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A Prophet Among You

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    The Work and the Helpers

    The larger part of the work of Ellen White’s assistants was not that of correcting errors in grammar and spelling. It lay rather in the field of gathering from her writings passages that would make suitable articles for the periodicals and chapters for books. Had Ellen White undertaken to perform this task herself, it would have meant that her time available for new writing would have been reduced so materially that it would not have been possible for her to discharge her responsibility in that line.APAY 338.1

    On October 23, 1907, Mrs. White addressed a letter to Elder F. M. Wilcox in response to an inquiry he had made of her. A portion of her letter read as follows:APAY 338.2

    “About a year after the death of my husband, I was very feeble, and it was feared that I might live but a short time. At the Healdsburg camp meeting, I was taken into the tent where there was a large gathering of our people. I asked to be raised up from the lounge on which I was lying, and assisted to the speaker’s platform, that I might say a few words of farewell to the people. As I tried to speak, the power of God came upon me, and thrilled me through and through. Many in the congregation observed that I was weak, and that my face and hands seemed bloodless; but as I began speaking they saw the color coming into my lips and face, and knew that a miracle was being wrought in my behalf. I stood before the people healed, and spoke with freedom.APAY 338.3

    “After this experience, light was given me that the Lord had raised me up to bear testimony for Him in many countries, and that He would give me grace and strength for the work. It was also shown me that my son, W. C. White, should be my helper and counselor, and that the Lord would place on him the spirit of wisdom and of a sound mind. I was shown that the Lord would guide him, and that he would not be led away, because he would recognize the leadings and guidance of the Holy Spirit.APAY 338.4

    “The assurance was given me: ‘You are not alone in the work the Lord has chosen you to do. You will be taught of God how to bring the truth in its simplicity before the people. The God of truth will sustain you, and convincing proof will be given that He is leading you. God will give you of His Holy Spirit, and His grace and wisdom and keeping power will be with you....APAY 339.1

    “The Lord will be your Instructor. You will meet with deceptive influences; they will come in many forms, in pantheism and other forms of infidelity; but follow where I shall guide you, and you will be safe. I will put My Spirit upon your son, and will strengthen him to do his work. He has the grace of humility. The Lord has selected him to act an important part in His work. For this purpose was he born.APAY 339.2

    “This word was given me in 1882, and since that time I have been assured that the grace of wisdom was given to him. More recently, in a time of perplexity, the Lord said: ‘I have given you My servant, W. C. White, and I will give him judgment to be your helper. I will give him skill and understanding to manage wisely.’APAY 339.3

    “The Lord has given me other faithful helpers in my work. Many of my discourses have been reported, and have been put before the people in printed form. Through nearly the whole of my long experience I have endeavored, day by day, to write out that which was revealed to me in visions of the night. Many messages of counsel and reproof and encouragement have been sent out to individuals, and much of the instruction that I have received for the church has been published in periodicals and books, and circulated in many lands.APAY 339.4

    “As the work has grown, the number of my helpers has increased.APAY 339.5

    “Sister Marian Davis was a great help in copying my testimonies, and in preparing for publication the manuscripts which I placed in her hand. I appreciated her help very much. She now sleeps in Jesus.APAY 340.1

    “For eleven years Miss Maggie Hare was among my workers. She was a faithful and true helper. She returned to New Zealand. [She again connected with the work in 1911.]APAY 340.2

    “Recently Miss Minnie Hawkins, of Hobart, Tasmania, who was one of my copyists in Australia, has joined my staff of workers.APAY 340.3

    “During the General Conference of 1901, Brother C. C. Crisler was impressed by the Spirit of God that I needed him in my work, and he offered his services. I gladly accepted his help. He is a faithful, efficient, and conscientious worker.APAY 340.4

    “Dores Robinson has assisted in copying my testimonies, and he has been diligently preparing ‘Life Incidents’ for publication.APAY 340.5

    “Helen Graham is a good stenographer, and helps Sister Sara McEnterfer and W. C. White in their work of correspondence.APAY 340.6

    “Sister Sarah Peck was my bookkeeper and helper for a number of years. She has left us to engage in schoolwork at College View. We now have as bookkeeper, Brother Paul C. Mason.APAY 340.7

    “Sister McEnterfer is my traveling companion, nurse, and helper in many ways.APAY 340.8

    “Sister Mary Steward and her mother are with us now; and Mary, who for many years has served as proofreader in the offices at Battle Creek and Nashville, has united with my workers.APAY 340.9

    “The work is constantly moving forward. We are making earnest efforts to place my writings before the people. We hope that several new books will go to press shortly. If I am incapacitated for labor, my faithful workers are prepared to carry forward the work.APAY 340.10

    “Abundant light has been given to our people in these last days. Whether or not my life is spared, my writings will constantly speak, and their work will go forward as long as time shall last. My writings are kept on file in the office, and even though I should not live, these words that have been given to me by the Lord will still have life and will speak to the people.” “The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church,” pages 10-14.APAY 340.11

    In an address given in 1913 to the General Conference session, W. C. White described the work of Mrs. White’s assistants—that of gathering from her writings suitable material for book chapters. Because of the importance of a clear understanding of this point, we quote it here:APAY 341.1

    “Our workers are now gathering together material for a new edition of Gospel Workers. We are also gathering into chapters what mother has written on Old Testament history. Probably nine tenths of this work is already done, and we hope that the book may be published before Christmas. Some of this matter was about ready, we thought, to place in the printer’s hands, when mother, upon going over some of the chapters, expressed herself as not fully satisfied. She thought there were other things she had written that we had not yet found, and she desired that these be searched out, if possible, and included. So we have laid the manuscript away in our fireproof vault, and after this Conference probably four different persons will spend six or eight weeks in reading through the thousands of pages of manuscript in the file to see if we can find the additional matter that she thinks is in existence.APAY 341.2

    “It would be comparatively easy to hasten along the preparation of these manuscripts for publication in book form, if we were to write in a little here and there where she has written only a portion of the story on certain topics and has left a portion incomplete. I say, if her secretaries were authorized by God to do that work, and could write in the connections, the book could be prepared for the printer much faster. But this cannot be done; we can deal only with the matter which we have in hand.APAY 341.3

    “For this reason, when you get the book on Old Testament history, you will find that there are some stories partly told, and not fully completed. You will find that there are many things you hoped to read about, that are not mentioned. Mother has written quite fully on Solomon, something on the divided monarchy, a little about Elijah and Elisha, quite fully about Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah; and we are gathering this and other matter and grouping it into chapters.APAY 342.1

    “You may say, What do you mean by this ‘gathering’? Did not Sister White sit down and write out quite fully and connectedly that which she had to say about the controversy, about Jeroboam and Rehoboam, about Jeremiah and Isaiah and other Old Testament characters?—No; not on all the principal characters. Her life has been a busy one. She has been kept constantly at the front, speaking to the people, meeting emergencies. Some of the most precious things she has written about Old Testament and New Testament characters were written first in letters to individuals. Some of the most precious paragraphs in Desire of Ages, passages describing Christ’s controversies with the Pharisees and the Herodians, were written under circumstances like these:—APAY 342.2

    “At Ashfield, New South Wales, Elder Corliss and some faithful helpers had been presenting the truth until there was a group of about thirty people keeping the Sabbath, ready to be baptized and organized into a church. The Campbellites could not bear to see that done. A bitter opponent came and challenged our brethren personally and through the papers. This was ignored as long as it could be. Finally, our friends, those in the truth, demanded that there be a discussion. So a discussion was arranged for.APAY 342.3

    “In the night season this matter was laid before mother. She had never seen the Campbellite champion; but the man was shown to her—his spirit, his methods, his tactics. He had nothing to lose in that community; and it was presented to mother that his plan would be to endeavor to irritate Elder Corliss, and get him to say things that would discredit him before the people who were embracing the truth.APAY 342.4

    “During the progress of that discussion, mother wrote to Elder Corliss, stating that it had been presented to her that his opponent in the discussion would work on certain lines, and that he must take such a course as to disappoint the enemy. As she wrote these cautions, her memory would be revived as to what had been presented to her about the work of Christ, and how the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians had followed Him with accusations and questions, endeavoring to discredit Him before the people.APAY 343.1

    “When we came to make up the chapters for Desire of Ages, we found in those letters the most vivid description of those experiences, that she had written anywhere. And we found other most precious passages that had been written first in letters to members of the General Conference Committee, and to conference presidents, regarding situations which were illustrated by the experiences of these Old and New Testament characters.APAY 343.2

    “Being written in this way, it takes much time to search through the writings and find these passages, and bring them together into manuscripts. After these are gathered, and grouped into chapter form, the manuscript is always submitted to mother. She reads it over carefully. Up to the present time every chapter of every book, and all the articles for our periodicals—unless they happen to be reprints—have passed through her hands, and have been read over by her. Sometimes she interlines; sometimes she adds much matter; sometimes she says, ‘Cannot you find more on this subject?’ And then, when more has been found, and added, the manuscript is recopied, and handed back to her again for examination. And when she finally signs it and returns it to us we are permitted to send it out.” W. C. White, The General Conference Bulletin, June 1, 1913.APAY 343.3

    In a letter to Elder G. A. Irwin, president of the General Conference, Mrs. White wrote, in 1900, of the work of Marian Davis:APAY 343.4

    “She is my bookmaker.... She does her work in this way. She takes my articles which are published in the papers, and pastes them in blank books. She also has a copy of all the letters I write. In preparing a chapter for a book, Marian remembers that I have written something on that special point, which may make the matter more forcible. She begins to search for this, and if when she finds it, she sees that it will make the chapter more clear, she adds it.APAY 344.1

    “The books are not Marian’s productions, but my own, gathered from all my writings. Marian has a large field from which to draw, and her ability to arrange the matter is of great value to me. It saves my poring over a mass of matter, which I have no time to do.” Letter 61a, 1900.APAY 344.2

    In chapter 16, “The Ellen G. White Books,” reference was made to the preparation of material on the life of Christ. Records in the Ellen G. White Publications Office contain valuable information regarding the work on the manuscripts that ultimately became The Desire of Ages, Christ’s Object Lessons, and Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing. They shed light on the work of the assistants.APAY 344.3

    Ellen White was away from home at times while work was progressing on her writings on the life of Christ. During such times her helpers regularly sought her counsel by correspondence. Some of these letters, written with the thought that they would be read only by Mrs. White, show us the kind of work that could be done by the helpers and how they were limited by what the messenger provided. In this instance the letters were penned by Marian Davis. The letters reveal that:APAY 344.4

    1. Major responsibility for the gathering and arrangement of copy rested on Miss Davis. Plans for this were laid in counsel with Ellen White.APAY 344.5

    2. Marian Davis was entirely dependent on Mrs. White to supply material for her work. When there was nothing available to complete a chapter or an incident, her work was at a standstill. Extracts from the letters are enlightening:APAY 344.6

    August 2, 1893. “Now about the book. I am so glad you are writing on the two journeys to Galilee. I was so afraid you would not bring that out. Shall hope to receive something from you before long.”APAY 345.1

    October 18, 1893. “O, when I see how we seem to be in the circles of a whirlpool, that is sweeping Us faster and faster toward the great consummation, I do long to see this book go out, to reveal Christ to the people as He is, in His beauty.... I shall be so glad when we can talk over the work. So many points come up, that I want to ask about.... I will send you a few more chapters soon.... I am real anxious to get some chapters finished and some gaps filled.”APAY 345.2

    November 25, 1895. “We sent the letter for Sydney workers to Brother----. It was so good. I must keep all the general for my scrapbooks. Of late I have been using the matter gleaned from late letters, testimonies, etc. Have found some of the most precious things, some in those letters to Elder Corliss. They have been to me like a storehouse of treasures. There’s something in these personal testimonies that are written under deep feeling, that comes close to the heart. It seems to me the things gathered in this way give a power and significance to the book that nothing else does.”APAY 345.3

    An instance of the finding of a gem and its insertion in one of the chapters prepared for Christ’s Object Lessons is mentioned in another letter:APAY 345.4

    March 10, 1898. “The article I send, ‘No Reward but of Grace,’ the parable of the laborers, is the last of the matter that was prepared for the book.... The last paragraphs seem to me very precious.... A few sentences you will recognize as from a letter lately written, ‘The golden gate is not opened to the proud in spirit, but the everlasting portals will open wide to the trembling touch of a little child.’ 9This thought may be found in Christ’’s Object Lessons, page 404. It was written by Ellen White in a letter to Mrs. Wessels of Africa, dated February 21, 1898.APAY 345.5

    “You left me a manuscript on the Unjust Steward, and I have been collecting material to complete this, and have found some precious things to add to the closing chapters of the life of Christ. Of course I cannot complete the chapters (the last two) until I receive what you write on the ministry of healing.... When the Unjust Steward is done, I shall have finished all I can do on the parable book, until I hear from you.”APAY 348.1

    Even after a portion of the manuscript for the book on the life of Christ had gone to the publishers, the Pacific Press Publishing Association, Miss Davis found in new manuscripts material she wished to add to some of the chapters. She sent this to California, hoping that it would not arrive too late to be included in the book.APAY 348.2

    March 1, 1898. “I have been gathering out the precious things from those new manuscripts on the early life of Jesus. Sent a number of new pages to California by the Vancouver mail, and shall send more for later chapters by the next mail. Two of these articles on Christ’s missionary work I let Brother James have to read in church. Last Sabbath he read the one which speaks of the Saviour’s denying Himself of food to give to the poor. These things are unspeakably precious. I hope it is not too late to get them into the book. It has been a feast to work on this matter.” The manuscript referred to is MS. 22, 1898, and the portion mentioned is found in The Desire of Ages, 86, 87.APAY 348.3

    The use of literary assistants greatly facilitated the work of Ellen White, but the messages are fully the work of the messenger. Her characteristic style is unmistakable to one well acquainted with the writings. Despite the change of helpers through the years, the books consistently display the individuality of the author. Always there appears the firm grasp of Bible thought and language, the facility of expression, the colorful phrase, the persistent but winsome appeal. The early letters which had no benefit of the reading and suggestions of others are of the same character as those of later years. When the phases of inspiration mentioned in this chapter are understood, the work of the literary assistants is seen to occupy a natural and necessary place in the production of the Ellen White books, articles, and letters. The preparation of books and articles for publication since the death of Mrs. White will be presented in chapter 18.APAY 348.4

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