Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891-1900 (vol. 4)

The Tasmania Camp Meeting

On Tuesday, November 26, her sixty-eighth birthday, which she entirely forgot until a day or two later, Ellen White took the train and then the boat for Hobart, Tasmania, where the camp meeting was to open on Thursday, November 28. The camp was pitched across the street from the post office in Newtown, a suburb two miles from the center of Hobart. Pleased with the campground, Ellen White gave a description in her report to the Review and Herald: 4BIO 234.2

It was elevated considerably above the surrounding streets, and was reached by a flight of steps. A hawthorn hedge formed the enclosure, so that the encampment was hidden until we reached the entrance. Then the white tents, in their orderly arrangement in that grassy retreat, were an attractive sight. 4BIO 234.3

Hobart is surrounded by hills, rising one above another, and stretching away in the distance. Often they brought to our minds those precious words, “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.”—February 11, 1896. 4BIO 234.4

There were thirty-two family tents on the grounds. Attendance grew from sixty when the meeting opened, to 107 at the close, representing fully half of all the Sabbathkeepers in Tasmania. With no conference business to divide the time, the ten days were spent in the study of the Word of God. On the first Sabbath Ellen White spoke and felt it was a precious opportunity for the people to especially seek the Lord. She made an altar call inviting “all who were afflicted and troubled in mind, all who were in sorrow and despondency, all who had lost their first love ... to come forward, that we might unite with them in sending up a prayer of faith for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit” (Ibid.). 4BIO 234.5

A large share of the congregation came forward. Then Ellen White went down into the audience, right back to the last row of seats in the tent, to speak to several young people, and invited them to give their hearts fully to Jesus. All five of them went forward and were joined by several girls whose hearts were tender. 4BIO 235.1

“I knew that the angels of God were in that assembly,” she wrote, “and my heart, that for the past five weeks had been sadly burdened and oppressed, seemed at rest, full of peace and trust in God.”—Ibid. She stated: 4BIO 235.2

There were those who had been living in unbelief, doubting their acceptance with God. This distrust had made them miserable, but the Lord revealed Himself to their souls, and they knew that He had blessed them.... Many others testified that they had realized more of the presence of the Lord than ever before, and their hearts were filled with thankfulness.—Ibid. 4BIO 235.3

Ellen White spoke from time to time through the ensuing week, eleven times in all (Letter 128, 1895). The work of the Spirit of God was manifest on the grounds. W. W. Prescott joined the force of workers in midweek, and the Lord richly blessed his ministry. The people flocked to hear him, and Sunday, the last day of the ten-day meeting, fourteen were baptized in the bay. It was decided to continue evening meetings in the large tent for a week or two, for there was a growing interest in the community. 4BIO 235.4

When it had been proposed that there be a camp meeting in Tasmania, the believers felt they could not sustain it financially. Ellen White offered to give several pounds—she gave twenty-five—to help make the meeting possible. She asked the believers in Tasmania to match her gift with funds of their own. They did so, and the meeting was a success (Letters 83 and 127, 1895). 4BIO 235.5

As her mind turned homeward, she wrote: 4BIO 235.6

These camp meetings in Melbourne and Tasmania have been the best we have ever attended. We have had precious unity among our ministers and workers. Our hearts seem to be knit together as the heart of one man, and this is worth everything to us. I praise the Lord for this....

These meetings cost money, and yet we must have them. I am, as I have told you, investing all the means I can command, but when you are entering new, poverty-stricken districts, it requires strong purpose and strong faith to push forward where there seems so little means to use.... 4BIO 236.1

We leave here on the seventeenth. Shall arrive in Sydney the nineteenth of December, if the Lord prospers us with favorable passage.—Letter 127, 1895. 4BIO 236.2

The ship arrived in Sydney, Thursday, December 19, at midnight. Mr. Caldwell was at the wharf with a carriage to meet the travelers, taking Ellen White, Sara McEnterfer, and Maggie Hare the fourteen miles home to Granville. They arrived at 3:00 A.M. W. C. White and May remained to care for the baggage. 4BIO 236.3

“I was so pleased to be home,” wrote Ellen White (Letter 128, 1895), but she was exhausted. The Lord had sustained her in a remarkable manner, but the distressing experience with Fannie Bolton well-nigh drained her life forces and her courage. 4BIO 236.4

Nonetheless, Ellen White took the church service in the Parramatta church on Sabbath, December 21, and she felt God had given her a message for the people. 4BIO 236.5