Emmanuel Missionary College
By M. Bessie Degraw
“My brothers, what is the good of a man’s saying that he has faith if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?” Christian education, or in other words, reform in education, is an acceptance of the wisdom of Christ by faith, just as one accepts his righteousness by faith. Those who surrender themselves to the cause of Christian education commit themselves to certain principles which are a constant test of their ability to take God at his word. One of the most trying experiences passed through in the history of Emmanuel Missionary College came with the word to move out of Battle Creek. It was like the command for Peter to walk on the waves. We had no place to go, and in vacating the buildings at Battle Creek the school was actually burning the bridges behind it. The summer school of 1901, held in an oak grove near Berrien Springs, was a continuation of the test. After the opening of that term the present college farm was purchased, and the furniture and school belongings were shipped from Battle Creek. One year ago the school was conducted in rented buildings in the village of Berrien Springs. We regarded ourselves most fortunate in obtaining those buildings, but they could not be considered permanent. When the spring term of school closed, some well-meaning friends questioned if it would not be advisable to retain those buildings in the village, for fear we should have no buildings ready for the fall opening. By faith, and faith alone, the court buildings were given over, and the school furniture stored, except such as was needed in the camp for the summer-school students. The institution was again literally without a home. Then began the building on the college farm. The summer was wet. It rained nearly every day throughout the months of May and June, and July was not much better. The summer-school students were in tents: the only available room for serving meals was in the basement of the carpenter shop. Many days those church-school teachers ate dinner with the noise of a buzz saw drowning their voices, and the basement floor much too damp for comfort. But through it all there was manifested a spirit of courage and determination. The idea of employing inexperienced help on the buildings was a new and untried one. Nevertheless the management felt that this involved one of the fundamental principles of a training school, and in harmony with the Lord’s instruction the plan was adopted. This required faith. About forty young men worked on the buildings. Brother Baird, the overseer, worked with them day after day. Gradually Domestic Arts Building developed. More than once a halt was called because material was lacking, and there was no money to buy more. This, too, required a constant exercise of faith. The brethren in the field had promised to sell “Christ’s Object Lessons” in sufficient numbers to provide the necessary means. But money came in slowly. No debt should be incurred, and yet to stop in the midst of the building meant defeat. At such times teachers and students met together for prayer and consultation. Young men offered to donate labor rather than have the work cease. At such times it seemed that the Spirit moved upon other hearts also, and the situation was relieved. The fall term of school opened October 15. Just before that time everybody joined the working force in order to have rooms ready for new students. Perhaps our friends can imagine the present situation. The young men have sleeping quarters in the carpentry building and on the second floor of the printing office. Young ladies occupy the garret of Domestic Arts Building. Individual rooms are an unknown luxury. And yet with it all there is happiness and an earnest spirit to work. Why this is true can be explained in but one way. The students now in attendance are Christians; they have caught the spirit of Christian education, and they believe in co-operating with the faculty in making this a real training school. The spirit of co-operation is, in fact, a characteristic feature of the present year’s work. Burdens are borne by students which have heretofore been borne by the faculty. The Lord has said, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” As burdens are laid upon students, they rise to the occasion. This becomes a test of their fitness for a training school. If not qualified to stand alone, and even to help others stand, they should seek admittance to a preparatory school, where they may be treated as children. Here they are men and women who have put away childish things. This is the spirit of a training school, and it is here that burden bearers are prepared for the harvest field. The instruction of the Lord is that our schools should not pattern after schools of the world. It has been our experience that when teachers grasp the object of a training school, it becomes an impossibility to follow worldly institutions. “A training school for missionaries,” says one educator, “is expected to give what it is not in the province of any college or university to furnish, . . . a technical education.” It is this technical training, which “prepares students for the specific work of bringing men to Christ and raising the degraded to the Christian plan of living,” that Emmanuel Missionary College offers. The winter term, which is a school for evangelistic laborers, opens Jan. 8, 1903. “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good.”