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The Washington Sanitarium

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 16, 1907

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 20.

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The Washington Sanitarium

By D. H. KRESS

It will not be necessary for me to attempt to give a description of the building and its equipment, or speak of the favorable surroundings, since this has already been done. I do, however, wish to express my gratitude to God for giving us such a delightful spot in which to begin what we hope will prove to be the nucleus of a work that will be carried forward in harmony with the revealed will of God and in the spirit of the great Medical Missionary.
In order that this may be done, we must have connected with the Sanitarium men and women who are Christians and are willing to lift and stand ready to do whatever needs to be done. Every work has to have a beginning, and the beginning is always hard. The little sprout in the soil meets with many obstacles and obstructions in its efforts to come to the surface. So it is with every principle of truth and every effort of reform. But all this is needful, and should not lead to discouragement. These supposed hindrances and obstacles are really blessings and helps in disguise. All our sanitariums come up out of a certain amount of tribulation. This is needful for the development of faithful workers. Adversity affords an opportunity to make manifest men and women of real worth, and aids in the development of promising young men and women.
Our sanitariums should have connected with them as workers only those who have been previously tested, and who have given evidence that they are in possession of the spirit of the true Medical Missionary, who for man's sake became poor, and lived among men as a servant, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for many. We expect to carry forward a training-school in connection with the Sanitarium. The object of the training-school will not be to turn out professional nurses. Its true aim will be to afford an opportunity for missionaries to receive a medical training, thus fully qualifying them for gospel work and enabling them to carry out the commission of Christ in their labors: “Into whatsoever city ye enter, . . . heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” The young man who has the ministry in view needs such a training in order to make a success of the ministry. The young woman who is desirous of becoming a church-school teacher certainly should possess the medical training in order to do justice to her work. The Bible workers can not accomplish the good that God desires them to accomplish, in house-to-house labor, without this training. Our sanitarium training-schools should not draw men and women away from our conferences into the purely medical work; they should exist for the purpose of aiding in qualifying missionary workers to do successful gospel work in the conferences as recognized conference laborers.
In order that our sanitariums may be sanitariums of missionary influence, we must have connected with them men and women of maturity and experience who have given evidence that they are real home missionaries. In reading the many letters already received from former sanitarium workers and those desiring to enter the training-school for medical missionaries, our hearts have been made glad because of the willingness expressed on the part of so many to come to the Lord's help in placing this institution in a position so that his purpose concerning it may be carried out. We must expect to meet with difficulties, but we have no doubt that the work will prosper, and that the Lord's blessing will attend the efforts put forth in developing this branch of the third angel's message. There is a bright future before the Sanitarium at Washington.
We desire the hearty co-operation and prayers of all our people in behalf of the sanitarium work at this place, and we trust that the right kind of workers may be encouraged to connect with this and similar institutions. We would be pleased to hear from those who desire further information in regard to the Sanitarium or the training-school. We shall also be pleased to have our brethren assist us by recommending patients to the Sanitarium that could be benefited by a short stay. We can assure our brethren that we will do our utmost to help all such. D. H. KRESS, M. D.