p. 18 | Japan Mission Training School by H. R. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 18, 1912

Japan Mission Training School

By H. R. S.

We are thankful to receive such an encouraging report of our educational work in Japan as that which follows from Brother H. F. Benson, who is in charge of the school:—

“The Japan Mission Training School opened Oct. 23, 1911, with an attendance of eighteen; a number more are planning to come soon, and we expect to have about twenty-five by the middle of next month. All the students expect to enter the work as soon as school closes; in fact, more than half of those in attendance have been in the field during the past summer. Until we get our headquarters located, our school will have to be carried on at a disadvantage. At present the girls are in a rented house, with Miss Cornish in charge, and the boys are living in rented quarters with my wife and myself. The classes meet in Elder W. D. Burden’s house. In many ways this is inconvenient, but we feel constrained to thank the Lord that he has given us such comfortable, though slightly crowded quarters. We could have a school without any buildings, but I believe that all will agree that that would not be the ideal way of conducting educational work.

“Heretofore the school has been carried on with the object of training the workers already in the field; and as they could be spared for a short time only, the school has been planned, so as to meet the immediate needs of those attending. This has made it impossible to have a fixed curriculum extending over a definite period of time. However, it has been thought best from this year to adopt a regular course of study, covering a period of three years.

“At present we are limiting our

young people and teachers half of the year in the field,—an effective remedy for institutional inertia.

“The Spirit of God is manifestly present with us, and the enthusiastic devotion to preparation for the Lord’s work on the part of the students, is a most encouraging feature of our school. We feel our great need of help when we come before the student body, and realize that we have before us young people that will be called upon to carry the message to Japan’s millions during the most trying period of this world’s history, and that they are looking to us as instruments through whom God is to give them a training for their work. Did we not believe that the Lord had called us to this task, the burden would be too great.

“We know that God’s people are praying for the success of the message in Japan; and yet when we see the great need, we are impelled to request your earnest prayers, that our labors may not be hindered by any action of the government, that lack of means may not prevent the filling of every opening in new places, and that above all God may keep his workers fit for his service.”

H. R. S.