The Wellington Camp Meeting

It was finally decided to hold the New Zealand camp meeting, scheduled for November 23, 1893, at Wellington at the south tip of North Island instead of at Auckland in the extreme north of the island. The president of the General Conference, Elder O. A. Olsen, would be arriving from Africa. And the missionary brigantine Pitcairn would be in port. Also of importance, it was thought this might be the right time to add impetus to the breakthrough in evangelism in this most difficult place.WV 299.4

On Monday, November 20, Ellen White, with Emily, arrived at Wellington at 10:00 at night. W. C. White was on hand to meet the train. They hastened to rented rooms.WV 299.5

New tents, both large and small, had been shipped from Australia and were now being pitched on high dry ground in a beautiful fenced paddock within walking distance of the city of Wellington. It was with bated breath that church members and others watched the process. Wellington was well known for its fierce winds. Not long before this a circus tent had been torn to shreds by the high wind. Church leaders knew well the risks. “Our earnest prayer,” wrote Mrs. White, “is that this encampment may have the favor of God. The winds and fountains of waters are in His hands, under His control” (Manuscript 88, 1893).WV 299.6

God did hold His sheltering hand over the encampment. An early report to the Bible Echo indicated this:WV 299.7

Every provision is made, and every care taken, to carry out the arrangements with facility and decorum. The tents are arranged in streets. The large tent has seating accommodation for about six hundred (January 1, 1894).WV 299.8

O. A. Olsen arrived during the opening days of the meeting, and he became the main and much appreciated speaker. Pitcairn was in port, and her officers and crew were a help to the meeting. Dr. M. G. Kellogg, the medical missionary of the ship, was drawn into service and spoke from day to day on health topics and Christian temperance, which were reported to be one of the most telling and interesting features of the meetings (Ibid.).WV 300.1

From the very beginning Ellen White was often on the platform and almost every day addressed the congregation. Sabbath afternoon she spoke, and again on the afternoon of Sunday, her sixty-sixth birthday. She felt great freedom as she took pleasure in “showing our colors on which were inscribed the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Reporting the response, she wrote:WV 300.2

I told them that we were Seventh-day Adventists, and the reason of the name which distinguished us from other denominations. All listened with deepest interest (Letter 75, 1893).WV 300.3

Sunday evening the tent was full when G. T. Wilson was the speaker. Ellen White's disclosure of the identity of the people holding the meetings did not deter a good attendance. In a letter to Edson she told of their concern for the success of the meeting:WV 300.4

We had much fear lest we would have a very slim attendance, but we were happily disappointed. From the first to the last there was a good appearance of congregation of the best class of our own people who fed on the bread of life during the meeting. Evenings there were good-sized congregations of outsiders....WV 300.5

We have had good, large, respectful audiences, and a very large number of people now understand what we do believe.... People listened as if spellbound.... The citizens were impressed with this meeting as nothing else could have transpired to impress them. When the winds blew strong, there would be many looking with wonder to see every tent standing unharmed (Letter 121, 1893).WV 300.6

Ellen White wrote: “The camp meeting is a success.... The Lord is in the encampment” (Letter 75, 1893). “Indeed, the whole meeting was a spiritual feast” (The Bible Echo, January 8, 1894).WV 300.7

Twenty-four persons were baptized as a result of the services.WV 300.8

Dr. Kellogg and G. T. Wilson remained in Wellington for a time to follow up the camp meeting interest. In the meantime the tents were quickly dismantled and shipped to Australia for use in their first camp meeting, scheduled to open in a suburb of Melbourne on January 5.WV 300.9

Within a week of the close of the camp meeting Ellen White had closed up her work and was one of quite a large group, which included W. C. White and O. A. Olsen, on their way back to Australia. ^{*Mrs. White's ministry in New Zealand was confined to the North Island. She never visited Christchurch or other cities on the South Island.}WV 300.10

In leaving New Zealand she left behind a number of friends with whom she had formed close relationships and who would later be known in the denomination. Among them were the Caros in Napier and the Browns in Long Point.WV 301.1