John N. Andrews and His Family in Mission Service

Once the family reached Switzerland they had additional adjustments to make. Twelve year old Mary had to fill the role of a homemaker. She and Charles also assisted their father in his work of writing and publishing. In connection with becoming acclimated to the new culture, the family needed to learn a new language. On Christmas Eve, 1876, a little over a year after arriving in Europe, the family made a covenant to only communicate in French except for one hour during supper. We suspect father was having difficulties learning the language and this was a way to force him to learn it more quickly. There is no evidence for this except that older people typically have a more difficult time learning languages than do younger people, and the family took over 12 months getting to this point.

John spent time writing, editing a new periodical, Les Signes des Temps, and leading the small group of believers in the Basel region of Switzerland. He also ventured across Europe in efforts to expand the message of a soon coming Savior.

Within five years of arriving in Europe Mary had become ill with tuberculosis. John took her to Dr. Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Despite his best efforts Mary died in 1879. Saddened, John returned to Europe and his work. Within a couple of years John too was ill with the same disease. His mother traveled to Europe to attend to his care, but he died in 1883 while still in Europe.