Educational Interests in the South by E. A. SUTHERLAND

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 24, 1916

Educational Interests in the South

By E. A. SUTHERLAND

We are living in a time of momentous events. European history of the past two years has startled the world, but this is only the beginning of trouble. Our own country will yet be plunged into a state of turmoil which will greatly hinder all missionary enterprises. Seventh-day Adventists have had their attention called repeatedly to the Southern field. To the South we owe a debt which will never be paid until thousands of our people enter this field as self-supporting missionaries. The situation demands just such a freewill offering.

When God says thousands should volunteer, it is evident that he has been stirring thousands to volunteer. Many men and women have been impressed by the Spirit of God to leave their homes in the North, but there has been a counterspirit at work, a spirit which says, “Do not be in a hurry; do not plunge into such a difficult undertaking; this may be an unwise move.” This is no more than we ought to expect. When the Spirit of God is urging men and women to offer themselves to this needy field, naturally the adversary will counsel delay.

But the work of God will be completed before probation closes. If it is not done by those who are now called to offer their services, the Spirit of God will be poured upon men and women from the highways and hedges, and they will do the work.

The situation in the South at the present time is a peculiar one. There is an intense desire on the part of many leading men to have good people settle here. They want educators and those who know how to improve health conditions, agricultural conditions, etc. Our people should enter this field prepared to lead out in these various lines. Everything seems favorable for such work now, but there is growing up in the South a movement which will some day make it practically impossible for us to go any farther. I appeal to you who have been called by the Spirit of God, to consider the responsibility that rests upon you in this matter. Why do you longer delay?

Between August 31 and September 5 a convention of self-supporting missionary rural school-teachers will be held at Madison, Tenn. It brings together men and women who have been doing the work that God says thousands of our people should be doing. There are only a few of these little schools now in operation. There should be hundreds of them. So this convention is for those who want to enter this work, as well as for those who are already in it. The meeting will introduce to you a good work. In five days it will teach you more of the situation and how to do the work than you could learn in many weeks in any other way.

The North American Division Conference at its fall council, held at Loma Linda last year, passed the following resolutions regarding the Southern work:—

“That this work be enlarged and strengthened, and that hereafter the Madison school, and the efforts which have sprung or may spring from it, be considered a part of the regular work of the denomination, and that the Madison school be regarded by the denomination as the training school for workers for rural schools in the mountain districts of the South.”

“That we encourage our conference officers and our people to consider and look upon the rural school work in the hill districts of the South as a part of the regular work of the denomination, and that we encourage proper persons in all our conferences to enter the Madison school, to receive a training for this work.”

This should be a strong inducement to our laymen to throw themselves into this work.

You are already familiar with the following paragraph from the Spirit of prophecy concerning these rural schools and this system of education:—

“The class of education given at the Madison school is such as will be accounted a treasure of great value by those who take up missionary work in foreign fields. If many more in other schools were receiving a similar training, we as a people would be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. The message would be quickly carried to every country, and the souls now in darkness would be brought to the light.”

That the rural school work does appeal to the educators is evident from the following words spoken by Dr. John Calfee, for years a teacher in Berea College, Berea, Ky., and now president of the Asheville Normal. Dr. Calfee and a number of his associates recently spent a day at Madison, and later visited one of the rural schools, and in an address to the students and patients, he said:—

“When Jesus called Peter to take up his work, Peter, a practical business man, asked, What salary do you offer? The Saviour answered, None. What position will you offer me in the end?—None. What influence will there be?—None. Jesus told Peter to follow him, and offered him nothing else. There is something in this world that has more pleasure in it than position or salary. It is the power to serve people. Jesus told Peter that the only glory he could offer for following him was the satisfaction that always accompanies serving people. This is what I appreciate most about this institution. The biggest thing in this world, the most powerful thing, the most practical thing in this world, is an idea. Dr. Sutherland says you are so simple out here. That is the beauty of it. . . .”

“This has been one of the greatest days of my life from the standpoint of educational ideas and theories. The beauty of it is that you can put your theories in your hands; you can feel and use them, just as a carpenter handles the product of his labor. I have been studying and thinking ever since I came this morning. I shall go away thinking, and what I have learned today will be food for thought for weeks to come. I have been strongly impressed with what I have seen in this institution today.”

I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to come to the convention and hear the reports of our men and women who are out on the firing line, who are doing this thing that has seemed so difficult. Let us push forward in this work while we have the cooperation and the assistance of leading educational men.

E. A. SUTHERLAND.