Medical Missionary in Australia

WHEN Ellen White began her work as the Lord's special messenger to the remnant she under stood that her divine commission included "much more than the word 'prophet' signifies" (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 32).

She wrote of "the various ways in which He [the Lord] would use me to carry forward a special work" (ibid., p. 33).

First in importance, of course, were the visions and the delivery of the messages to the people.

"Visions have been given me, with the promise, 'If you deliver the messages faithfully and endure to the end, you shall eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and drink of the water of the river of life.' "--Ibid.

Next in importance was her role as "a medical missionary worker."

"The Lord gave me great light on health reform," she wrote. "In connection with my husband, I was to be a medical missionary worker. I was to set an example to the church by taking the sick to my home and caring for them. This I have done, giving the women and children vigorous treatment. I was also to speak on the subject of Christian temperance, as the Lord's appointed messenger. I engaged heartily in this work, and spoke to large assemblies on temperance in its broadest and truest sense." --Ibid.

In the United States and in Europe she showed "a special interest in motherless and fatherless children, taking some under my own charge for a time, and then finding homes for them. Thus I would be giving others an example of what they could do."--Ibid., p. 34.

Mrs. White would take into her home from time to time boys 3 to 5 years of age or from 10 to 16 years of age. She would give them the care of a godly mother, and she would help to train them for the Lord's service. This she felt to be her duty. Her example was to challenge church members to feel a similar responsibility.

Asylums for the Sick

She wrote, "While in Australia I carried on this same line of work, taking into my home orphan children, who were in danger of being exposed to temptations that might cause the loss of their souls.

"In Australia we [reference here is to her associate workers] also worked as Christian medical missionaries. At times I made my home in Cooranbong an asylum for the sick and afflicted. My secretary, who had received a training in the Battle Creek Sanitarium, stood by my side, and did the work of a missionary nurse. No charge was made for her services, and we won the confidence of the people by the interest that we manifested in the sick and suffering. After a time the Health Retreat at Cooranbong was built, and then we were relieved of this burden." --Ibid.

We find in the Ellen G. White records of 1868 that she and her husband, while residing at Greenville, Michigan, took into their home a certain sister, who while making a business trip suddenly became ill in a Greenville hotel. This unfortunate woman remained with the Whites for many weeks. Her children also joined their afflicted mother in the White home. Later she became a patient at the Health Institute at Battle Creek. Finally she was able to go back to work and care for her family once more.

In this same year a man by the name of Seneca King suffered a skull fracture. There was no medical attention available, but the White home at Greenville be came a hospital. Day and night while his life hung in the balance the Whites faithfully ministered to this severely injured man. He made a full recovery.

The patient was given Mrs. White's writing room while she took her work to an unfinished room and there carried on her important ministry of writing her books. The Whites were always ready to make adjustments in order to meet the unusual needs of the sick and the injured.

Ministry to the Destitute

During the nine years of Ellen White's stay in Australia there was a period of financial depression. Near and about Avondale the school she helped to found there were many poor and destitute families. Their resources were practically nil. She could not pass them by, however, without sharing with them.

Food baskets were carried long distances to needy families. Clothing was supplied. Even ready-made garments were provided. Mrs. White always believed that even the poor should be given good-quality cloth, not cheap-looking materials.

If poor housewives who needed garments for their children knew nothing about sewing, Ellen White would send one of the ladies on her staff to teach the mother how to sew.

There was a great deal of sickness in the region about Sister White's home. Some of these sick people were cared for as patients in the home at Sunnyside, but more often she would send her private secretary and traveling companion, Sara McEnterfer, to help out.

Ellen White's grandson Arthur L. White wrote, "Miss McEnterfer's time was nearly all consumed in work similar to that of a community nurse. Every possible way was devised to assist those in need. We get a glimpse of this in a few words written in 1894:

" 'We purchase wood of our brethren who are farmers, and we try to give their sons and daughters employment, but we need a large charitable fund upon which to draw to keep families from starvation. ... I divided my house hold stores of provisions with families of this sort, sometimes going eleven miles to relieve their necessities.' --Letter 89a, 1894.

"We discern her tact in this work in an account of how one family was helped:

" 'I interested myself in his case. ... I endeavored to anticipate his needs, and never to place him where he would have to beg for work. While in Cooranbong, I tried to set an example of how the needy should be helped. I tried to work in the way set before me by the Lord.' Letter 105, 1902.

"There were times in the White home when all literary work was laid aside, and every member of the family joined in providing help for the unfortunate. Mrs. White wrote in 1897:

" 'Last evening we had a Dorcas society in our home, and my workers who help in the preparation of my articles for the papers, and do the cooking and the sewing, five of them, sat up until midnight, cutting out clothing. They made three pairs of pants for the children of one family. Two sewing machines were running until midnight. I think there was never a happier set of workers than were these girls last evening.' --Letter 113, 1897.

"That there were plenty of op portunities to help is made clear by the following;

" 'We do not have to hunt up cases; they hunt us up. These things are forced upon our notice; we cannot be Christians and pass them by and say, "Be ye warmed and clothed," and do not those things that will warm and clothe them. The Lord Jesus says, "The poor ye have always with you." They are God's legacy to us.' MS. 4, 1895." Ellen G. White, Messenger to the Remnant, pp. 107, 108.

"Once Sara McEnterfer planned to give some of Mrs. White's care fully patched dresses and coats to a woman once wealthy who had lost most of her money. Learning of Sara's plan, Mrs. White told her to send the new ones she had bought for the coming season. 'She has been used to much better things/ Mrs. White explained, 'and I would not hurt her feelings by giving her my old clothes.'

"Besides gifts of clothing, food, and money, she tried to provide medical help for the needy sick. Sara McEnterfer, a nurse, spent much time treating the people while Mrs. White lived in Australia. People responded to the efforts of the two women. To show their gratitude, a group of fishermen that the Seventh-day Adventist women had aided sent a large crate of fish to Avondale College. The head cook, learning of its delivery, became upset. She went to see what Mrs. White wanted done with the fish. 'Shall I throw them out?' she asked.

"Surprise showed on Mrs. White's face. 'Throw them out?' she exclaimed. 'Of course not. Aren't there plenty of people who would be thankful to have fish? Find some of them. And then send the fish to them with our compliments.'

"Then Mrs. White had her secretary write the fishermen a letter of thanks for their kindness, telling them she greatly appreciated the thought behind their gift. She always respected the beliefs and rights of others, and she had great tact and courtesy." D. A. Delafield, Angel Over Her Tent, pp. 133, 134.

Divine Protection

Once Ellen White needed some careful medical attention herself.

"Writing to her son Edson on August 10, 1896, Mrs. White mentioned a household accident that had injured her face. She had gone outside to where she kept a crate of oranges. Beside the crate stood a pile of tree stumps workmen had pulled from the fields while clearing land for what is now Avondale College, and Mrs. White used them in her cookstove. Stooping over the crate to fill a milk pan with oranges, she suddenly felt dizzy and slumped forward. The stumps seemed to rush upward, the jagged roots ready to claw at her face. Instantly she realized that if she fell against the stumps, the gnarled wood would slash and cut and bruise her face, probably disfiguring her for the rest of her life. Just as instantly she prayed for God to protect her.

"Quickly she shielded her face with the milk pan she had intended to fill with oranges. The fall knocked her unconscious. When she revived and struggled up off the ground, she glanced at the pan. The blow had bent it almost double. Striking the pile of stumps first, it had protected her face. A spot throbbed with pain below one eye, and her cheek had swollen, but she felt thankful that the fall had not injured her worse.

"Ella White, Mrs. White's grand daughter, stood a short distance away and saw the accident. There were no doctors nearby, and Ella raced into the house and pounded up some wood charcoal. Using the pulverized black powder and some hot water, she applied poultices to her grandmother's face until the soreness left and the swelling went down.

"The accident could have destroyed Mrs. White's eyesight and prevented her from writing books, letters, and magazine articles. It could have crippled her service to God, perhaps ending it. But God had protected her, and she was able to continue her work. In the years that followed she wrote and supervised the compilation of such books as The Desire of Ages, The Ministry of Healing, Christ's Object Lessons, and volumes six through nine of Testimonies for the Church.

"Pain from the injury lasted for about a year, but she considered it better than blindness and a mutilated face. During the painful months she continued to pray for healing. Eventually the cheekbone mended, and the pain left her face." --Ibid., pp. 125,126.

Ellen White's love for souls and her Christian spirit were rekindled at the place of prayer. Mrs. White knew how to pray. She had great power in prayer. The Lord came close to her and filled her with His own spirit of love and compassion.

H. M. S. Richards, Sr., Voice of Prophecy speaker emeritus, states that as a boy in Colorado he heard Mrs. White preach, but not until he heard her pray did he consider her the special messenger of the Lord. "She talked to God as though He was right there," he once said to me.

Power in Prayer

Once Mrs. Alma McKibbin, a church-school teacher, overheard Mrs. White pray to God in private. At that time Mrs. McKibbin was quite ill. She was spending a night in the home of Sarah Peck, one of Mrs. White's secretaries. Miss Peck had invited Mrs. McKibbin there with the intention of taking the sick woman to St. Helena Sanitarium for a medical examination. The Peck house stood just east of Mrs. White's home, facing her upstairs bedroom.

Mrs. McKibbin was too ill to sleep, so she lay on the sitting room couch and stared out into the darkness. The still night air carried sounds remarkably well, and Mrs. McKibbin heard the distant rustlings of night creatures in the orchards and fields. A pale yellow light suddenly glowed in Mrs. White's bedroom window. She has gotten up to write, Mrs. McKibbin thought. But then a voice crossed the quiet darkness between the two houses. Mrs. White was praying.

" 'Such a prayer I never heard,' Mrs. McKibbin wrote years after ward. 'She was praying first of all for the people of God; she was praying for everyone that knows this truth, that we might be true and that we might realize our responsibility to give it to others. Then she prayed for herself.'

"Prayer, Mrs. McKibbin realized, was the source of Mrs. White's spiritual strength. It was her means of constant contact with God. Only through prayer could she have remained God's messenger and done the special service He expected of her." --Ibid., pp. 135, 136.