Physicians and ministers are to unite in an effort to lead men and women to obey God’s commandments. They need to study the intimate relationship existing between obedience and health. Solemn is the responsibility resting upon medical missionaries. They are to be missionaries in the true sense of the term. The sick and the suffering who entrust themselves to the care of the helpers in our medical institutions must not be disappointed. They are to be taught how to live in harmony with heaven. As they learn to obey God’s law, they will be richly blessed in body and in spirit.
(CH 231.1)
Value of Outdoor Life
The advantage of outdoor life must never be lost sight of. How thankful we should be that God has given us beautiful sanitarium properties at Paradise Valley and Glendale and Loma Linda! “Out of the cities! out of the cities!”—this has been my message for years. We cannot expect the sick to recover rapidly when they are shut in within four walls, in some city, with no outside view but houses, houses, houses—nothing to animate, nothing to enliven. And yet how slow some are to realize that the crowded cities are not favorable places for sanitarium work!
(CH 231.2)
Even in Southern California not many years ago, there were some who favored the erection of a large sanitarium building in the heart of Los Angeles. In the light of the instruction God had given, we could not consent to the carrying out of any such plan. In the visions of the night the Lord had shown me unoccupied properties in the country, suitable for sanitarium purposes, and for sale at a price far below the original cost.
(CH 231.3)
Finding Suitable Places
It was some time before we found these places. First, we secured the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, near San Diego. A few months later, in the good providence of God, the Glendale property came to the notice of our people and was purchased and fitted up for service. But light came that our work of establishing sanitariums in Southern California was not complete, and on several different occasions testimonies were given that medical missionary work must be done somewhere in the vicinity of Redlands.
(CH 232.1)
In an article published in the Review of April 6, 1905, I wrote:
(CH 232.2)
“On our way back to Redlands, as our train passed through miles of orange groves, I thought of the efforts that should be made in this beautiful valley to proclaim the truth for this time. I recognized this section of Southern California as one of the places that had been presented to me with the word that it should have a fully equipped sanitarium.
(CH 232.3)
“Why have such fields as Redlands and Riverside been left almost unworked? As I looked from the car window and saw the trees laden with fruit, I thought, Would not earnest, Christlike efforts have brought forth just as abundant a harvest in spiritual lines? In a few years these towns have been built up and developed, and as I looked upon their beauty and the fertility of the country surrounding them, there rose before me a vision of what the spiritual harvest might have been had earnest, Christlike efforts been put forth for the salvation of souls.
(CH 232.4)
“The Lord would have brave, earnest men and women take up His work in these places. The cause of God is to make more rapid advancement in Southern California than it has in the past. Every year thousands of people visit Southern California in search of health, and by various methods we should seek to reach them with the truth. They must hear the warning to prepare for the great day of the Lord, which is right upon us....
(CH 233.1)
“We are called upon by God to present the truth for this time to those who year by year come to Southern California from all parts of America. Workers who can speak to the multitudes are to be located where they can meet the people and give them the warning message. Ministers and canvassers should be on the ground, watching their opportunity to present the truth and to hold meetings. Let them be quick to seize opportunities to place present truth before those who know it not. Let them give the message with clearness and power, that those who have ears to hear may hear.”...
(CH 233.2)
Let us remember that one most important agency is our medical missionary work. Never are we to lose sight of the great object for which our sanitariums are established—the advancement of God’s closing work in the earth.
(CH 233.3)
Loma Linda is to be not only a sanitarium, but an educational center. With the possession of this place comes the weighty responsibility of making the work of the institution educational in character. A school is to be established here for the training of gospel medical missionary evangelists.
(CH 233.4)