In 1902, EGW published an article about problems cities would face in the future. She wrote, “Light has been given me that the cities will be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things will increase till the end of this earth’s history.” [Testimonies for the Church 7:84]. She had a lot to say, including how cities throughout the world would become filled with evil, vice, sensuality and general dissipation which would have a negative effect on young and old. She urged her readers to avoid living in large cities whenever possible.
She wrote about some of the difficulties that were to come in large metropolitan areas like San Francisco, New Orleans and New York City. For instance, “All the warnings of Christ regarding the events that will occur near the close of this earth’s history are now being fulfilled in our large cities… The city of San Francisco is a sample of what the whole world is becoming. The wicked bribery, the misappropriation of means, the fraudulent transactions among men who have power to release the guilty and condemn the innocent- all this iniquity is filling other large cities of the earth and is making the world as it was in the days that were before the Flood.” [Letter 230, 1907].
News reports are published each day describing how places like Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, Oregon are struggling to cope with crises that include rampant drug addiction and unhoused people, and crimes of every variety have become common occurrences in these places. She knew that these problems would come as time progressed and warned us to remove ourselves from what was to come.