"Happiness and Health" Meetings

In the year 1871 Aaron Miller, William Nichols, J. Franklin Wood, and James Bunch settled in Milton, Oregon. James Bunch had come from Kansas and had become a Seventh-day Adventist by reading the Review and Herald. The other three men, with their families and others, had come from California, where they had accepted the Adventist truth under the preaching of Elders J. N. Loughborough and D. T. Bourdeau. These laymen began in their humble way to give the gospel to the people of the Walla Walla valley. They sent their offerings to California and soon asked for the help of a worker. Elder I. D. Van Horn was sent to help them preach to their friends and neighbors the Sabbath and the second com­ing of Christ. Meetings were held in Walla Walla, Dayton, and Milton. Churches were organized in all three places, and thus the mes­sage began in the great Northwest.

Just eighty-one years after these pioneer be­ginnings, a new approach to evangelism was initiated in the old Milton Seventh-day Advent­ist church in October, 1957.

The plans for these meetings were designed to follow as nearly as possible the instruction given by Ellen G. White on April 12, 1901, at the General Conference, when she said: "I wish to tell you that soon there will be no work done in ministerial lines but medical missionary work. . . . Our ministers are to work on the gos­pel plan of ministering.

"You will never be ministers after the gospel order till you show a decided interest in medical missionary work, the gospel of healing, blessing and strengthening."—Welfare Ministry, p. 139.

In the Happiness and Health series of meet­ings an attempt was made to present the car­dinal doctrines along with emphasis on two great truths: the presence of the Spirit of proph­ecy, and the importance of a cheerful attitude in maintaining and gaining health of body, mind, and soul.

Theme of the Meetings

The theme of the meetings was: "A man at peace with God and man cannot be made miser­able." On Friday night the emphasis was on the relationships of men to their fellow men. As the 2300-day prophecy was presented, much of our denominational history was given, showing how God has consistently led the Advent people. The early events of the 1844 movement and the account of the gift of the Spirit of prophecy became a thrilling story to the listeners.

A fifteen- or twenty-minute talk was given every Sunday night by a doctor or instructor on one of the natural remedies spoken of in The Ministry of Healing, page 127. The topic of hypnosis also proved to be an interesting sub­ject as it was presented during the meetings and also in the panel discussion that was con­ducted on the last night of the series.

This effort was unique in that it was both revival and evangelistic in nature. Some are planning for baptism in the near future, and many received courage and help in their Chris­tian experience. Statements were made by those who attended the meetings that would indicate an unusual response. One man remarked while leaving one of the services, "Oh, if I had only known these things twenty years ago, my life would have been different!"

C. C. Rouse, chaplain of the Walla Walla General Hospital, and the writer led out in the meetings. Jack Hubbs, manager of the hospital, also gave of his time and good counsel in sup­port of the effort.

The success of these meetings was made pos­sible largely because of the faithful cooperation of the Adventist physicians, dentists, and others, who gave the people much helpful, practical advice. Most of these participants are members of a local benevolent organization known as the Blalock Memorial Foundation.

Blalock Memorial Foundation

The Blalock Foundation was organized in 1948 and is made up of Seventh-day Adventist physicians and dentists and other benevolent-minded persons. The name Blalock was adopted in memory of the late Dr. N. G. Blalock, a hard­working missionary-minded doctor who offered to donate forty acres of his fertile Walla Walla soil, if a school were operated upon it. It was his gift that was largely responsible for the es­tablishment of Walla Walla College in 1892.

The purpose of the organization is to gather and dispense knowledge that will help to re­lieve suffering and promote the upbuilding of humanity by medical missionary work and vari­ous other means. Those belonging to this organ­ization, especially the physicians and dentists, are doing a work that is worthy of notice by all Adventists today when "the world is a lazar house filled with victims of both physical and spiritual disease."—Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 62.

At the present time the members of the Bla­lock Foundation furnish means for the employ­ment of a full-time Bible instructor in this area. These men are doing a type of work that could be accomplished by no one else. As they ad­minister physical assistance to their patients they also offer many timely prayers and give much-needed spiritual counsel. Often they are called to various parts of the conference to conduct Sabbath services. Many thrilling experi­ences could be told of the reclaiming of hu­man wrecks who have found their way again and have become good citizens because these doctors have been willing to go the second mile. During the years since the founding of the Bla­lock Foundation, the number added to the church because of the medical work has varied from eighteen to ninety-nine souls each year.

It is gratifying to observe the records of these new converts throughout the area, and to find that so far there have been very few apostasies among those who have been attracted to the message as a result of medical-evangelistic work.

In this and similar series of meetings, one great fact outweighs everything else; people will attend Seventh-day Adventist meetings if our doctors and ministers work in unity to present the great truths which have to do with the heal­ing of the whole man—body, mind, and soul.