Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Generous Gifts to the Needy

2. Mrs. White was a very generous person, a generosity quickened and ever kept active because of her conviction that she was simply the steward of such means as God gave to her. Here is the way she expressed that conviction: EGWC 517.3

“I do not profess to be the owner of any money that comes into my hands. I regard it as the Lord’s money, for which I must render an account.”—Letter 41, 1895. EGWC 517.4

Here is an illustration of how she discharged her stewardship: EGWC 517.5

“Please pay to the order of ------ $100 (one hundred dollars) as a gift from the Lord who has made me his steward of means. EGWC 517.6

“Ellen G. White.”—Letter 28, 1889. EGWC 517.7

The foregoing were the terms used in a letter concerning the providing of financial help for a destitute widow. EGWC 518.1

While Mrs. White was in Australasia she did much to launch the work there. She was particularly interested in the training of youth, many of whom lacked money to secure an education. Here is a paragraph from a letter she wrote in 1893, while in New Zealand: EGWC 518.2

“I have already appropriated two thousand dollars of royalties on books, to help students to attend the school. They would never have been able to enjoy the advantages of the school unless someone did help them, and as no one assumed the responsibility, it dropped on me. I carried several through the first term of school, and am paying the expenses of six during the present term, and the number may swell to eight.”—Letter 65, 1893. EGWC 518.3

It is needless to remark that if she had already “appropriated two thousand dollars” to help students, and was continuing to do so on a rising scale, the two-thousand-dollar total would rise, and rapidly. EGWC 518.4

Here is another letter, written in 1893, in which is revealed the fact that Mrs. White had been helping students in Healdsburg, California, before she went to Australia. EGWC 518.5

“Brother and Sister A. have been laboring in Ormondville, about one hundred miles from here, with good results.... I met him in Napier, and he told me I was the one who sent him to school in Healdsburg, paying his expenses to obtain an education. I was so thankful to see the results of this investment.”—Letter 79, 1893. EGWC 518.6

That Mrs. White spent money in other ways than helping students through school, is revealed in the following letter: EGWC 518.7

“We send Brother A ... to the Institute at St. Helena. ^* ... He is a great sufferer. I have appropriated three hundred dollars to this case, although there are many cases where every dollar is needed, but I feel perfectly clear in helping in this case. It is a case where those who love and fear God must show their sympathy in a tangible manner, and bear in mind that Christ identified his interest with suffering humanity.”—Letter 33, 1893. ^† EGWC 518.8