Worldwide Expansion of Adventists

Equally interesting are the predictions Ellen White made regarding the worldwide expansion of Seventh-day Adventists, long before her colleagues could see any evidence for her optimism:MOL 162.3

• November, 1848, Dorchester, Massachusetts: At a time of great financial stress, and appealing to no more than one hundred Sabbatarian Adventists, she predicted that the periodical her husband was starting would be “small at first,” but eventually its “streams of light” would go “clear round the world.” ^{76Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 125.}MOL 162.4

In 1995, Seventh-day Adventists had worldwide 56 publishing houses, 7,485 fulltime literature evangelists, with world-wide sales of $99,253,123 (U.S. dollars), with literature being published in 229 languages (including oral evangelism. Adventists are working in 717 languages worldwide). ^{77133rd Annual Statistical Report—1995. (Published by General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.)}MOL 162.5

• Speaking from a chair (mostly bedridden for eleven months) at the opening of the Melbourne Bible School (predecessor of Avondale College), August 24, 1892, Mrs. White said: “The missionary work in Australia and New Zealand is yet in its infancy, but the same work must be accomplished in Australia, New Zealand, in Africa, India, China, and the islands of the sea, as has been accomplished in the home field [USA].” ^{78Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 338.}MOL 162.6

Young A. G. Daniells, one of the first American expatriate workers in Australia, heard this prediction with astonishment and wrote later of the sense of being “overwhelmed.” All present felt that this prediction “seemed like the wildest kind of speculation.... But some who were present have lived to see these staggering predictions strikingly fulfilled.” ^{79The Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 309 (1936). Imagine how delighted and amazed those present in 1892 would be if they could see the remarkable outreach of Adventists throughout the South Pacific today.}MOL 162.7

• In 1894 Ellen White urged the Australian Adventist constituency of fewer than one thousand to plan immediately for a college to train workers for the Adventist mission to the South Pacific. Further, she envisioned a college that would break new ground after learning lessons from the difficult experiences at Battle Creek College. Few, even of her closest advisers, saw wisdom in her counsel, but without her visionary understanding of what the South Pacific needed and her tenacity to see the project through, neither Avondale College, nor much else in Australia and New Zealand, would be standing under the Adventist name today.MOL 162.8

• In November, 1901, Ellen White wrote a severe warning to the board of trustees of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, “the best equipped printing office in the state of Michigan.” ^{80James White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 353-355, (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Assn., 1880).} They had problems: about ninety percent of their work was commercial, some of it clearly inappropriate for Adventist publishers. Other problems revolved around interpersonal relationships.MOL 162.9

After many previous warnings, Mrs. White made what amounted to a divine threat: “I have been almost afraid to open the Review, fearing to see that God has cleansed the publishing house by fire.... Unless there is a reformation, calamity will overtake the publishing house, and the world will know the reason.” ^{81Testimonies for the Church 8:91, 96.}MOL 162.10

Thirteen months later, December 30, 1902, a fire of “unknown origin” destroyed the complex. Nothing of value was saved. When leaders wanted to rebuild in Battle Creek, Ellen White objected, saying, “Never lay a stone or a brick in Battle Creek to rebuild the Review office there. God has a better place for it.” ^{82The General Conference Bulletin, 1903, 85.}MOL 162.11

• On at least three occasions Ellen White urged her stunned colleagues to buy property in southern California for medical centers. ^{83See p. 189.} On October 13, 1902, she wrote that properties with buildings “especially suited to sanitarium work” could be bought “at much less than their original cost.” ^{84Letter 157, 1902, cited inManuscript Releases 4:280.} Without this insight into God’s plan for southern California, Paradise Valley Hospital, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, and Loma Linda University would not be centers for Adventist outreach. ^{85D. E. Robinson, The Story of Our Health Message (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association, 1965), pp. 337-361.}MOL 163.1

• Before church leaders could get their breath after purchasing the Loma Linda property, Ellen White was painting the future of Loma Linda as the principal center for educating medical personnel. Far beyond any human dream, she was calmly adamant: “This will be.” ^{86The General Conference Bulletin, 351, 352.}MOL 163.2

Since Ellen White’s awesome prediction, Loma Linda University has graduated many thousands in various fields of advanced education. It is internationally known for some of its medical achievements.MOL 163.3