The Rarotongan Church-School
By Evelyn Gooding
OUR school is doing well in many ways. An excellent spirit prevails among the children and parents. One interesting feature is the gardening class. A large portion of the front yard was divided equally between the boys and girls. When the boys had finished their digging, they were taught that it would be kind, as well as proper, for them to help the girls, which they willingly did. When all was well dug, we made a path between the boys' and the girls' gardens, and also around the same, using a line and a ruler in order to have the edges straight and the width uniform. While making the path, we talked of the text which says, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” The children were so anxious to sow their peas, beans, turnips, etc., that it was hard for them to wait till all was ready for planting. Here was a lesson in patience. The seeds were sown in straight lines at equal distances apart, and then the Lord sent a rain to water them, for which the children thanked him. After a day or two of waiting and watching, the leaves came peeping out of the ground, and soon the children were able to distinguish the different kinds. The parable of the sower was studied in connection with this class, and its beautiful lessons were easily impressed upon the hearts of the children. We are watching our gardens daily with much interest. The children are planning to tithe the vegetables when they are ready for gathering. They are expecting to learn how both to cook and to eat them; for to the Maori, the legumes are as yet unknown. Another good feature in our school is the willingness and good spirit with which the children enter into the manual work connected with the schoolroom and grounds, also the teacher's private grounds and the housework. These are our plans: Every Tuesday after school hours, the boys have the privilege of working in my garden half an hour to earn a penny each for the missionary box, which is passed around in missionary meeting each Sabbath afternoon. The girls have this same privilege each Thursday, their work being chiefly in and about the house, washing, etc. When I made this offer to the boys and girls, I am afraid that I misjudged their missionary zeal; for I now find that I have to give out a good many pennies each week. But it gives me great joy when, on Sabbath, I see them joyously dropped into the money box of the Children's Missionary Society. This money is to be used in helping to send a native worker to some of these islands. On each Friday all the children work a quarter of an hour cleaning up the school grounds for the Sabbath. Every day one child remains after school to sweep the room and tidy it for the next day, each child in his turn. When it is necessary, we choose a day for all to bring their working clothes, and we scrub, and clean the floor, furniture, windows, etc. All these things are lessons of industry, cleanliness, thoroughness, etc., with their respective spiritual lessons. I think that the children are progressing well with their studies, perhaps even better than might be expected of Maori children. But this is due to the influence of Bible study. Each Sabbath the children say their memory verse in English and Maori, and sing an English hymn in Sabbath-school. For what has been accomplished in our Rarotongan church-school, may the Lord have all the praise; for to him alone the praise is due.