Making the First Payments

“We then conferred with Elder R. S. Owen, who had made the suggestion as to where we might find the first thousand dollars to secure the option. He was unable to make any recommendation as to who might help, but he said, ‘While I don’t have the money, yet here is my home; you may put a mortgage on it for a thousand dollars to secure the money.’SHM 357.1

“It was not necessary to put a mortgage on the property, as his word was good for the amount. And so on the very day it was due, we were enabled to meet the balance of the first payment on the property. This insured the holding of it until the delegates from the churches should decide what responsibility, if any, the [Southern California] conference should assume.”—Ibid.SHM 357.2

The time came when the second $5,000 would soon be due. The decision of the churches to make the purchase of Loma Linda a conference enterprise had been reached. But no means was in sight, though many letters of solicitation had been written, and every likely prospect in the Southern California Conference had been approached. In this time of distress and anxiety a delegation visited the officials of a sister conference in California and requested permission to solicit means in a portion of its territory. Those making this request were reminded that the securing of the Loma Linda property had been contrary to the advice of the Pacific Union Conference. This fact, together with their own financial needs, formed the basis of the objection to any solicitation of means in their field.SHM 357.3

As the day drew still nearer when the payment was due, and no money was in sight, those carrying the financial responsibility of the Southern California Conference were in deep perplexity. Some expressed the fear that the conference credit would be jeopardized by this new undertaking, and urged that even yet it would be better to lose the $5,000 already paid than to go ahead. Again we will let Elder Burden tell the story of the timely deliverance:SHM 357.4