WHAT DOEST THOU HERE ELIJAH?

As the rain turned into a steady snowfall the Whites made preparations to leave for Waukon, accompanied by Elon Evert and Josiah Hart, Adventist brethren who were then living in Round Grove, Illinois. They left at 5 pm that evening and stopped along the way at Greenvale, IL to conduct a series of meetings. At Greenvale they were delayed a week by a severe snow storm and when they finally were able to continue their journey it started to rain.

They pushed on through the rain, arriving at the Mississippi River. By then the ice was mostly made up of snow and covered by about a foot of water. Everyone they asked discouraged them from crossing the river. When they came to the banks of the river Josiah Hart turned to the White’s and asked “Is it to Iowa or back to Illinois? We have come to the red sea, shall we cross?”

To which Ellen White promptly responded “Go forward, trusting in Israel’s God” They made it across the river safely, praising God for his mercy when they reached the opposite bank. They continued to Waukon. When they got there Elon Everts left the rest of the party in the sleigh and ventured out to look for familiar faces.

He found John Loughborough doing some carpentry work in a shop and asked if he knew a man by the name of Hosea Mead, to which Loughborough responded “I do, here’s right here working with me”

At the mention of his name Hosea Mead immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Elon Everts and both men came down to greet the Whites and Josiah Hart in the sleigh.

When Ellen White saw John Loughborough she dispensed with all pleasantries and asked him a single question three times; “What doest thou here Elijah?”

Needless to say, Loughborough was thoroughly embarrassed and had no idea how to respond.

That night a meeting was held and many of the believers were greatly encouraged and challenged by the messages that James and Ellen White had for them. Both J.N. Loughborough and J.N. Andrews renewed their commitments to God and His service.

Loughborough said “I have laid up my hammer and driven my last nail”

Loughborough and his wife returned to Michigan with the White’s while the Andrews family stayed in Waukon two years longer. Both Loughborough and Andrews went on to become powerful workers in the Seventh-Day Adventist church. Andrews was the first Adventist missionary abroad and Loughborough pioneered the work in California and spent several years establishing the work in the United Kingdom.

The experience at Waukon begs the question what might the church have lost if the White’s had not made that memorable trip to Waukon in the dead of a miserable winter?