Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Lt 294, 1907

Ministers, Physicians, and Teachers in Southern California

St. Helena, California

September 12, 1907

This letter is published in entirety in LLM 266-270.

To Ministers, Physicians, and Teachers in Southern California

Dear Brethren:

I have a message to bear to some who hold positions of responsibility in the Southern California Conference. They are losing from their experience that true fervor which the presence of the Holy Spirit gives, and which would teach them to subdue self and walk humbly in the way of Christ. The responsible worker who will not become a humble follower of Christ will do great harm to the cause of God by molding and fashioning the experience of the conference to a common, worldly standard. The sacred work that we handle, if performed in a spirit of consecration, will never cheapen the experience of a single soul. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 1

The men who stand as presidents of conferences, or as leaders in any part of the solemn work of the last gospel message, must cultivate and cherish broad views and ideas. It is the privilege of all who bear responsibilities in the work of the gospel to be apt learners in Christ’s school. The professed follower of Christ must not be led by the dictates of his own will; his mind must be trained to think Christ’s thoughts and enlightened to comprehend the will and way of God. Such a believer will be a follower of Christ’s methods of work. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 2

A mistake has been made in the course that has been followed to clear the San Fernando school from debt. When the school property was first purchased, and the minds of our people were upon it, only a feeble effort was made to raise the money spent in its purchase. But after the sanitariums were purchased, and the sympathy and financial strength of the people were needed to put them in working order, there were some who made the school debt the mater of first consideration, and who, by criticism of the sanitarium work and management, discouraged the brethren from giving them the full support that they needed. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 3

The Lord did not call upon the president of the conference to make it his first work to gather up the gifts of our people for the school. There was necessity just then of giving first attention to the requirements of the sanitarium. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 4

Provision for Our Schools

Our brethren should not forget that the wisdom of God has made provision for our schools in a way that will bring blessing to all who participate in the enterprise. The book Christ’s Object Lessons was donated to the educational work, that the students and other friends of the schools might handle these books and by their sale raise much of the means needed to lift the school indebtedness. But this plan has not been presented to our schools as it should have been; the teachers and students have not been educated to take hold of this book and courageously push its sale for the benefit of the education work. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 5

Long ago, the teachers and students in our schools should have learned to take advantage of Christ’s Object Lessons. In selling these books the students will serve the cause of God, and while doing this, by the dissemination of precious light, they will learn invaluable lessons in Christian experience. All our schools should now come into line and earnestly endeavor to carry out the plan presented to us for the education of the workers, for the relief of the schools, and for the winning of souls to the cause of Christ. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 6

In the cities of Riverside, Redlands, and San Bernardino, a mission field is open to us that we have as yet only touched with the tips of our fingers. A good work has been done there as far as our workers have had encouragement to do it; but there is need of means to carry the work forward successfully. It was God’s purpose that by the sale of Ministry of Healing and Christ’s Object Lessons much means should be raised for the work of our sanitariums and schools, and that our people would thereby be left more free to donate of their means for the opening of the work in new missionary fields. If our people will now engage in the sale of these books as they ought, we shall have much more means to carry the work in the way the Lord designed. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 7

Wherever the work of selling Christ’s Object Lessons has been taken hold of in earnest, the book has done good. And the lessons that have been learned by those who have engaged in this work have well repaid their efforts. And now our people should all be encouraged to take part in this special missionary effort. Light has been given me that in every possible way instruction should be given to our people in the best methods of presenting these books to the people. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 8

I have been instructed that at our large gatherings, workers should be present who will teach our people how to sow the seeds of truth. This means more than instructing them in how to sell the Signs of the Times and other periodicals. It includes thorough instruction in how to handle such books as Christ’s Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing. These are books which contain precious truths and from which the reader can draw lessons of highest value. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 9

Why was not someone appointed at your recent camp-meeting to present the interests of this line of work to our people? In your failure to do this, you lost a precious opportunity to place large blessings within the reach of the people, and you also lost an opportunity of raising means for the relief of our institutions. My brethren, let us encourage our people to take up this work without further delay. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 10

There are some who have had experience in the sale of health foods who should now interest themselves in the sale of our precious books; for in them is food unto eternal life. Los Angeles has been presented to me as a very fruitful field for the sale of Christ’s Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing. The thousands of transient residents and visitors would be benefited by the lessons they contain, and those who bear responsibilities in our sanitariums should act wisely in this matter, encouraging all—nurses, helpers, and students—to gather by this means as much as possible of the money required to meet the expenses of the different institutions. We have need of workers in Southern California who have clear spiritual eyesight, men who will weigh matters wisely, and who can discern what is needed both nigh and afar off. If our workers were more fully consecrated to the cause of God, a much more effective work would be done. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 11

Why are our people so slow to understand what the Lord would have them do? Our leading workers should prepare beforehand to use their opportunities at our large and small gatherings to present these books to our people and call for volunteers who will engage in their sale. When this work is entered into with the earnestness which our times demand, the indebtedness which now rests upon our schools will be greatly lessened. And then the people who are now being called upon to give largely of their means to support these institutions will be free to turn a larger part of their offerings to missionary work in other needy places, where special efforts have not yet been made. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 12

Great good will result by bringing these books to the attention of the leaders of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. We should invite these workers to our meetings and give them an opportunity to become acquainted with our people. Place these precious books in their hands, and tell them the story of their gift to the cause and its results. Explain how that by the sale of Ministry of Healing patients may be brought to the sanitarium for healing who could never get their unaided, and how through this means assistance will be rendered in the establishment of sanitariums in places where they are greatly needed. If our sanitariums are wisely managed by men and women who have the fear of God before them, they will be the means of bringing us in connection with workers in the W.C.T.U.; and these workers will not be slow to see the advantage of the medical branch of our work. As a result of their contact with our medical work, some of them will learn truths that they need to know for the perfection of Christian character. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 13

One point that should never be forgotten by our workers is that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Chief Director. He has outlined a plan by which the schools may be relieved of their indebtedness; and He will not vindicate the course of those who lay this plan aside for lack of confidence in its success. When His people will come up unitedly to the help of His cause in the earth, no good thing that God has promised will be withheld from them. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 14

In a place like Los Angeles, where the population is constantly changing, a wonderful opportunity is presented for the sale of our books. A great loss has been sustained because our people have not more fully embraced this opportunity. Why should not the teachers and students from the San Fernando school make Los Angeles a special field for the sale of Object Lessons? If with earnestness and faith they will work out the plan that has been given us for the use of this book, angels of God will attend their steps, and the blessing of heaven will be upon their efforts. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 15

It would have been an excellent thing if the teachers of the San Fernando School during the vacation had availed themselves of this opportunity to push the work with Christ’s Object Lessons. They would have found a blessing in going out with the students and teaching them how to meet the people and how to introduce the book. The story of the gift of the book and its object would lead some to have a special interest in the book, and in the school for which it is sold. Why have not the teachers in our schools done more of this work? If our people would only realize it, there is no more acceptable work to be done in the home field than to engage in the sale of Object Lessons; for while they are thus helping to carry out the Lord’s plan for the relief of our schools, they are also bringing the precious truths of the Word of God to the attention of the people. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 16

The indifference that has been manifested by some toward this enterprise is displeasing to God. He desires that it shall be recognized by all our people as His method of relieving our schools from debt. It is because this plan has been neglected that we now feel so keenly our lack of means for the advancing work. Had the schools availed themselves of the provision thereby made for them, there would be more money in the school treasury and more money in the hands of His people to relieve the necessities of other needy departments of the cause; and best of all, teachers and students would have received the very lessons that they needed to learn in the Master’s service. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 17

I send you these lines because I see that there is need of a deeper intuition, a wider perception, on the part of our sanitarium and educational workers, if they would get all the benefit that God intends shall come to them through the use of Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing. I ask you, my brethren, to read these words to our people, that they may learn to show the spirit of wisdom, and of power, and of a sound mind. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 18

I have been instructed that the students and nurses are to handle these books, and in their efforts to sell them, are to gain a precious experience in missionary work. 22LtMs, Lt 294, 1907, par. 19