to the needy and keeps the patched things 
for herself. She says that many of the poor don't know how to patch.  
They also have a lot of personal pride and she would never offend them by  
offering them old, worn out or patched garments."'  
Dennis thanked the kind little lady and supposed that now she  would  
go back to her kitchen, but she still sat smiling at him. "Maybe you would  
like to hear another story  about bolts of cloth?" She looked at Dennis.  
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"Oh, yes, I would." Dennis moved a little closer to her.  
"Once Ellen White had a dream. She found herself  cutting up bolts  
and bolts of cloth into garments for many people. With a great deal  
of care and patience, she fitted the garments to the people and gave them  
to those persons. Many of the people didn't want the garments and  threw  
them down in anger or disgust, but angels kept handing her more bolts of 
cloth.  
"Finally she became very tired and said, 'What's the use of cutting  
and fitting all these garments? People don't want to wear them.' She 
lay down her scissors.  
"Then the angel answered, 'It is your work to cut and fit the garments.  
What people do with them after you have finished your work is not your  
concern. God will take care of that.' He handed back her scissors and  
another bolt of cloth."  
Dennis thought for a moment, then wrinkled his nose. "What did the  
vision mean?" he asked.  
"The angel was talking about the special testimonies that Ellen White  
gave for so many people. She must have gotten very tired of giving all  
those messages of warning and reproof; but God wouldn't let her stop until  
she had 'cut garments' that fit everyone. And that's why  we need to read  
those special testimonies. We will find 'garments' that just fit us."  
The kind lady stood up and Father motioned Dennis to the door. They  
walked out to their car and the guide walked with them. He pointed to  
the gigantic oak tree near their car. The tree was actually three enormous  
trunks of about the same size.  
"About the time Grandmother moved into this house, the gardener mowed  
down a small oak tree right here." The guide pointed to the mighty oak'i  
130


trunk. "His wife grieved over the little oak and hoped that it might spring 
up again from the root; so she put stakes around it and protected it 
through those early years. Grandmother White watched it grow."  
The guide laid his hand on one of the great oaks. "For me, it has a  
lot of meaning that you will understand better when you grow older. About  
the turn of the  century, the devil tried in a special way to destroy God's  
work. He really 'mowed it down.' But God, right here at Elmshaven, put a  
stop to his plans and the new work grew in three directions. It grew strong  
and tall and beautiful."  
"Can I guess what the three directions are?" Dennis could hardly  
wait to speak it out. Their guide nodded. "Teaching, healing, and  
publishing," he  said.  
"Very good indeed! Some people have likened it to the three angels'  
messages which have made us a peculiar people. Maybe the trees mean all  
these things and much more."  
The family thanked the kind gentleman and got into the car. As they  
started down the curving drive the scene before them stretched away to the  
mountains, peaceful and lovely. "All this was orchard land when Ellen  
White lived here." Father turned onto the highway. "How she must have  
loved this place! How often she must have thanked God for the 'refuge'  
He so generously provided!"  
Dennis turned longing eyes back to the big white house on the hillside.  
"I wish Ellen White still lived in Elmshaven."  
"Yes, Son, we all wish that so much, but one day she will live on  
this earth once more, and  who knows where her home will be? It might be  
a home like Elmshaven with all the glorious orchards and flowers of the New  
"Sarth around it. One thing we do know; her husband will be with her and  
131


her four sons and many of her grandchildren. She will be completely happy."  
Dennis thought of that time and his heart swelled with a hope that  
had become more urgent, more bright and sure during this vacation time.  
A new determination possessed him that nothing should rob him of the joy  
of seeing Ellen White and her family in the earth made new.  
132


ELLEN'S LAST HOME - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand that benevolence, dedicated service, and  
accompanying blessings were characteristic of Ellen White's interaction  
with God and His work.  
For discussion:  
Provide a picture of Elmshaven.  
Possible display for this story: The nine books that Ellen White  
wrote at Elmshaven:  
Life Sketches Prophets and Kings The Acts of the Apostles  
Education Gospel Workers The Ministry of Healing  
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7, 8, 9  
1. What question would you like to ask about Elmshaven?  
(Consider sending a significant question to Elmshaven. It should  
be something that would not require considerable research by the  
caretakers. As an alternative, have students write letters of  
appreciation to be sent to Elmshaven. They might serve as a  
temporary display there.)  
2. How  do you think Elmshaven compares to the first home that the  
Whites lived in? Other early homes?  
3. In her dream, Ellen saw that different testimonies "fit" different  
people. Which of the following testimonies might "fit" you?  
3T 137 Children need well-regulated amusement  
IT 399 Children need useful, interesting books  
2T 85 Children need comfortable clothing  
IT 394 Children need exercise of mind and body  
IT 558 Children need to do their part of  family labor  
9T 55 Children need to lay aside offerings for Christ  
2T 325 Children need to lighten cares of overworked parents  
5T 424 Children should be present at family worship  
133


PROPHETS, VISIONS AND INSIGHTS  
God Chose Ellen 
Ellen's Longest Vision  
Ellen and the Bicycles of Battle Creek 
Nellie Sisley Never Forgot, Part I  
Nellie Sisley Never Forgot, Part II  
A Horse and Carriage  
A Bridge of Ice 
134


GOD CHOSE ELLEN  
God plans for all of us long before we are born. He knows where we will  
live and who our parents will be. He knows who our brothers and sisters will  
be. He places each one of us in the right place to do the work he planned for 
us.  
God chose Ellen to be a special messenger for Him. He  let her grow up  
in a big family with a kind father and mother, so she would learn to be loving  
and unselfish. He allowed the accident which spoiled her pretty face  so that  
>he would grow up to be humble and patient and sympathetic  toward all persons  
who were hurt or sick and weak. He did not let her go to school and learn  
like other children because He wanted to teach her Himself. He drew her close  
while she was very young, so that she would trust Him and obey His will for 
her. He taught her the sweetness of Jesus' love, so that she might have a  
joyous heart and be able to cheer and help other people.  
When Ellen reached her seventeenth year everyone knew that she loved  
Jesus more than anything else, that she had become patient and kind through  
the years of her weakness and suffering. Then God gave her her first vision.  
A vision is a beautiful and wonderful thing. God took Ellen's mind and heart  
away from this world for a few minutes, or a few hours, and allowed her to 
see things that no one else could see or know about. Sometimes an angel 
talked with her and told her important things that God wanted His people to  
low. Sometimes she saw Jesus.  
135


In this first vision God showed Ellen the people of God walking on a  
straight and narrow path high above the world. He showed her Jesus coming 
in the clouds of heaven. He showed her the dead coming out of their graves  
when Jesus sounds His silver trumpet and calls them forth. She saw all of  
God's people being taken up to the glorious cloud and she knew that they  
traveled for seven days to God's heavenly home. There she saw the sea of  
glass, the river of life and the throne of God.  
When the vision ended and Ellen found herself back in this dark world  
again, she felt homesick for heaven. She had seen the beautiful things in  
heaven and felt its joy and peace. The world seemed sad, dark, cold and  
lonely.  
Ellen told the five women that were with her what she had seen and all  
of them praised God for the wonderful thing that had happened to Ellen, 
glory that shone in Ellen's face and the holy joy that rang in her voice  
showed them that she had been with Jesus and His angels.  
The news quickly spread to all the believing people that God had given  
Ellen a vision. They called it an "open vision" because other people were  
there and saw how she looked and acted and heard what she said while in  
vision.  
Ellen told the believers in Portland, Maine, about her vision and they  
all felt sure that God had sent it and they praised Him, because they felt so  
happy that Jesus loved them so much and that He would someday let them see  
the things He had shown Ellen.  
Ellen herself could hardly understand what had happened. She knew that  
God had sent the vision, but why should  God choose her, a young girl with a  
136


"ace ruined by that cruel rock, a girl who felt weak and sick much of the  
time, a girl who had not gone to school beyond the third grade? She felt 
so unworthy that her courage almost failed.  
Then God sent her a second vision. He showed her that many people  
would not accept her visions. They would mock and ridicule her and try to  
stop her work, but God promised to make her strong to bear all these trials.  
He showed her that He had chosen her for a special messenger to His people.  
This second vision troubled Ellen's mind until she could hardly bear  
it. She begged the Lord to find someone else for this work, but the angel's  
words rang in her mind all  the time, "Tell others what I have revealed to  
you."  
Her heart sank lower and lower until all her joy and peace drained away.  
A dark cloud seemed to enfold her and a terrible burden rested on her. She  
onged to die and be released from the agony of the darkness and pain. People  
came to her father's house to pray and sing and witness for Jesus, but Ellen  
would not come out and join them. She felt crushed, overwhelmed, discouraged.  
At last one night her family and friends persuaded her to come out and  
join them in worship. By this time she had suffered so much that she wanted  
only Jesus. If only Jesus would come back with His love and joy and peace, 
she would be willing to do anything, go anywhere. While the people knelt around  
her and pleaded with God to bless  and heal her, the dark cloud lifted and a  
light appeared. God gave her the third vision. Again she heard the angel  
say, "Make known to others what I have revealed to you."  
Ellen knew now that she would do all that Jesus asked of her. No  
matter how hard the way, or painful the task, she would obey Him.  
137


At once God opened the way for her to go to a town thirty miles away  
where she gave a strong and clear testimony for God, revealing some of the  
things He had shown her in vision. Then friends invited her to go with 
them to Orrington in eastern Maine and God's Spirit went with her and gave  
power to her words. Many hearts were touched and changed.  
It was at Orrington, Maine, that Ellen first met James White, a young  
man who had given his whole heart and life to God, the young man who would  
soon be her husband.  
138


GOD CHOSE ELLEN - Study Questions  
Objectives: To discover how God helps people overcome weakness and  
turn it into strength.  
To find in the life of a person dedicated to God many  
blessings to overcome Satan's efforts to discourage and shut down God's work.  
For discussion:  
1. What would you have liked about being Ellen?  
(Knowing I was doing God's will  
Having a loving family  
Seeing heaven in a vision  
Having a talk with an angel)  
2. What would you have disliked about being Ellen?  
(Having an unpopular message  
Having a scarred face 
Being weak)  
3. God could have chosen anyone in the world to be His special  
messenger. He could have chosen a strong,  healthy man with a  
good education and a strong preaching voice. Why do you think  
God chose a sickly, weak young girl? How could her testimony 
glorify God better than someone else's?  
(Though Ellen's voice was hoarse and she could hardly speak above  
a whisper, her voice became strong when she testified of God; her  
weakness was turned to strength when doing God's bidding; everyone  
who knew her knew God's hand was upon her, giving her supernaturally- 
endowed strength.)  
139


ELLEN'S LONGEST VISION  
When Ellen first began to receive visions from God, the Advent be- 
lievers were  few and lived mostly in the New England states. God gave  
her "open visions" where people could see her having the experience, so  
their faith would be strong and they would know that God had chosen Ellen  
to be His special messenger.  
Just south of Boston, at Dorchester, Otis Nichols lived on a comfort- 
able farm. His big farmhouse had become a center for the Advent believers  
in the Boston area. Today he would drive his horse and carriage up to  
Boston and bring back Ellen White and her sister, Sarah. He had invited  
them to spend a few days in his home. Ellen always brought courage to  
the little companies of Adventists who loved Jesus and longed for Him to  
come.  
While Otis Nichols drove along the road he thought about two men in  
Boston who did not believe that Ellen's visions were from God. These two  
had been going about among the believers speaking against Ellen and telling  
everyone that the visions came from the devil. They had never seen her  
have a vision, but they both declared that Ellen would never dare to have  
a vision in their presence.  
When Otis Nichols invited the Harmon girls to come and stay with his  
family for a few days, he hoped that the two men, Sargent and Robbins,  
would be able to get acquainted with Ellen and see that her visions had  
nothing devilish about them.  
140


He met the girls and took them to his home. They talked about good  
"-.hings, Bible promises, the love of Jesus and all the new believers who  
were coming to the meetings. Otis Nichols could see that Ellen seemed  
full of praise to God and great joy in serving Him. "Surely this humble,  
gentle girl is God's child," Otis Nichols told himself. "Surely her visions  
are from Him."  
Not long after the two girls had come, Otis Nichols looked out the  
window. A carriage had driven into the yard. He hurried out and saw that  
Sargent and Robbins had come. They greeted him with big smiles. "We  
have come to visit with you and we would like to spend the night here."  
Otis Nichols felt a thrill of joy. "Oh, that's good!" he said as  
he stood close to the side of the carriage. "I'm really glad you have  
come. Ellen and Sarah Harmon have just come and now you can meet them  
and get acquainted with them."  
The two men looked surprised and glanced sharply at each other.  
"We have another call to make," Sargent explained. They made no move 
to get down from the carriage.  
But Otis Nichols didn't want them to go. "You just told me that  
you will stay here tonight. You have wanted to see Ellen for so long  
and now is your chance. It may be a long time before you get to see her  
and hear her speak."  
"Oh yes, we really do want to meet her. Couldn't you bring her in to  
our Sabbath service in Boston?"  
Otis Nichols stepped back a pace, "Well, maybe we could do that."  
The two men drove away in a great hurry.  
"Now, why did they act that way?" Otis Nichols asked himself while  
he walked  back to the house. He remembered that these men had told the  
141


Adventist believers that Ellen would never dare to have a vision in their  
presence. Could it be that they were afraid of Ellen?  
That evening Ellen had a vision there in the Nichols' home. The next  
morning she told Otis  Nichols, "The Lord showed me three things last night.  
First, we are not to go to Boston on Sabbath. Second, we are to go to  
Randolph instead. Third, when we get there we will know why."  
"But Randolph is thirteen miles in the opposite direction," he  
exclaimed. "I can't understand that!"  
"I don't understand either," Ellen said. "The Lord says that He  
has work for me to do there."  
Sabbath morning Otis Nichols hitched up his horse and they started  
for Randolph. "I don't know what those people will think when we promised  
to meet them in Boston today and now we go south to Randolph, instead of  
north to Boston." All the thirteen-mile drive he fretted about the  
matter. Ellen sat quietly without saying a word. At last they drove  
up to the Thayer home where the Adventist believers were meeting.  
They knocked on the door and when Mrs. Thayer opened it, they saw  
that the meeting had already begun, and the man in charge of the service 
turned to face them. Sargent!!! Otis Nichols glanced quickly over the 
little company and saw Robbins. So that's why God had sent them here!  
He saw the whole deception clearly. These  men did not want to  meet Ellen  
or have anything to do with her, but God had directed Ellen to come here.  
Faith began to strengthen in Otis Nichol's heart.  
Sargent tried to continue his sermon but became so confused that  
he finally said, "We will close this meeting a little early. Come back  
after lunch and we will have a good time together."  
No one left. Sargent and Robbins had been telling the believers th?*- 
Ellen's visions came from Satan. Also they, themselves, professed great  
142


holiness and said over and over that Ellen would never have a vision  
tfhen they were  present. Everyone felt curious to see what would happen.  
Most of them had been confused by Sargent and Robbin's talk and didn't  
know what to think.  
The afternoon meeting began with singing and prayer. Then Ellen began  
to pray. She paused for a moment and the next words that Otis Nichols  
and all the others heard were, "Glory to God! Glory to God!" God had  
taken her in a vision.  
Sargent and Robbins looked wildly around in great distress. Ellen  
was having a vision right here in front of them, a thing they had declared  
could never happen. She began to speak. She mentioned the two men's  
names. Sargent said, "Let's sing!" So they sang very loudly until their  
voices grew hoarse.  
Then Robbins said, "Let's read the Biblel" So they read the Bible  
in a loud voice until they were exhausted. Their hands shook. Sweat  
stood out on their faces. Some of the people asked them to be quiet,  
but Robbins said, "You are bowing to an idol. You are worshipping a golden  
calf."  
The vision had continued about three hours by this time and Otis  
Nichols could see that Ellen did not breathe, had not breathed for over  
three hours. Also, she knew nothing of what went on in the room. Her  
mind and soul had entered into the presence of Jesus, so all the noise  
Sargent and Robbins made  did not disturb her.  
Then Mr. Thayer, owner of the house where they had gathered,  said,  
"I have heard that visions from Satan can be stopped by laying a Bible on 
the person who is having the vision." He picked up the large family  
143


Bible from the living room table and held it out toward Sargent. "Here, 
you lay it on her."  
"Oh no!" the pale and frightened man backed away.  
"Then I'll do it myself!" Mr. Thayer opened the big Bible and  
laid it against the reclining figure of Ellen Harmon. When the Bible  
touched her, she rose to her feet, picked up the Bible, balanced it on  
her left hand and held it as high as she could reach. Then with her eyes  
looking up and away from the Bible, she said, "This is the inspired  
testimony from God."  
She began to turn its leaves with gentle reverence. Then she placed  
her finger on a verse and quoted the words in a strong, clear voice. For  
some time she continued to turn pages, point to verses and quote them  
with the Book still held high above her head.  
Otis Nichols brought a chair and stood on it, so he could read the  
verses. In every case she spoke the exact words of whatever text on whicii  
her finger rested. By a solemn nod of his head, he indicated to the  
waiting people that Ellen was making no mistakes.  
Now, a solemn hush had fallen over the little company. These were  
not just random texts, but every one had something  to do with the believers,  
the false claims of Sargent and Robbins, and the loving care of the Lord  
Jesus over all of them. Otis Nichols could see that the sweet Spirit of 
God had touched hearts.  
Then the vision began to close. Ellen drew one deep breath. Mr.  
Thayer took the heavy Bible from her. She drew another deep breath. Then  
she began to breathe naturally again. Then she looked around with sur- 
prise. Candles had been lighted. Evening had fallen. She had spent the  
whole of that winter afternoon in vision, the longest that God ever gave  
her—nearly four hours!  
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Otis Nichols looked around for Sargent and Robbins. They had gone,  
.hey had not been able to prevent Ellen's having a vision right in the  
room where they were sitting. They saw that she did not breathe. They  
heard her inspired words and saw her hold the heavy Bible above her head  
for more than half-an-hour, in her outstretched left hand. They  saw her  
point to the texts and heard her quote them correctly.  
Otis Nichols had no more doubts. He had seen and felt the power of  
God and seen His miraculous doings. The believers in the Boston area had  
received a great refreshing. The power of Sargent and Robbins' influence  
had been broken and their professions of holiness and sinlessness had  
been shown up for the deception they were.  
145


ELLEN'S LONGEST VISION - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand the way God reaches out to win people, yet  
never forces them beyond their will.  
For discussion:  
1. Why did God give Ellen "open visions"?  
(To strengthen the faith of people who saw her in vision.)  
2. Who profited from the sight of Ellen in her longest vision?  
(The people whom Sargent and Robbins had attempted to mislead.)  
3. What special efforts did God make to correct the ideas of Sargent  
and Robbins?  
(a. He brought the two men to the Nichols home when Ellen was there.  
b. He told Ellen in a vision not to go to Boston, but to Randolph  
where the two men would be on Sabbath, in spite of their  
assertion that they would be in Boston.  
c. He gave Ellen a vision in the presence of Sargent and Robbie,  
something they had said would never happen.)  
4. "God never asks us to believe without giving sufficient evidence  
upon which to base our faith. . . . Yet God has never removed  
the possibility of doubt."—Steps to Christ,  p. 110.  
How does today's story support this statement? 
What "sufficient evidence" was given in  today's story?  
What possibility of doubt remained?  
(The two men hadn't seen the vision; they didn't have to believe  
that it was from God.)  
146


ELLEN AND THE BICYCLES OF BATTLE CREEK  
The bicycle, brought from Europe in 1876, took a few years to become  
popular in the United States, but by the eariy 1890's they had caught on.  
At Battle Creek, headquarters of the young Seventh-day Adventist Church,  
bicycles had become an expensive obsession. Montgomery Ward's catalog for  
1894 advertised economy models for both ladies and gentlemen at $49.50,  
but if one wanted a deluxe model, he might spend as much as $125 or even  
$150, which was the price of a family carriage. Clearly the bicycle was  
not for poor people.  
The young people who worked at the Review & Herald Publishing House  
arned from $3 to $6 a week, so a bicycle could easily cost several months'  
pay. Yet by the summer of 1894 the whole town of Battle Creek seemed to  
be on wheels. The bicycle had become a status symbol and Battle Creek  
probably had more bicycles than any other American city the same size.  
The urge to possess a "wheel," as bicycles were called, dulled consciences  
and distorted reasonable thinking. Even young people who earned $3 or $4  
a week managed to get bicycles, but their room rent and food bills went  
unpaid.  
Of course, some who owned a bicycle put the invention to good use.  
Elder F. M. Wilcox of the Review & Herald found it a convenient and 
economical means of traveling from his home to the office. Elder Henry  
Nichols rode about town with his Bible strapped to his handle bars, but  
the great majority of "wheels" were used only for racing, speeding, and  
147


showing off.  
And where was Ellen White during all this fanaticism? She had been  
in Australia for over three years.  
In the autumn of 1894, when the bicycle craze was at its peak,  an  
announcement from the Battle Creek Church called everyone, young and old,  
to a special evening meeting. An urgent message had come from Ellen White.  
The letter had traveled for almost two months by boat and train from  
far-off Australia.  
The church filled up with eager people. They still cared about Ellen  
White; they waited for her latest message. Some of them believed with all  
their hearts that the words she wrote came from God. A hush fell over the  
assembled audience when Professor Prescott, president of Battle Creek  
College, stood up with the open letter in his hand. The congregation lis- 
tened with alert attention.  
Granville, N.S.W.  
Australia,  
July 20, 1894  
In the night season I was in a dream or vision which revealed  
some things in Battle Creek. My Guide said, "Follow me."  
I was directly in Battle Creek; the streets were alive with  
bicycles ridden by our people. There was a Witness from heaven  
beholding our people indulging their desire for  selfish gratifi- 
cation, and using the money that should be invested in foreign  
missions. . . . There was an infatuation, a craze, upon this subject.  
The Witness from Heaven said . . . "Every device that Satan can  
invent to make our people disloyal to Jesus Christ, the Captain  
of our Salvation, will be ready at hand. The notices in our papers  
extolling bicycles might better be cut out, and in the place the 
destitute foreign fields be represented.  
Brethren and sisters  in Battle Creek, I enquire, who hath  
bewitched you? Shall the idols be expelled from the heart and Jesus  
enthroned there? (Letter 23c, 1894)  
I was told by my Guide, "Look ye, and behold the idolatry  
of My people, to whom I have been speaking, rising up early, pre- 
senting to them their dangers! ..." There were some who were  
striving for the mastery, each trying to excel the other in the  
swift running of their bicycles. There was a spirit of strife  
and contention among them as to which should be the greatest. . . .  
Said my Guide: "These things are an offense to God."  
Testimonies, Vol, 8, p. 52  
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After the meeting-people asked, "What shall we do? Is it wrong to  
own a bicycle, if we make good use of it and it takes the place of a horse?"  
Another man spoke up, "It costs so much less to maintain, too." Elder  
F. M. Wilcox confessed that he had been using a bicycle for almost six  
months. He felt sure that Ellen White's condemnation was against the com- 
petitive spirit, the selfish pride and the abuse of the bicycle, yet he 
did not insist on his own  way. He wrote to Elder W. C. White:  
. . . The question comes to me, should I continue to use my  
bicycle? I look at it in this light. I am a young man and just  
as able to walk as scores of other young men here who have "wheels."  
Will they not look to me and feel that my influence is against the  
testimony? So I feel that for the sake of my influence ... it  
would be better for me to discontinue the use of my "wheel", which I 
have done.  
F. M. Wilcox letter to W. C. White, Sept. 12, 1894.  
He looked to the principle involved and felt that we should look for  
basic principles as Paul did when the matter of eating food offered to idols  
acame a matter of controversy. "It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink  
wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended or is made  
weak." Romans 14:21  
The leaders thought about the letter from Ellen White and decided to  
publish it in a leaflet so that everyone could read and reread every 
sentence.  
Studying the underlying principles today we might consider the pastor  
and his wife at a car lot looking for a new car. They found a lovely little  
car with bucket seats for two—neat, compact and economical. "Just the  
thing for us, wouldn't you say?" He climbed into the  driver's seat and  
motioned his wife to the other seat. She got in and sat quietly while the  
pastor took it for a short test drive. "For a childless couple like us, 
it's just perfect, don't you agree?" the young pastor looked at his wife.  
149


Then for the first time she spoke. "It seems like a selfish  car to  
me, Dear. What about the little neighbor girls who like to go to Sabbath  
School with us? How about Grandma Larson . . . ?"  
The pastor sat locked within his private thoughts for a minute or two.  
"You are right! We serve an unselfish God and we need an unselfish  car  
for His work."  
Five years rolled away. Ellen White had not yet returned from  
Australia. The price of bicycles dropped to $25 and good used ones could 
be gotten for much less. Edson White reported that he rode back and forth  
to work on a second-hand bicycle costing $9. He could go from his home 
to the office in just five minutes. What had been a luxury in just a few  
years became the cheapest and simplest way to get from one place to another. 
Owning a bicycle that cost $10 could no longer be called selfish gratifi- 
cation or "idolatry" because most of the reasons for not owning bicycles  
no longer existed: they cost much less, they no longer were a status  
symbol.  
At Elmshaven, in the early 1900fs, Ellen White's secretaries hurried  
her important testimonies from her home to the St. Helena station three  
miles away on their bicycles. Her grandchildren rode their bikes to  
school, ran errands with them, and used them for good, clean fun.  
Are the "bicycle testimonies" obsolete now? No, not by any means. So  
long as people are selfish and strive to outdo others, so long as they are  
tempted to idolize some prized possession, the warnings given in Battle  
Creek will apply.  
150


ELLEN AND THE BICYCLES OF BATTLE CREEK - Study Questions  
Objective: To identify and apply the principles underlying God's  
messages.  
For discussion:  
Locate Battle Creek, Michigan, on a map.  
1. If you earned $6 per week, how many weeks would it take to earn  
enough for a $49.50 bicycle?  
2. If your father earned $14 per week and bought you a $49.50 bicycle  
one month, how much would he have left for food, clothing, house  
payments, heat, light, charity, and other items?  
3. Ask your parents: "If it took a month's salary to buy an economy  
bicycle and three months of your salary to buy a deluxe model,  
would you buy either one for me?"  
4. Ellen White wrote about the "infatuation and idolatry" of bicycle  
owners.  
a. What does infatuation mean?  
b. What does idolatry mean? 
c. What might become idols today if they monopolize your time  
and attention?  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Motorcycles, TV, cars, clothing  
5. Ellen White wrote of the contention stirred up because of argument,  
dispute, quarreling and rivalry over the Battle Creek bicycles. 
a. What does contention mean?  
b. What does rivalry mean?  
c. Name something that causes rivalry and contention today.  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Grades, games, races, TV, musical performances  
6. Think of solutions for the problems you have named in 4c and 5c.  
151


NELLIE SISLEY NEVER FORGOT  
Part I  
Fourteen-year-old Nellie Sisley had come from England with her  
mother and brothers and sisters to live in Battle Creek, Michigan.  
Elder and Mrs. James White also lived in Battle Creek near the publish- 
ing house and sanitarium.  
On Friday evening, June 12, 1868, Nellie and her mother attended  
prayer meeting at the Battle Creek church with about 200 other people.  
Elder and Mrs. White, who had been away, had returned to Battle Creek,  
and everyone wanted to hear them speak.  
After a song and prayer, Elder  James White spoke for about ten  
minutes. Then he said, "I know you want to hear Mrs. White, so we will  
turn the meeting over to her."  
Then Sister White began to talk. She told the people that God had  
impressed her that they were not making the preparation that they ought  
to make to meet Jesus. "Jesus is coming soon," she said, "and we must  
be ready."  
When she had spoken for about half-an-hour, suddenly she seemed to  
fall backward. She didn't drop to the floor with a thud. It seemed to  
Nellie as though angel hands were gently lowering her to the platform.  
Nellie and her mother, who had never seen Sister White in vision before,  
thought that she had fainted, and so did many of the audience. Often  
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when God gave her a vision she exclaimed "Glory," or "Glory to God," but  
this time she did not. The people opened the windows wider and someone  
brought a glass of water. Then James White said, "Don't be alarmed.  
Mrs. White has not fainted. She is in vision."  
When James White spoke these words a quiet hush came over the audience.  
Nellie said years later, "It seemed as though heavenly beings were there,  
but we weren't frightened. Sister White lay on the lower platform, quiet  
and absolutely unconscious."  
Then Brother White said, "Some here  may have doubts in regard to  
Mrs. White's inspiration, and about the visions. We would be glad to  
have such questioners come forward and try the physical tests as given  
in the Bible."  
Then Elder White knelt down by Ellen's side, raised her head and  
shoulders so that they rested on his knees. Nellie, who still sat by  
her mother, knew that her mother had doubted the visions, and she said,  
"Mother, why don't we go up and see Sister White as Brother White has  
invited us to do?"  
So Nellie and her mother went up together and stood by Sister White's  
head. They could see that she did not breathe. Her eyes were open. A  
pleasant expression covered her face.  
Other people in the congregation also came up, and two large men who  
worked at our Battle Creek Sanitarium stood on either side of her. Elder  
White spoke again, "The entire congregation has seen Sister White fall.  
They know that she has lost her natural strength. Now we will see if she  
has been supernaturally strengthened."  
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Her hands lay clasped lightly on her chest. Elder White spoke to  
the two strong men, "I want you to pull her hands apart. You have two  
hands to her one." So they tried. They pulled and pulled. Nellie saw  
the two fragile hands in the heavy grasp of the strong men, and she was  
afraid they would hurt her. Elder James White said, "Don't be anxious.  
She is safe in God's keeping, controlled by His power. Pull until you  
are perfectly satisfied."  
"We are satisfied now," they said, "we don't need to pull any more."  
"Then Brother White said, "Take one finger at a time and try to pull  
them apart." But they couldn't do that. They could not move one finger.  
As Nellie told the story she said, "They looked ... to see if  
Sister White's eyes would close, and if she was breathing, but her eyes  
remained open with no movement of the eyelids.  She didn't breathe at al  
Then Sister White took her own hands apart, and made graceful gestures.  
James White said to the two strong men, "Now I want you to hold her arms."  
So they took hold of her wrists, but they couldn't stop her movement.  
It looked like any child could keep her from moving her arms, but she  
lifted and lowered them and moved them around as though no one was  near.  
The men seemed afraid they might hurt her, or that they might interfere  
with her view. But Elder White said,  "No, you won't hurt her, or inter- 
fere with what she is witnessing. Although she is unconscious of anything  
about her, yet she is safe in God's keeping."  
Nellie went back to her seat in awe, anxious to learn what Ellen  
White had seen in the vision. But she would have to wait until Mrs. White  
returned from vision to hear her words.  
154


NELLIE SISLEY NEVER FORGOT, PART I - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand God's willingness to demonstrate His choice  
of a prophetess to undergird the beliefs of His people.  
For discussion:  
Locate Battle Creek, Michigan, on a map.  
1. Think of some things you know Ellen White sometimes saw in vision  
that might have caused her to have a pleasant expression on her  
face.  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Bible events; historical events; heavenly  
scenes; New Earth scenes.  
2. Think of some things seen by Ellen White in vision that might have  
caused her to have a troubled expression.  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Events during the time of trouble; apostasy 
and indifference  of former believers; behaviors for which she was  
to give reproof.  
3. How does Nellie Sisley's story support these ideas:  
a. God is omnipotent (all-powerful, strong).  
b. God gives adequate evidence for belief in Him.  
155


NELLIE SISLEY NEVER FORGOT  
Part II  
Fourteen-year-old Nellie Sisley sat stark still, watching Sister  
White who was in vision at the Battle Creek Church. Elder White asked  
those who doubted her visions to come forward and see for themselves  
that she did not breathe and that God had given her supernatural strength.  
James White said, "Now that you are satisfied that she does  have  
supernatural strength while in vision, we will  see if her eyelids will  
close." A brightly burning lamp stood on the stand. Elder White took  
the shade off and put the lamp right in front of her eyes. Nellie thoub..w 
for sure that Mrs. White would move her eyes to protect them, or certainly  
she would close them, but she did neither. That same natural expression 
remained, and her eyes were neither staring nor glassy. Sometimes the  
expression on her face changed. Sometimes she looked pleased, and at  
other times very troubled. Elder White said, "Now we will send out and  
get a mirror, and we will see if she is breathing." So someone went next  
door and borrowed a mirror, and held it close to her face, but not one  
particle of moisture gathered on the mirror. So the people knew that she  
was not breathing. But they felt of her pulse and found that her heart  
beat regularly and the color of her face remained rosy and healthy.  
Occasionally she spoke. Her sentences were short, and she spoke of  
the things she was seeing in vision. At times her face appeared animated  
156


and excited, and at other times her face looked sad, and she seemed to  
shrink back from what she saw.  
When she began to come out of vision, she took three long, deep  
breaths. Elder White assisted her to a chair and said to her, "The  
congregation will be very interested in the vision. I know that they  
will want to know something about what you have seen."  
Sister White replied that she would gladly tell the people what had  
been shown her in the vision. She talked for about a half hour. She 
had seen the bright and glorious home that the Lord is preparing for His  
people. She had also seen the destruction of the wicked people, and what  
troubled her greatly was that she saw some who had been Seventh-day Ad- 
ventists among the lost. They had started on the narrow pathway to  
heaven, but for different reasons they had turned aside. Some had become  
discouraged; some had fallen in love with the pleasures of this world;  
money interested others more than serving the Lord. So quite a few who  
had been Adventists had wandered from the truth.  
As she spoke about the New Jerusalem, she said, "Oh,  I wish I could  
describe it. I have no language in which to tell you even a little of  
what has been shown me. If you could be there and see what I saw, nothing  
in this world could tempt you to live in such  a way as to be in danger of  
losing eternal life."  
For a time after the vision Ellen could not see very well. She told  
the people, "Now you may not understand why I cannot see well. But if  
you will turn your face to the sun for a while, then turn away, you will 
understand. Heaven is brighter than the sun."  
Then she gradually regained her sight, and the experience  of the  
vision did not injure her eyes at all. Many visions were given to Ellen  
157


White, but they did not leave her weak or ill, or impair her health in  
any way.  
After the vision Sister White talked with the people. She said,  
"God is concerned that we are careless. He would gladly give us things to  
do for Him, but we are living too lightly. We are spending too much time 
and thought on present interests, concerned about little things. Some 
of these things may be all right in themselves, but they crowd out  
heavenly things.  
As Nellie and her mother went home that night, they said to them- 
selves, "How glad we are that we went to prayer meeting tonight. Now  
we have seen Sister White in vision. We know that God gives her visions."  
And they determined in their hearts to study the counsels that were written  
out, and apply them to their own lives.  
Nellie married a young minister a few years later, and she spent  
large portion of her life serving the Lord in America and Australia.  
While in Australia she often  traveled with  Sister White, and at times she  
and her husband lived at Sunnyside. But Nellie never forgot that Friday  
evening in 1868 when she and her mother went to prayer meeting in the  
Battle Creek church and she saw Ellen White in vision.  
158


NELLIE SISLEY NEVER FORGOT, PART 2 - Study Questions  
Objective: To examine the serendipitous effects of Ellen White's  
public visions.  
For discussion:  
Locate Sunnyside, Australia, on a map.  
1. Experiment with a mirror to discover the moisture your breathing  
deposits. See if you can breathe on a mirror without leaving a  
trace of moisture.  
2. Do you think that everyone at prayer meeting the night Nellie  
Sisley saw Ellen White in vision was convinced that Ellen White  
was God's prophetess? Why?  
3. Do you think that everyone at prayer  meeting remained faithful to  
God because of what they saw that night? Explain your response.  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Faith based merely on supernatural manifesta- 
tions is not firmly grounded.  
4. What did Nellie and her mother do to help "ground" their faith?  
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Studied the counsels; applied the counsels to  
their lives.  
159


A HORSE AND CARRIAGE  
During the early years of their marriage James and Ellen White expe- 
rienced hard times. They had little money, and Ellen was so frail. She  
often rose from her sick bed to go  somewhere or carry a message to someone  
because God told her to go. For these journeys, God always strengthened  
her, but much of the traveling they did was difficult and tiring.  
When they must travel long distances they went the best way they  
could with what money they had. Automobiles and airplanes were not known  
in those days. Sometimes they  went in a carriage or sleigh loaned by  
friends. Often they traveled by second-class railway cars, or on the lower  
decks of small ships where thick clouds of tobacco smoke choked Ellen and  
made her faint. At night they slept on the floor or on boxes or bags of  
grain. They used overcoats and shawls for blankets. When James and Ellen  
closed their eyes and tried to sleep, swearing and obscene words from the  
other passengers rang in their ears and kept them awake; and the deck pas- 
sengers often played cards and drank until very late in the night.  
One day a request came for Ellen to speak to a group of believers at  
Sutton, Vermont. They would have to make the forty-mile trip in a stage-
coach that ran over the rough, dusty roads. The coach stopped for fresh  
horses every ten miles, giving the passengers a series of ten-minute breaks.  
When they finally got to Sutton, Ellen looked so weak and tired that the  
friends who welcomed them were alarmed and concerned at her condition.  
160


Even James White looked quite "used up."  
These believers at Sutton were dedicated, warm-hearted people who wanted  
to see the message go quickly. They realized how important the Whites were  
to the growing church and they valued their ministry. The believers decided 
to do somethingt They called a secret meeting to discuss the matter, and  
decided to take up a collection and purchase a horse and carriage for the  
Whites. "Then these dear people can drive wherever the Lord sends them in  
so much more comfort."  
They did take up the collection and gave generously. When the believers  
counted the offering, they had $175.00, which they felt sure would purchase  
both carriage and horse. They selected a well-built, comfortable buggy,  
but after discussing the horse, they decided to give the Whites a choice  
of several animals being offered for sale.  
On that Sunday night before the Whites were to  leave Sutton and return  
me to Rochester, Ellen found herself in vision. She stood at a cross- 
roads where several men had gathered. The men had three horses with them  
and they asked James White to look them over and choose one. One horse  
was a high-spirited sorrel. When the men stepped forward to examine this  
horse, the angel in the vision turned to Ellen and said, "Not this one."  
Then someone brought forward a large gray horse, clumsy—footed and  
awkward. Again the angel spoke, "Not this one."  
The third horse was a big dappled chestnut with an intelligent face,  
and arched neck and sway-backed. "This is the horse for you," the angel 
said. Ellen Told her husband about the strange vision.  
The following morning the Whites were taken to the crossroads where  
twenty men greeted them. The men brought out the three horses. Ellen  
5-mediately recognized them as the same horses she had seen the night before  
161


in vision; the nervous sorrel, the clumsy gray, and the big sway-backed  
chestnut named Charlie. Of course the Whites chose old Charlie. Then tt  
men presented the Whites with the beautiful new buggy. They harnessed  
Charlie in a fine new harness and fastened him between the shafts of the  
shining buggy.  
James and Ellen had never owned a carriage before. They had known which  
horse to choose because of the vision, but they knew nothing about the fine  
carriage. Such a surprise almost overwhelmed them. They might even have  
hesitated to accept so beautiful a conveyance had it not been for the vision. 
They knew that God understood all about this particular horse and this par- 
ticular carriage. He approved of these humble and obedient servants of His  
having a nice, new buggy to travel to His appointments for Him. The  
thanked the good people of Sutton with all their hearts and especially they  
thanked God who had shown them this great mercy.  
Driving home to Rochester through the beautiful fields, groves, and  
pastures in the sweet air of the open country was so much more enjoyable than  
the stuffy, smokey stage coach. They loved old Charlie and  he loved them.  
They always took good care of him and although they took long trips in  
their carriage, they never drove their horse too far in one stretch, or  
failed to give him good care. That same autumn while traveling the five  
hundred miles between  their home in Rochester, New York, to Bangor, Maine,  
they drove through miles of orchard land where apples hung ripe on the trees  
and fallen fruit lay on the ground. Charlie could never pass up a red apple  
without wanting to eat it. James White loosened the check rein so that  
Charlie could get his head down to the ground where he nuzzled the apples  
to his heart's content.  
The long trip of one thousand miles lasted two months and faithful old  
162


Charlie brought the little family  safely home in better health  than when  
jhey started the long journey.  
The Whites were always generous with their horse and carriage. When  
other workers needed to go on trips in God's service, James and Ellen allowed  
them to borrow old Charlie and the carriage.  
Although old Charlie  never knew it, he was a specially favored horse.  
God showed him to Ellen White in a vision and chose him to be her faithful  
servant.  
163


A HORSE AND A CARRIAGE - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize God's providence in motivating benevolence  
toward His workers and providing information  on using such gifts most  
profitably.  
For discussion:  
1. If someone gave you $175 today to use for God's work, what  
would you want to do with it?  
2. When you are making a choice among items to purchase, what are  
some good questions to ask?  
a. (Do I need it?  
b. Is this the best for the money?  
c. Is it safe?  
d. Is it good for me?)  
3. What reasons might the Whites have had for choosing the high- 
spirited sorrel rather than Charlie?  
4. What problems do you think the Whites would have had if they had  
chosen the high-spirited sorrel? The clumsy horse? What might  
have influenced them to bypass Charlie if Ellen White hadn't had  
the vision?  
164


A BRIDGE OF ICE  
Winter had come and James and Ellen White went to Illinois to visit  
some of the believers who had moved west. They stayed in the homes of  
Josiah Hart and Elon Everetts in Round Grove. These two men had preached  
the message of Jesus' second coming for a while, but now they had gotten  
some of the rich new land and were spending their time farming. God  
used James and Ellen White's visit to show them that they should go back 
and work for the Lord again.  
One evening, while at their home, Ellen saw in vision the sad condition  
of some believers at Waukon, Iowa. She told her husband,  "We must all go up  
o Waukon and help the  brethren there."  
Waukon lay on the other side of the great Mississippi River and about  
two hundred miles away. They would have to travel by wagon or sleigh. That  
was the only possible way.  
Since winter had begun with heavy snowstorms, Josiah Hart and Elon  
Everetts decided to take the Whites to Waukon with their sleigh and team of  
horses.  
The night before they intended to start, rain began to fall. It came  
down hard all day  and the snow started to melt. "What about the trip to  
Waukon?" Josiah Hart  asked Ellen White.  
"We shall go," she spoke with firm determination.  
"Yes, if the Lord works a miracle," Josiah Hart shook his head.  
That night Ellen White rose from her bed several times to look out the  
indow to see if the weather had changed. She knew how much the believers  
165


in Waukon needed encouragement. Several of them had left the work of preach- 
ing Jesus' coming and had settled down to become farmers. She prayed that  
if God wanted them to go to Waukon, He would  change the rain to snow.  
About daylight the weather turned colder. Snow began to fall so  
sleighing could be enjoyable. They started their journey north about five  
o'clock that afternoon, in the sleigh behind a team of lively horses. Snow  
fell all the way to Greene Vale, where they stopped to hold some meetings  
with believers.  
So much snow fell that they were snowed in for a week. "What about  
Waukon?" Elon Everetts asked Ellen White.  
"We shall go," she answered.  
When they felt that their work for God in Greene Vale had been finished,  
they started on their way. Now, again, the snow turned to rain. They had  
come to the banks of the Mississippi. No bridge crossed the river, but i  
had frozen during the cold weather and the men  thought they could cross  
safely on the ice. People on the Illinois shore warned them, "Look, the  
rain had made the ice all mushy on top. Several teams have already broken  
through the ice and barely escaped drowning."  
Now Josiah Hart reined in the team of horses at the river's edge. On  
top of the ice lay water a foot deep. He stood up in the sleigh and pointed  
his whip handle at the frozen river. "Is it forward to Iowa or back to  
Illinois? We have come to the Red Sea. Do we cross?"  
Ellen White raised her voice. "Go forward, trusting in Israel's God I"  
Josiah eased horses and sleigh down onto the ice. The water came up  
almost to the sleigh box. The horses splashed slowly  forward. They all  
prayed. Any moment they might strike a weak spot and plunge into the icy  
waters.  
166


Now people began to gather on the far bank to watch them cross. They  
aad passed midstream now and approached the Iowa shore. The same God Who  
had divided the Red Sea now froze the waters of the Mississippi in the path  
of the sleigh.  
They reached the shore welcomed by glad shouts from the crowd who had  
been watching. They pressed on toward Waukon, but still had a long distance  
to go, and Friday evening darkened around them. They stopped at a hotel in  
Dubuque and spent the Sabbath there. In the hotel parlor they held meetings  
and sang gospel songs of deliverance and hope. The hotel keeper and all his  
guests delighted in such unusual entertainment. They begged them to stop on  
their way back.  
On Sunday morning they started on. Sleet and snow driven by a fierce  
and chilling wind struck the riders in the open sleigh. They wrapped quilts  
nd buffalo robes around them and watched one another's faces. "Sister, your  
nose is freezing.' Brother, your ear is white," they would call to each  
other.  
For four days they rode on and finally on Wednesday evening, they reached  
Waukon, but no warm welcome awaited them. They received a chilly reception, 
but they let no discouragement enter their minds. "We have come in the 
name and power of God," Ellen told her husband. "Let us pray for victory."  
On Thursday evening they gathered  to sing old Advent hymns and the  
sweet melodies warmed their hearts. James White spoke. Brother Hart and  
Brother Everetts  told of their experiences. The glow of their first love  
began to warm those cold hearts in Waukon.  
They knelt to pray and God gave Ellen a vision. He showed her just  
why these believers had backslidden. When she came out of vision she spoke  
them. "If you will open the door of your heart now, Jesus will come  
167


in and walk in our midst with power."  
John Loughborough's wife stood up. She spoke to James and Ellen White.  
"I am so glad you have come. I have been wrong. I have sinned. I influenced  
my husband to leave God's work. God forgive me! Lord Jesus come into my  
heart. It is all Yours!"  
Many confessed their sins, and the love of Jesus came in. The meetings  
held over Friday into Sabbath. Those who had been cold were brought back.  
John Loughborough stood up. "I have laid up my hammer. I have driven my  
last nail. From this day I hold only the Sword of the Spirit, and I will  
never give it up, so help me God."  
When James and Ellen White left Waukon, John Loughborough went with  
them. He took up active work for God, never to lay it down for the remaining  
seventy years of his noble life. His uncle and aunt were converted. So was  
the family of Cyprian Stevens.  
One of the Stevens girls, Angeline, married John Nevins Andrews the fol- 
lowing spring. John Andrews and his children were the first missionaries 
sent by the church to a foreign field. His children and grandchildren have  
been faithful to God's truth and have given many years of service to God.  
Ezra Butlerj who had done such dedicated work in the eastern states, re- 
kindled the fire of his devotion and stood firmly for God again. His son,  
George, had also wandered, but he, too, came back and became a mighty worker  
for the Lord, standing like a rock before the rising tide of wrong. Elder  
George Butler became the president of the General Conference when James White  
relinquished that post. He also helped establish the early work in Europe.  
At that Waukon meeting the believers were strengthened to meet the trials  
that God knew would come. The work in Iowa went forward with great strength  
and as a result, many workers for Christ trace the beginning of their strt h  
168


1 dedication back to Iowa.  
So the bridge of ice that God laid under the fragile sleigh of His ser- 
vants that wintry day so long ago, carried the fire of heaven to Waukon, Iowa,  
and rekindled a flame that shall burn even to eternity.  
169


A BRIDGE OF ICE - Study Questions  
Objective: To discover how God cares for His children who are  
carrying out His directions.  
For discussion:  
1. Why would Satan want to prevent the Whites' trip to Waukon?  
(He knew there were talented people there who could do great  
things for God if encouraged. "See the storms and tempests. 
Satan is working in the atmosphere; he is poisoning the atmos- 
phere, and here we are dependent upon God for our lives."—  
Selected Messages, Book 2,  p. 52.)  
2. Compare the Whites' trip across the Mississippi River and Israel's  
trip across the Red Sea.  
(Both times Satan hoped to destroy God's people.  
At the Red Sea, God parted the waters.  
At the Mississippi River God froze the waters. 
Moses was God's spokesman to Israel.  
Ellen White spoke directions to the rest of the party.)  
3. Which of the following would be scariest for you? Role-play one  
of the suggestions. 
a. To greet a stranger in Sabbath School or school and offer to  
show the person around.  
b. To pray in public.  
c. To participate in discussion at a new church or school.  
d. To tell someone else what you know about Jesus.  
e. To say, "I have done wrong."  
4. Name a time when you did something scary or hard because you  
wanted to encourage someone else.  
170


YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD  
Europe: Your House is the World  
Asia: The Dove and the Book  
South America: Crisis in Argentina  
Australia: Instead of a Windmill  
Southern Asia: A Book and a Baby- 
South Sea Islands: Harvest on Pitcairn Island  
North America: Ellen and the Madison School  
171


YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD  
Mother spread a big beach towel on the soft green grass under the  
big elm tree. Then she brought a dishpan heaped with green peas. "Come,  
Dennis," she called, "help me shell these peas, and we can talk some more  
about Ellen White."  
Dennis came running. "Are you going to freeze all those peas?"  
"Yes, and a couple more panfuls too, if I can get them shelled."  
Dennis sat down and began to shell peas into his own pan. "You  
must have gotten  some big gunny bags of fresh peas from the cannery."  
"That's just what I did. Aren't they beautiful!"  
Dennis agreed that the peas looked very nice indeed, but he felt  
eager to hear more about Ellen White. "Do you have a special story to  
tell me today?"  
"Yes, I thought you would like to hear about how God showed Ellen  
that her work was not just for a few people on the East coast of the  
United States, but included the whole world."  
"Did He show her a vision?" Dennis asked, tossing a handful of  
peas into his pan.  
"Yes, in 1848, just four years after their great disappointment  
and while Ellen was still very young, God gave her this special vision.  
The Seventh-day Adventist church had not even been named yet. God showed  
her the world in vision. It hung there in space shrouded in dense dark  
172


ness; but the angel told her to look, and right before her  eyes she saw  
jets of light like stars flashing out in the darkness. More and more of  
the star-like lights appeared and seemed to multiply.  
"What did those lights represent?" Dennis had learned that most of  
the things Ellen saw in vision had a deep and beautiful meaning.  
"The angel told her that each light represented a believer in Jesus  
who loved Him and kept His commandments. She watched them shine out from  
the East and West, from North  and South, lighting the whole world with  
their radiance."  
"So that's when they began sending out foreign missionaries?"  
"No, not yet." Mother shook out her apron and went to bring another  
pan of peas. "You see, Dennis, God's people were few in number and very  
poor. Their ideas were small. They had not yet any idea of how large  
d's work would grow, or how many thousands of people would believe, or  
how many hundreds of churches would be built."  
"Well, when did the missionaries first go to foreign fields?" 
"The first Seventh-day Adventist missionary that went to Europe  
was a converted Catholic priest. His name was Michael Bonaventura  
Czechowski. He had been born in Poland and received an excellent education.  
Finally he discovered a Bible and God opened his eyes to its truth and  
beauty."  
"What happened to him?"  
"The same thing that happened to Martin Luther. He tried to reform  
the Catholic church and suffered severe persecution. He then fled to  
America where he joined the Baptist church. Later he accepted the Seventh- 
173


day Adventist message and longed to return to Europe where he wanted to  
speak God's truth to the Pope himself."  
"Did he get to talk to the Pope?"  
"No, but he had made up his mind to return to Europe and asked the  
Advent believers to give money to send him, but they couldn't because they  
were so poor. So he asked the First-day Adventists to send him, and they  
did. But they did not realize that his heart burned with the Seventh-day  
Adventist truth. He preached it all over Europe."  
"So this man became our first missionary to  Europe."  
"Yes, he organized the first Seventh-day Adventist company in  
Tremelan, Switzerland, on New Year's Day, 1867. He did not tell them  
that there were believers in the United States. When he left them, 
they discovered some old copies of Review & Herald in his papers and th  
wrote to the Review & Herald office for information and were soon in touch 
with the young church in America."  
"I think that it is really wonderful how  God helped the new Adventists  
in Switzerland get in touch with the believers in  the United States. It  
shows that God kept close watch over His church."  
Mother smiled and emptied her apronful of shelled peas into her large  
kettle. "Yes, from that day forward, the foreign mission work grew and  
prospered. In 1874 Elder J. N. Andrews and his two children, Charles  
and Mary, went to Europe. (Mrs. Andrews had died two years before.)"  
"In that same year, in the vision, Ellen White heard the angel say,  
'Your light must not be put under a bushel, or under a bed, but on a  
174


candlestick that it may give light to all that are in the house. Your 
nouse is the world.'  
"Elder and Mrs. John G. Matteson sailed for Denmark in the spring  
of 1877. In that country Elder Matteson found no private  home large  
enough for the crowds who wanted to hear him. Halls were too expensive  
he held meetings in barns.  
"The next year in Christiania, Norway, he announced meetings to be  
held in two large rooms of his house. The people began coming an hour  
before time. They filled all the rooms and stairs and many had to go  
away. So he hired a gymnasium which could seat six hundred, but often  
more than a thousand crowded in."  
Dennis had stopped shelling peas and sat looking at his mother with  
big, round eyes as Mother added, "All heaven must have been happy to  
^ee the Adventist missionaries bringing the truth of God's love to the  
hungry people in Europe."  
As Dennis picked up another handful of peas he wondered to himself  
what the early pioneers would say if they could see how much the work in  
Europe and all over the world had grown since their early efforts.  
175


YOUR HOUSE IS THE WORLD - Study Questions  
Obj ective: To understand how God led the way in the spread of the  
gospel when His people had no idea that it should happen or how it could  
happen.  
For discussion:  
Locate on a map Christiania, Norway; Poland; Italy; the United States;  
Switzerland; Battle Creek.  
1. On a map of the world, trace the travels of Michael Czechowski. 
2. How did the believers in Battle Creek help Michael Czechowski's  
missionary work without even knowing about it?  
3. Two years after he arrived in Europe, Matteson bought a hand  
press, which he placed in  his house. With it, he printed Tidernes  
Tign, a paper about Jesus' soon coming. The ink dried so slowly  
on the paper that it smeared. "We'll hang the papers on the  
clothesline to dry," Matteson announced to his children. They  
hung the papers up, then folded and mailed them when they were  
ready. It took all week to prepare the little weekly paper for  
1,500 subscribers. It was important to keep  faith with the  
subscribers—and to keep food on the table, for the paper provided  
the family income. By 1886 there was a new press. New papers  
were printed in a new building. Soon thereafter Ellen White  
visited the press. "This is the very press building I saw in  
vision years ago," she announced.  
176


THE DOVE AND THE BOOK  
The largest island of the Philippines is Luzon. On this island, in  
the small village of Famyi an  old man, Regino Balaoise, lived. He  
figured that he must be about one hundred fifteen years old.  His neigh- 
bors agreed, because when many of them were little children, Regino was  
already an old, old man. He had lived so long that he didn't work any  
more and he didn't walk far, but his eyes were still strong enough to  
read and he felt thankful because he knew how to read.  
He enjoyed sitting in front of his house and watching the village  
people go back and forth. Sometimes they called greetings to him and he  
would ask them about their children.  
When Regino wanted to read, he sat in his back garden under the  
thick shade of the mango trees where he could be quiet.  
One sunny day when Regino sat in front of his house, a young man  
came along the street selling a book. He showed the book to Regino with  
its beautiful pictures and told him about the good words that were written 
in the book. Regino ordered a book and a few days later the young man  
brought it. Regino paid for it and took it out to his favorite reading  
place in the back garden where he could look at it. He opened the book 
and began looking at the pictures. Then he turned to  the first chapter  
and began to read. The book's name  was THE GREAT CONTROVERSY.  
177


Regino had not been reading long when he heard a fluttering sound.  
He looked up and saw a white dove circling around his head. "Now this  
is strange," he said aloud to himself. "I never saw a bird act like this  
before." Then he went on reading and after a while the bird flew away.  
The next day Regino again took his new book to the back garden and  
sat down to read. He had  barely opened it, when the white dove came  
again and fluttered in circles around his head. "This must be a good  
book," he told himself. "Maybe the bird has been sent to let me know  
that I am doing right to read it." Then he decided  to tell his friends  
about it. If the book was that good, maybe he should share it with them.  
Regino got up from  his comfortable chair and walked to the front of  
his house where he found two of his friends. "Come to my back garden and  
see the white dove that comes whenever I read this book." He held  it up  
for them to see.  
The old man's friends looked at each other and smiled.  
"You don't believe me," he said. "Come with me and watch me read  
and then you will know that I speak the truth."  
Regino had grown so old that everyone  in the village of Famyi had  
great respect for him, so  his friends followed him into the shade of the  
mango tree. "Now be quiet and watch. When I begin to read, the dove  
will come."  
He settled himself in his chair and opened the book. He began to  
read. One of his friends caught his breath sharply and pointed to the  
sky where a beautiful white dove flew gracefully to Regino and began to  
circle round his head. The men gasped in astonishment.  
178


"What does it mean?" None of them could explain.  
Regino held up the book, THE GREAT CONTROVERSY. "I think it means  
that this book is good. Whoever sends the dove wants us to read it."  
Regino and all his fellow villagers were Roman Catholic and they  
had great respect for holy things. They knew the dove was  holy because  
they had seen pictures of a white dove hovering over Jesus' head after  
He was baptized. "Yes, one of the men said. "God must want us to read  
that book. Maybe we should call the other village folk, too."  
After that many of the people of Famyi came every day to hear the  
book read. Sometimes Regino read and sometimes one of his friends read.  
After the people began to gather every day and listen to the book, the  
dove did not come so often. Some days it did not come at all.  
Then one day, after they had almost finished the big book, Regino  
sat in his back garden alone and the white dove came back and spoke  
three words to him. "Keep the Sabbath!"  
"The Sabbath! The Sabbath!" Regino cried out startled. Oh yes,  
he knew about the seventh-day Sabbath. The book had taught them all  
about it and how important it is for us to honor the Sabbath Day.  
Regino arose at once and went to find his friends. "The bird has  
spoken," he told them. "God sent the dove to show us that we must read  
the book. Now He has sent the dove back to speak to us and tell us to  
keep the Sabbath just as the book has taught us."  
The village people who had listened to the words from the book agreed  
with Regino and they decided to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. They did  
179


know that God had spoken to them and they must obey Him. They decided  
to form a church of their own. They called it The Church of the Pure  
Religion. Then the man who had helped Regino read THE GREAT CONTROVERSY  
told the new church members, "We ought to be baptized just as the book 
told us.  
"But who will baptize us?" 
"Regino will baptize me," the man said. "Then I will baptize him.  
Then we both will baptize the rest of you." So they did just that. The  
new little church had nineteen members.  
Then one day the young man who had sold Regino THE GREAT CONTROVERSY  
came back to visit the village of Famyi. The people welcomed him with  
great gladness and told him about the dove who told them to keep the  
Sabbath and how they had joined together in a church. Of course, the  
young colporteur rejoiced with them. He called a minister of the Seventh- 
day Adventist Church who organized Regino and his neighbors into the fir*,,.  
Seventh-day Adventist Church in that area.  
180


THE DOVE AND THE BOOK - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize God's myriad ways of encouraging His people.  
For discussion:  
Locate on a map Luzon, largest island of the Philippines.  
1. What did the Spirit use to bring truth to Regino?  
(A book, The Great Controversy, written by Ellen White.  
A colporteur, who sold the book to Regino.)  
2. Of what is the dove a symbol? Read John 1:32.  
3. What special job does the Spirit of God have that made it important  
for Him to be near Regino? (See John 16:10, 11.)  
4. Think of ways Regino might have responded to the book if he hadn't  
had the Spirit to change his heart.  
("I can't understand."  
"This isn't important." 
"I'm bored by this."  
"I don't care what it says, I'm reading it for enjoyment.")  
5. What makes you think that the Spirit was present when Regino read  
The Great Controversy? (Use evidence from the story.)  
(Since the Spirit guides into all truth and convicts people's hearts  
of truth, and Regino became convicted of truth, the Spirit must have  
been working on his heart. The evidence in the life is the best  
evidence we have of the presence of the Spirit.)  
6. It is appropriate to pray for the help of the Spirit. We don't know  
how the Spirit helps, because it's so much like .  
(See John 3:8.)  
181


CRISIS IN ARGENTINA  
The bright sunlight shone through the open window and made patterns  
on the office floor where Dr. Fernando Chaij (pronounce Chi) and Elder  
Hector Peverini sat discussing the latest Mission crisis. It was 1954,  
a year of change in the government of Argentina. A committee of three  
men had been appointed by the government to recommend needed reforms in  
the laws.  
"I am sure an effort will be made to remove religious liberty pro- 
visions from the new constitution." Dr. Chaij looked with earnest eyes  
at his fellow worker. "We ought to do something, but what can we do?"  
"Of the three committee members, two are outspoken Catholics and  
certainly are not in favor of religious  liberty for anyone, Elder Pever- 
ini said. The third committee member is  a professor at the University  
of Argentina, and he is a foremost authority on constitutional law in  
this country. Also, he is known to be a liberal. No doubt his influence  
will carry great weight in any discussions of reform or change in the  
constitution."  
"Do you suppose we can go see him?" Dr. Chaij asked. 
"We can try," said Elder Peverini. "Let us pray about it right now."  
So the two men knelt and asked the Lord for guidance and wisdom, and 
special help  from God's Holy Spirit in order to prevent laws that wou"  
not allow them to preach and teach in their churches and institutions  
182


in Argentina.  
They arranged an appointment with the  noted professor and went to his  
private office at the University. The professor ushered them in with  
great courtesy. The three spent an hour discussing the various aspects 
of religious liberty and the blessings it brought to all the citizens.  
Elder Peverini and Dr. Chaij found the professor unexpectedly warm  
toward their beliefs and open to their suggestions. While Dr. Chaij 
talked, Elder Peverini prayed silently and earnestly, and when Elder  
Peverini took over the conversation, Dr. Chaij offered up earnest 
petitions that God's Spirit would speak to this man and influence him  
to protect religious freedom.  
Finally the professor said, "Let me show you gentlemen  the best book  
I have ever found on this subject of religious liberty." He arose from  
his chair and went to a bookcase on the wall. They saw him take down  
an old and well-worn copy of The Great Controversy, the book Ellen White  
wrote about the way Satan has tried to take away man's freedom. When  
the professor opened the book Dr. Chaij and Elder Peverini saw that it  
had been heavily underlined on many of the pages. They saw, also, that  
it was a very early edition of the book. Both men marveled that God  
had already placed this remarkable book in this lawyer's hands to in- 
fluence him to fight the battle for religious liberty in the constitu- 
tional committee in Buenos Aires. Millions of people would enjoy added  
years of freedom because of it. They left the place with hearts full  
of praise and thanksgiving. God had sent His messenger before them—  
in the form of a book, The Great Controversy.  
Since Ellen White's books came from God, and His Holy Spirit is al- 
ways active wherever they are  distributed, some surprising experiences  
183


attend our faithful colporteurs.  
In a town in Northern Brazil, Juan Olimpo  went from house to house  
selling Christ Our Saviour. He showed the book at one home where the 
lady seemed to want it very much, but her husband came home while  
Olimpo was still talking about the book with the lady. Furious with  
anger, the man threw the colporteur out of  the house.  
However, the wife had been so attracted by the book that she went  
to every hotel and hostel in town trying to find the bookseller. When  
she found him, she ordered a copy to be delivered at her home during  
hours when her husband would be away.  
When Olimpo came to deliver the book, the husband had unexpectedly  
come home and was working in the garden behind the house. One of the  
small sons saw the man with the book coming and called out, "Daddy!  
that book seller is here again!" The father rushed into the house and  
in a frightful rage, grabbed Olimpo and flung him and his book out  
of the house for the second time.  
But the wife still wanted that book. She made a sign to the col- 
porteur which he understood. Later she went to the hotel where she  
bought the book and took it home.  
Olimpo often wondered about that copy of Christ Our Saviour. Did  
the woman ever get to read it? At such times he prayed that God would  
watch over the precious Gospel seed and bring forth fruit to His glory.  
For seven years Olimpo traveled the streets and highways of Brazil's  
towns and cities, faithfully selling the books which had power to turn  
men from sin to righteousness, from sorrow to rejoicing. One day while  
he walked a city street, he felt a hand on  his shoulder. He turned to  
face the man who had touched him.  
184


II 'Aren't you the man who sold my wife a book several years ago?"  
Then Olimpo recognized him—the fellow who had twice throw® him out  
of his house with violence. Every muscle in his body tightened. Surely  
this man would punish him with a terrible beating this time.  
To his surprise, the man made no move to attack him, and Olimpo  
looked into his eyes. They twinkled with joy and he held out his hand.  
"My friend he said, "I want you to know that by that book, my  wife, my  
aunt and I have accepted God's truth, and we are now members of the Seventh- 
day Adventist Church."  
So in a lawyer's office or in a laboring man's home, the mighty  
Spirit of God moves to accomplish His purpose.  God has said, "My word  
shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please."  
saiah 55:11  
185


CRISIS IN ARGENTINA - Study Questions  
Objectives: To perceive the impact that a book containing messages  
from God can have on an honest person.  
To see how God's power works through His messages.  
To perceive and emulate the patience of God in working  
with apparently rebellious people.  
Vocabulary: "religious liberty provisions"  
For discussion:  
1. If the Buenos Aires lawyer had said, "I'll vote that everyone should  
study the Seventh-day Adventist religion and join your church,"  
what do you think Dr. Chaij and Elder Peverini would have said?  
2. Read The Great Controversy, pp. 591-592. What sentence or  
sentences do you think the  Buenos Aires lawyer might have under- 
lined? Give a reason for your choice.  
3. After reading the following sentences, the lawyer from Buenos  
Aires might have said, "I want to . . ." (Complete the sentence.)  
"God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan's constant  
resort—to gain control of those he cannot otherwise seduce—is 
compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force  he endeavors to rule  
the consicnece. ... To accomplish this, he works through both  
religious and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement  
of human laws in defiance of the law of God."—The Great Controversy,  
p. 591.  
186


INSTEAD OF A WINDMILL  
Ellen White loved the land. She cherished every beautiful thing  
that grew. She marveled over the power of God that could change soil,  
rain and sunshine into the lovely shapes and colors of flowers. She often  
mentioned the flowers of heaven in her talks, and she taught precious les- 
sons from Jesus and His love of the lilies.  
She knew that God had put the first man and woman into a garden.  
The first work He gave them was arranging and training the vines that  
made their home. Adam and Eve had walls of living plants, flowering  
trees and vines heavy with delicious ripe fruit. Ellen White would have  
alighted in such a house herself. But she contented herself with a  
garden which she lovingly tended.  
Our story begins when she lived in Australia on the big farm where  
Avondale College was being built. God had told her that the farm would 
bring forth abundant fruit and vegetables to supply the institutions that  
were being established there. She named her home Sunnyside, and the land  
surely received plenty of sunshine.  
She had planted a large garden at Sunnyside, and this morning she  
walked out to look at it. The weather had been dry for days and although  
the little green plants had come up, they looked wilted this morning.  
The long rows stood drooping and dust covered.  
She walked toward Iram Jones, the farm's manager, who worked close  
by. Before she could say a word, he spoke, "Don't be discouraged. This  
187


doesn't have to happen every time the rains don't come on time. All we  
need is a good windmill. There is plenty of water under the soil. With  
irrigation it will produce abundant crops."  
Ellen White continued to look upon the caked,  dry soil with cracks  
criss-crossing it in every direction. "How much would a windmill cost?"  
She lifted her eyes to meet his. "Please find out how much it will cost  
and whether we can get one on credit."  
While the man hurried away to get the information for her, she thought  
of many other things. The young Avondale school needed so many things.  
She always saved all she could. For some months she had been saving money 
for a windmill and now she felt that perhaps the time had come to spend it.  
A gust of hot wind blew dust in her eyes. All the people at both  the  
sanitarium and the college needed the fresh fruit and vegetables a garden  
would bring forth, if they could only have a windmill to pump the life- 
giving water. Slowly she walked back to her home. She looked across the  
road to her son Willie's house, where he lived with his family. Even  
Willie's little children needed the benefits of a well-watered garden. Yes,  
her mind was settled about it. She would use her little hoard of savings  
and see that the thirsty land and the shriveled plants got water.  
She saw Willie crossing the road, coming toward her. He did this  
every day when they were both at home, so his coming  did not surprise her,  
but his discouraged attitude did. He looked depressed and utterly tired.  
"Oh Willie," she said, "we will all feel much better when the rains begin."  
"It isn't the weather, Mother," he took her arm, "it's the bills.  
The plasterers over at the new  sanitarium want their pay and we have no  
money to give them." They walked into the house together.  
188


"Will they not be willing to wait a few days for the money?"  
"They have already waited patiently. Payday is long past. These  
men are not Adventists. We want our dealings with them to be just and  
fair." He slumped down in a chair and began to fan himself with his hat.  
Then he went on to tell her about other pressing debts and he  concluded,  
"The leaders are almost sick with worry over the financial pinch."  
Then Ellen told her son about her conversation with the farm manager  
and how she had decided to purchase a windmill with the money she had  
been saving. "But now," she said, "I will cancel that plan. I will give 
you the money and trust in the Lord to send relief. Those men must be  
paid." She went and got the money and laid it in his hand.  
Willie hesitated. He knew all about the drought and the great relief  
a windmill would be, but he rose to go. "You know how great a burden this  
-iey is lifting. Now I can pay the workers tonight. God knows our needs."  
He hurried home to tell May, his wife, the good news.  
A stifling night settled down over Sunnyside and the new buildings on  
the Avondale campus project. Ellen White knelt before her open window and  
thanked God for all His merciful provision and His precious promises. She  
prayed for rain and knew that from every home there on the new campus,  
prayers were being offered for rain. Ellen prayed  that God would guide  
in every detail of the work in Australia.  
The next morning she looked out to see lightning streaking through  
dark clouds on the horizon. She heard the roll of thunder becoming louder 
every moment. Then the thunder shower broke. Huge raindrops splashed the  
dry gardens. Thirsty land took in moisture until every crack disappeared.  
Dust turned to mud and the saturated earth began to overflow until nearby  
189


Dora Creek swelled out of its banks. Ellen bowed her head and praised God.  
After that first downpour lighter  showers continued until most of tL  
crops were saved.  
A few days later a letter came for Ellen White. She opened it and  
a bank draft fell out. She looked at it—a large donation from a friend,  
large enough to settle all those debts that had worried the school leaders.  
She knelt to thank the Lord. Then she walked out in her garden. Every  
leaf on every plant shone with healthy green. All the dust had been  
washed away. The cool, sweet breath of the land filled her nostrils with  
delight.  
Iram Jones straightened up from his weeding. "Well, God took care  
of that problem, didn't He. Faith did it again," he smiled.  
"Yes, instead of a windmill, He opened the windows of heaven."  
190


INSTEAD OF A WINDMILL - Study Questions  
Objective: To understand that God expects us to use our best judgment  
to advance His cause.  
For discussion:  
1. Tell whether each statement below is true or false. Correct the  
false statements.  
a. When Ellen decided against buying a windmill, she decided  
against having a good garden.  
b. When Ellen White decided not to buy a windmill, she put her  
trust in God for rain.  
c. If Ellen White had decided to buy beautiful new clothes instead  
of a windmill, she would have been demonstrating her faith in  
God's sending rain.  
d. If Ellen White had bought a windmill, she would have shown  
that she lacked faith in God's ability to water the earth.  
e. Ellen White decided to use her windmill money to pay the  
laborers and thus defend the reputation of God and His work.  
2. Ellen White had to choose to use her money for  one of two good  
things: a windmill or payment of the workers.  
a. Which choice seemed more beneficial to her personally?  
b. Which choice would you have advised her to make?  
191


A BOOK AND A BABY  
Alim held tight to Little Brother's hand and tossed a stone into  
the canal. He liked to amuse the baby while Mother worked. She trusted  
him to keep the little boy away from the deep canal that flowed through  
the village past their house.  
Alim heard a strange sound that made him look toward the house next  
door. There, he saw a young man dressed in white and people running up  
onto the porch to look at something the man held in his hand. Alim pulled  
Little Brother along and  pushed into the crowd until he could see the queer  
thing the man held in his hand - a book with lots of pictures.  
When Alim saw their neighbor pay his money and take the book, he  
hurried Little Brother home. "Mother, Father, a man is coming," he called  
from the front steps.  
The whole family met the young man on the porch and sat down there  
to look at the  pictures and hear about the book.  
"This is a book about God," the man told them. "It tells how He  
made the earth, water, animals, plants and people, too. Can you read 
Malay?" He looked at Father. Father nodded and the man looked happy.  
Alim couldn't sit still. He danced up and down the wooden steps.  
He forgot everything but the wonderful book. He whispered to Mother,  
"Get it. Get it. I know it's good!"  
192


The young man smiled and told more about God and the book he held,  
ritten by Ellen White. Father  and Mother  listened so eagerly that Alim  
felt sure they would never let the man take that book away. Finally the  
man handed the book to Father and stood up.  
Then Mother looked at Alim. "Where's the baby?"  
Alim's heart began to race. He leaped up from the steps and looked  
around. He had forgotten all about Little Brother! He ran and looked  
under their house and under the neighbor's house, but he could not see 
a little fat boy anywhere. Father and Mother looked around for a moment.  
Then Father leaped into the canal and disappeared under the water. The  
young book-seller jerked off his coat and jumped in, too. Neighbor men  
came running and dived in one after another. Mother screamed and pulled  
her long black hair in agony. The neighboring women began to wail.  
Alim felt to frightened, he could not speak. He saw his father come  
j empty handed. One of the neighbor men came up with nothing. Alim  
knew he could not stand that screaming another minute. He decided to  
throw himself into the canal, too.  
Just then the young man came up holding in his arms the  limp form  
of Little Brother. The women ran to help him up the steep bank, while 
all the men scrambled out of the water. They laid the baby on the grass  
by the canal bank.  
"He is dead!" someone shouted. "He must have been under the water  
for fifteen minutes!"  
Then the awful wailing and screaming began again, but louder and  
more terrible this time. Alim threw himself on the ground and felt that 
his heart would burst with sorrow,  because surely it had been his fault  
that the baby had fallen into the canal. He should have watched him every  
193


moment. Now he wanted to die, too!  
Then he heard the young man's voice. "Listen, my friends. Listen!  
Let us ask God to bring back the little child. He knows that the baby  
fell into the canal because you were all looking at God's book."  
The wailing and crying stopped. Alim lifted his head. The young  
man was kneeling by Little Brother with his hand on the baby's forehead.  
And he spoke to God.  
"Our Father in heaven, bring the breath of life back to this little  
child, for Your glory. Amen."  
Alim stared intently at his brother. Had he seen a flicker of the  
baby's eyelids? Yes, Little Brother opened his eyes! Then he sat up.  
Mother grabbed her baby with a cry of joy.  
Then Father laid his hand on the young book-seller's arm. "Stay  
with us, young man," he said. "Teach us about this God who brings the  
dead back to life."  
The young colporteur agreed to stay and teach the people of that  
village, and today in the homes along the canal that brought death the  
light of the gospel shines unto eternal life.  
194


A BOOK AND A BABY - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize the blessing of  God that has aided the spread  
of His word through the efforts of a great network of people, including  
printers, translators, and colporteurs.  
For discussion:  
Locate Malaysia on the map.  
1. In  the last year of her life, Ellen White said, "In the foreign  
languages the Lord designs that the circulation of our books shall  
be greatly increased."—Life Sketches, p. 447.  
Imagine the many people who now know the Lord because this counsel  
was followed. When Alim and Ellen White meet in heaven, what  
story might Alim tell her?  
2. What vision might Ellen White recall when Alim tells her his story?  
(In November, 1848, Ellen White had a vision that instructed her  
husband to print a small paper about the good news of Jesus'  
coming. "From this small beginning," she said, "it was shown to me  
to be like streams of light that went clear round the world." That  
paper was first printed in Middletown, Connecticut. Use a globe,  
and fasten a string in New England to represent "streams of light"  
from the beginning of James  White's printing; stretch it to Malaysia  
and other parts of the globe where you know people have learned the  
good news about Jesus.  
3. Do you know or have you ever met a printer, translator, or colporteur  
who works for God? Tell what you can about his work.  
4. Make a list of the ways God has helped through the centuries to  
prepare the way for the spread  of His Word on the printed page.  
(He helped people develop an alphabet and writing skills.  
He guided in the steps that led to printing. 
He sent messages about publishing, especially in Colporteur Ministry 
and Counsels on Publishing Work.  
He blesses the efforts of colporteurs.  
195


HARVEST ON PITCAIRN ISLAND  
Out in the wide and lonely Pacific Ocean, far from any other land,  
lies a small rocky islet.  In ancient times men may have known about  
it, but modern sailors did not discover it until 1767, when a sailor on  
lookout spotted the island and and gave it his own name—Pitcairn.  
In 1789 the sailing ship BOUNTY made a voyage  to the South Seas  
to find breadfruit trees to ship to South America. They reached Tahiti  
in October and found plenty of breadfruit trees. The crew loaded the  
trees onto their ship then spent several months on Tahiti. Before sailing  
again the sailors took on board water, fresh fruit, goats and other 
animals. Soon after leaving Tahiti the BOUNTY'S crew, under the leader-
ship of the First Mate Fletcher Christian, mutinied against their tyranni- 
cal captain and seized the ship. Christian put the captain and other  
officers into a small boat and set them adrift. These men eventually  
found their way to Dutch Timor, and the cruel Captain Bligh returned to  
England at last to report the mutiny.  
Meanwhile Fletcher Christian took the BOUNTY and its crew of mutin- 
eers back to Tahiti to find pigs and goats. Sixteen of the English crew  
chose to remain on Tahiti. The remaining eight men  decided to stay with  
Christian, so the BOUNTY sailed away from Tahiti with nine English sailors,  
ten Tahitian women and six men and one fifteen-year-old girl.  
196


Fletcher Christian had heard of Pitcairn Island's isolation and  
he resolved to take refuge there. On January 23, 1790 the BOUNTY  
reached the tiny, uninhabited island.  
The crew of the ship brought the BOUNTY in close to the rocky  
landing place, and removed from it everything that they could possibly  
use in their new life. Then, to assure that they would not be dis- 
covered, they set fire to the ship. The charred and gutted hull sank  
beneath the waves, and with it went the danger that  they would be found,  
for the penalty for their mutiny would be death.  
The newcomers spent the first days of their new life on Pitcairn  
in caves and tents made of the ship's canvas, but they soon prepared  
cottages for their homes. Then they divided the land among themselves  
and planted the plants they had brought on the ship. The little island  
was slightly over two miles long and one mile broad, and its surface 
was rocky.  
The sun shone on this primeval Eden; the soil produced food, and  
they found enough water for their needs. Nature seemed to enfold them  
with blessing and protection, but they were not happy. They carried  
memories of their crime and the same fierce tempers and unruly behavior  
that had cursed the BOUNTY voyage.  
By the year 1800, just ten years after settling on Pitcairn, only  
John Adams remained of the men who had come. The others had died  
violent deaths for the most part. He found himself the sole surviving  
mutineer, left to lead the 11 wives which they had brought from Tahiti  
and their 23 children.  
The scenes of bloodshed and violence had sobered John Adams and  
when he looked around on the young children who had no other person to  
depend on, he experienced  a great change of heart. He had only the  
197


two books salvaged from the BOUNTY: the Bible and the Book of Common  
Prayer. Using these, he began to instruct the children in religion;  
he taught them to read and write, and no doubt to pray and sing. Their  
lives began to change. When the ship TOPAZ visited the island in 1808  
the captain reported that he found the islanders living in peace and 
contentment. After that, ships began to call at the island, and the  
story of Pitcairn became known around the world.  
When Elder James  White heard about the people of Pitcairn in 1876,  
he and Elder J. N. Loughborough sent them a packet of literature and  
letters urging  them to read the tracts and papers; but no word ever  
came back that the letters or books had been received.  
Then, in October, 1886, missionary John Tay went to Pitcairn  
and everything changed. The island people had read the packet of  
books and papers that Elder White and Elder Loughborough had sent.  
Now John Tay explained their message more fully. The people of the  
island who had been such devoted Christians of the Church of England, 
saw the seventh-day Sabbath as God's holy rest day, and  they all began  
to celebrate the Sabbath every week.  
Brother Tay returned to California and told of this little island  
where all the people had accepted the Adventist faith. In December,  
1890, the mission ship PITCAIRN, built by the Sabbath School members  
of North America, reached Bounty Bay with Elder and Mrs. E. H.  Gates  
aboard. Elder Gates conducted meetings and taught the islanders, then  
baptized all 82 adults and organized them into a church. He formed  
a Sabbath School with 114 members.  
The work began in the power of God and guided by His Holy Spirit  
has endured to  this day, despite afflictions and troubles. Sickness  
198


has come, too, but God has smiled upon the islanders and given them  
peace and happiness such as few countries in the world enjoy.  
Pitcairn, the "Gem of the Pacific," lies in the remote South  
Seas; her rocky coast and rugged heights still challenge the adventurer.  
The blue tropical sky arches over her humble dwellings and the church  
where the islanders worship. Angels are familiar with the place and  
all its people, who are waiting for Jesus to come and receive them  
unto Himself.  
199


HARVEST ON PITCAIRN ISLAND - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize the many ways God has of reaching people who  
seem remotely removed from the witness of His word.  
Vocabulary: "mutineers"—sailors (or soldiers) who rebel against  
their officers.  
For discussion:  
1. Imagine a meeting between James White and the people  of Pitcairn in  
heaven. What surprises will the Islanders have for James White? 
What questions might James White ask them?  
(James White will be surprised that they recognize his and Ellen's  
name and that all the Islanders became Sabbathkeepers.)  
2. Name the people you have "met" through this story whom God used to  
help the remote Pitcairn Islanders find truth.  
(John Adams, the lone survivor of the Bounty  
James White, who sent literature, wrote letters, and prayed for  
the Islanders  
John Loughborough, who joined James White in his efforts  
John Tay, who visited the island and taught the people to keep  
the Sabbath  
Sabbath School members in North America who, between 1887-1890,  
organized a shipbuilding project and raised money  
for the ship  
Six missionaries, including Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Gates and Mr. and  
Mrs. John Tay, who baptized the adult population  
and organized the people into a Sabbath School.  
200


ELLEN AND THE MADISON SCHOOL  
One June morning in  1904 a riverboat, the MORNING STAR, chugged  
slowly up the Cumberland River, where its broad waters flowed through  
the farm country north of Nashville, Tennessee. Mother White sat on  
its deck enjoying the delightful scenery. Several of her helpers were  
aboard, and her two sons, Willie and Edson. Ed Sutherland had come along  
on this trip and Ed's best friend, Percy Magan, waited for them at Edge- 
xield Junction twelve miles up the river. The MORNING STAR belonged to  
Edson White. He had made it into a missionary boat. On this trip he  
hoped to find a spot where he might open a training school for black  
young people. Ed Sutherland and Percy Magan had come searching for a  
place to start a small school for the white young people of the South.  
Just below Neeley Bend something went wrong with the engine. "We'll  
have to put in for repairs," Edson told his mother. "It probably won't  
take long."  
Mother White, already seventy-six years old, still had an enthusi- 
astic interest in the schools these young men wanted to build in the South.  
Instead of sitting on the comfortable deck of the MORNING STAR, she urged  
Ed Sutherland to go ashore with her. "I know what's on the shore," Ed  
'therland told her. "I have seen that Ferguson farm and I don't want  
201


to see it again. It's miserable land." The young man described the farm,  
the pigs wallowing under the parlor windows, the stoney and barren groui  
Even in June when the lush springtime lay on all the riverlands, it looked  
desolate, miserable, impossible.  
But Mother White's eyes brightened when  they actually stood at the  
lower edge of the Ferguson property and looked it over. "I have seen  
this land before. This is the farm where God wants you boys to have your 
school."  
Ed's heart seemed to close up. Did God really intend that he and  
Percy should get this run-down, worn out old farm? He had already been 
president of three of our colleges, Battle Creek, Walla Walla and Emmanuel  
Missionary College. He and Percy Magan had worked hard and long. Now  
they wanted to find a small, quiet place in the South where they could 
start in a modest way and build slowly.  
Ed Sutherland argued with Mother White. He loved her dearly and  
he did believe that God had spoken to her over and over in vision, and  
that He had given her wise counsel for God's people, but this Ferguson  
farm! No, no, there must be some mistake. The Fergusons wanted more  
than $12,000 for  their wretched property, pigs, stones and all. He and  
Percy had less than half that amount of money in sight. Go in debt for  
such a worthless acreage? He couldn't see it, or accept it.  
The MORNING STAR, repairs all completed, edged out into the river  
and proceeded on toward Edgefield Junction where Percy Magan came aboard.  
When Ed told Percy about the boat breaking down right off the Ferguson  
farm, Percy had some sharp things to say about that piece of land, for he  
had seen it, too.  
Then Willie White called Ed and Percy below to the cabin where  
Mother White waited for them. "We are going back to look at  the Fergus-^  
202


property again," she told them.  
As fond as they were of Mother White, and as much as they respected  
her work, they felt sure that this time there must be some mistake. Could  
she be getting a little dim? After all, she was past seventy-five. They  
refused to go with her to look at the land, so she got someone else to  
take her. But later, for some reason they could not explain, they did  
go back, just to take one more look. It looked even worse than they  
remembered, a hog-ridden, rocky, barren,  worthless piece of land. Their  
human hearts cried out against it, but on the  other side stood the words  
of Mother White, "This is the place God wants you to have."  
All their senses rebelled. Reason told them that such a venture  
would be sheer folly, but they remembered Avondale College in Australia.  
The experts had condemned that property, too; but God told Ellen White  
that it would be a "fruitful garden." Ten years had passed since she made  
I  
. .at prediction and now Avondale College farm had become a productive  
garden and a flourishing orchard. The two young men sat on a rockpile  
there on the despised Ferguson farm and battled their doubts. Everything  
they could see and know with their six senses told them that this property  
would be a poor investment; only fools would become involved in such a  
disaster. But the Word of God through Mother White had informed them that 
this acreage would become "a beautiful farm, a spectacle to the world, to  
angels and to men."  
"We cannot go against Mother White's counsel." They decided to buy  
the farm and set about raising the money. Mother White guided them in  
the development of the school and its industries. She even consented to  
come on their board, the only time in her life that she accepted such a  
p^"ition.  
203


Then she told them that God wanted a sanitarium in connection with  
Madison School. They could see no possible  way to build, equip and stafi  
such an institution. One day Mother White came to the campus, and while  
they ate a picnic dinner under the trees, she asked them, "When are you  
going to build a sanitarium?" No one said anything. "Right here is an  
excellent site for the sanitarium. Why don't you get a mule and a plow 
and mark out the site. You can do that much," she said.  
Today Madison Sanitarium stands on that spot.  
She told them that they should start to manufacture health foods.  
So they bought a second-hand food factory that had failed in business.  
Under God's blessing it prospered greatly.  
She told them that little replicas of Madison School should be  
started in many places. About fifty such units sprang up in the South as  
well as other parts of the United States, and even in foreign lands.  
By 1940 the Madison School had become a miracle of fruitfulness,  
and hundreds  of students had been able to attend school because of Madison's  
policy of letting them work their way without paying money. Madison's  
institutions, college, sanitarium, food factory, were all self-supporting;  
they helped one another.  
Then the world began to notice. In 1940 an article appeared in the  
Reader's Digest that drew world-wide attention and fulfilled the prediction  
that Madison would be "a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men."  
Ellen White died in 1915. She did not live to see the barren Ferguson  
land blossom forth into a beautiful spot that would attract world-wide  
attention. She did not see the thousands of visitors from foreign countries  
that came to learn the secret of Madison's success. She did not hear Ed  
Sutherland, an old man now, explain to everyone how God, through His fa^fc- 
204


ful messenger, had guided him to this special place in the bend of the  
mberland River and had promised His blessing and favor.  
All over the world the Madison ideal is being upheld and brought  
to fruitful success, and thousands of young people have been educated  
along the path Ellen White marked out in 1904.  
205


ELLEN AND THE MADISON SCHOOL - Study Questions  
Objectives: To understand the wisdom of following God's counsel in  
spite of circumstantial evidence to the contrary.  
To perceive the consistent wisdom in God's counsels. 
To recognize how deep is God's interest and concern for  
His people.  
For discussion: 
Provide a map of the United States. Locate Tennessee, the Cumberland  
River, Nashville, and Madison on the map.  
1. Which of the following are reasons for buying the Ferguson property?  
Which are reasons for not buying? Which do you think is the very 
best reason for the purchase?  
a. Ellen White had seen the property in a vision, developed  
into a school for God.  
b. The farm was over-priced.  
c. The prophecy that Ellen White made about the unpromising land  
for Avondale College had come true.  
d. The Word from God had never failed to be right.  
e. The land was barren. 
f. The property was rocky.  
g. The boat needed repairs at the site of the farm; otherwise  
Ellen White wouldn't have had easy opportunity to see it and  
verify it as the land seen in vision.  
2. Because of Ellen White's guidance, not only Madison College was  
built, but . . . (Complete the sentence.)  
( . . . a sanitarium, a health food company, 50 self-supporting  
institutions built on Madison's model sprang up. The institutions  
became a spectacle to the world, angels, and men.)  
206


EXPERIENCES RELATED TO SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WRITINGS  
Mountain Adventure  
Lost and Found  
Wine, Grapes and Other Things  
207


MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE  
The year 1873 found James and Ellen White living in Battle Creek.  
They had been married for over twenty-five years and their younger son  
Willie had grown to be a young man. They both had worked hard through- 
out their married years; they had traveled a lot, going from church  
to church and from company to company, attending meetings, speaking and  
helping the people.  
One day a letter came from Ellen's niece, Louisa Walling, who live  
in Colorado. They read it with great interest. Louisa and her husband,  
William, invited the White family to come and spend the summer in their  
cabin high in the Rocky Mountains. "What do you think, James?" Ellen  
asked her husband.  
A smile spread over James' tired face. "Wonderful! Exactly what  
we need, a quiet place where we can write and rest."  
They decided to take Willie and Mrs. Hall, a lady who had been a  
dear friend for years. The four of them took the train from Battle Creek  
to Colorado. They enjoyed the ride, especially  through the mountains.  
Mr. Walling ran a sawmill and worked  in the woods. He worked hard  
and long hours every day, but he got the cabin ready for the  Whites and  
took them up there with food supplies and other camping necessities.  
208


The camp in the mountains proved  to be peaceful and quiet, At once  
both Ellen and James White took up their writing, while Mrs. Hall took  
care of the cooking and simple housekeeping. Willie explored the woods 
and streams and he found several places where wild berries grew. James  
and Ellen didn't write all the time. They climbed the mountains and en- 
joyed the rushing streams and the fragrant mountain air. The enormous 
granite rocks amazed them and they often climbed one of them to sit and  
watch the gorgeous sunset. Willie led them to his berry thickets and  
they picked the luscious berries and enjoyed themselves every day, and  
so they passed the first part of the summer.  
One day in late summer, Mr. Walling came up to the cabin and asked  
if they would like to go on  up the mountain to Grand Lake for a while,  
"ley could camp right beside the beautiful lake. Of course, they all  
wanted to go.  
So on a Sunday morning they set out with everything packed in  
two of Mr. Walling's wagons. They brought food, candles, tents and  
such clothes as they would need.  They planned to camp up at Grand  
Lake for about two weeks. Of course, they took all their writing material  
because they expected to do a lot of writing, even in the tents by 
Grand Lake.  
At eleven o'clock they started up through the mountains, past the  
timber line where no trees grew because it is too high. They got through 
the pass and started down the long, winding trail and when evening over-
took them, they camped there for the night. Monday morning they started  
out again. James and Ellen White and Willie rode horses. They had not  
209


gone far when a rider from the wagons called them back. An axle had  
broken and now they would have to camp for a few days right here while  
Mr. Walling went back home to get the axle fixed. A week later he sent  
his hired man with the  repaired  axle. The hired man took the Whites on  
to the lake.  
They found  Grand Lake quite large, and nobody lived there. The for- 
est towered around them and the beautiful scenery more than compensated  
for their troublesome travel. They selected a good camping site and the  
hired man helped them pitch their tents. He hauled in dry logs that  
could be used for firewood. They were soon nicely settled, but their  
food supply was running low.  
After spending Sabbath with them, the hired man went back, promising  
to send supplies soon, or having Mr. Walling come and take them back to 
the cabin. Then the Whites gave themselves over to enjoyment of this  
lovely place by the quiet lake. They found  two fishermen who spent their  
summers by the lake. They caught fish in nets and kept them alive in water  
until a man came up from Black Hawk with horses and saddlebags. Then on  
that evening they would take the fish out of the water, clean them and 
leave them out in the frosty air. The next morning they would pack them  
in the saddlebags and take them to the markets in Central City and Black  
Hawk.  
The Whites expected Mr. Walling back any day, but he did not come.  
Their candles were used up, so they went  to bed at dusk and got up at  
sunrise. However, the pinching problem was food. They asked the  fisher- 
men to sell them some of their supplies, but they had run short, too.  
They had found wild berries up here on the high mountain and they pickeA^  
210


those. They even made pies of some of them and traded the pies to the  
fishermen for other staples. Every day food grew more scarce.  
James White was writing a tract that would be printed at Battle  
Creek and he had promised to have it ready by a certain date. If Mr.  
Walling delayed much longer, he could not keep his promise, but he still  
kept writing on the tract.  
One Tuesday when he and Willie returned from a hike, he found that  
the men had come from Black Hawk to get the fish and they would be re- 
turning the next morning. He decided that he must finish the tract and  
send it with these men. So he got out his Bible and concordance and 
continued working. But the day waned fast. He watched the sun and knew 
that the daylight would not last long enough for him to complete it.  
They had no candles. What could he use for light?  
Then he remembered that he and Willie had seen the body of a dead  
,/olf on their hike that morning. He called Willie to him. "Do you re- 
member the dead wolf we saw today?"  
"Yes, it isn't far from here." 
"Willie, I want you to go back to the body of that wolf and scrape  
all the fat off that you can. I need it for light." Then, as Willie hur- 
ried off, his father called after him, "Take the shotgun. Brown bears 
live in that valley."  
So, with the shotgun, a pan and a knife, Willie hurried over the  
trail. He hoped and prayed that no other animal would have discovered  
the wolf carcass since he and Father had seen it. Then he found it,  
knelt down beside it and took off some of the skin. He scraped a little 
yellow fat from here and there. Then he slashed the carcass open and  
found a little more fat around the liver. He had never seen such a skinny  
211


wolf! Finally he had about one and one-half cups of fat. Night had  
fallen and he almost ran back to camp. His father set the fat over the 
fire and melted  it into oil which he poured into a bowl. Then he tore  
up some pieces of rag, twisted them and dipped them in the oil, then  
twisted and shaped them some more. When he lighted the rag it sputtered  
and then flared up into a bright flame. Father sat down again to  his  
writing. He wrote with ease in the light from the wolf-oil lamp. He  
glanced at his watch: Ten o'clock. Eleven o'clock came and still he  
had not finished the tract. He glanced in the bowl—still plenty of  
oil. By midnight he finished the tract and the letter that must go with 
it. He looked at the oil—still some left. He pinched out the flame 
and went to bed.  
Early in the morning when the men took the fish into Black Hawk,  
they took the letter and the finished tract to the Post Office.  
A few days later Mr. Walling came and took them back to his home.  
Soon they went back to Battle Creek, carrying delightful memories of  
their weeks in the Rockies. Ellen White had worked on the beautiful life  
of Jesus, Desire of Ages, and James White had completed the important  
tract. Willie had a new respect for the Colorado mountains and for his  
parents, who could and would accomplish their work no matter what diffi- 
culties confronted them.  
212


MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE - Study Questions  
Objective: To recognize that the life style of the Whites included  
adventure, recreation, resourcefulness, and accomplishment.  
For discussion: 
Locate Battle Creek, Michigan, and Colorado's Rocky Mountains on a map  
1. Name someone you know who can balance good times with work.  
2. What disadvantages do you perceive in a life that is devoted  
almost totally to good times?  
3. What disadvantages do you see in a life that is all work?  
4. What work is included in vacations you have taken? Who does  
the work when your family is on vacation?  
(Think of the driving, setting up camp  equipment, washing clothes,  
food preparation, cleaning up, packing up.)  
5. How can you help your parents on a vacation so that they will  
have a good time?  
6. What new things did you learn about the White family in this story 
7. What would you have liked about the Whites' Rocky Mountain  
vacation?  
213


LOST AND FOUND  
One June morning in 1853 a carriage drew up to James and Ellen  
White's home. They had hired a man to take them  to Vergennes, Michigan;  
now the man waited outside. Ellen came to the door and called to him,  
"Will we need to pack a lunch?  It's eight o'clock now - will we get  
there before lunch?"  
"It is only fifteen miles," the man replied. "We are getting an  
early start,  we should be there before lunchtime."  
The driver helped his passengers aboard and they started on their  
way. At first all went well. Of course, there was no paved road. They  
followed the double wheel tracks through the forest. Someone had laid  
logs over the worst potholes, and the driver assured the Whites he had  
traveled this way several times and was certain of the road. No sign- 
posts marked the way. Many sets of double wheel tracks traversed the  
forest. Ellen thought they all looked alike.  
On and on they traveled. The June sun grew warm, then hot. Finally  
James White asked the driver, "Are we almost there?"  
The man pushed his hat back from his sweating brow and answered,  
"Brother White, I'll have to admit this trail doesn't look familiar. I  
must have taken a wrong turn. But never mind, we'll cut right through  
the forest to the trail."  
214


So away they went through the woods, between logs and fallen trees  
where Ellen could see no trace of a road. She felt thirsty, but all the  
water seemed to be murky marsh water. "Do you suppose," she asked the  
driver, "that we could get some milk from one of these cows?" She pointed  
to several cows grazing in the grassy spots. The driver stopped the team,  
got out, took a tin cup from the carriage and started to stalk one of the 
cows. The cow seemed to understand his intentions and had ideas of her  
own. A second and third cow when approached behaved the same way.  Finally  
Ellen told the man, "Never mind, I'll just go thirsty."  
After a while the travelers saw a small clearing and in the middle  
of it a log cabin stood. They drove close to the cabin and clambered  
down from the carriage. A woman came out to meet them  with a warm and  
earty welcome. Evidently she seldom saw visitors. She set out food  
and drink and while the travelers ate the food and drank the milk, they  
talked. After the woman learned they were going to Vergennes to conduct  
meetings she asked them, "Won't you please come and hold meetings in our  
neighborhood. It doesn't look like many people live around here, but  
if you came to preach at our school house you'd be surprised how many  
would come. We need you! The Spiritualists are very active here. I 
have been to some of their meetings and I'm afraid of them. Please come  
and give us some good preaching." She continued to beg earnestly, then  
she began to weep.  
Ellen and James tried to comfort her. Ellen thought of all their  
pressing appointments and how urgent they all were. They couldn't promise  
215


to come at any time in the near future. Ellen explained to the woman.  
"I'll tell you what we will do," she said, "We'll leave you one of my  
books and some papers." The woman dried her tears, accepted the book  
and periodicals, and told them how to find the way to Vergennes. The  
new friends parted, hoping to see each other again soon.  
After more hours of travel the journey which should have been only  
fifteen miles bumped along for forty miles, but at last they reached  
Vergennes. Ellen said to her husband, "Why did this have to happen to  
us? The Lord knows how precious our time is. Why this long wandering  
through the forest?"  
James patted her hand and said in a comforting voice, "Always  
remember He plans our lives, and someday we'll know why this strange ex-
perience happened to us."  
Twenty-two years later at  the Michigan campground a lady hurried up  
to Ellen White. She shook her hands, greeted her joyously, and asked,  
"Do you remember being lost in the woods many years  ago? Do you remember  
the log house in the clearing? You were lost and tired, hungry and 
thirsty. While your horses rested I got you food and drink. You astonished  
me because you didn't waste any time gossiping or complaining about the  
trip. You just talked about Jesus, the beauties of heaven, and you gave  
me a little book, Experience and Views, that  you had written. Well, I  
read it over and over. I still have it. It's about worn out now. I lent  
it to the  neighbors and they read it. Since then, Seventh-day Adventist  
ministers have come to our area. But you were the ones who prepared the  
216


soil and when those ministers came, many were ready to receive the seeds  
of truth. So we have quite a company of Sabbath keepers in our area."  
Then the woman threw her arms around Ellen in an exuberance of joy. "Oh,  
I am so glad that we are Seventh-day Adventists." The woman stopped long  
enough to take a deep breath. Her face beamed. She didn't need to tell  
Ellen of her joy in the Lord. Everything about her  proclaimed it.  
Ellen's heart thrilled with joy, too. At last she had the answer  
to the question she had asked twenty-two years before, when they took  
that long and troublesome detour through the forest that day in June  
1853. They were on God's errand. He had sent them to this hungry woman  
who longed for truth, to bring the little book and to speak the words of  
courage and truth that set her feet in the way to heaven.  
A peculiar beauty and power of the Holy Spirit attends  Ellen's  
writings. She has said, "My writings will constantly speak and their 
work will go forward as long as time shall last." She knew the source  
of her writings and she explained, "They contain the precious comforting  
light that God has graciously given to His servant to be given to the world.  
From their pages this light is to shine into the hearts of men and women,  
leading them to the Saviour."  
So whether in the marshy forests of Michigan, admidst the towering  
Andes Mountains of South America, wherever Ellen's books are distributed,  
the mighty power of God goes with them and His Spirit speaks through them  
to hungry souls the world over.  
t  
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LOST AND FOUND - Study Questions  
Objective: To perceive the importance of accepting circumstances tb"~  
cannot be changed and making the best of them.  
For discussion:  
1. Why did the Whites get lost on the way to Vergennes? (Think  
of two or more reasons.)  
2. Which of the following sentences would help you talk about  
something positive? Which could  easily lead to complaining or  
gossip? 
a. "Did you see Greg's crazy hat?"  
b. "Helen did the nicest thing for me!"  
c. "That was a really great Sabbath School program today." 
d. "Wasn't church long today?"  
3. Which of the following is easiest for you?  
a. To complain.  
b. To tell what Jesus means to you.  
c. To talk about other people.  
4. When Ellen White was thirsty, her first request  for a drink was  
unfulfilled. What did she get besides a drink when her thirst  
finally was quenched?  
5. Read John 4:7-15, 27-32, for a story of a  time when Jesus was  
thirsty and hungry. What happened to relieve His feelings of  
thirst and hunger?  
218  
(


WINE GRAPES AND OTHER THINGS  
Tomorrow would be Mike's first day at Pacific Union College and  
today his father drove him up to the college through the September glory  
of the evergreen forests. As often happens on such trips, Mike and his 
father talked about Ellen White. "Ellen White made a lot of predictions,  
didn't she?" Mike asked. "Did she make any predictions about the sani- 
tarium up here on the hill, or about the college?"  
His father looked about at the grape vineyards they were passing  
through. "Yes, I remember one prediction she made about these acres  
and acres of vineyards. Alma Baker McKibben has told us the story. In 
1891 Sister White looked upon a scene much like what we see today. On  
the roads leading north and west out of Healdsburg stood several large  
wineries, and in the country beyond, vineyards of wine grapes covered  
the hills and valleys. As she looked out over the scene, Ellen White  
said, 'Oh, beautiful, beautiful Healdsburg. How I love you! But the  
curse of God is upon you. You have taken the benefits of heaven, the  
beautiful fruit that God gave you to cheer the heart of man, and have  
made of it a poison that destroys both body and soul.'  
"At once a solemn hush fell over the people that heard her, and  
Alma McKibben, who was listening to her, almost forgot to breathe.  
219


"Five years later Alma returned, and a friend took her for a ride.  
She noticed  the grape vines. They seemed to be dying—all of them.  
'What's wrong?' she gasped.  
"'Haven't you heard,' her friend said, 'a disease has affected  
all the vineyards in this county? They are all dying.' Alma remembered  
that sermon when Ellen White had said, 'The curse of God is on you."'  
"Well, where did these new vineyards come from?" Mike pointed. 
"The farmers had to tear out all their old vines. For  months the  
smoke of burning grapevines hung over the beautiful valley. The farmers  
had to import a new resistant strain from Italy and had to start all over  
again. It took years for them to recover."  
Mike thought for a moment. "So when God curses something, or pro- 
nounces a judgment against it, it might recover and be good again?"  
"Yes, you remember that Jerusalem was cursed of God, and totally  
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and again by the Roman army, but there is  
a Jerusalem today in the Holy Land. God is very merciful; His judg- 
ments are warnings, and He gives people a second chance. But if they  
continue to disobey Him, new judgments will fall. Sometimes it happens  
over and over again, as in the case of Israel."  
"And I suppose there were times when God didn't give them a second  
chance."  
Father said, "I recall one instance where God commanded a judgment  
which was never removed, although the man repented and will doubtless be  
saved in heaven."  
220


"Tell me about it," Mike said. 
"You remember that in our talks we have mentioned the Wessels family  
of South Africa? At one time Philip Wessels grew cold toward God. They  
were a wealthy family, and the cares of this life pressed hard on them,  
and the deceitfulness of riches constantly drew them toward the world.  
Ellen White sent Philip a straight testimony, a message from God, warn- 
ing him against the course he was following. In her letters Ellen told  
him how, in vision, she had been shown Philip with his arm in a sling.  
When he read the letter, he laughed about it and scoffed, and paid no  
attention to the warning.  
"Some time later while Philip  Wessels operated a threshing machine  
on one of their large farms, the machinery caught his arm and mangled it  
so severely that he carried  his arm in a sling for the rest of his life."  
"Do you think, Dad, that if he had heeded the warnings Ellen White  
sent him that the accident wouldn't have happened?"  
Mike's father thought for a moment. "I certainly think that if  he  
had obeyed God and mended his doings that God's angels would have shielded  
him from injury. But because he had rebelled against God, he had no  
protection. "  
Chills ran down Mike's spine, and he understood better how serious  
it was for anybody to reject the warnings and counsels of God which Ellen  
White delivered.  
"One of our missionaries attended the same church in which Philip  
Wessels was worshipping the day Ellen White's death was announced. When  
the pastor read the announcement, Philip rose, weeping, and holding up his  
withered arm in a sling, and said in a voice of deep sorrow, 'The Wessels  
221


family would have had a much different history if they had only followed  
the admonition of God's servant.'"  
"Don't you think that is true of all of us?" said Mike. "Our lives  
would be far different if we followed Ellen White's instruction completely  
"I believe  that with all my heart," Father replied thoughtfully.  
"Now, Elder Willard Saxby's story is a little different. Elder Saxby be-
lieved that he fully accepted Ellen White's testimonies. But one day at  
campmeeting in Ohio one of his fellow workers came to him, tapped him on 
the shoulder and said, 'I want to talk with you this evening.' So they  
went to a small family tent and the older minister asked, 'Do you believe  
in the testimonies?'  
"Elder Saxby replied, 'I certainly do.' They prayed together and  
then the older man said, 'I have here a testimony from Sister White. May  
I read it to you now?' Elder Saxby felt surprised, but he consented. Af*"  
his fellow worker had read the first few paragraphs, he jumped up and said  
'That is not so!'  
"The man looked up and said, 'Brother Saxby, you say it is not true,  
but the Lord will help you to see that it jis true.'  
"Still angry, Brother Saxby said, 'How can I say a thing is true  
when it is not?'  
"The older man began reading again. After another page or so, Saxby  
again declared forcefully, 'That is NOT so!'  
"His friend just looked up for a moment, and Saxby saw the compas- 
sion and love in his eyes. He went right on reading.  
"Four times Elder Saxby broke in with objections, but the minister  
read until he had finished the testimony. Then Elder Saxby asked, 'May 
I take this with me?' Then he went back to his own tent.  
222


"Mrs. Saxby heard him come into the family tent and asked, 'Why are  
you so late, Willard?' When he told her what had happened she asked him  
to read the testimony to her.  
'"It's too long,' he said, 'but I'll read this one paragraph. I told  
Elder A. it isn't true.' But even before he had finished reading, his  
wife sat straight up in bed, pointed at him and spoke earnestly, 'It is  
true.'  
"Elder Saxby stared at her, but he could argue no longer. His wife,  
Elder A., and above all, Ellen White, the servant of the Lord, had said  
it was true. It must be so. He began to fast and pray, and soon saw that 
the testimony from Ellen White presented a true picture of his real self.  
Without delay he made things right and never again did he argue against  
the Spirit of Prophecy."  
"I am so glad the man repented and God showed him his real self,"  
said Mike. "I want to see Elder Saxby when we go to heaven."  
"Yes, so do I," said Father. "I'm sure he'll be there. Any of us  
can be blind like that, but the Holy Spirit can give us light and show us  
how to follow the Lord fully."  
223


WINE GRAPES AND OTHER THINGS - Study Questions  
Objectives: To accept the words of Ellen White as inspired and  
helpful to individuals.  
To understand that God's messages are warnings. 
To perceive the human tendency to reject truth about  
one's own sins.  
For discussion:  
Locate the Napa Valley on a map of California.  
1. Which is easiest for you? Which is most difficult?  
a. To admit you're wrong.  
b. To overcome a bad habit.  
c. To ask for counsel. 
d. To accept rebuke.  
2. Finish these sentences for Phillip Wessels:  
a. "If I had my life to live over, I would ..."  
b. "I appreciate the counsels of Ellen White because ..."  
c. "I'm looking forward to . . ."  
3. How has Satan perverted the use of grapes?  
4. What were God's purposes in cursing the vineyards?  
5. What were God's purposes in allowing the later wine grapes to  
flourish?  
6. Describe someone who has been harmed by drinking fermented wine.  
7. Describe what you would like to do about people who prepare  
and sell fermented wine.  
8. Describe what you would like to do for people whose senses are  
dulled by wine.  
224