Spalding and Magan Collection

The Conditions in Nashville

Sanitarium, Cal.,

July 20, 1905.

To the General Conference Committee:

Dear Brethren,

During the time that I was in Washington, the Lord was working upon my mind in the night season. Light was given me while I was there that the first five thousand dollars of the overflow above the one hundred thousand dollars sent in for the work in Washington, was due the Southern field, and that it ought to be appropriated to the present urgent needs of the work in Nashville. More than that amount which would otherwise have gone to Nashville, has gone to Washington, because of our appeals to give the Washington work our first attention. SpM 381.1

I know that one thousand dollars was loaned to the brethren in Nashville to make the first payment on the church building. But I am instructed that the Lord would have been pleased had five thousand dollars been offered them, instead of one thousand. The workers in Nashville need encouragement that they have never received. The way in which the work there has been treated by some has made wounds that should now be healed. The Lord will not vindicate one vestige of selfishness. He calls upon men to act under his supervision. SpM 381.2

The work in Washington is important and essential, and great efforts have been made to call the attention of our people to that field. But now the Lord would have us consider the work in the South. SpM 381.3

These matters have been presented to me in such a way that I see my duty clearly. In the name of the Lord, I, as his messenger call upon the leaders of the people in his cause to do the works of righteousness. The souls of the people in Nashville are just as precious in the sight of the Lord as the souls of the people in Washington. The light of truth is to shine forth as brightly from Nashville as from Washington. The necessity at Nashville is at the present time far greater than it is at Washington. SpM 381.4

Right is right. Justice must be shown to the Southern field. God sees a selfishness working for the mastery that must be overcome. Five thousand dollars should be appropriated to the work in Nashville. This question was asked, “Is it not just as essential that the work in Nashville shall make a proper showing, as the work in Washington?” I must be faithful to my work as God's messenger. Therefore I bear the message, Make up a fund of five thousand dollars, and send it to the brethren in Nashville. God is a God of love and equity. SpM 381.5

If we expect the Lord to work with us and for us as his people, if we expect him to reveal his light and power to us in these last days, we must work in accordance with the mind and will, the mercy and compassion, of the Lord God of Israel, who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Lord calls upon those at the head of his work to send the first of the overflow that has come in on the Washington fund, to the work in Nashville; for the work there, which is as essential as the work in Washington, is in need of assistance. The Lord's servants who are laboring there should receive encouragement. SpM 382.1

I am bidden to say that selfishness and any form of injustice must not find a place in our work. Let our brethren repent before the Lord for any selfishness that has come in toward the work in the Southern states. This matter has been presented to me three times, and I was instructed that five thousand dollars ought to have been placed in Elder Haskell's hands before he left the Conference ground..... SpM 382.2

Over and over again I am bidden to urge upon your attention the necessities of the work in Nashville. The Lord has specified what should be done there. A grand work has been started, and it should by all means be sustained. It must not be hindered by neglect, but is to go forward in straight, clear lines. Brother Butler, Brother Haskell and his wife, and others, are laboring hard and earnestly, and are wrestling with many difficulties; and they must be given assistance. Souls in Nashville are as precious as souls in Washington. The conditions in Nashville make the work of the laborers doubly hard. If those in other parts of the field who have been highly favored by God do not awake to the true situation, the Lord will visit them for their indifference. SpM 382.3

Brother Sutherland and Magan have been trying to advance in their school work, but while the means was flowing into Washington, they were exhorted to patience. They have made as much headway as possible. SpM 382.4

Recently a beautiful sanitarium site of thirty-five acres was chosen not far away from Nashville. On this site a sanitarium building must soon be put up. For a long time Dr. Hayward and his co-workers have been struggling on in the face of many difficulties. They must now be helped. SpM 382.5

I give this instruction to you as God has given it to me as his appointed messenger. Last Sabbath night I did not sleep at all through the entire night. So heavily were matters pressing upon my mind that I could only cry unto God, praying him to set this matter plainly in its true light before the men bearing responsibilities in Washington..... SpM 382.6

Ellen G. White.