We have related how, at the General Conference of 1866, Mrs. White had earnestly presented the instruction given her regarding the adoption of the health reform principles, the establishment of an institution for the care of the sick, and the inauguration of a health educational campaign. Thirty-seven years later, in 1903, she wrote pathetically: "Medical missionary work is yet in its infancy. The meaning of genuine medical missionary work is known by but few."--Special Testimonies, Series B, 8:28.
In striking contrast to this depressing picture is an optimistic statement by the same writer, just two years later, in 1905: "Henceforth medical missionary work is to be carried forward with an earnestness with which it has never yet been done."--E. G. White Letter 233, 1905. Quoted in Testimonies for the Church 9:167.
A Complete Separation
During the interval between these two utterances the final steps had been taken that led to the complete separation between the denomination and the leaders of the large sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, who were also conducting the American Medical Missionary College for the education of Christian physicians. Well might the conclusion be drawn that this was a serious, if not fatal, blow to the aspirations of those who hoped for a continued strong medical missionary effort to blend with the evangelistic work of Seventh-day Adventists. For many, the divisive issues were too recent to make possible any clear evaluation of the basis for the co-operation called for in the beginnings of the health work as a vital part of the church program.
It must have been with a unique foresight of the future work at the recently acquired property at Loma Linda, California, that Mrs. White now looked so optimistically to a bright era for the medical missionary work. In the same letter in which is voiced this promising outlook, she reviewed the providences that had made possible the securing of the three medical institutions in southern California; and in speaking of the acquisition of Loma Linda, she said with assurance, "I know that it was in the providence of God that we had an opportunity to purchase this property." (E. G. White Letter 233, 1905.)
Repeatedly in her utterances during 1905 Mrs. White expressed her conviction that the future of the work at Loma Linda was to be extraordinary. "The securing of this sanitarium, thoroughly equipped and furnished," was to her "one of the most wonderful providences that the Lord has opened before us." "It is difficult," she asserted, "to comprehend all that this transaction means to us." (E. G. White Letter 291, 1905.)
To Be an Educational Center
In harmony with the common ideal for every sanitarium to be a center from which should radiate to the surrounding country the truths for which it stands, a special evangelistic work was to be carried forward from Loma Linda. To her lifelong friend and associate, Elder S.N. Haskell, with his years of experience as a Bible student and in conducting training schools for city workers, she made appeal to lead out at Loma Linda in the important work to be done in "the neighboring cities, Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino, and other smaller places." (E. G. White Letter 269, 1905.) In following up this invitation, she also spoke of Loma Linda as an "educational center." Regarding this, she said:
"The securing of this property at such a price as we paid for it is a miracle that should open the eyes of our understanding. If such manifest workings of God do not give us a new experience, what will? If we cannot read the evidence that the time has come to work in the surrounding cities, what could be done to arouse us to action? ...
"We must soon start a nurses' training school at Loma Linda. This place will become an important educational center, and we need the efforts of yourself and your wife to give the right mold to the work in this new educational center."--E. G. White Letter 277, 1905. (Italics mine.)
Next to the seeming impossibility of raising the money to meet the payments on the property, the securing of qualified physicians, nurses, and other help needed to man another large sanitarium was a major problem that afforded a forceful argument against the wisdom of launching the enterprise, especially in view of the fact that both the Paradise Valley Sanitarium and the Glendale Sanitarium were finding it difficult to secure efficient workers for their rapidly developing work. But in this matter, as markedly as in the securing of funds, the hand of God's providence was seen.
When, in late November, 1905, the institution was ready to receive patients, there were on hand thirty-five consecrated workers, including Dr. G.K. Abbott, Dr. Julia A. White, and others, to handle the various departments of the institution. Dr. White brought with her from Battle Creek several well-trained nurses. Being influenced to make the move as they heard of the remarkable experiences connected with the securing of Loma Linda, many of these helpers had come from other states, one family even from faraway Australia. No special financial inducements were offered them; and when, shortly after the institution opened, they learned that the income from the patients was not sufficient to meet their wages, they cheerfully volunteered to give their services for room and board until the patronage should increase. Thus they emulated the pioneer physicians and helpers in the days when the Health Reform Institute was struggling with financial difficulties in the earlier days. The necessity for their voluntary generosity was soon relieved as the patronage increased.
The Nursing School Opened
The training school for nurses was opened in November, 1905. Soon there were seven students in this first class, each of whom had already received one year's training elsewhere. They all joined heartily in an evangelistic program in nearby cities, introducing Mrs. White's book Ministry of Healing, which had recently come from the press, the profits of which had been dedicated by the author for medical missionary work.
But Mrs. White urged broader plans for the educational work at this center than for the preparation of nurses only--that it include also the training of physicians. Intimation of this we find in a letter of December 10, 1905, in which she wrote: "In regard to the school, I would say, Make it all you possibly can in the education of nurses and physicians."--E. G. White Letter 325, 1905.
During the next few months plans were laid for the organization of "an advanced training school for workers in connection with the sanitarium." At a council meeting held on the grounds in April, 1906, attended by Mrs. White and members of the Pacific Union Conference and the Southern California Conference committees, definite arrangements were made for this educational work. The school was to be known as the Loma Linda College of Evangelists. Prof. W.E. Howell, who had spent several years as principal of Healdsburg College in California and of the Hawaiian Academy in Honolulu, was invited to take charge of the new enterprise.
The presence of the members of this council made this a fitting time for the formal dedication of the Loma Linda Sanitarium. Invitations had been sent not only to the members of our nearby churches, but also to businessmen and leading citizens of the surrounding cities, including several physicians. Mrs. White was among the speakers who addressed those present from an improvised platform, facing an audience of about five hundred persons on the gently sloping lawn, in a beautiful grove of pepper trees. Of her address, she wrote:
"I tried to make it plain that sanitarium physicians and helpers were to co-operate with God in combating disease not only through the use of the natural remedial agencies He has placed within our reach, but also by encouraging their patients to lay hold on divine strength through obedience to the commandments of God."--The Review and Herald, June 21, 1906.
A Mighty Factor
In Mrs. White's report of this occasion one may note again how she recognized the work of the institution as a mighty factor in the denominational endeavor for the world. She viewed the medical work as "the most important agency" in the finishing of that task, and Loma Linda as a center for the training of students qualified for that work. To quote her own words:
"One of the chief advantages of the situation at Loma Linda is the pleasing variety of charming scenery on every side. But more important than magnificent scenery and beautiful buildings and spacious grounds is the close proximity of this institution to a densely populated district, and the opportunity thus afforded of communicating to many, many people a knowledge of the third angel's message.
"We are to have clear spiritual discernment, else we shall fail of understanding the opening providences of God that are preparing the way for us to enlighten the world. The great crisis is just before us. Now is the time for us to sound the warning message, by the agencies that God has given us for this purpose. Let us remember that one most important agency is our medical missionary work. Never are we to lose sight of the great object for which our sanitariums are established--the advancement of God's closing work in the earth.
"Loma Linda is to be not only a sanitarium, but an educational center. With the possession of this place comes the weighty responsibility of making the work of the institution educational in character. A school is to be established here for the training of gospel medical missionary evangelists. Much is involved in this work, and it is very essential that a right beginning be made."--Ibid.
Elder Haskell to Help
In response to Mrs. White's appeal, Elder and Mrs. S.N. Haskell had come from the East to Loma Linda in the spring of 1906, and with the help of the nurses and the staff of Loma Linda they conducted a medical evangelistic tent effort in San Bernardino. Some of these sanitarium workers, through the sale of Elder Haskell's periodical called the Bible Training School, helped to raise the first $1,000 toward the establishment of the new college. Studies given by Elder Haskell to the helpers at the sanitarium were calculated to strengthen their confidence in the divine leadership of the church, and to deepen their knowledge of the fundamental Bible truths to be given by Seventh-day Adventists.
Those at Loma Linda who were about to open the College of Evangelists were eager that their new school should be conducted along right lines. To obtain what counsel Mrs. White might have to guide in the issuance of a school calendar, and in launching a campaign for students, Professor Howell visited Mrs. White at her home in St. Helena, California. Of their interview, she wrote under date of June 8, 1906:
"Yesterday I had a long visit as I rode out with Brother and Sister Howell. Brother Howell is very desirous of knowing how to plan for the educational work with which he is connected, so that no mistakes may be made. I told him that the Lord will lead all who are willing to be led. The Bible is our safe guidebook. Said Christ, 'He that will come after me, let him take up his cross, and follow me.'
"We cannot mark out a precise line to be followed unconditionally. Circumstances and emergencies will arise for which the Lord must give special instruction. But if we begin to work, depending wholly upon the Lord, watching, praying, and walking in harmony with the light He sends us, we shall not be left to walk in darkness."--E. G. White Letter 192, 1906.
Here was a clear indication that the work at Loma Linda was to be entered upon with faith that God would lead in its development, even though its future destiny might as yet not be fully understood. In a further communication from Mrs. White, dated August 19, 1906, she emphasized the need for the training of medical missionary students in an environment where their faith in God's guidance would not be undermined. Again, in the following exhortation, given at that time, we note the appeal for the blending of the medical and evangelistic parts of the work:
To Train Medical Missionary Evangelists
"Be very careful not to do anything that would restrict the work at Loma Linda. It is in the order of God that this property has been secured, and He has given instruction that a school should be connected with the sanitarium. A special work is to be done there in qualifying young men and young women to be efficient medical missionary workers. They are to be taught how to treat the sick without the use of drugs. Such an education requires an experience in practical work.
"The work at Loma Linda demands immediate consideration. Preparations must be made for the school to be opened as soon as possible. Our young men and young women are to find in Loma Linda a school where they can receive a medical missionary training, and where they will not be brought under the influence of some who are seeking to undermine the truth. The students are to unite faithfully in the medical work, keeping their physical powers in the most perfect condition possible, and laboring under the instruction of the great Medical Missionary. The healing of the sick and the ministry of the Word are to go hand in hand. ...
"The work at Loma Linda is not yet perfected. More money must be raised in order to make this place a center for the training of medical missionary evangelists."--E. G. White Letter 274, 1906.
In the calendar for the new school, issued in the summer of 1906, four courses were offered--"Evangelistic-Medical, Collegiate, Nurses', and Gospel Workers." Of the three-year Evangelistic-Medical Course, it was said:
"This course is designed especially for graduate nurses and others who have completed the preparatory subjects, ... and who wish to take advanced medical studies as a better preparation for evangelistic work, but who desire to take these studies under conditions favorable to spiritual growth, to confidence in the fundamental truths of the third angel's message, and to the development of the genuine missionary spirit in actual service."
Provision was made for the teaching of chemistry, physiological therapeutics, children's diseases, physiology, obstetrics, gynecology, anatomy, and general diseases. Among the instructors were four doctors--G.K. and Cora Abbott, Julia A. White, and R.O. Ross. That there might be opportunity for thorough instruction in Bible doctrines and in field evangelism. Elder and Mrs. S.N. Haskell, who for a few months earlier in the year had conducted a training school in evangelism in San Bernardino, were listed on the faculty.
"The purpose in establishing the College of Evangelists at Loma Linda"--so reads the foreword to the calendar--"is to develop and train evangelists. The world needs evangelizing, and the work must be done speedily." At the foot of each page, in italics, is found the phrase, "To preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."