A miniature general conference
Tuesday, the very next day after the Swiss Conference closed, an even more important meeting opened in Basel: the Third European Council of Seventh-day Adventist Missions, September 15-29. W. C. White described the session as a miniature General Conference. It proved to be the most memorable and effective gathering of workers in the early years of the church in Europe. No other council compared with it in importance, for it set a mold upon the work for years to come.
Thirty-one representatives from Europe were present as official delegates, joining the three from America. The employees of the publishing house and a number of Swiss believers attended, as well.
The opening day dawned balmy and beautiful, and Mrs. White was up at five, writing. After breakfast she still had several hours before the opening meeting, so she took her first buggy ride since reaching Basel, crossing the Rhine into nearby Germany. She returned feeling refreshed.
At eleven, the delegates gathered in the publishing house chapel to begin their deliberations. Mrs. White sat quietly by as they selected their working committees and began to lay plans. The schedule shaped up quickly. The committee on the order of meetings, of which W. C. White was a member, the next morning reported a proposal that a Biblical institute be held in conjunction with the council.
J. G. Matteson was chosen to conduct the Bible class at nine each morning, and S. H. Lane, J. Erzberger, and A. C. Bourdeau were designated to teach the workers how to give Bible studies. A canvassers' class at one-thirty and an English class at four-thirty rounded out the institute schedule. All this was in addition to the business sessions of the council and the devotional exercises slated for the early-morning meetings. No time was wasted; the delegates might be charged with intemperance, but not with indolence! Meetings began at five-thirty in the morning and lasted as late as nine at night.
In addition to her participation in the deliberations of the council, Mrs. White spoke at the early-morning prayer and testimony meeting each day. It was reported later that "the morning talks of Sister White were one of the specially interesting features of this annual convocation, and were the means of imparting much precious instruction concerning the practical work of those who were here convened."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 118.
She began her series of practical devotional talks Wednesday morning with an appeal for ministers to have an individual experience with God and to manifest love and forbearance for one another. A machine may be ever so perfect in its parts, she pointed out, but there would be friction and wear in its movements unless it was properly oiled: "So with us. It is necessary to have the oil of grace in our hearts, in order to prevent the friction that may arise between us and those for whom we labor."--Ibid., 119. Before the council ended there would be a manifest need for this oil of grace, and there would be opportunity for it to be freely applied!
Reports from the Missions
In the early part of the council the workers stepped forward one by one to report the progress of the work in their areas. J. G. Matteson led off with his report of the work in Scandinavia, He had been working in Copenhagen since April and had succeeded in raising a church of eleven members. There were 258 Sabbathkeepers in Denmark by this time, 279 in Sweden, and about 160 in Norway. Matteson reported that in all of Scandinavia there were seven ministers, seven men with licenses to preach, eight colporteurs, and 18 churches.
England's Sabbathkeepers were organized into four churches. Two hundred and twenty-four believers were scattered throughout Switzerland, Germany, France, Romania, and Italy. In addition, there were 39 Sabbathkeepers in churches not connected with the conference.
France and Corsica claimed 35 believers. Two small churches in Italy, at Naples and Torre Pellice, accounted for 25 members. There were 14 believers in Pitesti, Romania,* where Thomas G. Aslan followed A. C. Bourdeau in the work.
The editors were also proud of their missionary and health journals. In all, nine different periodicals were in publication in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and England. But there was still a crying need for more books in the languages of Europe, especially Spirit of Prophecy volumes so that colporteurs could offer more to the hungry people than a few tracts and magazine subscriptions. One of the earliest actions of the council was to establish a permanent committee to recommend books for translation and publication.
Presenting the Truth in Love
In her second devotional talk on Thursday, Mrs. White returned to a theme she had developed during the Swiss Conference, the necessity of presenting the truth in love. She pointed to Paul's example. When he labored for the Jews, he did not first make prominent the important aspects of Christ's life and death. He began with the Old Testament Scriptures, showing his hearers that the promise of a Saviour was predicted, and then he presented the fact that the Saviour had already come. "This was the 'guile' with which Paul caught souls," she remarked.
"When you are laboring in a place where souls are just beginning to get the scales from their eyes, and to see men as trees walking, be very careful not to present the truth in such a way as to arouse prejudice, and to close the door of the heart to the truth. Agree with the people on every point where you can consistently do so. Let them see that you love their souls, and want to be in harmony with them so far as possible."--Ibid., 122.
Then she added, with a touch of sadness,
"Oh that I could impress upon all the necessity of laboring in the spirit of Jesus; for I have been shown that souls here in Europe have been turned away from the truth because of a lack of tact and skill in presenting it."--Ibid.
In the latter part of her Thursday morning address she dealt with a specific problem:
"Do not encourage a class who center their religion in dress.... Talk of the love and humility of Jesus; but do not encourage the brethren and sisters to engage in picking flaws in the dress or appearance of one another. Some take delight of this work."--Ibid.
She concluded frankly:
"There are few of my brethren and sisters who maintain the plainness of dress as I do. My writings are pointed on this subject;* but I do not carry it in the front. It is not to be made of greater importance than the solemn, testing truths for this time."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 123.
Question-and-Answer Periods
The council was nearing the time when it would turn its attention from reports of the past to plans for the future. W. C. White suggested that it might be well to give some time to such "practical questions as the brethren might wish information upon." Answers would be given to the questions submitted, and there would be opportunity for discussion. Accordingly, a "Question Box" was set up.
The time had come when differences of opinion would be aired and discussed, and when Ellen White rose at 5:00 A.M. Friday to prepare for her devotional talk she said she "felt urged by the Spirit of God" to keep before the workers the necessity of being teachable. Her message, based on James 3:13-18, was another call for unity.
"None should feel that it is of no special importance whether they are in union with their brethren or not; for those who do not learn to live in harmony here will never be united in heaven....
"Even though you think you are right, you are not to urge your individual ideas to the front, so that they will cause discord.... Let Christ appear. Do not cherish a spirit of independence which will lead you to feel that if your brethren do not agree with you they must be wrong. The opinions of your brethren are just as precious to them as yours are to you. Christ in you will unite you to Christ in them, and there will be a sweet spirit of union."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 124-126.
Pioneers are always an independent breed of men. They have to make their own decisions and often they have to press forward with no one to guide and counsel them. Thus it was especially hard for many of the early workers in Europe to adjust to the fact that the church was emerging from the pioneer stage and was now developing into an organized entity with some strength. Now there was need for cooperation and coordination. So the Spirit of God guided in the giving of just the messages that were needed at that time.
Meanwhile, Ellen White had a much more mundane problem--a tooth that needed filling! Dr. Vincenzo Guerini, an affable Italian dentist and convert, was at the council from Naples. So Mrs. White visited him. She described the doctor as "a refined gentleman.... He is fully in the truth. A man of excellent spirit."--Letter 23, 1885, p. 2. He was also a skillful practitioner.
Finally the first Sabbath of the session arrived to break the busy routine. D. T. Bourdeau spoke Sabbath morning at the worship service, with Sister White occupying the pulpit in the afternoon. Her address must have brought real help to the people: "The heavenly angels were in our midst," she explained. "I was blessed in speaking, the people blessed in hearing."--Ibid., p. 3.
Response to Sister White's Testimonies
In the inspiring testimony meeting that followed, her efforts to promote unity among the brethren began to bear fruit. For some time Antoine Biglia had been confining all his labors to the city of Naples, Italy, much to the distress of the conference leaders. He was dependent on the conference for his salary, but he had carried on his work in his own independent way. Now he rose, and with deep feeling made his confession:
"I have heard and read about the mission of Sister White, but now I have seen and handled this matter myself. I acknowledge that the power of God has come to my heart through her testimony. I receive it as from God. I humble myself before God. God's voice in reproof of my sins has come to me through Sister White."--Ibid.
Thereafter Biglia agreed to work as the conference directed, and before the European Council was over, an action was taken encouraging him to enlarge the scope of his ministry beyond the confines of Naples.
When the testimony meeting closed they had been together in meeting for four hours. "Many with tears say this is the best meeting that they ever experienced," Mrs. White wrote to G. I. Butler, the General Conference president.
Mrs. White did not attend these meetings as a mere casual observer or halfhearted participant. Her whole heart and mind were wrapped up in the issues of the hour. She was lying awake night after night, praying, pleading with God for the help that was needed. And the Lord answered her earnest prayers.
The Question Box was yielding some inquiries that would test the wisdom of the leaders. And at the Sunday morning meeting the discussion opened with, "Can tents be used to advantage in Europe and Britain?" Earlier in the day A. A. John had reported his open-air meetings in Wales, which seemed to be successful, and he had spoken against tent meetings. But Mrs. White objected to open-air meetings, first because they put too great a tax upon the minister's vocal organs, and second because they made it too difficult to maintain the order and dignity that a religious meeting required. Then, too, the contact with the people would often be brief and superficial in an open-air meeting. It was not that they should never be held, but there were better ways to preach the message. The best way of all was for the minister to go into the homes of the people, "opening to them the Scriptures around the fireside; making plain essential points of present truth.... The Bible talks, the humble, earnest prayer with the family, accomplish a greater work than the most powerful discourses ... without this personal effort."--Ibid.
Value of Tent Meetings in Europe
She also said that from the light given her she knew that tent meetings could be used to advantage in Europe. The next day the council voted to purchase tents for England, Sweden, Switzerland, and France.
On Monday morning Ellen White's devotional talk again reflected her burden that the workers learn to cooperate with one another. She began by pointing out how Jesus sent His disciples out to proclaim the gospel two by two.
"Our Saviour understood what ones to associate together. He did not connect with the mild, beloved John one of the
same temperament; but He connected with him the ardent, impulsive Peter.... Thus, the defects in one were partially covered by the virtues in the other."--Ibid., 126.
Then, shifting her emphasis slightly, Mrs. White proceeded to stress the importance of perseverance in the work. God wanted workers who would be completely absorbed in His will, who would not allow anything to distract them from their calling.:
"A soul is of more value than all the world; and to let things of a temporal nature come in between us and the work of saving souls is displeasing to the God of heaven."--Ibid., 127.
She challenged the delegates with these words:
"There is a great work to be done in Europe. It may seem to move slowly and hard at first; but God will work mightily through you if you will only make an entire surrender to Him. Much of the time you will have to walk by faith, not by feeling."--Ibid., 128, 129.
Pressing Financial Needs in Basel
In the council meeting at ten-thirty that morning, Mrs. White listened intently to the discussions and recommendations. As attention began to focus on the pressing lack of funds, she could not refrain from sharing some of her own pioneer experiences. She recalled how her husband, James White, nearly crippled with rheumatism, cut cordwood for 24 cents a cord to make enough money to attend the first Sabbath conference in Connecticut.
He could not even sleep at night because the pain in his wrists was so great. She told how she had fainted to the floor with a sick child in her arms for want of simple food to eat. Then, after recounting several similar experiences, she recalled how only a few years before, when J. N. Andrews was just getting started with the mission in Europe, he had run out of funds. Mrs. White had taken a new silk dress that she had just received as a gift from a friend, and sold it for $50, forwarding the money to the hard-pressed Andrews. Then she spoke with feeling about the immediate needs of the Basel publishing house:
"Our treasury now is, I might say, about empty. In many places we have had very close financial pressure. A night or two ago I dreamed that I was pleading with God. I awoke myself pleading with God, presenting before Him our empty treasury, pleading with Him to send means to advance His own cause and work. I propose, brethren and sisters, that we present our empty treasury to God in living faith and ask Him to supply our needs."--Manuscript 14, 1885.
Willie White, writing to the General Conference president the next day, was doing his best to make sure that their needs were known in Battle Creek, as well as in heaven!
"There is about $5,000 yet to pay on the building," he moaned. "Bro. Whitney wrote you a statement of what would be needed, which you did not appear to understand, and answered by congratulating him that he did not need any more. Then he wrote trying to explain that there was $5,000 needed at once, and has just received the comforting reply that if he needed more money, to send for it, and you would try to raise it. We were dumbfounded, we are on the verge of bankruptcy, and what can we say to make the facts understood?--W. C. White letter to G. I. Butler, September 22, 1885.
At last the prayers and pleas of the European workers were answered. By October 6, the $5,000 had arrived.
Each day during the council, Mrs. White was not only writing in her diary but she was adding to a long letter to G. I. Butler. That afternoon, as she was writing, there was a knock at the door. It was Albert Vuilleumier.* The Swiss Conference had recommended that he be ordained, but he felt he should wait another year. Together he and Mrs. White talked about his experience, dating back to the time when he had accepted the message under Czechowski's preaching in 1867 and had become a charter member and elder of the first European Seventh-day Adventist church at Tramelan.
Vuilleumier asked also about presenting the Advent message in new fields. Should the Sabbath be introduced first? Mrs. White reviewed with him the counsel she had given earlier about beginning with practical godliness, devotion, and piety--subjects about which all Christians could agree. She must also have given him courage to accept ordination, because on the last evening of the council the brethren laid their hands upon him, setting him apart for the ministry.
On Tuesday morning, September 22, Ellen White gave one of her warmest and most inspiring talks on the subject of faith and trust in God. It was really a personal testimony:
"I feel so thankful this morning that we can commit the keeping of our souls to God as unto a faithful Creator. Sometimes the enemy presses me the hardest with his temptations and darkness when I am about to speak to the people. I have such a sense of weakness that it seems like an impossibility to stand before the congregation. But if I should give up to my feelings, and say that I could not speak, the enemy would gain the victory. I dare not do this. I move right forward, take my place in the desk, and say 'Jesus, I hang my helpless soul on Thee; Thou will not suffer me to be brought to confusion,' and the Lord gives me the victory....
"Oh that I could impress upon all the importance of exercising faith moment by moment, and hour by hour!... If we believe in God, we are armed with the righteousness of Christ; we have taken hold of His strength.... We want to talk with our Saviour as though He were right by our side."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 130-133.
Length of Conference Extended
As she closed her talk and the people began to give their testimonies, many said they could now understand better why they had not advanced more rapidly in their Christian experience. Then some began to urge that the meetings be extended a week. "They said the lessons they were having from Sister White were of great value to them; that they were gaining much knowledge by the Bible studies and the instruction given upon the work of colporteurs."--Letter 23, 1885. So the council voted to continue another week with the rich spiritual feast and the valuable practical instruction. This final week would be one of trial and testing for some of the ministers present, as we shall see.
"How to Meet Temptations" was Ellen White's subject at the Wednesday morning devotional service. "Presumption is a most common temptation," she pointed out, and those who profess to be Christ's followers too often "plunge without thought into temptations from which it would require a miracle to bring them forth unsullied. Meditation and prayer would have preserved them from these temptations by leading them to shun the critical, dangerous position in which they placed themselves."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 133.
But no matter how cautious one is, temptations will come.
The tempted Christian has the privilege of linking his strength with the strength of God:" It is our privilege in our great weakness to take hold of the strength of the Mighty One. If we think to meet and overcome the enemy in our own strength, we shall be disappointed."--Ibid., 134.
It is essential to "make daily advancement in the work of character-building." But God's servant warned that this would be no easy task: "When we try to separate from us our sinful habits, it may at times seem that we are tearing ourselves all to pieces; but this is the very work that we must do if we would grow up into the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus."--Ibid., 134, 135.
Finally, temptation can be resisted only by those who exercise faith. "Cling to Christ and His merits," God's servant urged, and "He will fulfill to us all He has promised."--Ibid., 135.
Decisions of the council were becoming more specific now. It was voted that A. C. Bourdeau should go to Torre Pellice, Italy; and that young Charles Andrews should be sent to Battle Creek to learn the printing business more thoroughly. A request was sent to the General Conference that a successful German laborer be sent to Europe, and not long afterward, L. R. Conradi would come. Nominations were made and accepted for various officers and committees.
A number of the foregoing decisions had grown out of a consultation meeting in Ellen White's room earlier in the day. But one crucial item that had come up in that smaller meeting did not reach the conference floor.
A Controversial Problem Arises
With Ellen White, the Bourdeau brothers, their wives, Elder and Mrs. Whitney, and Henry Kellogg present, D. T. Bourdeau presented the idea that France and Italy should become a separate conference, breaking away from the Swiss Conference. How Bourdeau could hope to form a viable conference organization with less than a total of 50 members is not clear, but he argued that each one of the national groups was jealous and independent and therefore would resent being a part of the Swiss Conference. Mrs. White suggested that this was a strong reason why each group should learn to blend with other nationalities.
"I told Brother Daniel that this would not be in accordance with God's will.... The truth is one. It will take people from France and Italy, and mingling them with other elements, soften and refine them through the truth."--Letter 23, 1885.
Mrs. White tried to help Bourdeau see that with the cause still in its infancy in these countries, his proposition would only bring weakness. But Bourdeau took offense. He began to repeat stories of abuses he felt he had suffered years before in Battle Creek and later when he was working under J. N. Andrews in Europe. As he became more and more excited, Mrs. White sensed that she could not support such a spirit with her presence. And she rose and left the room. "I will not give sanction to such a spirit," she explained in her diary.
The next morning, her devotional talk elaborated the general principles she had been trying to get across to D. T. Bourdeau. She did not specifically mention him, however. In fact, she tried to broaden the application:
"Some who have entered these missionary fields have said, 'You do not understand the French people; you do not understand the Germans. They have to be met in just such a way.' But, I inquire, does not God understand them? Is it not He who gives His servants a message for the people?"--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 136.
She used the illustration of the Jewish Temple. Its stones were quarried out of the mountains, but when they were brought together they formed a perfect building. Then, with great candor, she said:
"Let no one think that there need not be a stroke placed upon him. There is no person, no nation, that is perfect in every habit and thought. One must learn of another. Therefore God wants the different nationalities to mingle together, to be one in judgment, one in purpose. Then the union that there is in Christ will be exemplified."--Ibid., 137.
Mrs. White confessed that she was almost afraid to come to Europe because she had heard so much about the peculiarities of the various nationalities. But then she realized that God could bring people where they would receive the truth. She urged:
"Look to Jesus, brethren; copy His manners and spirit, and you will have no trouble in reaching these different classes. We have not six patterns to follow, nor five. We have only one, and that is Christ Jesus. If the Italian brethren, the French brethren, and the German brethren try to be like Him, they will plant their feet upon the same foundation of truth; the same spirit that dwells in one, will dwell in the other,--Christ in them, the hope of glory. I warn you, brethren and sisters, not to build up a wall of partition between different nationalities. On the contrary, seek to break it down wherever it exists....
"As workers together for God, brethren and sisters, lean heavily upon the arm of the Mighty One. Labor for unity, labor for love, and you may become a power in the world."--Ibid., 137, 138.
An Unwise Interruption
The counsel Sister White gave was kind, it was practical, and there were no doubt many present to whom the straightforward message had personal application. But D. T. Bourdeau was offended. He jumped to his feet, claiming that the sermon had been directed at him personally. Then he proceeded to try to vindicate himself. Had he remained silent, many of the people at the council would probably have been none the wiser about the whole affair.
"I had, during the meeting, spoken upon general principles," Mrs. White explained to G. I. Butler. "Now I had overturned his imaginary castle that he was building, and he acted as though he had received his death blow."--Letter 23, 1885.
The council continued, but Bourdeau did not attend the meetings. He began to pack his belongings in order to leave the next morning--for where? He probably didn't know himself. He was an unhappy man.
Meanwhile Thursday's council proceeded with fresh questions before the session, e.g. "Why do the Italian and Romanian papers receive so few subscribers?" and "How shall we reach the traveling public in England?" The question of Adventist schools and Christian education for Adventist young people was also discussed. Since public school was compulsory six days a week in Switzerland, several Adventists had been fined for keeping their children home on the Sabbath day, and some had even been imprisoned. It was voted to prepare a petition to the proper government authorities, as well as to form a committee to organize a church school at Basel.
But Ellen White's diary is filled at this point with her concern for Daniel Bourdeau. How could she reach him and help him? She went to the morning meeting on Friday with a heavy heart. "My soul seemed in an agony as I prayed to God for Him to work. I knew our case was urgent."--Ibid. Her study was on the subject of the book of life. Doubtless she was praying that Bourdeau's case in the judgment would be settled on the credit side of the ledger. But when Daniel Bourdeau did not show up at the meeting she was worried. She wrote in her diary that Daniel had been "taking counsel with Daniel and the adversary of souls."
Well, the meeting was profitable, and many benefited from her appeal:
"Oh that the power of God may rest upon us before we separate for our homes and fields of labor! Oh that we may consider the importance of improving every day that we may have a good record in heaven!...
"When our hearts are all aglow with the love for Jesus and the souls for whom He died, success will attend our labors. My heart cries out after the living God. I want a closer connection with Him. I want to realize His strengthening power, that I may do more effective work in His cause."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 139-140.
Mrs. White returned to her room with the burden of prayer heavy upon her heart. She pleaded with God for Daniel, and she felt urged to speak to him again. As she paced the floor of her room in great "agony of mind" she kept saying to herself, "I cannot talk with him; I cannot meet his defiant, stubborn spirit." But she knew she must, so she sent for him and his wife, Marion, to come to her room along with his brother, A. C. Bourdeau, and Elders Whitney, Lane, and White.
Mrs. White began to talk directly to Daniel. He interrupted, saying he would rather see her alone because of the things he had suffered from his brethren in the past. Mrs. White asked him courteously to be silent, and as he quieted, she gave him "such a message as I wish never to speak again to mortal man" (Letter 23, 1885). Here was the messenger of God engaged in her most difficult task.
She saw his experience as a life-and-death struggle. He was indeed a tempted and tried soul, but she could not conscientiously forbear to warn him of his danger. He had complained that Ellen White "hit" him with her sermon on Thursday morning, but she reminded him that he had stood where he could be hit easily:
"The arrows of the Almighty must wound you so sorely that you will feel that you need a physician. 'I have torn,' saith God,' and I will heal; I have smitten and I will bind you up.' When you come, meek and lowly, then Jesus will pardon your transgressions. I charge you not to leave this house till the power of the enemy is broken."--Letter 23, 1885.
When she concluded her soul-burdened appeal, all of the workers knelt in prayer.
"My soul was drawn out in an agony for Daniel Bourdeau. He prayed for himself rather faintly. I prayed again and again, with strong crying and tears.... Brother A. C. and Marion [Daniel's wife] prayed with great brokenness of spirit. A terrible struggle was going on with Daniel. He did not fully surrender, but his face looked as though soul and body was rent asunder. He made concessions but had not yet yielded."--Ibid.
A Victory Meeting
The Sabbath was drawing on now, and a special meeting limited to ministers was planned for Friday evening, September 25. Bourdeau was not the only worker with difficulties. Three of the workers from Britain seemed to be cold and distant in their relationship with the council members. Seventeen ministers and their wives were present. Mrs. White was afraid that D. T. Bourdeau would not come, but he was there.
There was no formal sermon. God's servant opened with a simple heartfelt prayer. Then she told everyone frankly that the object of the meeting was to seek the Lord for His blessing. Albert Vuilleumier prayed; so did Elder Matteson. Then Daniel Bourdeau himself prayed. "He began to break and confess," Mrs. White wrote later, and finally "wrenched himself from the shackles of Satan, and surrendered his will to the Lord" (Ibid.; and Manuscript 20, 1885). Others followed, praying with broken hearts and with confessions, uttered in tears. These included the workers from Britain.
"Light, precious light, was breaking in," Mrs. White exclaimed. "My peace was like a river; Jesus was very near to me."--Letter 23, 1885.
Earlier in the week, she had told in one of her sermons how, in the early days of the message, when disagreements arose between brethren, a day of fasting and prayer had been set aside. Now it was time to follow the practice again, and the next day, Sabbath, was reserved for this purpose.
Mrs. White slept little that night, and she was up early in the morning for a season of prayer. Although she hardly felt able, she made her way to the ministers' meeting at six o'clock. Again Bourdeau prayed and testified. "He made a more full surrender to God and was coming to the light."--Manuscript 24, 1885.
A Vision in the Night Season
Then Ellen White presented a sobering vision God had given her the night before:
"A book was opened before me with the record of the past year's labor of the workmen, just as God viewed it. As I traced down the record, there stood every defect. With some, many hours spent in visiting and talking, occupied with unimportant matters, were registered as idle....
"There was instruction given by the One whose hands held the records and whose eyes were tracing every feature.... His words were, You cannot trust in your own human ability or wisdom. You must have union of effort, union of faith; and you must counsel together. Not one of you is sufficient to be a leader. God will work for His people if they will give Him a chance.!--Ibid.
In the afternoon meeting, Ellen White had special messages of encouragement the Lord had given her for two of the ministers' wives. She had not expected to speak on this topic at all, but God had planned for her and for them. "The Lord led my mind into a channel unexpected to myself, but from the testimonies borne after the meeting, I think it was just what the people needed."--Manuscript 20, 1885.
The next day, after a morning ministers' meeting, a significant action was taken by the council:
"Resolved, That we express our continued confidence in the gift of prophecy, which God has mercifully placed among His remnant people, and that we will endeavor to show our true appreciation of the same by practically carrying out its instruction."--The Review and Herald, November 3, 1885.
In order to enable others to benefit from some of the counsel she had given at the session, it was also voted to prepare a book containing sketches of the Seventh-day Adventist missions, as well as the sermons of Mrs. White at the council.*
She was thrilled with the progress she had seen during the meetings.
"Elder Erzberger has come nobly to the work, humbling himself and confessing his backsliding. Elder Matteson is a transformed man. The peace of Christ is revealed in his countenance. He speaks of gaining precious victories over self.... Brother Daniel Bourdeau is a converted man. The Lord has wrought for him.... Brother Albert Vuilleumier spoke with deep feeling.... Well, all the testimonies were good."--Manuscript 24, 1885.
No doubt the ordination service for Albert Vuilleumier Monday night, the last evening of the session, gave all the ministers an opportunity to renew their vows to the Lord. D. T. Bourdeau offered one of the prayers. His trials were not over, but he had gained a decisive victory.
Mrs. White spoke once more, on Tuesday morning at the final meeting of the council, and then, on Wednesday, she recorded in her diary, "Our meetings are ended. Our brethren are returning to their homes. We part with tender feelings.:--Ibid.
D. T. Bourdeau's Printed Testimony
The proceedings of the council were fully reported in the Review, as well as in the Adventist papers in Europe, but D. T. Bourdeau added a special report of his own. In the light of his experience in Basel, the article has an even greater significance.
"The labors of Sr. White and her son, Elder W. C. White, were highly appreciated at this general gathering....
"How interesting and wonderful it was to hear Sr. White correctly delineate the peculiarities of different fields she had seen only as the Lord had shown them to her, and show how they should be met; to hear her describe case after case of persons she had never seen with her natural vision, and either point out their errors or show important relations they sustained to the cause, and how they should connect with it to better serve its interests!
"As I had a fair chance to test the matter, having been on the ground, and knowing that no one had informed Sr. White of these things, while serving as an interpreter, I could not help exclaiming, 'It is enough. I want no further evidence of its genuineness.'"
Then Bourdeau gave some even more intimate reasons for his confidence, reasons tied in with his own personal experience:
"Not only does this gift reprove sin without dissimulation and partiality, as did Nathan when he said to David, "Thou art the man'; but it deals in words of encouragement to help those reproved to overcome, and to inspire hope, faith, and courage to the desponding. It not only probes the wound, but it also pours in the oil, binds the wound, and hastens the process of restoration.... It identifies itself with those for whom it labors, bearing their burdens in earnest, persevering prayer, forgetful of self and ease.... It brings with it supernatural discernment.... It brings with it the miraculous, without which, religion were a formal, heartless, lifeless, human affair....
"To us this.... is a sure indication that God is about to work mightily through His Spirit and people."--The Review and Herald, November 10, 1885.