Many African-Americans had an immediate and natural response to the message of a soon returning Jesus preached by early Adventists. As one can imagine, the news of deliverance from the misery of a sin-bound earth to a land of freedom was especially appreciated by slaves and bonded servants.

It seems logical and natural that many early Adventists were abolitionists. Some were active conductors in the Underground Railroad both in New England and later in Michigan. This contributed to the growth of Blacks numbering among the earliest Adventists.

In this mix of Black and White came a tall, eloquent preacher. His name was William Ellis Foy. He was not alone among Black preachers who shared the Advent message. What set Foy apart was the fact that he had received visions.

The first came on January 18, 1842, while he was attending a service in a Boston church. Eyewitnesses to the experience testify that he was in vision two and a half hours. A physician who examined him testified that he could find no appearance of life “except around the heart.” In his autobiographical account, Foy declares, “my breath left me.”

While in vision, Foy viewed the glorious reward of the faithful and the punishment of sinners. He felt the duty to declare what he had seen to others, but not being instructed to relate the vision, disclosed it to no one.

A few weeks later, he viewed multitudes being assembled to receive their reward. He was instructed, “Thou must reveal those things which thou hast seen, and also warn thy fellow creatures to flee from the wrath to come.”

William Foy's unwillingness to relate to others what had been shown to him stemmed from both the prejudice against any who claimed to have divine revelations and the prejudice against those of his color. He questioned, “Why should these things be given to me to bear to the world?”

A few days later, the pastor of the Bloomfield Street Church in Boston asked him to relate the visions. Reluctantly he consented, and the next evening found a large congregation awaiting his message. As he began to speak, fear left him; he related with great freedom the things that were shown to him.

With this beginning, he traveled for three months delivering messages to crowded houses of all denominations. As a captivating speaker with a good command of language, he described the heavenly world, the New Jerusalem, and the compassionate love of Christ.

Ellen White recalls attending a service with her father where Foy was speaking at Beethoven Hall in Portland, Maine. Referring to her experience she said, “It was remarkable testimonies that he bore” (Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, p. 96).

We are still slow to embrace and implement Heaven’s pattern for unity and oneness. But William Foy is further evidence that from the very beginning God intended the Adventist Movement to be inclusive of all people, regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Adapted from Ellen G. White: The Early Years, 1827–1862, (vol. 1), Appendix B, by Arthur L. White (1985).