The Times of Volume Six
This volume presents testimonies penned by Ellen G. White
during her sojourn in Australia. Except for an occasional reference
to the local field, the reader would not detect that the writer was in
another continent, for the instruction is world wide in its scope. It
is a fact, nevertheless, that the revelations given to Mrs. White had
a direct bearing on current issues and the development of the work
at the time of writing. It is understandable, therefore, that there are
represented in this volume topics which were related to the lines of
work being developed in the Australasian field during this period.
Publication of the book took place in the year 1901, after Mrs. White
had returned to the United States.
In its topical arrangement, volume 6 is quite different from the
preceding five volumes. Up to this time the testimonies had first
appeared in pamphlets and small books as counsel was progressively
given for the Church. The articles were printed largely in
chronological order, and dealt with almost every phase of Christian
experience and every line of denominational work. As the content
of these thirty-three publications was reprinted in volumes 1 to 5,
the original order was left unchanged. A number of the articles were
communications addressed first to individuals and later published
for the church because the cases presented illustrated the experience
of many others. Some of the articles dealt with local situations and
special issues. There was some repetition of thought, as important
lines of truth were stressed again and again as the Church was
in danger of neglecting some line of work or of letting slip some
church standard. These testimonies bore rich fruit in the lives of
Seventh-day Adventists and in the work of the denomination.
With the publication of volume 6, eleven years after volume
5 was issued, the Testimonies for the Church took on a new form.
The work of the denomination, now becoming world wide in its [4]
scope, presented needs and problems which called forth considerable
counsel and instruction in certain particular lines. This represented
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largely an amplification of lines of instruction presented in earlier
years and a re-emphasis of counsel. Consequently it was not difficult,
when the articles for volume 6 were gathered for publication, to
arrange them in topical order.
That Mrs. White might assist in the starting of a training school
in Australia, she was asked to go to that field in 1891. She led
out in the appeals for the school and assisted in laying plans for
the work. Being in a new field, there was little by way of past
experience or precedent to influence the plans. Under these favorable
circumstances, and with the spirit of prophecy counsels to guide
and guard, the Australasian Missionary College was established in
a backward country region. From this training center, Australian
youth, with the practical education gained at Avondale, were to serve
in the home fields and to penetrate the far-flung islands of the South
Pacific. In its rural environment, in its broad industrial program, and
in some other features the Avondale school was to become a pattern
school. As the instruction concerning the conduct of our educational
work was presented anew to guide and mold this institution, entering
into the many details of location, finance, curriculum, discipline,
and administration, it was included in this volume for the benefit of
the church around the world.
When Mrs. White reached Australian Shores, she found a work
well begun, but still in its infancy. In the aggressive evangelistic
program which was developed and fostered, not only the evangelists
themselves were engaged in service, but in not a few cases they
were joined by their wives in giving Bible studies and sometimes
in preaching. Several well-planned evangelistic camp meetings
were held, which were carefully followed up so as to conserve the
harvest. There were many conversions, followed by baptisms and
[5] the organizing of new churches and the building of meetinghouses.
Not only in the planning for the work was the influence of the
spirit of prophecy felt, but Mrs. White herself took an active part in
preaching, in personal work, and in assisting in the raising of money
for the new church buildings. Counsel regarding these phases of our
work is found in this volume.
It was in the times of volume 6 that Seventh-day Adventists
became more fully mission conscious and accepted the whole world
as a field of labor. The building and launching of the mission boat,
Times of Volume Six ix
“Pitcairn,” in California in 1890 fired the imagination of young
and old alike and focused attention on an around-the-world mission
program. The reports of the voyages of the “Pitcairn,” as it pioneered
mission work in the South Sea Islands, were eagerly watched by all.
It was not long until colporteur evangelists entered India with
our literature, and in 1894 our missionaries in Africa pushed up into
distinctively native territories and established the Solusi Mission, our
first foreign mission among heathen peoples. Ministers were also
soon sent into South America. Then, too, Mrs. White’s presence
in Australia for nine years as a pioneer worker helped to keep the
eyes of Seventh-day Adventists on the ends of the earth and to place
emphasis on the admonition given on page 31 of this volume: “It
is our work to give to the whole world,—to every nation, kindred,
tongue, and people,—the saving truths of the third angel’s message.”
Throughout the volume various mission fields are mentioned by
name, and appeals for men and means are presented, together with
counsel and encouragement concerning the work in different lands.
A number of colleges and worker training schools were started
during the times of volume 6. Early in the period Union College at
Lincoln, Nebraska, was opened in 1891 and Walla Walla College
in the state of Washington in 1892. The others were in Australia,
South Africa, and Denmark. Sanitariums were also opened at Boulder,
Colorado, in 1896, in Denmark and South Africa in 1897, and
at South Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1899. Two new publishing [6]
houses were added to the list of institutions, one in Hamburg, Germany,
in 1895, and the other in Buenos Aires, South America, in
1897. Church schools presenting elementary work were also begun
in several places.
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
Though many warnings were given against large denominational
centers and centralizing tendencies, the steadily growing work
seemed to require more people and larger facilities at our denominational
headquarters at Battle Creek, Michigan, and plans were
