Ellen White Inspects Loma Linda

Elder Burden, his wife, and fellow workers were inspecting the grounds and the buildings as the express wagon from Redlands drove up carrying Ellen White, W. C. White and his wife, and others. Sister White's gaze was fixed on the main building.6BIO 18.1

“Willie, I have been here before,” she said as she stepped down from the wagon.6BIO 18.2

“No, Mother,” he replied, “you have never been here.”6BIO 18.3

“Then this is the very place the Lord has shown me,” she said, “for it is all familiar.”6BIO 18.4

Ellen White turned to one of the ministers and declared, “We must have this place. We should reason from cause to effect. The Lord has not given us this property for any common purpose.”6BIO 18.5

As they looked over grounds and buildings, she said again and again, “This is the very place the Lord has shown me.”6BIO 18.6

How closely her observations were noted! Following Elder Burden into the recreation building, she commented:6BIO 18.7

This building will be of great value to us. A school will be established here. Redlands will become a center as also will Loma Linda. Battle Creek is going down. God will reestablish His medical work at this place.—W. L. Johns and R. H. Utt, eds., The Vision Bold, 179.6BIO 18.8

It was past noon, and the representatives of the Loma Linda Association invited the entire party into the dining room to partake of a sumptuous vegetarian dinner. Then the manager opened a door and ushered the group into the parlor. All were waiting eagerly to hear from Ellen White; she did not disappoint them. She spoke on the work of the true medical missionary. Burden reports:6BIO 18.9

I think I never heard her paint in such glowing terms the work of the true medical missionary.... The place and surroundings and theme seemed to blend in such a way as to inspire her with the wonderful work that could be accomplished in those lines if men would follow the plans and methods of the great medical Missionary in their labors to serve a perishing world.—DF 8, J. A. Burden, “The Location and Development of Loma Linda,” p. 110.6BIO 18.10

The manager of the Loma Linda Association stayed by Burden's side. Tears flowed down his cheeks; as Ellen White finished, he turned to Burden and said: “I would give the world to be with you people in a work such as this. It was what we had in mind, but we did not know how to carry it out. I am glad you people are obtaining this property, as I know our plans will now be realized.” Burden invited him to stay and help carry forward the work. “Impossible!” he replied. “Only Christians of the highest ideals could carry out such a work.”— Ibid.6BIO 19.1

In spite of the evidences of God's leading, both in circumstances and in Ellen White's counsel, the group facing such a stupendous project was unready to come to any decision. The financial problems loomed too large.6BIO 19.2

So before taking any steps it was felt that the matter should be placed before the Los Angeles Carr Street church, the largest in the conference. The meeting was called for ten o'clock the next day, June 12.6BIO 19.3

While most of the group returned to Los Angeles on the evening train, Ellen White and her party and the conference committee remained to inspect the property more thoroughly. Burden reports that “Sister White's interest was so intense that she had not only inspected the rooms in the main building and cottages, but visited the kitchen, dining room, and storerooms.”— Ibid., 111.6BIO 19.4

She was thrilled to see the canned fruit and supplies and was deeply impressed with the quality of the furniture, linens, rugs, and silverware.6BIO 19.5

She did not meet with the conference committee that evening, but there it was argued that if a hundred businessmen and physicians, with all their resources, had failed in their Loma Linda project, what should lead the church group to think they could succeed? Thus with four days remaining until June 15, when the first payment was due, the committee adjourned to await the meeting called in Los Angeles the next day.6BIO 19.6

By 10:00 A.M. Monday the church on Carr Street was crowded. Sister White reviewed what had been revealed to her of the medical missionary work that should be carried forward in southern California. She told the audience that Loma Linda recalled to her mind visions of properties that ought to be secured for sanitarium work. The church members voted in favor of securing the property for a sanitarium.6BIO 19.7