The Story of our Health Message

Additional Land Purchased

Largely because of Mrs. White’s foresight of the future needs of the growing institution, and her insistence, not only was there no sale of any part of the original property, but other adjoining tracts of land were purchased, until by 1912 there had been added about 225 acres, at an additional cost of over $50,000. “You need the land, and it will be a matter of regret by and by if it is not secured,” she said emphatically in 1911, when the question of securing eighty-six acres was being considered. “I am sure, from the representations that have been made to me, that this piece of land ought to come into our possession. If you are wise, the next time I come here, you will have that land.” Ibid., 7. SHM 391.3

Mrs. White frequently visited the growing work at Loma Linda and took the keenest interest in every development. Her gratification for what had been accomplished, and her hopes for its future, were well expressed in the same address from which we have just quoted: SHM 392.1

“The Lord is well pleased with what you have already done here at Loma Linda. When one sees the prosperity that has attended the work, and the spirit of consecration that prevails, the conviction deepens that you are working in harmony with God. SHM 392.2

“I desire that all the work of this place shall be a correct representation of what our health institutions should be. Let everything that we lay our hands to, show the result of the moving of the Spirit of God upon the human heart. This will be evidence that we have the higher education. Workers whose hearts are in obedience to the movings of the Spirit of God will make this place what God desires it to be. I am surprised, happily surprised, to see everything looking so well. It is beyond my expectations. And now let everyone strive to keep it so, and labor for improvement.”—Ibid., 8. SHM 392.3

Graduates from the school were to fill positions of responsibility in home and foreign fields. The value of the training at the institution was evident. But the financial burden continued to press heavily and was the occasion for serious misgiving on the part of many whose responsibilities were such that they must make important decisions. At length in 1913, when the board of trustees realistically faced a further necessary enlargement of the faculty and the addition of expensive buildings and equipment, a crisis was reached. SHM 392.4

A glance at the minutes of the meeting of the trustees of the College of Medical Evangelists, held at Takoma Park, Washington, D.C., in October, 1913, in connection with the Autumn Council of the General Conference Committee, reveals a feeling of genuine dismay at the seemingly endless streams of money needed for the building program. Emergencies innumerable had been met by the borrowing of more money, and the indebtedness of the institution had been mounting yearly. Besides this, increasing requirements from the American Medical Association were bringing added perplexities. SHM 392.5