Loma Linda University Season 2 | Episode 48
Loma Linda literally means 'beautiful hill',
and the name of the area predates its use as a sanitarium or hospital
by the Seventh-day Adventist church.
Purchased in 1905 as one of three medical institutions,
along with Paradise Valley and Glendale Sanitarium,
they added to the 26 sanitariums that the church already had at the time.
Medical work was key in the early days of our church,
and was something that people sacrificed greatly for.
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In 1902, Ellen White predicted
that properties would come on the market in Southern California
far below their original cost.
Paradise Valley was originally priced at $25,000,
then reduced to $12,000 and finally purchased for just $4,000.
Glendale Hospital was priced at $50,000,
then it was reduced to $26,000 and then it came down to $12,000.
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Ellen White had said there would be three, though,
and so she instructed John Burden to look for another property
between Riverside, San Bernardino, and Redlands.
He found a 67-acre property that was on the market for $155,000.
This was far too high.
Later on it was reduced to $110,000
and then $85,000, but this was still far too high.
The General Conference had just put in place a no-debt policy,
and they could not help out.
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Eventually the price came down to $40,000, a very good price,
as it included 31 acres of grain land,
22 of alfalfa, a vegetable garden, an apricot orchard, a barn,
several cottages on the hill, three of which are still standing today,
and $15,000 worth of equipment and supplies.
They had to make an initial payment of $5,000
and then three monthly payments of $5,000,
and then the remaining $20,000 at the end of three years.
This wasn't going to be easy,
but they were encouraged by the urging of Ellen White
that this would also be an educational centre in the future.
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On the 12th of June, 1905, Ellen White visited,
and as she came to the property,
she said several times that she had been here before.
While she had not visited in person,
she was referring to seeing the place in vision two years earlier
in the autumn of 1903 and also in October of 1901.
At a meeting of church members soon after,
the conference president stood up and spoke
and mentioned how Ellen White had said that this sanitarium
should be the principal training centre on the West Coast.
Ellen White interrupted him and said,
'This will be the principal training centre on the West Coast.'
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Each month when the $5,000 needed to be paid it was a struggle,
with church members across California making huge sacrificial offerings.
One month they had no money
until several hours before the deadline when a cheque arrived in the post.
God had his hand in the process,
and instead of taking three years to clear the outstanding amount,
it was paid off in six months,
meaning they got an additional deduction of $1,000.
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Over time the institution would grow to include a hospital
and a training school which would later become a university,
and in recent years a children's hospital has also been added.
One of the early names of the institution
was the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists,
showing the link between evangelism and medicine.
Many missionaries have gone out from this institution
over the last 100 years
to mission fields both here at home but also many to abroad.
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The medical work is to act as the right arm of the gospel,
supporting the gospel work of the church.
God needs medical evangelists today
who will use their medical skills to further the message
and reach people in their time of need.
Today there is a need for people like this to go all over the world,
to places that might seem risky, to war-torn countries,
to minister to those stricken by poverty, to the young and the old,
as well as the wealthy and those who see no apparent need of God in their lives.
The medical work breaks down barriers in ways that nothing else can.
If you are in this profession or God is calling you to this work,
then may you use your talents for Him in this way.