J.N. Loughborough: What Doest Thou Here, Elijah?
Season 2 | Episode 30
In 1852, James White wrote an article in the Review and Herald
suggesting that some of the believers in New England
consider moving out West to Iowa.
This was before the tithing system and systematic benevolence,
so they would have to do self-supporting work
and witness to their neighbours.
Ellen White also said that where there had been one convert in the East
there would be 20 in the West.
J. N. Andrews and his family spoke it over,
and along with Cyprian Stevens and his family
and J. N. Loughborough and his wife,
they decided to relocate out West.
In total, around thirty believers from New England moved out West
to the small town of Waukon, Iowa.
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However, it wasn't long before the new believers found
that day-to-day living was so hard
and took so much of their energy that they didn't have much left
to share their faith with their neighbours.
Ellen White was shown that the believers in Waukon, Iowa
needed her encouragement and counsel,
as they were faltering in their original task.
The area was sparsely populated,
and on top of that it was a particularly harsh winter
which made traveling around difficult.
When the weather moderated,
John Loughborough went and bought some carpentry tools and went to work.
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James and Ellen made the journey west to Iowa
in the wintertime by horse-drawn sled,
and standing in their path on the journey was the Mississippi River.
However by the time they reached it,
the ice had melted some and the falling snow had turned to falling rain
and there was 12 inches of water on top of the mushy ice.
As they approached the river, their driver Josiah Hart asked,
'Is it forward to Iowa or back to Illinois?'
The answer was given, 'Go forward, trusting in Israel's God.'
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As they made their way across, sinking into the slushy, mushy ice,
a small crowd had gathered on the other side
and cheered as they reached Iowa.
They continued their journey on to Waukon.
Ellen White would find J. N. Loughborough and Hosea Mead working on a store.
They found out that she was there, and they came to see her.
Her first words were, 'What doest thou here, Elijah?'
Receiving no response, she asked again, and then a third time.
Loughborough understandably was embarrassed, not knowing what to say.
[music]
That night meetings commenced
and the believers were greatly encouraged by the ministry of the Whites.
Both J. N. Loughborough and J. N. Andrews
renewed their commitment to service and to God.
J. N. Loughborough said,
'I have laid up my hammer and driven my last nail.'
J. N. Loughborough would return with the Whites to Michigan
while J. N. Andrews would stay there for two years longer.
Loughborough himself was a convert of Andrews
and would go on to be a powerful missionary for the church.
Unfortunately, soon after this his wife died in childbirth giving birth to twins.
Herself and one of the twins did not make it.
They had been married for over 16 years
and she was a tremendous support to her husband,
never holding him back in his ministry at all.
She had supported him faithfully along all his travels
and his relentlessly busy schedule.
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J. N. Loughborough was also a pioneer missionary here in California
and would also spend time in the United Kingdom,
helping to establish the church there in the city of Southampton.
I wonder what would have happened if James and Ellen White
hadn't made that treacherous journey in winter out to Waukon, Iowa.
Sometimes in life we start out on a project
but then we get discouraged and we stop.
Maybe like J. N. Loughborough and J. N. Andrews
you have been successful in ministry but then you've stepped away for a while,
and you need to get your life back on track.
I want to encourage you to get your life in harmony with God's plan for it.
And if that involves making some tough and awkward decisions,
may you would have the courage and the boldness to do so.