Ellen White's first overseas trip
Port: Boston
Ship: S.S. Cephalonia
Passengers: Included Ellen G. White and her party
Time of Embarkation: August 7, 1885
Destination: Liverpool
The prospects of a European trip, including the Atlantic crossing by boat, caused Ellen White's heart to beat a little faster! The anticipation that one experiences when he is about to take his first journey to another country is nearly always a pleasurable sensation, and Mrs. White's reaction, though freighted with a sense of solemn responsibility, was no exception. Besides, a trip to Europe back in 1885--particularly with a departure from historic Boston harbor--was a privilege comparatively few Americans enjoyed.
Ever since she had been invited by church leaders in Europe to come to visit them, she had been thinking about it and praying that the Lord would lead her. And now it was all settled, and she was ready to sail from the shores of her native land.
Her final day in America, Friday, August 7, was a busy one, with last-minute shopping and five or six letters to write. Then she headed for the harbor of the big port city where she boarded the Cunard Line's S.S. Cephalonia. The ship was not due to sail until the next day, but Mrs. White and her traveling companions wanted to get settled in their staterooms before the Sabbath began. They spent Friday night aboard ship.
With Mrs. White on this journey were her son William C. White, his wife, Mary Kelsey White, and their first child, vivacious little Ella, then three years old. Also in the party were Sara McEnterfer, Anna Rasmussen, Mrs. Bertha Stein, and two of A. C. Bourdeau's children, Arthur and Jesse. The two boys were traveling to Europe to join their father, who had been there since 1884.
Ellen White, sharing her stateroom on the Cephalonia with Sara, found it "large and commodious." She confided in her diary: * "The Lord seems very near and I feel peaceful and restful."--Manuscript 16a, 1885.
Mrs. White's relaxed state of mind was the immediate result of being aboard ship at last and feeling settled. She now had a sense of direction. She knew with a certainty that God in His providence was leading her. A month earlier she wasn't so sure that it was the Lord's will for her to accept the invitation to labor in Europe. Here is the interesting story of divine providence.
The Invitation Comes From Europe
From May 28 to June 1, 1884, the second session of the European Missionary Council was held in Basel, Switzerland. George I. Butler, from America, presided. At this meeting, resolutions were adopted requesting the General Conference to ask Mrs. E. G. White and her son W. C. White, then residents in California, to visit the European missions. At the General Conference held in Battle Creek, Michigan, the following November, which they both attended, the request was acted upon.
The resolution read, in part:
"We express our earnest desire that Sr. White may visit Europe, that the cause here may share the benefits of her labors and of the precious light and instruction which the Lord so graciously grants us through His servant."--The Review and Herald, November 11, 1814, p. 713.
Also, the services of her son W. C. White, then 30 years of age, were urgently requested. His experience as a publishing house manager at the Pacific Press on the West Coast, in the eyes of church leaders, qualified him "to take charge of the finishing and furnishing" of the publishing house at Basel.
The Review account of the presentation of this request at the 1884 General Conference session in November states that following the reading of the formal invitation, Elders Butler and Haskell spoke of "the desirability of a visit to Europe in the near future by Sr. White and her son, Eld. W. C. White." They "responded that they stood ready to go whenever God should indicate by unmistakable providences that such was their duty."--Ibid.
Would It Be Presumptuous to Go?
But there were no "unmistakable providences" to point the way to the Old World; at least, there was no instruction by vision from the Lord. Mrs. White was left by a mysterious providence to find in her own soul the answer to the call. In her notes of travel that appeared in the Review, she said:
"Although I had prayed for months that the Lord would make my path so plain that I would know that I was making no mistake, still I was obliged to say that God hangs a mist before my eyes."--Ibid., September 15, 1885.
At the time the call came, she was 57 years of age, and a widow for three years, much worn from her labors in writing The Great Controversy, volume 4, just published, and exceedingly weary from a heavy schedule of camp-meeting appointments during the summer of 1884. In this fatigued state of mind she had not been able to write much for months. Would it be presumptuous for her to attempt the journey across the American plains and on to Europe? She wondered about her duty. Was it God's will for her to go?
Her "faith was severely tested." She longed for human comfort and guidance, and she said:
"My courage was gone, and I longed for human help, one who had a firm hold from above, and whose faith would stimulate mine. By day and by night my prayers ascended to heaven that I might know the will of God, and have perfect submission to it. Still my way was not made clear; I had no special evidence that I was in the path of duty, or that my prayers had been heard."--Ibid.
Until the time of his untimely death in 1881, Mrs. White's husband, James, had been available to encourage and counsel her when faced with big decisions, but now he was gone and she was alone save for her two sons, particularly Willie, whose wise and understanding counsels braced her for the work ahead. About this time he visited her at her home in Healdsburg and spoke words of courage and faith.
"The Judgment of the General Conference"
"He bade me look to the past, when, under the most forbidding circumstances, I had moved out in faith according to the best light I had, and the Lord had strengthened and supported. I did so, and decided to act on the judgment of the General Conference, and start to the journey, trusting in God."--Ibid.
Responding positively to Willie's encouragement, Sister White packed her trunk and journeyed with him to Oakland. Sabbath afternoon, July 11, 1885, she spoke in the Oakland church. Later she said:
"The Lord helped me. My mind was clear and tongue and utterance were given me.... I decided then that I could cross the plains once more, making twenty-four times that I had gone back and forth on this long journey from East to West and West to East."--Manuscript 16, 1885.
The following Monday she boarded the cars and headed in the direction of her first overseas appointment. Then she declared:
"When I had taken my seat on the cars, the assurance came that I was moving in accordance with the will of God."--The Review and Herald, September 15, 1885.
That Monday evening on the train she sensed that God's hand was removing the mist from her eyes. The station was "a place of great confusion, and I had not been able to bear anything of the kind for months. But it did not trouble me now. The sweet peace that God alone can give was imparted to me, and like a wearied child, I found rest in Jesus."--Ibid.
Later, in connection with Ellen White's call to labor in Australia in 1891, she passed through a similar confusing experience that tried her faith. Other church workers received and answered calls to labor in distant lands. They had to pray for a knowledge of God's will. They also had to respect the fact that God leads His servants through the regular channels of the organization. God has a church on earth, which He has instituted. The church has chosen leaders, conference officials and committees, empowered by God to act on behalf of His church. When Ellen White received the call to Europe and to Australia she was left to respond just as any other worker. And like other servants of God, she must herself step forward in faith. She declared:
"I here learned over again the lesson I have had to learn so many times, that I must lean wholly upon God, whatever my perplexity. He will never leave nor forsake those who commit their ways unto Him. We must not depend on human strength or wisdom, but make Him our counselor and guide in all things."--Ibid.
And so it was that Ellen White found rest and peace as she boarded the ship in Boston harbor. She had the knowledge that she was moving in the direction Divine Providence had marked out for her. Writing in the book The Desire of Ages after she arrived in Australia in 1891, she said:
"The Lord will teach us our duty just as willingly as He will teach somebody else.... Those who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know, after presenting their case before Him, just what course to pursue."--Page 668.
Ready to Sail!
Sabbath morning, with the Cephalonia still docked in Boston harbor, the White party were to have a last visit with friends, Elder D. A. Robinson and Brother Edward Stillman, who came aboard to say good-by. Mrs. White had already been up writing a few final letters. She delivered these to the two men to be posted, and said farewell.
The first day was pleasant, and she began to turn her attention to the task before her:
"I feel my heart drawn out in prayer to God for a fitness for the great work before me. I am of good courage and should accident or harm or death come to me here I have made my peace with God. All is well.... I want during this ten days' passage to be brought more close to Jesus."--Manuscript 16a, 1885.
This prayer wish was the sum of her life's purpose. Later she wrote--and it can be seen that she was writing from experience--"Only the work accomplished with much prayer, and sanctified by the merit of Christ, will in the end prove to have been efficient for good."--The Desire of Ages, 362.
That Sunday evening, after viewing a beautiful sunset with her friends, she went into the dining room to attend an Episcopalian service. She felt that the Scripture passages read were "very appropriate," and said that "the hymns sung were excellent in sentiment."
Storm at Sea!
"Monday was uneventful. But on Tuesday, August 11, the weather changed. She wrote with what seemed to be a note of anticipation:
"The sea is boisterous. The waves rise high in green and blue and white spray, mingle and dash with force against the porthole.... The boat rocks fearfully and every timber seems to be strained and shocked. There are but few upon deck. The deck is wet. Chairs are tied with ropes. Ropes are stretched from point to point that those who walk on deck may take hold of the ropes to keep from falling. There is indeed a heavy roll. I cannot lie on the sofa. Trunks are rolling about in the staterooms. Satchels are dancing hither and thither.... I am glad to climb up into my berth and lie still. Can rest but little. I have precious seasons of silent prayer. The Lord Jesus seems very near to me. I am so thankful that I can trust in my Saviour at all times."--Manuscript 16a, 1885.
The storm was followed by two days of comparative calm and fog, accompanied by the eerie notes of the fog horn, which in her diary she described as "bellowing out its warning signal that vibrates through every nerve of the body."
And now, as always, she was back to her writing--seven pages on Thursday, ten pages on Friday, ten pages the next Monday.* She wrote to her son Edson and to her twin sister Elizabeth. She struck off five pages for The Sabbath School Worker. With regularity she wrote in her diary, too, recording events aboard the Cephalonia and her meditations about them.
"I thought of those upon the boat who had no faith in God, no hope in Jesus Christ, the world's Redeemer. In sunshine where no danger threatens all is hilarity and full of amusement. But when the vessel is driven by fierce winds and tossed, when peril comes, when life is hanging in the balance, the appetite for amusement is at (an) end....
"Amid the rough waters and the storm and the fog, I felt that Jesus was never nearer to me, never more precious. My faith reposed in God, however dark the surroundings. The faith of the believer is like the ship's compass, the ship may be struggling, with the waves and by the tempest, tossed by the ever restless sea, yet the compass keeps its position, doing its work, maintaining its level amid plunging and tossing, pointing to the pole. I felt that my soul could stay upon God whatever comes, calm waves or boisterous."--Manuscript 17, 1885.
Ellen White also found her mind drawn out again and again to the story of Noah and his faith while sailing aboard the storm-tossed ark. Her familiarity with the Scriptures made it natural for her to draw parallels between her own experiences and those of Bible characters.
Finally, on the evening of August 18, the Cephalonia docked at Liverpool. The crossing had taken ten days--all of them packed with interest to the diminutive traveler whose unfailing curiosity and sensitivity to her environment made life a source of endless interest. But she was not a tourist who had come to see the sights. She had earnest work to do for God.
Two years later--less two weeks and a day-on August 3, she would begin her homeward journey from the same port, with her busy European adventure a matter of history.