Among Strangers

Again and again in those early days the youthful messenger was called upon to point out, among strangers she had never seen before, some whose lives were secretly evil, while pretensions to piety were being used to secure a place in the little flock. Sometimes those pointed out acknowledged the fault and sought God for pardon, while in other cases a person might rise up and flee the place.SPIAM 70.2

It was not alone in the first years and in those Eastern States that these experiences came. In 1935, at a meeting in Oregon, I met an elderly believer who told me of an experience that had meant much to him, many years before in Minnesota:SPIAM 70.3

“At first,” he said, “I was skeptical, though a member of the church. I doubted about Mrs. White’s work. But I was at a meeting in Minnesota where she was present. She spoke, exhorting and admonishing. In the course of the talk she pointed out one man, an elder of the church. In a kind, appealing manner, but earnestly and sternly, she said that in a quiet way he was teaching ideas contrary to the faith of the body. And, further, that he was doing wrong in his conduct—leading a double life unknown to his brethren. It fairly took my breath away. But the man stood up and said that all Mrs. White had said was true. All my skepticism and doubting vanished. I had seen with my own eyes and heard with my ears a thing that I knew could have been done only through the Spirit of God.”SPIAM 70.4