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Life Sketches of Ellen G. White
help of the Spirit of God, we can build a structure which will last
through the eternal ages, what a work we have done! Cooperating with
God in this work, we can think of Christ’s words, so full of assurance,
‘I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which
need no repentance.’ God cares for the human souls to whom He gave
His only-begotten Son, and we must see all men through the eyes of
divine compassion.”
Not long after the dream about the ripening fruit, letters came from
Africa, stating that Mrs. A. E. Wessels would lend to Sister White the
money she had asked for. Joyfully this news was communicated to the
school board, and immediately the cutting and sawing of timber for
the buildings was hastened along.
October 5, 1896, at 5:30 P. M., a group of about thirty-five gathered
on the school campus, and Mrs. White laid the first brick of the
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foundation of Bethel Hall, which was to be the young ladies’ dormitory.
She then briefly related her experience, as follows:
“Often during this time of financial straits, I awakened in the night
sorely distressed over the situation. To what source could we look
for help? I earnestly prayed that the Lord would open the way for
us to build, and that although there seemed no prospect of securing
means, He would send the needed help. One night I fell asleep, and
dreamed that I was weeping and praying before the Lord. A hand
touched me on the shoulder, and a voice said: ‘I have means in many
families in Africa that is being bound up in worldly enterprises. Send
to the Wessels brothers. Tell them the Lord has need of money. It will
do them good to help to advance My work here with their entrusted
means. Tell them to lay up treasure for themselves in heaven, where
moth will not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal; for where their treasure is, there will their heart be also.’”
Putting Up the First Buildings
For four months the sawmill and the carpenters made very good
progress. The ladies’ dormitory was nearly completed, and the foun-
dation pillars for the Dining Hall were being laid. According to the
architect’s plans, this was to be a one-story structure, eighty by twenty-
six feet in size, for the accommodation of dining- and serving-rooms,