Chapter 32—Homeward Bound

Aboard the City of Rome

London! Southampton! Wellingborough! Kettering! Grimsby! Birkenhead! Liverpool!—all of them towns and cities in old England—the last visited by Ellen White before she boarded the City of Rome at Liverpool on August 3. She was bound for home at last! These names would linger in her memory as long as she lived.EGWE 314.1

At eleven in the morning they arrived at Liverpool. Here she met her daughter-in-law, Mary K. White, and her two children, Ella and tiny Mabel, whom she had not seen for several months. W. C. White was left behind in Basel to complete some last-minute work “that demanded his special attention” (Manuscript 27, 1887).EGWE 314.2

At the home of Brother Drew in Liverpool, Sister White enjoyed some last pleasant hours. There she met a clerical brother who had recently accepted the Sabbath, a Pastor Smith. “He has been a minister of the State Church and was separated from the church because of his receiving the doctrine of immortality of the soul only through Christ, in accordance with the Word of God.”—Ibid. She rejoiced to see this honest Christian advance in the light and she did her best to encourage him.EGWE 314.3

Her extensive counsel concerning our reaching “ministers of other denominations” is wise and sensible:EGWE 314.4

“We have a work to do for the ministers of other churches. God wants them to be saved. They, like ourselves, can have immortality only through faith and obedience. We must labor for them earnestly that they may obtain it. God wants them to have a part in His special work for this time. He wants them to be among the number who are giving to His household meat in due season. Why should they not be engaged in this work?”—Testimonies for the Church 6:77, 78.EGWE 315.1