From her girlhood Ellen G. White was a personal worker. Often, but not always, did she witness the fruits of such ministry. After her conversion her first work was for youthful friends. The earnestness of such efforts is revealed in the following published account:
"I arranged meetings with my young friends, some of whom were considerably older than myself, and a few were married persons. A number of them were vain and thoughtless; my experience sounded to them like an idle tale, and they did not heed my entreaties. But I determined that my efforts should never cease till these dear souls, for whom I had so great an interest, yielded .to God. Several entire nights were spent by me in earnest prayer for those whom I had sought out and brought together for the purpose of laboring and praying with them.
"Some of these had met with us from curiosity to hear what I had to say ; others thought me beside myself to be so persistent in my efforts, especially when they manifested no concern on their own part. But at every one of our little meetings I continued to exhort and pray for each one separately, until everyone had yielded to Jesus, acknowledging the merits of His pardoning love. Everyone was converted to God.
"Night after night in my dreams I seemed to be laboring for the salvation of souls. At such times special cases were presented to my mind : these I afterwards sought out and prayed with. In every instance but one these persons yielded themselves to the Lord."—Life Sketches, pp. 41, 42.
It was not long after this experience that she was called to stand as a messenger for God. This work laid upon her a heavy burden for the church and for the world. It would not seem strange if Mrs. White, with these larger burdens, should lose sight of the personal needs of the individuals with whom she came in close contact. However, she did not. Now and then through the years we catch a glimpse of her personal efforts to save those about her.
Labor for Unbelieving Relatives
In the summer of 1872 Elder and Mrs. White were in the mountains of Colorado for a period of relaxation and change. With them were several members of the family and Mary, a niece. Mary and her mother, one of Mrs. White's older sisters, were not Seventh-day Adventists. From a diary entry we observe the tactful way in which Mrs. White sought to lead this girl into the light of the truth:
"We arise this beautiful morning with some sense of the goodness and mercy of God to us. This is our first Sabbath among the mountains. James, Sister Hall, and myself took a blanket and walked out to the shelter of the fragrant evergreens, rolled up a stone for a seat, and I read a portion of my manuscript to my husband.
"In the afternoon our niece, Mary, Willie, and I walked out and, seated beneath poplar trees, we read about sixty pages of Great Controversy, Spiritual Gifts. Mary was deeply interested. We were happy in the earnest manner she listened. We see no prejudice with her. We hope she will yet see and receive the truth. She is a pure, simple-hearted, yet intellectual girl.
"We closed the Sabbath of the Lord with prayer. Mary united with us in prayer,"—Diary, July 27, /872.
Thus we see Mrs. White tactfully selecting readino-6 which she hoped would awaken interest, and then eagerly watching the reaction. Through the years she sent the Review, the Instructor, the Signs of the Times, and the Watchman to her sisters and other relatives who were not in the message. She wrote letters of appeal, and did not forget to pray that God's Spirit would strive with their hearts. But this was all she could do. For several years Mary assisted her as a copyist, but she failed to yield her heart fully to God and walk in the light. In an earnest appeal Mrs. White wrote to her five years after the experience in the mountains:
"I have no wish to control you, no wish to urge our faith upon you, or to force you to believe. No man or woman will have eternal life unless they choose it, . . . with all the self-denial and cross-bearing that is involved in the Christian life. . . God will test every one of us. He will give privileges and opportunities to all and a sufficient amount of evidence to balance the mind in the right direction, if they choose the truth. . .
"God will work for you and make you an able instrument if you will yield your will and affections to His will and if you will become a child of obedience. But if you remain in resistance to the truth, God will remove His light from you and you will be left to take your own course and meet the result at last. I hope you will not say as your mother said to me in regard to breaking the Sabbath, she 'would risk it.' God forbid that you should dare to risk it and pursue a course of disobedience. You have tenfold more light in reference to the truth than your mother. I still have faith that she will accept the truth if you do not hedge up her way. I have written in love and have written because I dare not do otherwise."—Letter 6, 1877.
Neither this young woman nor her mother ever accepted the Sabbath truth. Mrs. White felt deeply concerning this.
The Fruit of One Pamphlet
Literature filled an important place in Mrs. White's personal missionary work. She learned of the fruits of giving away a pamphlet or a paper. So it was with a sixty-four-page pamphlet left at a little settler's cabin in the wilderness of Michigan in the summer of 1853. It was Friday, and Elder and Mrs. White, with other workers, were hastening by carriage to Vergennes. The driver was well acquainted with the road, but for some reason the party lost their way. Finally there was only a trace of a road. Through the woods they traveled, "over logs and fallen trees." There were no houses in sight; the day was hot; and Mrs. White was ill. Twice she fainted. They had no food, no water could be found, and all suffered from thirst. Some cows were seen, but all attempts of the strangers to get near enough to obtain a little milk from them failed. In her fainting condition she "thought of the traveler perishing in the desert." "Cool streams of water," she said, "seemed to lie directly before me; but as we passed on they proved to be only an illusion." Elder White prayed that she might be sustained. The fifteen-mile journey should have been accomplished in a few hours, and they could not understand why they should be left to this wandering.
Then they broke into a clearing, and found a log cabin. The weary travelers were invited in and given refreshments. As they lingered to rest a bit and learn the way, they were soon chatting with the woman who had befriended them. Mrs. White talked of the Sabbath, the Second Advent, of the state of the world and the church. Their hostess urged the strangers to stay and hold meetings in that community, but this could not be done because of appointments already made. As they left the cabin, Mrs. White gave the woman a copy of her first little book, A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views by Mrs. E. G. White, and copies of the Review and Instructor were also placed in her hands.
Twenty-two years passed by. Often Mrs. White thought of the experience and wondered why they had lost their way that summer day, and were forced to drive forty miles to reach a point fifteen miles distant. She found the answer at the Michigan camp meeting in 1876. We turn to her account of this:
"After the meeting closed, a sister took me heartily by the hand, expressing great joy at meeting Sister White again. She inquired if I remembered calling at a log house in the woods twenty-two years before. . . .
"She stated that she had lent that little book to her neighbors, as new families had settled around her, until there was very little left of it. . . She said that when I called upon her I talked to her of Jesus and the beauties of heaven, and that the words were spoken with such fervor that she was charmed, and had never forgotten them. Since that time the Lord had sent ministers to preach the truth to them, and now there was quite a company observing the Sabbath. . . .
"For twenty-two years our wanderings on this journey have seemed indeed mysterious to us, but here we met quite a company who are now believers in the truth, and who date their first experience from the influence of that little book. The sister who so kindly administered to our wants is now, with many of her neighbors, rejoicing in the light of present truth."—Evangelism, pp. 448, 449.
Whether in America, Europe, or Australia, Mrs. White found the same needs for personal work. Sometimes she pressed for a decision. Soon after reaching Europe, she met a young man at a watch factory at Nimes, France. It was her own broken watch that brought the two together. As soon as she met him she recognized him and recalled his experience as it had been revealed to her in vision. In discouragement he had lost his hold on God and had strayed from the truth. He was also working on the Sabbath. One evening she had the young man meet her for an interview. This she describes in a letter :
"I talked two hours with him and urged upon him the peril of his situation. I told him because his brethren had made a mistake that was no reason that he should grieve the heart of Christ, who had loved him so much that He had died to redeem him. . . . I told him I knew the history of his life. . . , I then entreated him with tears to turn square about, to leave the service of Satan and of sin, for he had become a thorough backslider, and return like the prodigal to his Father's house, his Father's service. He was in good business learning his trade. If he kept the Sabbath he would lose his position. . . . A few months more would finish his apprenticeship, and then he would have a good trade. But I urged an immediate decision.
"We prayed with him most earnestly, and I told him that I dared not have him cross the threshold of the door until he would before God and angels and those present say, 'I will from this day be a Christian.' How my heart rejoiced when he said this."Ibid., p. 450.
Large Books Bear a Harvest
When in Australia, Mrs. White was told of a family residing on a large farm. The husband and father had almost accepted the message and then had slipped back. Soon after she learned of this she was impressed to call on the family and leave some of her books with the man. The experience is told feelingly in her own words :
"I visited with him, taking with me a few of my large books. I talked with him just as though he were with us. I talked of his responsibilities. I said, 'You have great responsibilities, my brother. Here are your neighbors all around you. You are accountable for every one of them. You have a knowledge of the truth, and if you love the truth, and stand in your integrity, you will win souls for Christ.'
"He looked at me in a queer way, as much as to say do not think you know that I have given up the truth, that I have allowed my girls to go to dances, and to the Sunday school, that we do not keep the Sabbath.' But I did know it. However, I talked to him just as though he were with us. 'Now,' I said, 'we are going to help you to begin work for your neighbors. I want to make you a present of some books.'
He said, 'We have a library, from which we draw books.'
"I said, 'I do not see any books here. Perhaps you feel delicate about drawing from the library. I have come to give you these books, so that your children can read them, and this will be a strength to you.'
"I knelt down and prayed with him, and when we rose, the tears were rolling down his face, as he said, 'I am glad that you came to see me. I thank you for the books.' "—Ibid., PP. 451, 452.
The man read and lent the books, and soon he and his entire family were firmly in the message together with some of their neighbors who also read the books.
An "Errand for the Master"
Late in 1900 Mrs. White made her home at Elmshaven near Saint Helena, California. A few months after getting settled, she visited the near-by churches and institutions. When there was opportunity, she paused in the busy program to do a bit of personal work, such as she did one Sunday in September, 1901, as she and those with her drove from our college in Tiealdsburg to her home:
"On our return we called upon a family by the name of Lighter. They live about half way between Santa Rosa and Healdsburg, and seem to be in limited circumstances. Sister Lighter's father, a very old man, is quite feeble. The physician thinks that he will only live a short time. A few months ago he accepted the truth, but he has not yet been baptized.
"We were glad to do an errand for the Master by visiting this family. Willie, read the comforting promises of God's word to the sick man, and I presented the afflicted one to the Great Physician, who is able to heal both soul and body. The family were very thankful for our visit. I know that they were comforted."—Letter 126, 1901.
We do not find Mrs. White pressing or urging unduly in her personal work. She did not make herself a nuisance. When she found an interest, or created one, she tactfully followed it up.
Missing train connections by just five minutes in 1904 at Milford Junction, the group of workers en route to Berrien Center, Michigan, found that they must wait five hours. To relieve Mrs. White of the tobacco smoke in the station, search was made fot a near-by home, where she might rest and wait. She and her two helpers were welcomed by a Mrs. Muntz. Mrs. White describes her visit in these words :
"Mrs. Muntz is an elderly lady, and is a Dunkard, or a German Baptist. She is a very pleasant woman, and seemed to enjoy talking with us. She says that she respects all Christians. I spoke about the work we are trying to do, and her face brightened as I told her something of our efforts to do missionary work. She told me that were her husband living he would enjoy talking with me; for he was a very religious man and a great reader. I told her that I was a writer of books, and employed several helpers, and she was much interested.
"While we were talking, a young woman with a child in her arms came in, and we soon found out that she was a Seventh-day Adventist. She was much interested in what I told them about our work in Washington and other places. She is the wife of the night operator at Milford Junction, and the only Sabbath-keeper in the place, I think.
"Another neighbor came in during the evening, and in the course of the conversation asked me if I would explain to her about the Sabbath. I began by reading a text in the first of Genesis. Then I read the fourth commandment. When I had read this, they said, 'Yes, but Sunday is the seventh day.'
"I explained to them that Sunday is the first day, and that the day called Saturday by the world is the seventh day. Then I read the last six verses of the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, where the Sabbath is clearly specified as the sign between God and His people.
"I had not time to say much, but what I read was sufficient, I hope, to lead them to search the Scriptures for themselves. I told them that Christ kept the Sabbath, and that the women rested on the seventh day, 'according to the commandment,' and on the first day of the week brought spices and ointment to His sepulcher.
"I read several other texts, and Mrs. Muntz wrote down all the references as I gave them. Before we parted we had a season of prayer together, and they seemed to appreciate this greatly. . . . This was our experience at Milford Junction. We think that perhaps our delay was in the providence of God. It may be the means of arousing an interest in the truth."—Letter 163. 1904.
So, in the midst of a busy program of speaking and preparing literature for the church and the world, the messenger of the Lord took time and found opportunities to give Bible studies, to speak a word in season, and have prayer, or give out truth-filled literature in a personal effort to help those around her.
