Advent Pioneers Biographical Sketches and Pictures

ELLEN G. WHITE

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MESSENGER OF THE LORD
November 26, 1827 — July 16, 1915 APBP 22.1

Ellen Harmon was a teenager when she participated in the Millerite proclamation of the 1840’s. She passed through the disappointment, but her faith never wavered. She became one of the three original pioneers of the church, joining with her husband-to-be, James White, and Joseph Bates in spreading the new light on the cleansing of the sanctuary and the Sabbath. APBP 22.2

Shortly after her first vision, Ellen said that she was bidden by the Lord, “Write, write the things that are revealed to you.” “At the time this message came” she later said, “I could not hold my hand steady. My physical condition made it impossible for me to write.” APBP 22.3

“But again came the word, ‘Write the things that are revealed to you.’ I obeyed; and ... it was not long before I could write page after page with comparative ease. Who told me what to write? Who steadied my right hand and made it possible for me to use a pen? — It was the Lord.” — The Review and Herald, June 14, 1906. (Quoted in Messenger to the Remnant, page 109.) APBP 22.4

Her first prophetic revelation in December 1844 was followed by approximately 2000 others in prophetic dreams or visions. The last known vision concerned the spiritual welfare of young people — the date, March 3, 1915. During the seventy years of her public ministry she wrote approximately 25 million words or one hundred thousand pages of handwritten material! APBP 22.5

Mrs. White’s counsel in all areas of church organization and administration are well known. In some areas of science and education the world has yet to apply the principles and philosophies enunciated by Mrs. White. Where her counsels have been implemented the results have confirmed their divine origin. APBP 22.6

James White died in 1881. For nearly thirty-four years Mrs. White was a widow. She labored two years in Europe, from 1885 to 1887. She pioneered in Australia from 1891 to 1900. She was truly a woman who belonged to the world, not simply to a provincial group. Though she was an American, her mission was to the world church. APBP 22.7

On February 13, 1915, she fell in her St. Helena, California home and broke her left hip. She died July 16, 1915. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Michigan, by her husband and her four sons. But she yet speaks to us in the nearly 100 books available in English, and many foreign translations. APBP 22.8

(See Messenger to the Remnant, pp.109-111; Captains of the Host, by A. W. Spalding, pp.58-76; Pioneer Stories Retold, pp.77-100; Footprints of the Pioneers, pp.59-67.) APBP 22.9

A Story About Ellen G. White

Young Ellen Harmon (later Ellen G. White) had her first prophetic vision the next month after her seventeenth birthday and only about two months after the October disappointment of 1844. It must have been a thrilling occasion. She was kneeling in prayer with four other women in the house of her dear friend, Mrs. Haines, in South Portland, Maine. These five dedicated women prayed with earnest confidence that their heavenly Father would reveal to them the reason why Jesus had not come as they had expected on October 22. While they were praying for light and guidance, young Ellen felt the power of God upon her as she had never felt it before. Arthur W. Spalding says: APBP 23.1

“In a moment she was lost to her surroundings, she saw the vision of God. APBP 23.2

“She saw a straight and narrow path cast up high above the world, on which the people of God were traveling to the Eternal City beyond. Behind them on the pathway a bright light shone, which an angel told her was the ‘midnight cry’ of 1844. October 22, 1844, was called the Day of Disappointment, but in truth it was a Day of His Appointment. Those travelers on the path who kept their eyes on Jesus and walked in the light that was shed on their path went safely on, but those who grew discouraged and faint lost their footing and fell away. Soon they heard the voice of God, announcing Jesus’ coming, and then they saw the small black cloud, growing greater and brighter, until in the rainbow hues of heaven it revealed the Son of man coming in His glory.” -Footprints of the Pioneers, 65,66. APBP 23.3

When Ellen came out of this first vision, relief came to her friends who had thought that she was dead. There had been no breath in her lungs, her eyes were open but she could not see a thing. Only with the mind’s eye could she view the scenes of the vision. She said: APBP 23.4

“I never thought that I should come to the world again. When my breath came again to my body, I could not hear anything. Everything was dark. The light and glory that my eyes had rested upon had eclipsed the light and thus it was for many hours. Then gradually I began to recognize the light, and I asked where I was. APBP 23.5

“You are right here in my house,” said the owner of the house. APBP 23.6

“What, here? Do you not know about it?” Then it all came back to me. Is this to be my home? Have I come here again? Oh, the weight and the burden which came upon my soul!” — MS 16, 1894, Messenger to the Remnant, p.6. APBP 23.7

“I wept when I found myself here, and felt homesick. I had seen a better world, and it had spoiled this for me.” -Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 67, 68. APBP 23.8

It is the precious light that Sister White received in her visions that we see reflected on every page of her wonderful books. How many of these books have you read? Can you name five of her books? APBP 23.9