Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

Chapter 10—The Visit to Denmark

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: EGWE 91.1

“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. EGWE 91.2

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. EGWE 91.3

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: EGWE 91.4

“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. EGWE 92.1

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.). EGWE 92.2