Mother Teresa Center Denies David Gates’ Claim that Her Work Was Based on The Ministry of Healing
2 May 2023 |
A viral video shows independent Adventist evangelist David Gates’ claiming that Mother Teresa’s entire ministry in Kolkata, India, was based on Ellen White’s book The Ministry of Healing. He tells of a friend who volunteered at the Mother Teresa Center, who was afraid of telling Mother Teresa he was an Adventist “because, of course, she was a Catholic.” Continues Gates,
One day she discovered that he was a Seventh-day Adventist, and so she challenged him, and said “Why didn’t you tell me?” He said, “I was afraid maybe you wouldn’t let me work with you anymore.” “No!” she said. “On the contrary.” She pulled out of her pocket a little red book called [The] Ministry of Healing, and she said, “My entire ministry is based on this book by Ellen White. My only question is, why don’t you Adventists do the same thing?” Slap on the face for Seventh-day Adventists; we deserve more of that: while we’re putting away the red books, others are discovering them.
Adventist member and Adventist Today author Alexander Samuels wrote to the Mother Teresa Center, asking for confirmation. He received a response from Sr. M. Callisita, MC:
Dear Alexander,
Peace of Jesus!
Thank you for your email with the video and your message requesting verification of Mother Teresa using Ellen White’s Book The Ministry of Healing. We do not have this anywhere in our records regarding Mother Teresa using Ellen White’s Book.
We checked the person on this video and we see that it is David Gates, Founder of the Gospel Ministries International. Interestingly, the name of his friend who shared this anecdote of his experience with Mother is not mentioned.
The fact that his Seventh-Day Adventist friend was working with Mother could be true, as we had volunteers from all different religions and some even without any religion who Mother accepted to work in our service of the poorest of the poor. For Mother, who respected deeply all religions, it did not matter which religion you belonged to, as she accepted every person as a Child of God created in His image and likeness and accepted their help in reaching out to the poor and suffering. If he was afraid of telling Mother about his beliefs, because she was a Catholic, then it is unfortunate that he didn’t really know Mother, who in her talks has said this about religions:
So let us pray, all of you that have gathered together. It does not matter what you believe, what faith you have. But let us all ask God to remove from our own families, from our own hearts, anything that will destroy the beautiful image of God, to remove anything that destroys peace in our families, to make every sacrifice and to help others to come closer to God by helping them to love each other, by forgiving each other. Because if there is no forgiveness, it is very difficult to have peace, it is very difficult to have love. You know, all the works of love are works of peace. So let us thank God for this beautiful opportunity.
We are all capable of good and evil. We are not born bad. Everybody has something good inside. Some hide it, some neglect it, but it is there. God created us to love and to be loved. God is not separate from the Church, as He is everywhere and in everything, and we are all His children—Hindu, Muslim, or Christian. When you know how much God is in love with you, then you can only live your life radiating that love. Keep the joy of being loved by God in your heart as your strength, and share this joy with others.
Another interesting detail is that Mother Teresa’s Religious Habit (and that of all of us, her Sisters) did not have a pocket from where she could pull out a book. Mother’s Religious Habit comprised of a long garment called a Habit, around which was draped an Indian sari which has no pockets to pull a book out from.
I hope this helps.
Please keep us in your prayers that the message of Mother Teresa, through the work we are doing, may shine forth in the world of today, that “God still loves the world through you and through me today;” that the poorest of the poor, the unwanted, the lonely, the rejected, and each one of us may know and experience how much God loves us personally.
God bless you,
David Gates is no stranger to unverifiable claims. He tells unusually exciting personal stories about his ministry and the miracles that have occurred around him. He is also known for bold prophetic speculation about the time of Jesus’ return. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic he spread the microchipped vaccine myth, claiming the vaccine would make one “an automaton” and lead to instant death.
