The General Conference of 1909 was over. It had been a good meeting. One delegate declared it to be "without doubt the most wonderful council since the days of the apostles" (Pacific Union Recorder, June 3, 1909). While Ellen White witnessed with joy the operation of the well-developed mechanism for carrying on the work of God in the earth, her overwhelming burden was the proper utilization of these tools for the finishing of the work. Sensing that secondary interests could easily interject themselves and sidetrack major objectives, it was with a heavy burden of heart that she met with the General Conference Committee and conference presidents on Friday morning, June 11, just before taking the train to start her homeward journey.
The needs of the cities of the land were on her heart, and she said:
When I think of the many cities yet unwarned, I cannot rest. It is distressing to think that they have been neglected so long. For many, many years the cities of America, including the cities in the South, have been set before our people as places needing special attention. A few have borne the burden of working in these cities; but, in comparison with the great needs and the many opportunities, but little has been done.
Where is your faith, my brethren? Where are the workmen?
In many of our large cities the first and second angels' messages were proclaimed during the 1844 movement. To you, as God's servants, has been entrusted the third angel's message, the binding-off message, that is to prepare a people for the coming of our King.--The Review and Herald, November 25, 1909.
She urged that "time is short." The means coming into the treasury should be used wisely in supporting the workers. Nothing was to hinder the advance of the message. She said:
Night after night, I have lain awake, weeping and pleading with God, because of the seeming inability of some to discern opportunities for extending our efforts into the many unworked places--nearby places that might have been warned years ago, had we chosen to do a broad work, rather than to hover around a few centers.-- Ibid.
She encouraged the spirit of self-sacrifice, and "of constant devotion to the needs of a lost world."
For years the pioneers of our work struggled against poverty and manifold hardship in order to place the cause of present truth on vantage ground. With meager facilities, they labored untiringly; and the Lord blessed their humble efforts. The laborers of today may not have to endure all the hardships of those early days. The change of condition, however, should not lead to any slackening of effort.
And now, when the Lord bids us proclaim the message once more with power in the East; when He bids us enter the cities of the East, and of the South, and of the North, and of the West, shall we not respond as one man, and do His bidding?
Shall we not plan to send messengers all through these fields, and support them liberally? Shall not the ministers of God go into these crowded centers, and there lift up their voices in warning to multitudes? ... Oh, that we might see the needs of these great cities as God sees them!--Manuscript 53, 1909 (Ibid., November 25, 1909).
She told the gathering of church administrators that "as we advance, the means will come. But we must advance in faith, trusting in the Lord God of Israel."-- Ibid. It was a solemn appeal.
With the thoughts of the presentation burning in her heart she took the train for appointments in the cities of the Northeast, visiting medical institutions, speaking in churches in the large cities, and attending camp meetings. The schedule called for stops in Philadelphia, New York, South Lancaster, and then Portland, Maine, a prime objective in plans for the journey home. It was not a hurried trip, and plans were formulated, more or less, as those who traveled with her took note of her endurance and strength. While conference presidents were in Washington attending the General Conference, appointments had been made tentatively for speaking engagements en route home. In some cases camp meeting dates had been shifted to make it possible for the people to hear her. For Ellen White, this was a sort of capsheaf of her lifelong journeyings, and she looked forward to it with anticipation.
As she traveled north, she approached New York City, and it is reported that during the last thirty miles she "viewed with lively interest the many cities located so closely to one another." "Several she pointed out as places that had been presented to her as neglected communities, where work should be done as soon as possible."--WCW, in Ibid., November 25, 1909.
A few days later she reported:
I have passed through city after city, and I have asked the question, "Who is laboring here? Who feels a burden to go from house to house, visiting and praying with the people, and carrying to them the precious publications containing the truths that mean eternal life to those who receive them?"--Ibid., December 2, 1909.
Somehow the cities must hear the joyous message of Christ's soon return.
In Old Portland, Maine, Again
It was Friday, July 2, when the party of travelers--Ellen White, W. C. White, Sara McEnterfer, Helen Graham, and Dores Robinson--stepped off the train at Woodford's Station in northwest Portland (Ibid., December 9, 1909). This was the city of her youth, and what memories it held. Because the church had rather small memberships in the Northeast, Ellen White had made but few trips to Portland; the last was to attend the Maine camp meeting in 1878, with her husband. Now, thirty years later, she looked forward to visiting the environs of her girlhood, but most of all she longed to participate in evangelistic meetings there.
At the station to receive them was Clarence S. Bangs, a nephew she had never met. Bangs was the son of Ellen's twin sister, Elizabeth, who had died a few years before. He operated a grocery business, seemingly quite a profitable one, and was known to Seventh-day Adventists in the vicinity. In fact, he had been instrumental in arranging for the use of Deering's Oaks Park just north of the city for the camp meeting. Ellen White was to be a guest in the Bangs home through the ten or eleven days she would be there. "We had a hearty reception," she wrote. "He and his wife were glad to meet us." And she commented, "They are members of the Baptist church. They are well located and he is well situated." Of the family, she added, "His wife appears to be an excellent woman. They have one child who is off at school in Gorham."--Manuscript 113, 1909. She was pleased that she could be close to the campground.
During her stay in Portland she visited some of the places of special interest in connection with her early life. When but a child, she with her parents had moved about twelve miles from Gorham to the city. It was here that she attended school till, at the age of 9, she met with the accident that left her an invalid for many years. It was here that she heard the powerful preaching of William Miller, Joshua V. Himes, and others. "The first and second angels' messages sounded all through Portland," she wrote, "and the city was greatly moved. Many were converted to the truth of the Lord's soon coming, and the glory of the Lord was revealed in a remarkable manner." It was here, in Casco Bay, that she was baptized and was taken into the Methodist Church. Across the river in South Portland, in December, 1844, she had received her first vision, a vision of the Advent people traveling to the City of God. She declared, "In the city of Portland, the Lord ordained me as His messenger, and here my first labors were given to the cause of present truth."--Letter 138, 1909.
In Portland she and James White were married by a justice of the peace in 1846, and here she and her husband had labored together in the early days of the message. But here was a large and important city of the East with only a handful of Seventh-day Adventists.
On Sabbath morning, July 3, Ellen White spoke in the big camp meeting tent, giving lessons from the experience of Israel. In her sermon she declared:
Some think that God is not particular, and that, although He specifies in the commandment the seventh day as the Sabbath, yet because it is more convenient for them to observe another day, God will pass by their deviation from His command. Not one of us can afford thus to presume upon God's forbearance.--The Review and Herald, December 9, 1909.
Early-morning Bible studies were conducted by Elder S. N. Haskell. Others assisted in carrying forward a strong camp meeting with an evangelistic thrust. The daily papers carried favorable reports of the meetings. The weather was good, and the attendance grew from day to day and night to night. Ellen White preached at five of the evening meetings (Ibid., August 5, 1909).
On several evenings Ellen White came early. As the people assembled she was seen walking slowly back and forth at the sides of the tent, eagerly watching the people of the community who were attending. Finally, one night she exclaimed to the other workers, "They are here! They are here! The prominent people I have seen in vision attending these meetings are here!" (as told to the author by WCW).
At one of the meetings she told of her own early experience in the city and of how the people of Portland had been stirred by the proclamation of the Advent message. At that time she declared:
There were powerful speakers, and there was a great deal of visiting from house to house. A deep earnestness characterized the labors of those who took part in this movement....Meetings were held in the homes of believers all through the city, and the Lord wrought with mighty power.
A work is to be carried forward here in Portland as the proclamation of the Lord's coming was carried forward in 1843 and 1844.--Ibid., December 9, 1909.
During the camp meeting a field day was held in which church members spent a portion of the day in house-to-house visitation in the city. This greatly augmented the interest of the general public in the meetings.
Ellen White was widely advertised as the speaker for Sunday afternoon. At the meeting the tent was crowded. Those camping on the grounds were requested to bring all available chairs from their tents, and still there were many who could not find seats. One who was present reported:
Mrs. White spoke with even more than her usual strength and power, and many hearts were melted by her earnest appeals.--D. E. Robinson, in Ibid., December 9, 1909.
Writing of it, she said that "the power of God came upon me, and gave me utterance, as it did during the recent General Conference held at Washington, D.C."--Manuscript 25, 1910. She was impressed that it was "one of the most solemn meetings" that she had attended for years, as she presented a discourse "accompanied by the manifest power of the Holy Spirit" (Letter 174, 1909).
"I did not stand before them because I felt able," she wrote later; "I stood there because of the opportunity to let them hear the message of mercy that is being given to the world."--Manuscript 25, 1910.
For nearly an hour that Sunday afternoon she held the attention of the audience. At the close she made an appeal for a response:
I asked all who would pledge themselves to carry on a personal study of the Scriptures, to find out whether the truths presented before them that day were in accordance with the Word, to rise to their feet.
You can imagine my feelings as I saw nearly everyone in that large congregation standing on their feet, thus pledging themselves before God to search the Scriptures, to find out whether these things were so. The Spirit of God was present in that meeting.-- Ibid.
Those connected with the courts, and others high in office, have come out to hear.-- Ibid.
As a result of this camp meeting and of the efforts that followed, several have taken hold of the truth.--Letter 174, 1909.
While visiting Portland, she was pleased to see the foundations of a church building being erected by the believers as a place where they might worship, the first Seventh-day Adventist meetinghouse in that important center (Manuscript 81, 1909). She rejoiced that it was only a few blocks from Deering's Oaks Park, so dear to her, for it was there she had spent many pleasant hours as a girl (Letter 193, 1903). She was pleased that the park was close enough to the church that mothers with their restless children could slip over there if the occasion demanded.
For several months after her visit, as she had opportunity, she made appeals for financial help for the work in Portland. Even so, it was necessary for the congregation to worship for some time in the basement of the unfinished building. Later this basement accommodated the church school. Fittingly the edifice became known as the "White Memorial Church."
Turning Westward
With the cherished visit in Portland over, Ellen White and her associates turned westward for the 3,000-mile journey home. It was to be stretched out to two full months, with days spent at Melrose Sanitarium in the vicinity of Boston, then Buffalo, New York, and westward to Battle Creek, Michigan, and nearby Three Rivers, where the Michigan camp meeting was held. This would be an important meeting, for it was a large conference and she had labored for many years in that State. She was on the grounds a day early to get a good rest before beginning her ministry.
During the meeting, she slipped away for one day to fill a speaking appointment in Battle Creek, her last visit there. The meeting was held on Thursday afternoon in the Tabernacle, and was well attended by church members, Sanitarium employees, and citizens from the city. She opened the service with prayer, after which she gave a simple but earnest discourse, based on the fifteenth chapter of John (The Review and Herald, December 23, 1909).
Monday morning they were again on their way west. The next stop was at Wabash Valley Sanitarium in Indiana. Of the visit to this institution she wrote:
We were intensely interested in this Sanitarium and its surroundings, for the Lord has presented before me in vision just such a scene. I could hardly believe that I had not seen the place before with my natural eyes.
I am instructed to say that it is in the order of God that this property has been secured. It is to become an important center for missionary work in the surrounding cities.-- Ibid.
As she commented on the rural location, she added that in locating sanitariums "sufficient land should be secured to raise fruit and vegetables," and the outdoor work afforded the guests would "be a boon to the sick" (Ibid.).
She visited Hinsdale Sanitarium near Chicago, and then spent a few days at the Illinois camp meeting at Elgin. From there it was on to Madison (Wisconsin) Sanitarium, and camp meetings in Iowa, Kansas, and Colorado.
The Colorado Camp Meeting
The Colorado camp meeting was a memorable one. It was held near Boulder, on the beautiful and well-equipped Chautauqua grounds a mile or so from the city. A thousand church members from throughout the State stayed in the cottages and camped on the grounds. Ellen White was entertained at Boulder Sanitarium, and while there spoke to the workers of the institution. Three times she addressed the large assembly in the Chautauqua auditorium. (H. M. J. Richards, in Ibid., October 21, 1909). During the Sabbath-morning service there was a downpour of rain, about two inches. The auditorium had a metal roof, and the rain created a steady roar, which made it difficult for the audience to hear Ellen White's sermon. The people left the back seats and crowded to the front, many of them standing close to the platform. Radio Evangelist H. M. S. Richards, who was there as a teen-ager, gave his testimony that Ellen White's voice rang out above the storm.
After reading from the seventeenth chapter of John, and some from the first and second chapters of Acts, she said:
My brethren and sisters, we are not half awake. We do not half appreciate the precious time that is passing into eternity. We do not realize the value of the souls for whom Christ gave His precious life. We need to put on the robe of Christ's righteousness and work in harmony with Him, in harmony with His ministers, in harmony with all who truly believe the truth for this time.--Ibid., January 13, 1910.
Before closing her sermon she declared, "Instruction was given me in the night season that I must bear a decided message to this people. You greatly need to experience a deeper heart work." And she admonished the need for earnest prayer, the acceptance of God's promises, and "to learn how to present the truths of the Word" to those around them "in all their binding force and in all their encouragement."
Sunday morning she spoke again. The conference president, H. M. J. Richards, father of the well-known Voice of Prophecy speaker, reported in the Review and Herald:
At the close of a most clear and inspiring sermon she kneeled down and prayed with the people, offering one of the most earnest prayers that we ever heard. The Spirit of the Lord came very near, and there was a general move of the whole congregation to consecrate themselves to the Lord to work for Him everywhere and all the time.--October 21, 1909.
Young Richards, as he later told of the experience, declared that Ellen White just talked with God. It was an experience he could not forget.
Her Counsel as She Crossed the Continent
Such was Ellen White's work as she crossed the continent, visiting institutions and camp meetings. At Nashua, New Hampshire, she had given this important counsel to the camp meeting congregation:
We must not allow ourselves to be so overwhelmed with household cares that we shall find no time for visiting those about us. If a ray of light has come to you, find someone to whom you can impart it. There is a world to be warned, and we are to receive help and light and blessing from Jesus Christ, then carry this light to other souls. In this work you will not labor alone; angels of God will go before you.
If you are repulsed by someone to whom you try to speak of the salvation of Christ, do not become discouraged. Do not say, "I will never speak to him again regarding religious subjects." The angels of God may work upon his heart, and prepare him for that which you desire to impart to him. He who is our advocate in the heavenly courts has bidden us carry His gospel into every part of the earth, and He gives us the comforting assurance, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Shall one of us hold back from engaging in this service with Him?--Ibid., December 2, 1909.
At Madison [Wisconsin] Sanitarium, speaking to the workers, she said:
I cannot feel free to leave this Sanitarium without speaking to you of the necessity of earnestly seeking the Lord. This must be done by the workers in all of our institutions. A position in a sanitarium is a place of great responsibility.
You are not to go on in carelessness and indifference, thinking that because this is the Lord's institution, therefore He will work it for you, regardless of your manner of life. Let each one seek for a daily, living experience in the service of God.
Unless you have such an experience, patients that come here unconverted will ask why those professing to believe in the binding obligation of God's law do not walk in obedience to His commandments....
We should be careful that we connect with all our sanitariums those who will give a right mold to the work. Characters are to be formed here after the divine similitude.--Ibid., December 30, 1909.
Sabbath morning at the Iowa camp meeting she spoke of the importance of committing to memory the promises of God:
May God help us to understand that we must be laborers together with Him.... Let us put away the foolish reading matter, and study the Word of God.
Let us commit its precious promises to memory, so that, when we are deprived of our Bibles, we may still be in possession of the Word of God.--Ibid., January 6, 1910.
The last of her discourses on the three-month journey home was given in the Salt Lake City church in Utah, where she spoke on daily Christian experience and the training and education of the children. In closing she said:
Since I left my home in California in April, I have visited many places, and have spoken to thousands of people. This is the last stop I expect to make before reaching my home again. I would leave these words with you:
Carry forward the work in faith and humble dependence upon God. Let each believer have light in himself; then the blessing of God will rest upon you, and you will see the salvation of God in the advancement of His work in this field.--Ibid., January 20, 1910.
This was the last sermon she was to preach on this trip, and for a time, as they were crossing the Sierra Nevadas, it seemed that it could well be her last sermon preached, ever. Early Thursday morning, while the train sped through snowsheds and tunnels and across the ledges near the mountaintops at high altitude, Sara McEnterfer, who was in the berth across from Ellen White, heard agonized groans. The window was open and the berth was filled with smoky air from the snowshed. Sara attempted to count Mrs. White's pulse, but could find only a little quiver.
W. C. White, reporting the experience, wrote:
This grew more and more faint. She [Sara] asked her several questions, but there was no answer. Her hearing and her speech had gone. Her limbs were cold, and she seemed powerless.--Ibid., January 20, 1909.
By the effective use of warm water that the porter brought, and with vigorous rubbing of her hands and arms and feet by Sara McEnterfer, Ellen White in the course of an hour began to grow stronger. Her pulse became discernible, and as the train reached a lower altitude on the west side of the Sierras, her heart action improved. But it was a close call, and a very anxious hour.
With the aid of wheelchairs at the Oakland pier and at the Vallejo junction, she was able to continue her journey home, arriving at St. Helena at 7:00 P.M. Thursday, September 9 (Ibid.).Here she was strong enough to walk to her carriage and was soon home. How good it seemed after five months of travel and earnest work.
But at home there was little time for rest. Early the next morning, although ill, she was on the way by carriage to visit the Angwin site selected for Pacific College. The following Monday she gave a report at the Oakland camp meeting of what she found at Angwin.