WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:03.988 --> 00:00:07.708 Imagine a cramped, drafty room with a small hand press, a stack 00:00:07.708 --> 00:00:10.948 of paper and two young people determined to make a difference. 00:00:11.278 --> 00:00:15.538 No budget, no office, no guarantee anyone would even read their work. 00:00:15.898 --> 00:00:18.148 Just a conviction that truth needed to be shared. 00:00:18.658 --> 00:00:21.868 That's how James and Ellen White started what would become one of the largest 00:00:21.868 --> 00:00:23.458 publishing ministries in the world. 00:00:23.878 --> 00:00:27.238 Proving that sometimes faith in a small beginning can change everything. 00:00:28.708 --> 00:00:32.878 . In the spring of 1849, James White stood in a world still recovering 00:00:32.878 --> 00:00:34.018 from the great disappointment. 00:00:34.184 --> 00:00:38.654 The advent hope had not died, but it had fractured Small groups of Sabbath keeping. 00:00:38.684 --> 00:00:42.854 Adventists were scattered across the northeastern United States, confused, 00:00:42.884 --> 00:00:45.584 isolated, and unsure of what to do next. 00:00:45.835 --> 00:00:49.435 There was no denomination, no organized leadership, and no way 00:00:49.435 --> 00:00:52.090 to connect with others who still believed Jesus was coming soon. 00:00:53.125 --> 00:00:56.005 James was only 28 years old, but he felt the urgency. 00:00:56.634 --> 00:00:58.314 He wasn't a trained publisher. 00:00:58.644 --> 00:01:01.464 He didn't have the money to start a press, but he had conviction. 00:01:01.464 --> 00:01:04.914 He believed people needed to hear the biblical truths being rediscovered, 00:01:05.154 --> 00:01:08.814 the Sabbath, the heavenly sanctuary, and the promise of the second coming. 00:01:09.504 --> 00:01:11.839 More importantly, they needed to know that they weren't alone. 00:01:12.744 --> 00:01:16.914 So James borrowed a small hand press and set up shop in a borrowed upstairs 00:01:16.914 --> 00:01:18.594 room in Middletown, Connecticut. 00:01:18.890 --> 00:01:23.480 The room was cramped and unheated, barely big enough to fit the press, much less a 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:25.880 team of workers, but that didn't stop him. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:30.140 He wrote type, set, printed, folded, and dried every single page of 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:31.580 the first issue of the present. 00:01:31.580 --> 00:01:32.360 Truth by hand. 00:01:32.722 --> 00:01:36.022 Ellen White stood beside him, helping where she could folding pages, 00:01:36.082 --> 00:01:39.172 preparing bundles, and praying over the words that they were sending out. 00:01:39.222 --> 00:01:42.642 , The first issue was just eight pages long, contained articles on 00:01:42.642 --> 00:01:46.152 the Sabbath, biblical prophecy and encouragement for scattered believers. 00:01:46.512 --> 00:01:50.582 There was no color, no imagery, just words, ink, and a deep sense of mission. 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.789 . Once the pages were dry, James and Ellen packaged the papers and mailed them 00:01:54.789 --> 00:01:56.589 to a few believers across the region. 00:01:57.069 --> 00:01:59.109 They didn't know if anyone would even read them. 00:01:59.349 --> 00:02:01.539 They certainly didn't expect what would come next. 00:02:02.199 --> 00:02:04.269 Letters started arriving from across New England. 00:02:04.839 --> 00:02:08.229 People who thought that they were the last Sabbath keepers in their town discovered 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:09.639 that they were part of something bigger. 00:02:10.269 --> 00:02:13.119 Isolated families began writing to one another, encouraging 00:02:13.119 --> 00:02:14.259 each other in their faith. 00:02:14.874 --> 00:02:17.994 James's little paper became a lifeline, a link between scattered 00:02:17.994 --> 00:02:19.374 people and a growing movement. 00:02:19.374 --> 00:02:21.534 As demand grew, so did the operation. 00:02:22.074 --> 00:02:26.154 By 1842, James and Ellen had moved the press to Rochester, New York. 00:02:26.154 --> 00:02:27.204 It wasn't glamorous. 00:02:27.264 --> 00:02:30.834 The new office was a damp, drafty house with barely enough room for 00:02:30.834 --> 00:02:34.434 the press supplies and the handful of young volunteers who came to help 00:02:34.434 --> 00:02:36.024 James slept on a mattress on the floor. 00:02:36.024 --> 00:02:37.914 Ellen wash clothes in a basin in the corner. 00:02:38.514 --> 00:02:42.414 They live simply sacrificing comfort and security for the sake of the work. 00:02:42.414 --> 00:02:43.194 They weren't alone. 00:02:43.194 --> 00:02:46.254 A growing number of young men and women came to assist folding, 00:02:46.314 --> 00:02:47.814 inking, drying, trimming. 00:02:47.814 --> 00:02:50.574 They weren't paid and most weren't trained, but they came with 00:02:50.574 --> 00:02:52.134 willing hands and burning hearts. 00:02:52.404 --> 00:02:53.484 This was their mission too. 00:02:54.064 --> 00:02:56.769 The present truth soon became the Advent review and Sabbath Herald. 00:02:57.142 --> 00:02:59.122 More tracks followed than booklets. 00:02:59.392 --> 00:03:02.722 Eventually whole books were written and printed on that little hand press. 00:03:03.142 --> 00:03:06.622 The vision was expanding, and from that tiny borrowed room, a global 00:03:06.622 --> 00:03:08.542 publishing ministry began to take shape. 00:03:08.998 --> 00:03:12.358 Today, the Seventh Aid Adventist Church operates one of the largest Protestant 00:03:12.358 --> 00:03:13.678 publishing networks in the world. 00:03:14.278 --> 00:03:17.908 From major publishing houses to literature evangelism, millions of 00:03:17.908 --> 00:03:21.178 pieces are printed and distributed in hundreds of languages every year. 00:03:21.898 --> 00:03:24.418 But it didn't start with a boardroom or a marketing team. 00:03:24.418 --> 00:03:27.568 It started with a borrowed press, a small room, and a conviction 00:03:27.568 --> 00:03:28.948 that truth needed to be shared. 00:03:28.998 --> 00:03:32.178 What makes this story remarkable isn't just a scale of what followed. 00:03:32.358 --> 00:03:36.888 It's how it began with no platform, no budget, and no promise of success. 00:03:37.188 --> 00:03:40.008 James and Ellen White chose to be faithful in a small thing. 00:03:40.548 --> 00:03:45.108 That tiny act of obedience, printing and mailing a few dozen papers changed lives. 00:03:45.408 --> 00:03:48.918 It built community . And it helped give shape to a worldwide movement 00:03:48.918 --> 00:03:51.948 that would soon organize into the Seventh Day Adventist Church. 00:03:52.668 --> 00:03:55.458 We often think that to make a difference, we need a title, 00:03:55.548 --> 00:03:57.168 a microphone, or a following. 00:03:57.618 --> 00:03:59.358 History tells us another story. 00:03:59.718 --> 00:04:02.688 Sometimes the most world changing things begin in rooms. 00:04:02.688 --> 00:04:04.098 No one sees with hands. 00:04:04.098 --> 00:04:07.368 No one notices by people who simply refuse to stay quiet. 00:04:08.208 --> 00:04:10.438 . Maybe you don't feel like you have a big platform. 00:04:10.728 --> 00:04:14.403 Maybe you're working with borrowed time, borrowed space, or borrowed courage. 00:04:14.403 --> 00:04:15.513 And that's okay. 00:04:15.993 --> 00:04:19.353 The publishing work of the Early Adventist Church didn't begin with influence. 00:04:19.383 --> 00:04:22.323 It began with faith and who knows what your words might do. 00:04:23.583 --> 00:04:25.143 . Episode nine One Room. 00:04:25.173 --> 00:04:27.273 Big Dreams Read by Megan Skene.