Result of Church-School Work.
By Mrs. R. W. McMahan
It was my privilege during the week of prayer that has so recently closed, to be with two of our churches where Christian schools are conducted. In one of these schools there was such a marked fulfilment of what the Lord by his Spirit has told us would result from Christian education, that I can not forbear giving the experience to the readers of the Home, Farm, and School. It was very early in the meetings, on Monday afternoon, when the teacher was preparing to conduct the writing exercise. She placed upon the blackboard, as was her custom, a text of Scripture for the children to use as copy. This time the text was, “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.” The children had taken22their positions to write, when one little girl laid down her pen, saying, “Miss L., I can not write.” “What is the matter, Anna?” asked the teacher, kindly. “O,” said she, “I am not prepared to meet God.” And one after another, the children expressed the same thought. The teacher felt that it was the presence of the Holy Spirit moving upon the hearts of the children, and she asked, “What shall we do?” They said, “We want to pray.” Then all knelt, and the teacher told me that she never heard such prayers from children’s lips. Then they wanted to testify, and all spoke of their earnest desire to go out and give the truth to the people. Then they wanted to pray again, and she yielded to the influence that was upon them, and there was no more school that afternoon, but prayer and praise to God. That night in the regular meeting, the children were the first to lift their voices in prayer and testimony to God; in fact, it was plain that they had more liberty than did their parents. Since that time there has been a change in the work of discipline of that school. It requires no effort on the part of the teacher to maintain good order. Each child is anxious to make the school a Christian school indeed. And they are carrying the printed page from house to house in the city where they live. God has said that church-schools, “when properly conducted, will be the means of lifting the standard of truth in the places where they are established; for children who are receiving a Christian education will be witnesses for Christ.” “When heavenly intelligences see that men are no longer permitted to present the truth, the Spirit of God will come upon the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation of the truth which the older workers can not do, because their way will be hedged up.” Notice that it is the “children who are receiving a Christian education” upon whom “the Spirit of God will come,” and it is these who “will do a work in the proclamation of the truth which the older members can not do.” This experience brings to my mind the instruction in Volume VIII, pages 61, 62, on “The Holy Spirit in Our Schools,” I trust that every teacher will carefully study it, and “when the Holy Spirit reveals his presence in your schoolroom, say to your students: ‘The Lord signifies that he has for us to-day a lesson of heavenly import, of more value than our lessons in ordinary lines. Let us listen; let us bow before God, and seek him with the whole heart.’” I am greatly encouraged with the advancement that is evident in our schools. The teachers are coming up to a higher standard of spiritual and intellectual attainment. The true teacher will ever be a learner, seeking for the “higher education” that will fit her to be a guide to the children placed under her care. Indiana has a corps of faithful, conscientious teachers, and the influence of our school work is being manifested throughout the State in the increased effort on the part of both parents and youth to seek a preparation for the work of God, that the message may indeed go to the world in this generation, and the coming of Jesus be hastened.—Mrs. R. W. McMahan, corresponding secretary Educational Department of Indiana Conference, in Home, Farm, and School.