At the 1909 General Conference
333
part of Europe, from Asia, Africa, South America, Australasia, and
the islands of the sea, to prepare their hearts for terrible scenes of
strife and oppression beyond anything they had conceived of, soon to
be witnessed among the nations of earth. “Very soon,” she declared,
“the strife and oppression of foreign nations will break forth with an
intensity that you do not now anticipate. You need to realize the impor-
tance of becoming acquainted with God in prayer. When you have the
assurance that He hears you, you will be cheerful in tribulation; you
will rise above despondency, because you experience the quickening
influence of the power of God in your hearts. What we need is the
truth. Nothing can take the place of this,—the sacred, solemn truth
that is to enable us to stand the test of trial, even as Christ endured.
The General Conference Bulletin, May 21, 1909
.
And in the farewell service marking the close of the Conference,
she once more appealed to the delegates assembled from all parts of
the world, to endure as beholding the Invisible. She exhorted every
worker to go forth in the strength of the Mighty One of Israel. She
declared that while she might never have the privilege of meeting her
brethren in another Conference like this one, yet she would pray for
them, and prepare to meet them all in the kingdom of glory.
[422]
Important Counsels
It was during the 1909 General Conference that Mrs. White read a
manuscript calling for loyalty to the principles of health reform; [
This
manuscript was afterward published in
Testimonies for the Church
9:153-166
.] and she also spoke to the delegates on the same sub-
ject. [
See
The General Conference Bulletin, May 30, 1909
.] Another
manuscript read was “A plea for Medical Missionary Evangelists;”
and still another “The Loma Linda College of Evangelists” [
For these,
see
Testimonies for the Church 9:167-178
.]
Following the Conference session, Mrs. White met twice with the
members of the General Conference Committee, before going on to
Philadelphia and other cities of the East, and thence to camp meetings
and institutions in the Central States and the Middle West, en route to
her California home.
In her interviews with the General Conference Committee, Mrs.
White read manuscripts dealing with some of the problems that were