Haskell Pioneers Work In Australia
Stephen N. Haskell was present at the dedication of Battle Creek College on January 4, 1875, and heard Ellen White mention that one of the countries shown her in vision where she had seen printing presses publishing the message was Australia, and he made up his mind he would proclaim the message in Australia. But it was 10 years before the church reached the point in growth that it felt it could support him in carrying the message to that faraway land in the South Pacific.
At its 1884 session the General Conference took an action to send Haskell to Australia. Being a practical man, he chose four families to help him start the work: J. O. Corliss, evangelist and editor; M. C. Israel, pastor and evangelist; William Arnold, a colporteur; and Henry Scott, a printer. The five families traveled to Australia in 1885, arriving in June, the winter season in Australia. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into the work. Through two evangelistic efforts, supplemented by book distribution, there soon was a church of 90 members in Melbourne and a fledgling monthly magazine, The Bible Echo and Signs of the Times.
Six years later, in 1891, the combined membership in Australia and New Zealand had reached 700. Among these were a number of young people eager to spread the church's message in the South Pacific. As Haskell, who had returned to the States, revisited the field, he saw clearly the need for a training school, and voiced his convictions in a letter to O. A. Olsen, president of the General Conference.
The General Conference Takes Action
The twenty-ninth session of the General Conference, held in Battle Creek, Michigan, commenced Thursday morning, March 5, 1891. It was a meeting marked with a broadening vision, particularly in lines of education. On Friday morning Haskell, having recently completed a tour among missions in Africa, India, and other countries, spoke on the importance of training workers in their native countries rather than sending them overseas, where they often lost touch with their home situations. Sunday morning W. W. Prescott, General Conference educational secretary, gave his report, in which he mentioned a number of calls for schools. He stated that "a request also comes in for the opening of a school in Australia" (The General Conference Bulletin, 1891, 39). On Monday morning the Committee on Education brought in the following recommendation:
We recommend,
1. That as soon as practicable, an English Bible school be opened in Australia, to continue from twelve to sixteen weeks.
2. That at least two teachers be sent from this country to have charge of the school.
3. That the expense of maintaining this school be met by the brethren in Australia in such a manner as may seem best to them.
4. That the establishment of this school be regarded as the first step toward a permanent school for children of all ages, in case the brethren in Australia so desire (Ibid., 48).
Haskell was convinced that if Ellen White were to visit the field she could bring strength and inspiration, and promote the school idea as a training center. Others were inclined to side with him in this. So the idea of a visit by Ellen White to Australia began to develop.
Ellen White hoped that there would be no invitation for her to leave America. "I long for rest, for quietude, and to get out the 'Life of Christ,'" she wrote (Manuscript 29, 1891). In fact, in anticipation of a concerted program of writing, she had purchased a lot in Petoskey, in a resort area on Lake Michigan, and was having a home built where she and her staff could work without the interruptions they would have to contend with in Battle Creek.
It was just at this point that word of the invitation of the Foreign Mission Board reached her, asking her to go to Australia. The Foreign Mission Board recommended the move if it agreed with her judgment and any light she might have from heaven; also that W. C. White accompany her. O. A. Olsen, president of the General Conference, informed the church at large through an article in The Review and Herald, June 2, 1891:
There has been a long and urgent call from Australia for Sister White to come there, but the way has not been open; and even now it seems like an unreasonable undertaking for her, at her age and in her worn condition, to attempt such a journey; but she is of good courage, and has responded favorably, and it is quite probable that she and Elder White will sail for Australia next November.
To Go Or Not To Go
The action of the Foreign Mission Board calling for Ellen White to go to Australia carried a clause that left the final decision with her. As the summer wore on she sought the Lord for light, but received none. On August 5, 1891, she wrote in her diary:
This morning my mind is anxious and troubled in regard to my duty. Can it be the will of God that I go to Australia? This involves a great deal with me. I have not special light to leave America for this far-off country. Nevertheless, if I knew it was the voice of God, I would go. But I cannot understand this matter.
Some who are bearing responsibilities in America seem to be very persistent that my special work should be to go to Europe and to Australia. I finally did go to Europe and worked there in that new field with all the power and influence God had given me. My home and my goods in America became scattered, and I sustained much loss in this line. I offered my home for sale, and Dr. Kellogg purchased it. The price I received I needed, and it was a small price. I did wish it could have been double, for I had, with W. C. White, to open new fields, and I invested this means in school homes, in meetinghouses, and in opening new fields (Manuscript 44, 1891).
Time was running out. Soon a decision had to be made. On August 20 she wrote, "I know that it is no use to tell them that all their flattering anticipations on my behalf does not lessen my ideas that going to Australia means work, responsibility to bear a message to the people who are not what the Lord would have them to be" (Manuscript 29, 1891).
Nonetheless, she decided to go. As she later wrote of it, she had adopted the practice of responding to the requests of the General Conference unless she had special light to the contrary (Letter 18a, 1892). The church leaders had asked her to go; and since she had no direct light, she decided to go, even though she wished she might be released from going.
In mid-August the Foreign Mission Board and the General Conference Committee took action appointing G. B. Starr and his wife to accompany Ellen White and her party to Australia (The Review and Herald, October 13, 1891).
Arrival At Sydney
At 7:00 Tuesday morning, December 8, 1891, the steamer S. S. Alameda entered Sydney harbor. The sea had rolled heavily in the night, and the passengers had kept close to their berths. But with the morning the whole party was on deck to see this harbor, reputed to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Coming from San Francisco were Ellen White, W. C. White, Emily Campbell, May Walling, and Fannie Bolton. Joining them in Honolulu were Elder and Mrs. Starr.
As they pulled near the wharf they could see a group of friends waiting to welcome them. Ellen White recognized A. G. Daniells and his wife, Mary, although it had been some years since they were together in Texas. With the others she was unacquainted. Before the ship touched the wharf, they were shouting back and forth, and when the gangplank was down they were soon shaking hands.
They took breakfast at the Daniells home, and while they were eating, others came in. Soon there was a season of worship, with praise to God for the safe passage across the broad Pacific.
On Friday evening, and again on Sabbath morning, Ellen White spoke in a hall in Sydney. She was gratified with the response and said, "I am not sorry that I am here" (Letter 21, 1891).
Taking the train for the overnight trip to Melbourne, they arrived Wednesday morning, December 16. Here were located the publishing house and conference headquarters. A large group was assembled in Federal Hall, the meeting room on the second floor of the Echo Publishing Company, to extend a hearty welcome. G. B. Starr, W. C. White, and Ellen White each addressed the group. Gratitude was expressed to God for bringing the visitors safely to Australia (Manuscript 47, 1891).
Recognized The Printing Presses
The newcomers were taken to the printing office below the hall. As they entered the pressroom Ellen White recognized the presses as those shown to her in the vision of January 3, 1875. She declared, "I have seen these presses before," and continued, "I have seen this place before. I have seen these persons, and I know the conditions existing among the workers in this department. There is a lack of unity here, a lack of harmony" (DF 105j, WCW, "A Comprehensive Vision"). She had a message for the foreman. But she would have more of that to say and write later.
Fourth Annual Session Of The Australian Seventh-Day Adventist Conference
On the next Thursday evening, December 24, the fourth annual session of the Australian Seventh-day Adventist Conference opened in Federal Hall. About 100 people were present, representing the churches in Australia. Since the next day was Christmas, Mrs. White delivered an appropriate message on "the birth and mission of Christ, illustrating the love of God and showing the propriety of making gifts of gratitude, as did those who brought their gifts to Jesus, rather than to waste means in useless gratification" (The Bible Echo, January 1, 1892).
Federal Hall was too small for the Sabbath morning service, so Ellen White spoke in a larger hall. She was led to comment, "When they understand I am to speak, they have large numbers present" (Manuscript 45, 1891). For the Sunday night meeting, the nearby Fitzroy Town Hall was secured. There she spoke on the plan of salvation and the love of God for fallen humanity, to an audience that sat attentively for an hour and a half.
In her diary she wrote:
I was not well December 26 and December 27 [Sabbath and Sunday]. I had strong symptoms of malaria. I could eat but little through the day and had quite a fever, but the Lord strengthened me when [I was] before the people (Ibid.).
She little realized the ominous nature of the situation, for this was the onset of a prolonged and painful illness that was to affect her ministry in Australia materially.
The Business Session Of The Conference
On Monday morning, December 28, as 40 delegates took up the business of the session, two new churches were admitted, committees were appointed, and resolutions were brought before the delegates for consideration. These were not numerous, but they were important. The first read:
1. Resolved, That immediate attention be given to the Bible-reading work [Bible studies in private homes], and that suitable persons be selected and thoroughly trained for this kind of labor (The Bible Echo, January 15, 1892).
The next item had to do with the literature ministry and called for a faithful follow-up work where books were sold. This was followed by a resolution of gratitude to the General Conference for sending the newly arrived workers to "visit, counsel, and assist" at this present juncture of their experience.
The delegates were quite conscious of the action taken by the General Conference in its March session regarding starting a school. That matter was presented at the Melbourne session, with G. C. Tenney and W. C. White making appropriate remarks. Ellen White read important matter in regard to the church's schools and the work that should be done in them.
A. G. Daniells Elected President
The nominating committee brought in the name of A. G. Daniells for president of the Australian Conference, and he was elected. The choice was not an easy one. Writing of the experience to O. A. Olsen six months later, Mrs. White explained that there was an extremely short supply of leadership material available.
In later years Daniells told in rather general terms of this experience:
I was elected to the presidency of the newly organized Australian Conference, and continued in that office during the nine years of Mrs. White's residence in that field. This official responsibility kept me in unbroken association with her. Our mission field was vast. Our problems were heavy, and some of them very perplexing....
Our membership increased encouragingly, and it became necessary to establish a training school for Christian workers, also church schools for the children of our believers. Then followed the erection of a sanitarium for the treatment of the sick, and the establishment of a factory for the manufacture of health foods.
I was young, and utterly inexperienced in most of these undertakings. As president, I was held more or less responsible for progress in all these endeavors. I needed counsel. This I sought at every important step from Mrs. White, and I was not disappointed. I was also closely associated in committee and administrative work with her son, W. C. White. His counsel was very helpful to me; it was based on a longer experience than my own, and also upon his intimate knowledge of the many messages of counsel that had been given through his mother during past years in meeting conditions similar to those we were facing (AGD, The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, pp. 364, 365).
Ellen White Begins Work In Melbourne
The conference session closed on January 3, but the program continued for another week in devotional meetings and "An Institute for Instruction in Christian Work." Mrs. White devoted this week to house hunting. She and her office family needed to have a place to live and work. The overall plan was that she would make Melbourne her headquarters for six months and write on the life of Christ. From there she would visit the principal churches and spend two months in New Zealand in connection with their conference session.
On Sunday morning, January 3, Stephen Belden drove Ellen White in his carriage five miles (eight kilometers) north to a suburb known as Preston. She was pleased with the country atmosphere and with the area generally, but the cottage they went to see was not large enough for the group that had to work together. Tuesday morning they were back in Preston, this time with better success. She noted in her diary:
We found a nice brick house with nine rooms which, with a little squeezing, would accommodate Elder Starr and his wife and our workers. There is a beautiful garden, but it has been neglected and is grown up to weeds (Manuscript 28, 1892).
Wednesday they were in Preston again, this time to make arrangements to rent the unfurnished house for six months. The next two days were spent in buying furniture, dishes, and other household necessities. Sunday morning Ellen White was up early packing and getting ready to move into their new home. By noon they were in their new quarters and quite content with the prospects: a large lot, pure, invigorating air; a yard full of flowers "of fine rich quality"; and good soil.
Because the new "home" was five miles (eight kilometers) from the city and the publishing house, she purchased a horse and carriage, a double-seated phaeton in which she could ride with comfort. They bought a good healthy cow to provide milk, and built a stable to accommodate the horse and cow (Letter 90, 1892). A girl, Annie, was employed to assist with the housework. May Walling did the cooking. Because their plans called for only a six-month stay, they bought secondhand furniture and improvised somewhat with packing boxes. Some of the old carpeting used in packing the goods shipped from America served as floor covering. Economy was the watchword.
The women helpers took the yard work under their care, and the garden responded well. Wrote Ellen White:
The girls went to work in the garden, pulling weeds, making flower beds, sowing seeds for vegetables. It was very dry, so we bought a hose, and Marian [Davis] was chief in the flower garden. With water, the flowers sprang up. Dahlias, the richest beauties, are in full bloom, and fuchsias flourish. I never saw them blossom as they do here; the geraniums, Lady Washingtons, in immense bunches of the richest colors to delight the eye (Manuscript 4, 1892).
Just before the conference closed, Mrs. White was stricken with a severe illness. For 11 months she suffered from malarial fever and inflammatory rheumatism. During this time of extreme suffering she continued her writing only under great difficulties.
I am now writing on the life of Christ, and I have had great comfort and blessing in my writing. It may be I am a cripple in order to do this work so long neglected (Letter 90, 1892).
As her physical condition worsened she could not stand to speak, but she would not give up; she spoke while sitting in a chair on the platform. Finally it worsened to the point that she could no longer meet speaking appointments.
One happy event during this period was the arrival in the mail from America of a copy of Steps to Christ, published by Fleming H. Revell and Company of Chicago. It was announced on the back page of the Bible Echo for April 1.
The reception of the book in the United States was phenomenal, as indicated by another back-page note that appeared two months later. An announcement from the publisher, Revell, was reproduced under the title "A Remarkable Book":
It is not often that a publisher has the opportunity of announcing a third edition of a new work within six weeks of the first issue. This, however, is the encouraging fact in connection with Mrs. E. G. White's eminently helpful and practical work, Steps to Christ. If you will read this work, it will ensure your becoming deeply interested in extending its circulation.
Steps to Christ is a work to guide the inquirer, to inspire the young Christian, and to comfort and encourage the mature believer. The book is unique in its helpfulness.
Ellen White Anointed
Although Ellen White, as well as her husband, had responded a number of times to requests to join others in the service of anointing the sick and praying for their healing, she deferred making such a request for herself. But after long months of suffering and no evidence of improvement, and although she and her attendants had done all they could with proper hydrotherapy treatments, she was still almost helpless. Now her mind turned to what it was her privilege to do, to ask the brethren to come and anoint her and pray for her healing. While pondering this, and the whole matter of prayer for the healing of the sick in general, she wrote a statement:
Praying for the sick is a most solemn thing, and we should not enter upon this work in any careless, hasty way. Examination should be made as to whether those who would be blessed with health have indulged in evil speaking, alienation, and dissension. Have they sowed discord among the brethren and sisters in the church? If these things have been committed they should be confessed before God and before the church. When wrongs have been confessed, the subjects of prayer may be presented before God in earnestness and faith, as the Spirit of God may move upon you (Manuscript 26a, 1892).
In this statement, seemingly intended for herself, as well as others, Mrs. White wrote much in the vein presented in the chapter "Prayer for the Sick" in The Ministry of Healing. In fact, this manuscript probably formed the basis for the chapter.
After the preparation of heart that accompanied her writing on prayer for the sick, she called upon the brethren to come to her home and anoint her and pray for her healing. Of this experience, which took place on Friday, May 20, she wrote in her diary:
Yesterday afternoon Elder [A. G.] Daniells and his wife, Elder [G. C.] Tenney and his wife, and Brethren Stockton and Smith came to our home at my request to pray that the Lord would heal me. We had a most earnest season of prayer, and we were all much blessed. I was relieved, but not restored.
I have now done all that I can to follow the Bible directions, and I shall wait for the Lord to work, believing that in His own good time He will heal me. My faith takes hold of the promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive" (John 16:24).
I believe that the Lord heard our prayers. I hoped that my captivity might be turned immediately, and to my finite judgment it seemed that thus God would be glorified. I was much blessed during our season of prayer, and I shall hold fast to the assurance then given me: "I am your Redeemer; I will heal you" (Manuscript 19, 1892; Selected Messages 2:235]).
The Bible School Established
One of the reasons the General Conference asked Ellen White and her son to go to Australia was the need there for a school to train the youth in their homeland. The principal item of business at the Australian Conference session that was held immediately after their arrival in Melbourne was the establishment of such a school. Provision was made for a committee to find a location, to which members representing Australia and New Zealand were named.
The next step was the securing of support from the believers in New Zealand, a conference with a membership about two thirds that of Australia. This was accomplished at the session of the New Zealand Conference held in Napier, April 1 to 14, 1892. Now it was time to move forward with the development of plans and to devise means of financial support.
Unfortunately Australia was moving into an economic depression. Not all believers saw the need of a school; nevertheless, they took the first steps in deciding where the school should be located. Some argued for Sydney, others for Melbourne. Mrs. White favored the latter.
Work had to begin in rented buildings. As the choice of a location narrowed down to Melbourne, it seemed that the area known as North Fitzroy, about two miles (three kilometers) from the publishing house, would serve best. There they found a complex consisting of four buildings, two of which were available, and the rent was within reason. On either side of the buildings was open land (Letter 13, 1892).
School opened on August 24, 1892, with an enrollment of 25 students. What was not made public generally was how, in the face of adverse financial circumstances and the indifference on the part of many, the school actually got under way. Ellen White was to refer to it some months later. In a letter to Harmon Lindsay, treasurer of the General Conference, she said:
Last winter when we saw that we must have a school to meet the demands of the cause, we were put to our wits' ends to know where we should obtain the funds.... [Ellen White tells of expenses.] Some thought it could not be done; yet we knew that it must be started in 1892. Some thought all that could be done was to hold a short institute for the ministers.
We knew that there were many youth who needed the advantages of the school. While we were in such deep perplexity as to how we should be able to make a beginning, the same plan was suggested to Willie's mind that was suggested to mine, and that ... on the same night.
In the morning when he came to tell me his plan, I asked him to wait until I told him mine, which was that we use the royalty of the foreign books sold in America.
Although in pain, my mind was exercised over this matter, and I prayed earnestly to the Lord for light, and it came. You know that I could not well use the money that is set apart for other purposes.
Of the royalty above referred to I invested $1,000 to be used when most needed. But $500 must be used as a fund to bring to the school students who cannot and will not come unless they have help. Willie said [that] with this statement to place before the board we shall have their influence to sustain us. Thus our school was begun (Letter 79, 1893).
The Bible School Opens
At opening exercises for the school, A. G. Daniells and G. C. Tenney spoke first, then Mrs. White, who had to be carried onto the platform. She seemed to lose sight of the small constituency, of the adverse financial conditions, and the mere handful of students. With a vision of an unfinished task in a world with many continents yet untouched by the third angel's message, she declared:
The missionary work in Australia and New Zealand is yet in its infancy, but the same work must be accomplished in Australia, New Zealand, in Africa, India, China, and the islands of the sea, as has been accomplished in the home field (The Bible Echo, Supplement, September 1, 1892 [quoted in Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 338]).
W. C. White followed with a review of the development of school work among Seventh-day Adventists and set forth some of the conditions of success and some of the elements of danger.
One month after the school opened Mrs. White reported joyfully:
The school is certainly doing well. The students are the very best. They are quiet, and are trying to get all the good possible. They all like Elder Rousseau and his wife as teachers (Letter 54, 1892).
Three months later she wrote to Elder Olsen:
The faculty have made few rules, and have not had one case where discipline was required. Peace and harmony have reigned from first to last. The presence of Jesus has been in the school from its beginning, and the Lord has wrought upon the minds of teachers and pupils (Letter 46, 1892).
As she wrote to another of this, she explained:
They [the students] would never have been able to enjoy the advantages of the school unless someone did help them, and as no one assumed the responsibility, it dropped on me. I carried several through the first term of school, and am paying the expenses of six during the present term, and the number may swell to eight (Letter 65, 1893).
Growing Stronger
Beginning with July 10, the entries in Ellen White's diary began to take a new turn. On that day she wrote the words "I praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice that I am growing stronger" (Manuscript 34, 1892). By the end of the school year she wrote jubilantly to the president of the General Conference: "The school has been a success!"
She had just attended the closing exercises of the Australasian Bible School, a simple service held in the chapel room. For almost three months she had been away, working in Adelaide and Ballarat, and had returned to Melbourne for this significant event. She had not forgotten that one of the basic reasons she and her son had been urged to spend a couple years in Australia was to aid in starting an educational work there. Despite indifference, financial depression in the country, and prolonged, debilitating illness, her persistence had won out.
Most of the students left immediately to enter the literature ministry in several of the Australian colonies. Church leaders turned briefly to planning for the next term of school, setting the time for opening as June 6. Then the ministers, including the president, scattered to the principal churches to lead out in the newly instituted Week of Prayer.
The Secret Signs
N. D. Faulkhead And The Convincing Testimony
On the day school closed, W. C. White called a meeting of the available members of the school board. N. D. Faulkhead, treasurer of the publishing house, attended. As the meeting closed about 4:00, White spoke to him, telling him that Ellen White wanted to see him. As he started down the hall to the room where she was staying, there came to his mind a dream he had had a few nights before, in which Mrs. White had a message for him.
Faulkhead was a tall, keen, apt, and energetic businessman, genial and liberal in his disposition, but proud. When he became a Seventh-day Adventist, he held membership in several secret organizations, and he did not withdraw from these. As he wrote of his experience some years later in a general letter to "My Dear Brethren in the Faith," he told of these affiliations:
I was closely connected with the Masonic Lodge.... I held the highest positions in the following lodges that could be conferred upon me: first, I was Master of the Master Mason's Lodge (or Blue Lodge); second, I was First Principal of the Holy Royal (of Canada); third, I was Preceptor of the Knights Templars, besides many other minor lodges, the Good Templars, Rechabites, and Odd Fellows, in which I also held high positions (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
When the Faulkhead family--Mrs. Faulkhead was a teacher in the public school system--accepted the third angel's message, his unusual ability was recognized, and he was employed as treasurer in the Echo Publishing Company. He served well at first, but as time advanced he became more and more engrossed in his lodge work, and his interests in God's work began to wane.
This was his situation when Ellen White arrived in Australia in December 1891. As matters involving the publishing house workers were opened to her in a comprehensive vision a few days after her arrival, she wrote of conditions there in general; she also penned testimonies to a number of the individuals involved, including Mr. Faulkhead and his wife. The document addressed to them dealt with his connection with the publishing house and his affiliation with the Masonic Lodge. It filled 50 pages. She intended to mail it to him, but was restrained from doing so. She said, "When I enclosed the communication all ready to mail, it seemed that a voice spoke to me saying, 'Not yet, not yet, they will not receive your testimony'" (Letter 39, 1893).
She said nothing regarding the matter for almost 12 months, but maintained a deep interest in the Faulkheads and their spiritual welfare. Some of his associates in the publishing house were very much concerned as they observed his growing infatuation with the work of the lodge and his waning spirituality and decreasing concern for the interests of the cause of God. They pleaded with him, urging him to consider the danger of his course. "But," as Mr. Faulkhead wrote, "my heart was full of those things; in fact, I thought more of them than I did of anything else" (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
He defiantly met the appeals with the bold statement that "he would not give up his connection with the Freemasons for all that Starr or White or any other minister might say. He knew what he was about, and he was not going to be taught by them" (Letter 21b, 1892). It was clear to those in charge of the work that unless a marked change came in his attitude, he would soon have to find other employment.
Mrs. White wrote of this experience: "None could reach him in regard to Freemasonry. He was fastening himself more and more firmly in the meshes of the enemy, and the only thing we could see to be done was to leave him to himself" (Letter 46, 1892). His condition was shown to her to be like that of "a man about to lose his balance and fall over a precipice" (Manuscript 4, 1893).
For a period of months Ellen White held messages for him and thought to send them, but was restrained.
In early December 1892 J. H. Stockton, one of the first Seventh-day Adventists in Australia, was talking with Mr. Faulkhead. He asked him what he would do if Mrs. White had a testimony for him in regard to his connection with the lodge. To this Faulkhead boldly retorted: "It would have to be mighty strong." Neither man was aware that almost a year before, the whole matter had been opened to her (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead to EGW, February 20, 1908).
Shortly after this, on Saturday night, December 10, Faulkhead dreamed that the Lord had shown his case to Ellen White, and that she had a message for him. This, with his defiant reply to Stockton in regard to what would be his attitude toward a message through her, led him to serious thought. At the time of this dream Mrs. White was at Ballarat, but on Monday, December 12, as noted earlier, she had returned to Melbourne. The next day she attended the closing exercises of the first term of the Australasian Bible School.
With this dream vividly in his mind, Faulkhead sought out Mrs. White, who greeted him cordially. He asked her whether she had something for him. She replied that the burden of his case was upon her mind, and that she had a message for him from the Lord, which she wished him and his wife to hear. She called for a meeting in the near future, when she would present that message. Faulkhead asked eagerly, "Why not give me the message now?" (Letter 46, 1892).
She was weary from her journey and her work that morning, but she went over to a stand and picked up a bundle of manuscripts. She told Faulkhead that several times she had prepared to send the message, but that she "had felt forbidden by the Spirit of the Lord to do so" (Ibid.), for the time had not fully come that he would accept it.
She then read and talked. A part of the 50 pages that were read that evening was of a general nature, relating to the work in the Echo Publishing Company and the experience of the workers there. But the major part dealt with Mr. Faulkhead's experience and his connection not only with the work in the office but also with the Masonic Lodge. She pointed out that his involvement with Freemasonry had absorbed his time and blunted his spiritual perception. She read to him of his efforts to maintain high principles for which the lodge claimed to stand, often couching her message in Masonic language. She also told him where in the lodge hall she had seen him sitting and what he was endeavoring to do with his associates.
She spoke of his increasing interest in the work of these organizations and of his waning interest in the cause of God; of her seeing in vision his dropping the small coins from his purse in the Sabbath offering plate and the larger coins into the coffers of the lodges. She heard him addressed as "Worshipful Master." She read of scenes of drinking and carousal that took place in the lodge meetings, especially after Mr. Faulkhead had left (DF 522a, G. B. Starr, "An Experience With Sister E. G. White in Australia").
"I thought this was getting pretty close home," he later wrote, "when she started to talk to me in reference to what I was doing in the lodges" (Ibid., N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
Ellen White Gives The Secret Signs
Mrs. White spoke most earnestly of the dangers of his connection with Freemasonry, warning that "unless he severed every tie that bound him to these associations, he would lose his soul." She repeated to him words spoken by her guide. Then, giving a certain movement with her hand that was made by her guide, she said, "I cannot relate all that was given to me" (Letter 46, 1892).
At this, Faulkhead started and turned pale. Recounting the incident, he wrote:
Immediately she gave me this sign. I touched her on the shoulder and asked her if she knew what she had done. She looked surprised and said she did not do anything unusual. I told her that she had given me the sign of a Knight Templar. Well, she did not know anything about it (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
They talked on. She spoke further of Freemasonry and the impossibility of a man's being both a Freemason and a wholehearted Christian. Again she made a certain movement, which "my attending angel made to me" (Manuscript 54, 1899).
Again Mr. Faulkhead started, and the blood left his face. A second time she had made a secret sign known only to the highest order of Masons. It was a sign that no woman could know, for it was held in the strictest secrecy--the place of meeting was guarded both inside and outside against strangers. "This convinced me that her testimony was from God," he stated (Ibid.).
Speaking further of his reaction to this, he wrote:
I can assure you ... this caused me to feel very queer. But, as Sister White said, the Spirit of the Lord had come upon me and taken hold of me. She went on talking and reading as if nothing had happened, but I noticed how her face brightened up when I interrupted her again and spoke to her about the sign. She seemed surprised that she had given me such a sign. She did not know that she had moved her hand. Immediately the statement that I had made to Brother Stockton, that it would have to be mighty strong before I could believe that she had a message for me from the Lord, flashed through my mind (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
When Mrs. White finished reading, tears were in the man's eyes. He said:
I accept every word. All of it belongs to me.... I accept the light the Lord has sent me through you. I will act upon it. I am a member of five lodges, and three other lodges are under my control. I transact all of their business. Now I shall attend no more of their meetings, and shall close my business relations with them as fast as possible (Letter 46, 1892).
He also stated, "I am so glad you did not send me that testimony, for then it would not have helped me" (Manuscript 54, 1899).
Your reading the reproof yourself has touched my heart. The Spirit of the Lord has spoken to me through you, and I accept every word you have addressed especially to me; the general matter also is applicable to me. It all means me. That which you have written in regard to my connection with the Freemasons I accept.... I have just taken the highest order in Freemasonry, but I shall sever my connection with them all (Letter 21b, 1892).
When Mr. Faulkhead left Ellen White's room, the hour was late. He took the streetcar to the railway station, and while traveling up Collins Street he passed the lodge hall. It suddenly dawned upon him that he should have been there attending a Knights Templar encampment that very evening. As he neared the station, he saw the train for Preston pulling out, so he was obliged to walk the rest of the way home. He chose an unfrequented road so that he might have opportunity for meditation. He enjoyed the walk very much, for there had come to him a new experience. He so much wanted to meet Daniells, Starr, or W. C. White and tell them that he was a new man, and how free and happy he felt in his decision to sever his connection with all secret societies. It seemed to him that a ton of weight had rolled from his shoulders. And to think that the God who rules the universe and guides the planets had seen his danger and sent a message just for him!
Faulkhead Resigns From The Lodges
The next morning found Mr. Faulkhead at his office. Word spread quickly to the group of workers of his experience the night before. Again and again he recounted with one after another how God had sent a message to arrest him from a course of action that would have led him to destruction. As his first work he called in his assistant and dictated his resignation to the various lodges. Then A. G. Daniells came in, and Mr. Faulkhead told him of his experience. While the two were talking, his letters of resignation were passed to Mr. Faulkhead for his signature. He signed and enclosed them and handed them to Daniells to mail. In telling of it, Faulkhead says, "How his eyes did sparkle with pleasure to think that the Lord had gained His point at last, and that his prayers had been answered" (DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead Letter, October 5, 1908).
But no sooner had Faulkhead given the letters to Daniells than a feeling of mistrust came over him; he felt he should have mailed the letters himself. Then he thanked the Lord for what he had done, for he felt that he could not have trusted himself to mail the letters.
Another Interview With Ellen White
On Thursday, December 15, Mr. Faulkhead, accompanied by his wife, had another interview with Mrs. White. A number of pages of new matter were read to both of them, and it was all accepted. "I wish you to know," he told Mrs. White, "how I look upon this matter. I regard myself as greatly honored of the Lord. He has seen fit to mention me, and I am not discouraged, but encouraged. I shall follow out the light given me of the Lord" (Letter 21b, 1892).
The battle was not entirely won with the sending in of the resignations. His lodge friends refused to release him, so he had to serve out his terms of office for another nine months. Most determined efforts were put forth to hold him to their society, but he had taken a firm position and stood by it. At times his church associates trembled for him. Ellen White wrote encouraging letters in support of his stand.
With the expiration of his term as officer of several of the lodges, the complete victory was won, and Mr. Faulkhead was able, on September 18, 1893, to write to Mrs. White and her son:
Dear Brother and Sister White,
It gives me much pleasure to tell you that my term of office as Master of the Masonic Lodge expired last month. And I feel to thank God for it. How thankful I am to Him for sending me a warning that I was traveling on the wrong road. I do praise Him for His goodness and His love shown toward me in calling me from among that people. I can see now very clearly that to continue with them would have been my downfall, as I must confess that my interest for the truth was growing cold. But thanks be to God, He did not let me go on with them without giving me warning through His servant. I cannot express my gratitude to Him for it....
I can praise God with all my might, and then I cannot express my gratitude to Him for the love that He has shown me. N. D. Faulkhead (DF 522a).
This experience brought great confidence to the hearts of church members in Australia, and it was ever a source of encouragement and help to Mr. Faulkhead. With the renewal of his first love and interest in the cause of God, he continued to serve the publishing house for many years, giving his time and strength and life to the spreading of the message.
In the testimony that was read by Ellen White to Mr. Faulkhead were recorded counsel and instruction of general application regarding the relation of Christians to organizations of the world.