HEALDSBURG COLLEGE by M. E. Cady

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 30, 1900

HEALDSBURG COLLEGE.

By M. E. Cady

The school opened Oct. 18, 1899, with an attendance of about one hundred and thirty students, but the attendance rapidly increased until, at the present time, we have an enrollment of about two hundred and twenty-five students. This is the largest enrollment that the college has had for several years, and is a cause of rejoicing on the part of those who are deeply interested in the progress and success of Healdsburg College.

Throughout the district a spirit of faith and courage is manifesting itself in the educational work. The California Conference furnishes a large majority of the students who attend the college. There is no reason why the school should not be full to overflowing every year. There are several hundred young men and women in California, alone, who ought to be earnestly engaged in the work of preparing themselves for the place the Lord would have them occupy in this closing work.

There has been a good spirit in the school from the first. Most of the students have come to the school with the strong desire to prepare themselves for some work in the Master's service.

During the last summer the brethren and sisters have responded nobly to the calls that have been made to relieve the college from its heavy debt of about thirty-five thousand dollars. Already twenty-two thousand dollars of this amount has been contributed, and it seems very reasonable to suppose that in a year's time the entire debt will be lifted by pledges and donations. It is the desire of the management of the college to make it a school where the principles of Christian education shall be taught and practiced. As the faculty has led out in the different branches of the work, the spirit of the Lord has come in and blessed abundantly. The week of prayer was a season of great refreshing for the college and the church. Young men and young women who came to the school in a backslidden condition, and also those who were unacquainted with the Lord, yielded to the influence of the Spirit of God, which visited the school many times in a marked way. Surely the Lord would have his schools at this time like the school of the prophets.

Character building is the great work to be done in our schools. When young men and women have gained strength of character that will enable them successfully to resist the enemy of their souls, then the Lord can use them as instruments through which his precious messages of truth may be carried to others.

One hour each week at the chapel period is devoted to missionary meeting. At this time the different phases of our work, both at home and abroad, are considered. The students also report experiences gained in practical home missionary work, in holding Bible readings, and visiting from house to house. Some of the young men who are preparing for the ministry are holding meetings in halls or schoolhouses in the rural districts. When we consider what the Lord has done for the school thus far, we are led to believe that the work of this school year will see marked indications of the presence and blessing of the Lord. May the time be hastened when the words of Isaiah the prophet shall receive their complete fulfillment: “They shall be all taught of God.”

Those desiring to learn more about the college and its work should address the writer at Healdsburg College, Healdsburg, Cal. M. E. CADY.