Branch Sabbath Schools
By L. Flora Plummer
A most interesting phase of the work of the Sabbath-school Department is now known as the Branch Sabbath-school Work. These branch schools are held for the children of those not of our faith, and are mostly conducted by the young people of the Sabbath schools. Perhaps no better idea could be given of this work than by quoting from letters received at this office. The following is from Brother E. H. Huntley, and speaks of the work in St. Paul, Minn.: “We have four branch Sabbath schools in good running order, with a total membership of eighty-four, not counting officers, teachers, and those attending from our main Sabbath school. Nearly all the members of our regular school have something to do in branch Sabbath-school work. Even the children seem to feel a responsibility in bringing others to the schools. I do not know of anything that we have taken hold of yet that has in it the possibility of developing workers that this work has. We are planning for two more branch schools. Many of the children in these schools are children of Catholic parents, and they seem to take a deep interest in the lessons.” Miss A. Helen Wilcox, the Iowa Sabbath-school secretary, writes: “During the past winter about one hundred and forty children have been brought into our branch Sabbath schools in Des Moines. The work has been largely carried on by the young people of the Des Moines church. Most of these children have been in the poorer parts of the city. They are bright, and it is encouraging to the worker, as he reviews the school from week to week, to receive prompt, correct answers to his questions. These children appreciate what is being done for them, and they have completely won the hearts of the young people who are working for them, and the young people have also realized the fulfillment of Luke 6: 38. One woman has been reclaimed who has been breaking the Sabbath for years, though at one time she was a member of our denomination. She was pleased to send her little daughter to the church school which developed from one of the branch Sabbath schools. The church school was a decided success. Half-day sessions were held, and the school was taught by one of the teachers in the Des Moines church school, assisted by one of her older pupils. We have been much encouraged21as we have seen the interest which the parents of the children have manifested. The needs were such that considerable clothing had to be distributed. This was contributed by Sabbath schools in different parts of the State. One little girl from Sioux Rapids sent a little coat and bonnet which she said she wanted to go to a motherless girl about whom I had written to the children. She afterward wrote me that she was so glad that even the bonnet would fit; for she did want to do something to help.” “The tangible results of the branch schools in Des Moines might be summarized as follows: Regular Sunday evening meetings in one locality; one church school; hundreds of articles of clothing distributed; one Sabbath-breaking Adventist reclaimed; increasing cleanliness in the homes of the people in the poorer districts who have come in contact with our work; an excellent missionary garden planted to defray the expenses of one school; about seventeen other branch schools started in the State; new spiritual life developed in those who have been engaged in the work; increased confidence gained by timid workers, to enable them to speak in public, etc.; greatly increased interest in the young people’s meetings.” Miss Ida Nelson, of College View, State Sabbath-school secretary of Nebraska, writes of a very interesting branch school which some of the College View workers are holding in the western part of Lincoln. “Our branch school is held in one of the houses of a cluster of five. There are just ten children living in those houses, and they all attend the school regularly. Our first meeting was held while a most fearful dust storm was raging, but we had a very interesting time. I gave copies of Our Little Friend to the children, and pointed out the lesson, asking them to study it. The next Sabbath it was evident that they had studied the lesson; for they answered most of the questions readily. We divide the children into three classes, sit on the floor, with the children around us. We have children’s songs printed on muslin in large type, so the children can read them, and they learn the songs quickly, and enjoy them very much. The children now expect us every Sabbath. When they see us coming, they run to meet us, and want to carry our Bibles and song books. Last Sabbath when we went home, they accompanied us several blocks, seeming to want to be with us as long as they could. It is a precious work, and those who have been going out with me enjoy it very much.” A mission Sunday school has recently been organized by the members of the Young People’s Society in Kansas City, Mo. One of the helpers in this work writes: “The school is in the slum portion of the city. Many of the people are Italians, only the children understanding English. We had thirty children in attendance last Sunday. Some of them had never before attended a religious meeting. Several business men have looked in, some staying through the meeting. Some club ladies whose meetings discontinue during the summer are going to give the amount they would pay in dues, for the support of the mission. The Sabbath school furnishes copies of Our Little Friend, and we have ordered some copies of the Life Boat, and hope to do much good with them. It is the younger people who have started this, interested the older ones to help, and hope to be able to carry it on.” We all rejoice because of the success of this comparatively new line of work. It means the growth of the true missionary spirit in the hearts of our young people, and their development into successful laborers. It means that the gospel is being given to many children, and to some of the parents through their children. We have been told of a time, which is now not far distant, when “the Spirit of God will come upon the children, and they will do a work in the proclamation of the truth which the older ones cannot do.” I wish we might have one or more branch Sabbath schools wherever there is a Sabbath school. Is there not a suggestion to many in these reports of work now going on?