Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Lt 168, 1908

White, J. E.; White, Emma

St. Helena, California

May 26, 1908

Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 182-183.

Elder J. E. White
Edgefield, Tennessee

My dear children Edson and Emma:

I wish I could be with you at this time to advise with you, and to counsel and encourage you. I do pray that the Lord will make your path of duty plain and help you to understand clearly the will of the Lord. May you have His strength and grace to help you. Do not fail nor become discouraged. The Lord has not left you. He is your helper, your front guard, and your rearward. I hope and pray that you will come out free from all entanglements. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 1

I am not as well as I should like to be. I feel very weak, but the Lord has wonderfully preserved me, and I am very thankful for His tender care. I know in whom I have believed. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 2

I am trying to obtain means, that I may help you; but I do not know that I shall succeed. At times I do not know what to do. I am so thankful that the Lord understands every phase of our experience. If we will follow the leadings of His Holy Spirit, we will not be left to fail or to become discouraged. Is not this a time to live so fully in the light of the Lord’s countenance that we who receive so many favors of Him, so many rich blessings, may know how to treat those who are less favored? 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 3

I know by the representations given me that we are to work more disinterestedly for the colored people. We are to teach them how Christians should live by exemplifying in our own lives the Spirit of Christ. With all patience we are to lift up the Lord Jesus before them. Let us show that we have an interest in their souls. Because of this work, I do not urge you to leave the South until you know it to be your duty to do so. The Lord will guide all who will walk in His ways and cheerfully do their best. He will open ways before His faithful servants. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 4

We need such teachers for the colored people as Sister Wilson was. How ready and willing she was to work! While men and women should be prepared to carry the truth into the highways of life, they should also be ready to carry the truth into the byways. The message of present truth must be carried to all classes. Men and women are to be trained to help the cause of God wherever they may be. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 5

I have been shown that thousands will be called out to do their duty in various lines of labor. Time and patience and ability are demanded; for we are not only to make the people understand the truths of the Word, but we are to instruct these colored people how to become messengers of grace, how to lift up the Man of Calvary before their race. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 6

O when shall we learn to pattern after the meekness and lowliness of Christ. We need to be imbued with the Holy Spirit if we would successfully reach the needy classes in the South. We can give them some work to do, and thus cultivate their ability. There are many ingenious minds among these people. Teach them faithfulness and diligence. Everything cannot be done by machinery. There is need of human thought and clear discernment to comprehend their needs. Our church members need to be imbued with a larger measure of the Holy Spirit. If they will seek for this, the grace and love of Christ will fit them for efficient work. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 7

The instruction that is now being given to our students in the sale of books containing the truth for this time is fitting many to do an acceptable work. The people, understanding the object of the sale, give their orders more readily than they would under other circumstances. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 8

The Lord has given to the southern field object lessons of different kinds. The education being given to the students at Madison which trains the youth to build, to cultivate the land, and to care for cattle and poultry will be of great advantage to them in the future. There is no better way of keeping the body in health than to follow the plan of training that the Madison school is carrying out. This is the same kind of work as we were instructed to do when we purchased the land for our school in Australia. The students had their hours for study and their hours for work on the land. They were taught to fell trees, to plant orchards, to cultivate the soil, and to erect buildings; and this training was a blessing to all who engaged in it. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 9

The Lord in His providence has brought about the establishment of the Madison school through the efforts of Brethren Sutherland and Magan and a few faithful associates. Their labors have been performed under no ordinary circumstances. These men had an experience at Berrien Springs which was a severe one; but the Lord brought them safely through it and made it a means of blessing to them. They felt that they must go to the South and labor for this needy field. They went out not knowing whither they were going, and the Lord guided them to Madison, a beautiful place of four hundred acres. For a time the way for the establishment of the work seemed hedged up. The Lord led His servants through a trying experience; but He saw the end from the beginning. When some of their brethren expostulated and labored to discourage them, the Lord encouraged. And [in] the results of the efforts put forth at that place we can see that the Lord’s blessing has rested upon their efforts. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 10

The work that the laborers have accomplished at Madison has done more to give a correct knowledge of what an all-round education means than any other school that has been established by Seventh-day Adventists in America. The Lord has given these teachers in the South an education that is of highest value, and it is a training that God would be pleased to have all our youth receive. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 11

The close confinement of students to mental work has cost the life of many precious youth. The Madison school, in its system of education, is showing that mental and physical powers, brain and muscle, must be equally taxed. The example that it has given in this respect is one that it would be well for all who engage in school work to emulate. If the physical and mental powers were equally taxed, there would be in our world far less of corruption of mind and far less feebleness of health. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 12

Let the work done for the people of the South be done in a true missionary spirit. Let the Spirit of the Lord guide in your work of ministry. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. Work faithfully for the Master, seeking to lead others to do earnest missionary work. Such a class of labor will develop tact and ingenuity and intellectual and moral adaptability. Let those who work in the South understand that it is not preaching alone that is needed. Self-sacrificing work is called for at every step. The example given by the teachers of truth is not to be one of self-indulgence. Christ was a missionary in the truest sense of the term. His whole life was one of self-denying acts. He traveled from place to place; and as He journeyed and wherever He stayed, He taught the people the message of the gospel, illustrating His lessons with the objects of nature that were all about Him. 23LtMs, Lt 168, 1908, par. 13