It is encouraging to note how often the Lord uses our faithful medical workers to raise up believers in this message. I was glad to receive a letter recently from Dr. and Mrs. J. 0. Ewert, at Celina, Tennessee, in which the doctor tells of his experiences in evangelistic work. From this I quote the following paragraphs :
"After finishing my medical course, I took up work in the Pasadena Emergency Hospital. My wife and I made it a subject of prayer that God would direct our steps to the place where He would have us practice. We had always been interested in the needs of the Southland, and when a call came to us to connect with the Fountain Head Sanitarium, in Tennessee, we immediately responded, feeling that God had answered our prayer.
"It was at Fountain Head that we had our first taste of Southern hospitality and friendliness, and we greatly enjoyed our work with this loyal, self-sacrificing group. However, this pleasant association was not for long, for one night we were awakened -to find the sanitarium in flames. The building was entirely destroyed by fire, and this, of course, altered Our course.
"Through the kindness of the conference president, we were invited to continue on in that conference. We started out in our car one day to see where we might land. At the end of the first day's journey, we were encouraged by Dr. G. Ulloth, of Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee, to locate in Celina, about twenty-five miles north of Red Boiling Springs, This was the county seat, a town of about eight hundred population. When we learned that we were the only Seventh-day Adventists in the whole county, it seemed sufficient reason to choose Celina as a place for practice.
"The winter of 1935, when we landed in Celina, was a rather cold one for that section, and there was much sickness in the community. We located in an old barbershop on the square, the only available building in town, and it wasn't long before we were very busy. In fact, we altogether failed to experience the usual 'starvation period' of which we had heard much. Since we were the only Seventh-day Adventists in the town, the sign on my door, 'Closed Saturdays,' attracted a good deal of attention. Saturday was the day when the farmers came to town to attend the public drawing on the square. There soon began to be considerable interest about the town regarding our religious belief. In answer to queries, we were glad to tell the people about our truth and we passed out literature to the interested ones.
"Soon we asked for ministerial help from the conference. We found the conference officials just as willing to give us aid in this line as they had been to vote us a loan when we started our work there. Evangelist T. Irville Rush was sent to open up work. He secured the auditorium of the courthouse in the center of the square for his meetings. The attendance was good. One much-respected family of six accepted the truth and were baptized. The father is a miller, thresher, and farmer. We have had great reason for rejoicing over this, the first fruits of Elder Rush's effort.
"Some months later we heard of another person living out in the country, who was keeping the Sabbath. We went to visit him and were overjoyed to find that he was definitely keeping the Sabbath. After a visit with him, we learned that he was fairly well versed in our other Bible doctrines, too, having studied them out by himself. Previous to our visit he had never had any contact with Seventh-day Adventists. This man threw his house wide open to the evangelist, and invited him to stay as long as he could. Arrangements were made for an effort to be held four nights a week in the schoolhouse. One brother, a merchant, did a great deal to advertise the meetings. People came from every direction on foot and on horseback, and a few in cars. As a result, we hope soon to organize a small church. The Sabbath school membership, including children, is now thirty-two.
"As the members of our family have been the only Adventists in the community for several years, we cannot express our joy at the probability of soon seeing a little company raised up to join with us in Sabbath worship. During the first lonesome months when we went walking on the Sabbath, we often remarked how wonderful it would be if we could have at least one other family of our faith with whom we could associate. We give all the praise to the Master, who has reserved a little corner for us in which we may work for Him. We are happy and contented in our location, and thank the Lord daily for having guided us to this place to practice."
This article is the first of a series on the medical missionary experiences of our C.M.E. graduates. It is our plan to have such an article in each issue of THE MINISTRY during the coming year. Contributions are solicited for this purpose.
