Important Meetings in Vermont by Alonzo C. Bourdeau; Daniel T. Bourdeau

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 26, 1871

Important Meetings in Vermont.

By Alonzo C. Bourdeau; Daniel T. Bourdeau

The meetings which were held in West Bolton, Dec. 7, and in Bordoville, Dec. 9 and 10, were very important to the cause in Vermont. Bro. James White did not attend these meetings on account of having a severe cold brought on by exposures in traveling. But sister White attended them, accompanied by Sr. Hall. Three meetings were held in West Bolton which were well attended, especially the one in the evening when the large school-house in which they were held was literally packed. There were about two hundred and fifty present. Sister W. spoke one full hour in each meeting—three times in one day. Her principal theme was the humble, self-denying life of Christ upon which she dwelt with great clearness and power. Nearly all present seemed to feel the necessity of coming up more fully to the perfect pattern. How little we see in us to boast of! How deficient our labors, and poor our sacrifices, when we keep in view the disinterested and sacrificing life of Christ! The interest was intense. The truth was received with great eagerness, and never was the word spoken indorsed more generally by a promiscuous crowd. We have reason to believe that whatever prejudice might have existed in regard to sister White was entirely removed. The friends generally expressed a strong desire to have Bro. and sister White spend at least two weeks with them in West Bolton the present winter.

There were eight meetings held in Bordoville. Three of them were preaching meetings and five were social. Sister White labored especially for the church. One interesting feature of the meetings was, that though Sabbath afternoon nearly one hundred persons came forward to the anxious seats for prayers, yet the evening following, at a meeting held to continue the same work, we came to a halt where neither preachers nor people could cause the work to progress; at which point special testimonies were given to individuals present; and as these were indorsed, light and freedom broke in. We could but thank God for his condescension in granting us assistance in this our time of need.

No regular meeting was held Sunday evening. The meetings closed at 3 P. M. But at 5 o’clock we realized what was more profitable to us and to the cause than a common meeting would have been. Sister White had spoken in the afternoon on the last days being like those of Noah, and was on the point of leaving for Berkshire to make sister Alida Kellogg who was on her dying bed a farewell call, when the two youngest sons of Bro. John Saxby—Brn. Parmenas W., and Arthur J., and sister Edna, wife of Bro. Parmenas—who had been in a backslidden state, came to our house to bid sister White good bye. At this point, sister White felt the real burden of their cases, and a special yearning after them for their salvation, and gave them rich instructions. She then kneeled down with them, and prayed for them with great earnestness, faith, and tenacity, that they might return unto the Lord. They yielded and prayed, promising to serve the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord drew nearer and nearer. Sister White was free, and soon, unexpectedly to all, she was in vision. She remained in this condition fifteen minutes. The news spread, and soon the house (Eld. A. C. Bourdeau’s) was crowded. Sinners trembled, believers wept, and backsliders returned to God. The work was not confined to those present as we have since learned. Some who had remained at home were powerfully convicted. They saw themselves as they had never done before. The angel of God was shaking the place. The shortness of time, the terrors and nearness of coming judgments and the time of trouble, the worldly-mindedness of the church, their lack of brotherly love, and their state of unreadiness to meet the Lord, were strongly impressed upon the minds of all. A reform is started; hearty confessions are being made; brethren are coming together; and those who had assumed the stewardship of others are feeling measurably the responsibility resting upon them. Surely the Lord has wrought and he shall have all the praise. May the work deepen and widen until we are all prepared to stand in the Judgment. God keep us from the wiles of Satan, and help us to be thorough.

As preachers, we are trying to see our lacks, and design by the grace of God, to be wholly consecrated to the Lord, and to the interest of his sacred cause. A. C. BOURDEAU, D T. BOURDEAU. Bordoville, Vt., Dec. 13, 1871.