p. 17 | Our Sanitariums by D. H. K.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jan 12, 1911

Our Sanitariums

By D. H. K.

No one who has been connected with the work of the third angel's message for any length of time can doubt that our sanitariums have exerted an influence which has been helpful in breaking down prejudice, and in making friends with a superior class of people. Ministering to the sick is a work that always commends itself to honest men and women. How much we owe to these institutions for the many openings we now have in home and foreign fields, we may not be able to estimate, but we do know that the work they have done bears the divine credentials.

To the question from the messengers sent by John, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Jesus replied, “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” What Jesus did, furnished the only reliable and convincing evidence that he was the Son of God. So to-day this same personal ministry to the afflicted will carry conviction wherever the third angel's message is proclaimed with power.

The impression made upon patients may be best illustrated by citing a few incidents:— While in England, a gentleman of means, after visiting the United States in search of health, was advised by his friends to call at my office for an examination and advice. We were just opening our medical work, and in the absence of office equipment, I examined him on the floor, on my knees. After the examination, I gave him the best advice I could, and he went away, soon afterward leaving for his home in Australia. At that time I had not dreamed of going to Australia myself, but two years later found me on my way to that field. After my arrival, this man's friends in England notified him of the fact. He at once looked up our sanitarium, came for treatment, and was so impressed with what he saw and heard that he was led to investigate the truth, and later he began the observance of the Sabbath. One of the hardest tasks before him was to tell his foreman and employees of the change in his religious views. He hardly knew how to proceed. On the arrival of his train at his home station, he stepped on the platform, shook hands with his foreman, and said: “I wish to tell you I have begun to keep the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath.” To his surprise, the foreman replied, “Well, you are right. I have for some time been convinced that Saturday is the right day to keep.” The Lord gave him favor with all his employees. Sometime later one of our ministers was called upon to baptize seventeen souls as a result, directly and indirectly, of this man's godly influence.

Later a young man who was very much emaciated came for treatment. He improved in health, and was so favorably impressed with the spiritual atmosphere of the sanitarium that he, too, decided to keep the Sabbath, and unite his lot with us. His mother, an estimable woman of considerable means, had heard unfavorable reports about Seventh-day Adventists, and was naturally greatly exercised about her son. She said to me, while visiting in Melbourne (her home city),

“I fear my son has not studied into your doctrines sufficiently, but has been influenced by the lives of those who minister to him.” I advised her to visit him at the sanitarium, and ascertain if such was the case. She came shortly after this, and brought her daughter with her. Together the three studied the Bible, with the result that her daughter also determined to keep the Sabbath. The mother, more perplexed than ever, hardly knew what to do; but being an honest searcher after truth herself, she was later led to see the importance of this message, and threw her all into the work. Her daughter afterward took the nurses' course, and later was sent as a missionary to Singapore. She was one of the most noble Christian young women we had the privilege of training while in Australia. The mother and son have done much active missionary work, and have greatly assisted the cause with their means and influence.

Recently the General Conference office received a donation of one thousand dollars from a sister who was brought into the truth at the Sydney Sanitarium. A man and his wife who have already donated several thousand dollars were also brought into the truth through sanitarium work. These people with their means were needed at a time when the work went hard, and great things were undertaken in Australia. As we look back, we can see how marvelously the Lord wrought in all this.

During our stay in Australia, we were able to count thirty-three souls that had accepted the truth directly through the sanitarium work, not counting those who have been brought into the truth through the individual effort of these converts. Other cases might be cited, equally as interesting as the ones already mentioned; but my purpose is merely to give a glimpse of what our sanitariums have done in the past, and what we expect them to do in the future under God's special blessing. When the great ingathering takes place, we shall find many who received their first impressions of the truth at one of our sanitariums.

D. H. K.