Sanitarium Training School for Medical Missionaries. They carried with them a large stock of health literature to assist in promulgating the health message. Regarding the literature, Elder Gates later wrote :
"Within three days our whole stock of medical books was sold, the people almost quarreling over who should get the last one. . . . Every family [Levuka, Fiji] was furnished with packages of the health and temperance leaflets, and a real interest was awakened on the subject of health. . . I am more than satisfied that medical missionary work is the most efficient kind of labor in the larger islands, and to some extent in the smaller ones."—Medical Missionary, Vol. 1, 1895, pp. 55, 188, 205.
When the "Pitcairn" sailed on its second cruise on January 17, 1893, the company included Dr. M. G. Kellogg, who, it would appear, was the first Seventh-day Adventist physician to go out in the interests of foreign medical missionary work. Of this trip, Doctor Kellogg wrote:
"The hour of sunset [of the first day] found most of the missionary company suffering from that distressing sickness, mal de mer, although a few of us were soon well. . . . The missionary company remained on the island of Pitcairn from February to to March 23, a period of thirty-two days, during which we held fifty-five general meetings, thirty-three of them being conducted by the writer. . . .
In my lectures on health and temperance, the importance of our properly reflecting the image of God in our lives at all times was made the leading thought."—Id., Vol. III, Y893, pp. 169, 170.
Doctor Kellogg traveled extensively among the islands of the South Pacific, rendering much-needed service in many places, in a wide variety of medical and surgical cases. Later he went to Australia, where he was located for a time before returning to Samoa and the homeland. In July, 1893, while the "Pitcairn" was at Rarotonga, the Cook Islands Federation parliament passed a formal resolution requesting the society represented by Doctor Kellogg to locate a physician on Rarotonga, giving assurance of material assistance.
Sailing next year from the Golden Gate, June 17, 1894, on her third mission cruise, the "Pitcairn" had on board Dr. and Mrs. J. E. Caldwell as medical missionaries. Upon reaching Rarotonga this time, the Europeans and representative natives petitioned Captain Graham to leave them a physician at once. Accordingly, Dr. and Mrs. Caldwell and their goods were put ashore on October 8, 1804, and a medical mission was soon established on this island. In May, 1896, a hospital was opened under government control, with Doctor Caldwell in charge as medical superintendent, assisted by Miss Maude Young, a native of Pitcairn Island, who had spent several months in the nurses' training course at St. Helena Sanitarium.
Beginnings in Japan.—In 1894 a small beginning was made along medical missionary lines in Japan. Masatoshi Ohara, with his son, became interested in the message through the health principles of the denomination. He first obtained some leaflets on health by Dr. J. H. Kellogg, and later some copies of Good Health. Mr. Ohara undertook the translation into Japanese of two or three leaflets on health, and circulated these gratuitously among the Japanese. At this time he was not a Seventh-day Adventist, but later he accepted Christianity through the teaching of his son, and they became the first two Sabbath observers in that country. Soon after his conversion he translated Doctor Kellogg's book on physiology and hygiene into the Japanese language. (Id., Vol. IV, pp. 135, 238.)
The Work in Australia.—On January 24, 1894, the steamship -City of New York," sailing from New York, took with it a company of missionary nurses, Brother and Sister A. W. Semmens, Brother and Sister G. B. Replogle, and Sister Eva Stone. Brother and Sister Semmens were Australian citizens, and had come to America to take the nurses' training course at Battle Creek. They were now returning to service in their home field. (Medical Missionary Year Book, 1896, p. 46.)
The Sydney Sanitarium, locally known as the Health Home, was opened in Ashfield, New South Wales, on August I, 1896. It was fitted for hydrotherapy, and had a few rooms furnished to accommodate patients. This unit, conducted by Brother and Sister Semmens, was financially successful, and afforded opportunities for many health talks, lessons in cookery, and much Christian help work.
Retrospect of 1894 in Medical Missions
In retrospect for 1894, Eliza B. Burleigh, of the faculty of the Battle Creek Sanitarium Training School for Missionary Nurses, gave information on a number of items respecting medical missionary workers who had undertaken foreign service. The following names of workers not elsewhere mentioned in this article, all of whom we understand to be either nurses or experienced sanitarium workers, are referred to by Miss Burleigh: Mrs. Sarah Bartlett, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Cooper. to Guadalajara, Mexico; Augusta Johnson and Anna Nelson to Scandinavian countries; Martha Anderson to Frederikshavn, Denmark; K. G. Rudolph to the west coast of Africa ; Miss Georgia Burrus, India; Leon Tieche, France. Miss Burleigh comments thus in the Medical Missionary:
"From this review of the work, we see that within the last year more than fifty have left us and are now engaging in medical missionary work. After noting such a report for one year, we might think that there is no place left for us, but when we consider that there is not a place on the earth, however remote, but that sin and disease are found, where thousands are suffering and longing for just the help that those who are properly prepared will be able to render, we may know that there is ample room for us."—Vol. IV, 1894, PP. 365, 366.
Samoa Sanitarium.—Of the beginnings of the medical work in Samoa we have the following record in the Medical Missionary Year Book of 1896:
"In the autumn of 1895, Dr. F. A. Braucht [who was both a physician and a dentist], with his wife and a very complete outfit for the establishment of a medical mission, set sail on the missionary ship 'Pitcairn' from San Francisco, bound for the Fiji Islands, where it was proposed to establish a medical mission. On reaching there, however, it was found that the laws of the islands were such as to prohibit a foreign physician from practicing, and no provision was made for the granting of a license by examination or otherwise, it being the evident purpose of the framers of the law to limit the number of medical practitioners to those then residing on the islands. It was accordingly decided that the doctor should proceed with the ship. The Samoa Islands were reached October 20, and here a most excellent opening for the work was found at Apia ; indeed, the field seemed waiting to be occupied, the laws being as favorable as could be desired, and the people greatly in need of medical attention."—Page 48.
Later a commodious and comfortable sanitarium building was constructed, and Dr. M. G. Kellogg spent several months with Doctor Braucht at Samoa, assisting in the erection of the sanitarium building. Miss Louise Burkhardt, a graduate nurse from Battle Creek, sailed for Samoa on May 28, 1896, to join Doctor Braucht.
Honolulu Sanitarium.—II is of interest to learn of the beginnings of medical work in the Hawaiian Islands, beauty spot of the Pacific. The Honolulu Sanitarium, located on a principal street near the center of the city, in view of the ocean, was opened in July, 1896. Dr. P. S. Kellogg, the first medical director, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Lingle, sailed from San Francisco May 28, 1896, for Honolulu to establish the institution in that field.
Of the influence of this sanitarium we read the following from a report by the physician in charge:
"God has blessed every effort put forth to extend the medical work here. Not only is this true, but I am glad to be able to say that our patients seem to appreciate the religious and moral influence with which we try to surround them."—Id., p. 51.
British Guiana.—In April, 5895, Dr. and Mrs. B. J. Ferciot were sent to British Guiana for the purpose of establishing a medical mission at Georgetown. They were later joined by Phillip Giddings, a young colored man who had taken training at Battle Creek as a nurse and Bible worker. On arrival it was found that the stringent laws relative to the practice of medicine in that territory, and the prejudice against foreign physicians, constituted insurmountable obstacles. However, before returning to the homeland, Doctor Ferciot gave several hundred health talks and treated gratuitously scores of needy folk, thus sowing some seeds in this mission field.
Trinidad.—In the autumn of 1895, Miss Stella Colvin, a nurse trained at the Battle Creek Sanitarium and for some time matron of the Nebraska Sanitarium, went to Couva on the island of Trinidad. There she joined Elder E. W. Webster and his family in their missionary activities. The medical ministry of this nurse, though difficult and laborious, materially assisted in the building up of a mission Sabbath school, and later the establishment of a mission in Port-of-Spain, to which place the small unit originally started at Couva was moved in 1896.
Retrospect of 1895 and 1896
A survey of the field in 1895 revealed an increase in foreign medical missionary activity, with twenty-six graduate nurses in the service, and eleVen physicians engaged in or under appointment for foreign fields. The medical mission enterprises at this time included Guadalajara, Mexico; Cape Town, Zambesia, and the Gold Coast, Africa ; Rarotonga, the Samoan Islands, Australia, and New Zealand in the South Seas ; British Guiana in South America; India ; Trinidad, West Indies ; Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland.
With the establishment of the American Medical Missionary College, and the increasing enrollment of medical students and nurses, rapid developments were made in the extension of our medical work, both in the homeland and overseas. A considerable number of workers went out in 1896 to various fields, including the following, as listed in the Medical Missionary for 1896:
"Mr. and Mrs. G. P. Edwards. of the class of 1889, with their two little boys, and Misses Maggie Green and Samantha Whiteis, of the classes of 1895 and 1896, sailed from New York November 18, en route for India. Mme. Valeria Laporte and Mlles. Augustine and Herminie Passebois went in the same steamer. Two of these latter are also nurses, and the three are returning to France as self-supporting workers in medical missionary lines.
"The fifteenth of November a farewell meeting was held for the outgoing missionaries just starting for India, South Africa, and Honolulu. Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Walston, Misses Ida Royer, Sophie Leach, and Emma Campbell, and Mr. 0. D. Dilley go to reinforce the work in South Africa, some of them to work in connection with the new sanitarium, and others with the Benevolent Home at Kimberley. This party left Battle Creek, November 22.
"S. S. Merrill, of the class of 1896, left recently to visit friends before leaving for Honolulu, where he goes to reinforce the medical missionary work already begun. Miss Millie Johnson, of the same class, goes by the same steamer and to the same work."—Vol. VI, p. 342.
This brief review of the major developments in the foreign medical program in the time period under consideration, coupled with the rapid strides that were taking place in North America in the establishment of sanitariums, missions, etc., indicate a rapidly expanding work. But all these facts and historical data constitute dry bones, as it were, unless we envision the flesh and blood and spirit of these noble workers. The sincere personal devotion and enthusiasm manifested by these missionary pioneers as they gave themselves to the call of the hour is worthy of our admiration.
The work thus begun by this group, motivated by love, in harmony with the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, has borne a bountiful harvest, and has grown to large proportions in all the major mission divisions. These early medical missionary workers have set an example that challenges us in devotion and spirit today!
We are presenting here a roster of medical missionary workers who were employed under the supervision of the S.D.A. Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, and their location, as listed in the Medical Missionary Year Book of 1896. It will doubtless be of interest to our readers.
