A dream come true in Copenhagen
The delegates to the European Council were delighted to have Ellen White in their midst, and they were genuinely eager to have her visit their respective countries, meet the believers, and bring her testimony to the churches. It is understandable then that one action taken near the close of the council was in the form of an invitation. It reads:
"Resolved, that we express our gratitude to God for the labors and counsels of Sr. E. G. White and her son, Eld. W. C. White, at these meetings; that we invite them to visit Scandinavia, Great Britain, and other fields, and to remain sufficiently long in Europe to do the work Providence has assigned them."--Minutes of Third European Council, published in The Review and Herald, November 3, 1885.
Her response to this invitation was positive, but she did not feel prepared to leave at once. She had spoken many times during the council, held numerous interviews, and done considerable writing. She needed time for rest and rejuvenation.
During this week her thoughts turned to the question of the termination of the European journey. How long should she remain? Would she be on the Continent in June of the following summer when conferences would be held in Scandinavia? She wrote:
"The safest course was to visit the leading churches in Scandinavia at the earliest opportunity.... It seemed unwise to postpone until another summer this part of the work which we had made the long journey from America to accomplish."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 174.
So it was on Tuesday, October 6, at 9:30 P.M. she was ready to go, and took a hack across the Rhine to Klein Basel (Little Basel) where she and her traveling companions boarded a train and headed north through Germany on her way to visit the mission in Denmark. * In years past she had seen in vision the condition of some of the churches in Scandinavia and many indications had come to her from the Lord that Denmark, Norway, and Sweden "were promising fields for labor." "A great work," she wrote, "lay before the missionaries in this field" (Ibid.).
Across Germany by Rail
So, with Willie and Sara, along with a young lady from Norway, Cecile Dahl, whom Mrs. White had succeeded in leading to the Saviour, and who would now serve as her translator, she began her six-week tour. By daylight the next morning, Wednesday, they had reached Frankfurt, Germany.
Here she was particularly interested in the religious history of the town. Here Martin Luther on his journey to the Diet of Worms in 1521 had taken ill and remained to rest awhile. From this city he had sent a courageous message to Spalatin, secretary to Frederick of Saxony in Worms:
"I am arrived here ... though Satan sought to stop me in my way by sickness. From Eisenach to this place I have been suffering, and I am at this moment in a worse condition than ever. I find that Charles has issued an edict to terrify me, but Christ lives and we shall enter Worms in spite of all the counsels of hell, and all the powers of the air."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 175.
The dwelling occupied by the Reformer is still known as Luther House.
About seven that night the party reached Hamburg. Here they had a mile's walk from one station to another, plus a two-hour wait. But the waiting room was thick with tobacco smoke, so Mrs. White was fortunate to find a chair in the entrance lobby while the rest of the travelers remained in the open air standing on the platform.
The Arrival in Copenhagen
Three more travel hours brought them at midnight to Kiel, on the Baltic Sea. Soon they were at rest in assigned staterooms of a little steamer, bound for Korsor, a port city on the west side of the large Danish island of Sjaelland. Then came another train ride across to Copenhagen on the east coast of the island. The traveling party arrived Friday morning at 10:00 A.M.
They were met at the Copenhagen station by John G. Matteson and Knud Brorsen. The two men had been working there since spring, and in spite of difficulties, had started a church of about twenty members.
Matteson took his guests by hack to Oster Farimagsgade 49 (now No. 73), and then to the Matteson's apartment on the sixth floor. There were no lifts to speed the ascent. But once Ellen White got settled, she was very much impressed with the view she had from her "sky parlor" (Manuscript 25, 1885). "It is closer to heaven up here," Europeans often say of their high apartments.
"The view from our windows was very fine. Just across the street were beautiful grounds which had the appearance of an extensive park or garden. We were somewhat surprised to learn that it was a cemetery.*... Evergreen hedges separated the inclosures, and choice flowers and shrubs were scattered everywhere."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 179.
Looking off toward the sea, she saw the windmills, and to the right of that the golden dome of Alexander Newsky's Russian Orthodox church. Not far away she discovered the Kommune Hospital. She was surprised to learn the sick were "provided with everything--room, food, bedding--for thirty cents per day." And then she commented, "This is one of Copenhagen's blessings, especially for the poorer class, who must suffer with want of proper care and conveniences if it were not for this merciful provision."--Manuscript 25, 1885. The Danes are rightly proud of their medical system and the provisions that are made for the care of the citizens, especially the poor.
On Thursday, after meeting a dental appointment, she returned to her room by way of a beautiful artificial lake, the charm of which took away some of the pain of the dentist's chair. She commented on the fine sturdy buildings of Copenhagen and its "large grand blocks" which reminded her of Oakland and San Francisco, California.
Small but Attentive Crowds
On Friday night, October 9, she spoke for the first time to the infant church in Copenhagen. Believers from nearby companies had come in, swelling the "crowd" to about 35.
The meeting hall was close to Matteson's apartment. "We ... turn the corner of the block, then pass under an arch into a court and begin to ascend until we mount four pairs of stairs into the hall."--Ibid. It was a small, cold, and damp place for a meeting, and Ellen White shivered while her tortured teeth rattled, but she did not hold back her message. She addressed her eager audience, composed of "intelligent, noble looking men and women--Danes." She spoke on the parable of the fig tree.
"We are grateful that a few in Copenhagen have accepted the truth of God. Missionaries are needed to spread the light of truth in these great cities, and the children of God--those whom He calls the light of the world--ought to be doing all they can in this direction. You will meet with discouragements, you will have opposition. The enemy will whisper,
What can these few poor people do in this great city? But if you walk in the light, you can every one be light-bearers,* to the world."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 181.
The youth present were stirred when she challenged them to enlist in the service of Christ:
"Young men should be instructed that they may labor in these cities. They may never be able to present the truth from the desk, but they could go from house to house, and point the people to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
"The dust and rubbish of error have buried the precious jewels of truth; but the Lord's workers can uncover these treasures, so that many will look upon them with delight and awe."--Ibid.
Faithful Seed Sowing
In a fervent manner she addressed the handful of people who had come to hear her. Here in the congregation she saw the seed of a harvest that would grow and ripen in future years. The Christian life too was like seed planted but growing to rich fruition day by day. She said to the small congregation:
"While we are to seek earnestly for perfection of character, we must remember that sanctification is not the work of a moment, but of a lifetime. Said Paul, 'I die daily.' Day by day the work of overcoming must go forward. Every day we are to resist temptation, and gain the victory over selfishness in all its forms. Day by day we should cherish love and humility, and cultivate in ourselves all those excellencies of character which will please God and fit us for the blessed society of heaven."--Ibid.
Sabbath morning she spoke again, from John 15:1-8,"Brother Matteson acting as interpreter." As she preached about the true vine and its branches she "was strengthened and blessed; my infirmities were forgotten in the interest I felt for precious souls. The dear Saviour seemed very near, and the Holy Spirit rested upon the assembly" (Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 182).
In a social meeting that followed:
"One brother said that when he listened to the sermon impressing upon them the necessity of purity and perfection of character, he felt that he could not be saved; that his case was hopeless. But when it was stated that sanctification was not the work of a moment, but of a lifetime, he was encouraged, and determined that day by day he would pray and watch, and search the Scriptures; he would be an overcomer, gaining an experience daily, until he should become strong and be able to be a blessing to others."--Ibid., 183.
The people were grateful that Mrs. White had come to help them. They had read her books and her articles in their paper, and had thus received most precious light and a great blessing. The messages from her pen that had been translated into their language had opened to them the Scriptures, and had made the truth so plain that they could not resist it.
"A high standard had been presented for them to reach, and this had led them to read the Bible, to search their hearts, to pray more, to have greater love for Jesus, and to seek more earnestly to save souls."--Ibid., 182, 183.
Scenes "Presented Before Me"
A larger hall was secured, a basement in a public building with seats for a hundred people, and Sunday night Ellen White spoke again, and on succeeding evenings as the crowds grew, some had to stand. The Spirit of the Lord came upon her, and she took a deep mysterious interest in this particular crowd of people. We understand better when we learned that--
"There were some in the audience who seemed deeply interested, persons of talent whose countenances I remembered, for they had been presented before me."--Ibid., 183. (Italics supplied.)
This expression, "presented before me," was used frequently by the Lord's messenger to represent God's disclosure of people and events revealed to her in certain visions. Not infrequently she would observe these persons in peculiar situations needing special help. These disclosures might happen years before she saw them with her physical eyes. She wrote about this phenomenon:
"At times I am carried far ahead into the future and shown what is to take place. Then again I am shown things as they have occurred in the past. After I come out of vision I do not at once remember all that I have seen, and the matter is not so clear before me until I write, then the scene rises before me as was presented in vision, and I can write with freedom. Sometimes the things which I have seen are hid from me after I come out of vision, and I cannot call them to mind until I am brought before a company where that vision applies, then the things which I have seen come to my mind with force. I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to call up things which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at the time that He is pleased to have me relate or write them."--Spiritual Gifts 2:292, 293.
With these persons directly before her, it is little wonder that in the night meetings in Copenhagen. Ellen White spoke so earnestly! It seemed that she knew the people and spoke to them as a friend seeking to hold them back from some catastrophe. "I felt the peril of souls," she confessed, "that some would decide from that time to obey the truth, or would refuse the cross, and reject the offers of mercy."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 183, 184.
Need for Better Meeting Places
While in Copenhagen she was led by the Lord to speak to the ministers frankly about the sacredness of the work given to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She referred to the meager halls that had been secured for the meetings while she was there. She said:
"I am far from being convinced that these small and obscure halls were the best places that could be secured, or that in this great city of three hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants the message should be given in a basement room that will accommodate but two hundred and this but half seated, so that a large part of the congregation have to stand. When God sends our brethren help, they should make earnest effort, even at some expense to bring the light before the people."--Ibid., 184.
Later, in Orebro, Sweden, a similar circumstance developed when the public meetings where Mrs. White was to speak were held in a private dwelling. It is true, the brethren had limited financial resources, but the character of the royal message from the King of the universe to His earthly subjects deserved good auditoriums or halls whether in Copenhagen or Orebro or for that matter any city or town on earth!
At the Wax Museum
In the midst of her busy preaching schedule Sister White did take time occasionally to relax and to do other things. She visited the new wax museum in this beautiful city, opened for the first time to the public in August. She wrote:
"Brother Matteson, Willie, Sara, and I walk to the large and beautiful building of the Panopticon. Here are the great men of the kingdom in wax life-like figures. They appear exactly as if alive.... It seemed difficult to think that these were not living, breathing human beings before us. The expression of the eye and the countenance seemed so perfectly natural."--Manuscript 25, 1885.
While she was impressed by the Panopticon and by the magnificence of the city with its broad streets and lovely gardens, she could not conceal her concern for the soul of Copenhagen, that sinful, fun-loving city. "Pleasure, amusement, dancing and card playing, gambling, beer drinking and deplorable ignorance which always follow in the train of Christless indulgence, are flooding the city."--Ibid. How she longed to turn the tide in favor of the gospel!
The Case of the German Tutor
The night before she left Denmark she visited with a woman who acted as a German tutor for a Danish nobleman. The lady had accepted the Sabbath truth only recently, but when Elder Matteson and the other workers had gone to Basel, her friends and the priests confused her with their specious arguments, and she was ready to give it up.
Now this sister had come to see Ellen White and have a good talk. She told her how unworthy she felt even to sit and talk with her. Her life, she said, had been one round of "drinking, frolicking, and amusement" (Manuscript 26, 1885). Ellen White asked her whether she was satisfied with her past experience. "No," she replied honestly. "And are you really happy?" "No," she said again firmly.
The servant of God talked to her earnestly, telling her that Jesus expected her to use her talents to His glory in building up God's kingdom.
"But I have so little talent," she remarked.
"And that little talent," Ellen White questioned, "you will wrap in a napkin [serviette] and hide it in the world?" If she could use her education and influence to serve the titled people of the earth like the Danish nobleman, she could use it just as well for the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
"I was thankful for the privilege of this interview," she wrote in her diary, "and I have great desire that special labor shall be given to this unsatisfied, perplexed soul."--Ibid.
Here, then, is a fleeting glance of Ellen White, the soul winner who sensed her own inadequacies, but who had submitted her life and her humble talents to Christ as a youth to be used in any way his providence should indicate.
Late the next morning, Thursday, October 15, Ellen White and her traveling companions boarded a little steamer bound across the narrow strait for Malmo, Sweden. It was a beautiful day. As was her custom, she eagerly sought for historical information about the charming new town. She noted that it was a part of Denmark during Reformation times, and was one of the first of Denmark's cities to declare for the Protestant Reformation.