It wasn't at all the place that E. A. Sutherland wanted on which to begin a self-supporting school for the people of the South. But when the Morning Star, on which he and Ellen White, her son, and several other of her companions were travelling had to be docked for repairs, they found themselves within walking distance of a plantation that was for sale.

"Not that place," Sutherland said. "Surely not that run-down rocky planation."

E. A. Sutherland accepts the counsel of Mrs. White and realised that nothing is too hard for the Lord when one accepts His plan and dedicates himself to following the blueprint. Although many times he could not understand "why" or "how," Sutherland relied on God's omnipotence. The results of his abiding trust became a silent witness to the permanency of the vision in the achievements of the educational work at Madison and many other self-supporting institutions.

There is not limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God." These words penned by Mrs. White, a friend and counselor of Dr. Sutherland, he took to heart and thus fulfilled God's purpose not only in his own life but in the lives of others by his influence. This is the E. A. Sutherland story.