B. L. HOWE by B. L. HOWE

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 16, 1915

B. L. HOWE

By B. L. HOWE

Saving Our Children — No. 1

B. L. HOWE

“THE church that fails to provide for her children, destroys herself.” A woman entered a room where this statement was hanging in bold type on the wall. She read it slowly, and said, with much emphasis, “That is true, and no one knows it better than the Catholic Church.” She is a convert to the Sabbath truth from that church. Go where you may, and note the work of the Catholic Church, you find that the oldest monuments of its missionary effort are provisions for its children. In many instances, the Jew, in his home and under the influence of the rabbi, so trains his child that he will hiss at the mere mention of the name of Jesus. The Christ-loving and God-fearing parent may, by the same persistence, so influence his child that the name of Jesus will be to him a shield and a joy forever.

Israel failed to reach the high destiny that God marked out for them, because they did not train their children in the way the Lord directed. For hundreds of

years they were in the land of Egypt, where they were surrounded by superstition, unbelief, and infidelity. The generation that came out of Egypt was weakened mentally and physically by the teachings and practices of the people among whom they dwelt. It seemed impossible for them to believe in and trust God for more than a few hours at a time. After repeated efforts, in which Egyptian education always asserted itself, the Lord shut them up in the wilderness. Here he set himself to work to save the “people of promise” by educating their children. It took forty years to bring these children to a place where they could trust God and do as he said. The older ones, except two, died, and the children, trained under the direction of Jehovah, went into the Promised Land. Of this generation it is written, “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.” Joshua 24: 31; Judges 2: 7. Hence we conclude that had Israel continued the training of their children as God ordained in the wilderness, they would have fulfilled the purpose of the Lord, and would not have become a hissing and a byword as it is this day.

Today, the Lord looks upon the children of modern Israel as those upon whom he must depend to finish the preaching of the gospel in this generation. For years he has been sending messages, teaching us how to care for and educate our children. If our faith can grasp it, he has given us, in the Sabbath school, the young people’s organization, and the church school, the means of saving all our children.

At a camp meeting in one of our conferences, two hundred and one additions to the church by baptism were reported. More than seventy-five of these were from among the young people. At the same camp meeting there were forty-five youth and young people baptized. During the year the work of winning the young people for Christ was kept constantly before the officers, leaders, and teachers in the departments already mentioned. Another feature that contributed largely to this harvest was a series of institutes, conducted by the president of the conference. These meetings were held in all the principal centers of the conference. At each place, the Sabbath school, Missionary Volunteer, and church school work was given careful and thorough study. This was a means of greatly strengthening these lines of church activity.

Money and time spent in properly caring for our children is an investment that pays large dividends. Experience teaches that one who has been trained in the message from his childhood, other things being equal, makes the strongest missionary. The majority of the men who are moving the world with the third angel’s message today, have spent some time in our schools.

From the standpoint of the cross, who will estimate the difference in value between the mother and the babe in her arms? “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” What shall the parent give in exchange for his child?