Arrival at Nimes

The next morning when they arrived in Nimes, D. T. Bourdeau and his two assistants, J. D. Comte and J. P. Badaut, were on hand to meet them. A tram took them to Bourdeau’s comfortable second-floor flat at Rue Freres Mineurs 5.EGWE 230.3

Bourdeau had started the work in southern France ten years earlier, but political turmoil and legal restrictions on evangelistic activities had hampered his efforts. He had returned to the area, this time to Nimes, in June of 1886, accompanied by James Erzberger and Albert Vuilleumier, who stayed until just before Ellen White’s arrival. Comte, a former Baptist evangelist whom Bourdeau had converted in Bastia, Corsica, two years earlier, and Badaut, from the church in Granges, France, were working with Bourdeau as colporteurs.EGWE 230.4

The early meetings in the 40-foot round tent that Bourdeau pitched had been disrupted by rowdy students. Finally admission cards were issued to the serious listeners in the congregation, and the nine-foot wall surrounding the tent was patrolled inside and out, local police assisting.EGWE 231.1

By the time Ellen White arrived on October 15, some fifteen people had decided to keep the Sabbath, and a lively interest was aroused through the tent meetings and the Bible readings conducted in the homes.EGWE 231.2

The next day, Sabbath, she spoke twice, once in the forenoon and again in the evening. The French were delighted to hear the message from the American visitor.EGWE 231.3

William Ings spoke in the afternoon on the subject of the restoration of the Sabbath. When he made his appeal there was a good response. Sixteen people bore their testimony in the social meeting that followed. These converts had just embraced the Sabbath and begun to keep it. They were “witnesses for God to reflect the light in that ... city” said the servant of the Lord. And Nimes was no small city! Here centuries earlier the merchant Peter Waldo had preached the truths of the Bible, and gathered about him a company of “soldiers”—” The Poor Men of Nimes”—to witness for Christ. They were forced by persecution to flee to northern Italy to seek shelter in the mountains. There the Waldensian movement grew and became strong.EGWE 231.4