Are You Interested? by AMMY W. WELCH

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

Are You Interested?

By AMMY W. WELCH

AMMY W. WELCH

ARE you interested? Do you ask in what? Why, in our boys and girls, and in our church schools. Perhaps some one says, “I have no boys and girls;” or, “My children are all grown and away from home, so why should I be interested in church schools?” Let me tell you something that will perhaps help to interest you in them.

A young man and his wife recently moved into our neighborhood. As their household goods had not arrived, and they were still unsettled when Sabbath came, I asked them to spend the day with me. The young wife had told me the day before that they had just been baptized, although her husband had been reared in the Seventh-day Adventist faith. So, as we visited, I drew him out to tell me about his experience.

Like many others, he had grown up believing the theory of the truth, but was not converted, and finally gave up keeping the Sabbath. After his marriage he began to talk the truth to his wife without, at first, a thought of obeying it himself. But as he studied it with her, the Spirit of God convicted and converted him; and they are now rejoicing in the Lord together. I noticed that he seemed quite well acquainted with the

Bible, and remarked that he had probably studied it considerably when a boy. “No,” he said, “I didn’t study so much, but I just had it drilled into me at home and in church school.” He meant, of course, that he had not studied it willingly, and because of his own personal interest, in those days.

After they returned home, I thought again and again of his story. His intellectual knowledge of Bible truth, gained when a thoughtless boy, had been used of God in later life to convert his heart, and also to bring his wife to a knowledge of the third angel’s message.

“I Still Believe”

The conversion, a few months ago, of another family living near by, also illustrates the power of God’s Word studied in childhood at home, in the Sabbath school, and in church school. These young people were living, seemingly, without a thought of God, finding their pleasure wholly in the things of this life.

Then the man was ill for a month. During this time he and his wife were often remembered in prayer, and a neighborly interest was shown in them. When he recovered, they attended a union revival service, and one Friday morning he came to tell me that he had made a start in the Christian life at the meeting the night before.

“Now,” he said, “I don’t know anything to do but to go by the Bible. According to it, the seventh day is the Sabbath; so I have told my boss that I can’t work any more on that day. Perhaps you do not know it, but I was reared to keep the Sabbath, and I still believe the Adventist doctrine, although I have forgotten even where to find the fourth commandment in the Bible. Will you please tell me where it is, and some other texts on that subject also, which I could show to my wife?” The next day they were at church together, and a few weeks later went forward in baptism. Their little daughter also united with the church, and I trust they will continue to grow in grace and finally have a home in the kingdom of God.

Shortly after this family made a start, they received letters from his parents, residing in a distant State, saying that both father and mother had just given up the Sabbath, feeling that they had been in bondage, and were rejoicing in the liberty of Christ. They advised him against the acceptance of the Sabbath truth; but he remained true to his convictions of duty.

Teach the Children

Shall we not improve every opportunity, as parents, Sabbath-school teachers, and church-school teachers, to drill the Bible truths into the minds of the children? And even if we are not parents, Sabbath-school teachers, or church-school teachers, we can show a friendly interest in all children, especially those belonging to the household of faith, and remember them and the schools they attend in our daily prayers. Also, we can and should support the school with our means. In nearly all our churches there are families who cannot afford to send their children to church school. Would it not be a blessing to many who have no little ones of their own, to bear the expense each year of books and tuition for one or more such poor children?

Perhaps some hold that if the parents were thrifty and saving they could send their own children. In some cases, this is probably true; sometimes, too, parents lack consecration, and do not sense the importance of the work done in the church school in the salvation of their children. But is it a Christian spirit on our part to show no interest in the children because they are not ours, and their parents do not deserve our help?

When the question of church schools began to be agitated among us, it was hard for me to see light in it. I had received all my education in the public schools, and had taught in them. But because the Testimonies advised their establishment, I accepted the idea by faith, and as a Bible worker, talked and worked for their advancement. It is needless to say that I was soon a zealous convert, and it has long seemed to me that it would need nothing save a comparison of the readers used in our schools with those used in the public school, to convince any Adventist of the advantage of such instruction in the development of child character.

In spite of the many perplexing problems and discouragements connected with our church school work, shall we not walk by faith, and take an interest in the children of our friends and neighbors, as well as in our own, helping them as we can to prepare for the service of our Lord and King?

Boulder, Colo.