What the Young People's Society Has Done for Me
By Matilda Erickson
"WITH such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world!" Is the organized work, which we fully believe God has called into existence, helping to train young people for service? That question is well answered in the following paragraphs from young people in various places: — "Since I have become a member of the young people's society, my interest in the cause of truth has grown more intense, and I have been given an inspiration to dedicate my life to the Lord's work. It is giving me a constant desire to press onward, and a better realization of the importance of the times in which we are living. My view of the necessity of a preparation for the Lord's work has been broadened and deepened into a desire to have an active part in the giving of the message to a darkened world. What could a society do more?" — Anita F. Bucci, New Jersey. "The Missionary Volunteer Society has brought many rich blessings into my life. Young people naturally wish for some kind of entertainment. The young people's society furnishes this. It also serves as a medium through which I can work for my associates who are unacquainted with the message for to-day. It has given me a training that makes me better equipped to fight in the Christian warfare." — W. H. Tarver, Jr., Georgia. "I have received many blessings from our young people's society. I have come nearer to my Saviour, and have a greater desire to lead others to God. We have had good meetings, and have had some good experiences in the canvassing work. Some of my missionary letters have been to a young girl in a hospital. She is interested in our literature and wishes our prayers." — Bertha E. Pflaum, Eastern Pennsylvania. "The young people's society certainly has done me good spiritually and otherwise. I think the programs prepared in the Youth's Instructor are excellent. I enjoy hearing of the work that is being done in foreign fields. I am glad to be of some service in the Lord's work as secretary of the young people's society here. Hope that this may be an encouragement to other secretaries." — Ruth M. Sterner, Eastern Pennsylvania. "I have been benefited in many ways by the young people's society. It helps one to become more active in the Lord's service. Through our young people's society, we find many opportunities of helping others, and for this we are always blessed. The Morning Watch has been a great help to me. I thank the Lord for our young people's society and for the young people's work." — Bessie A. Nichols, West Pennsylvania. "I have enjoyed the books in the Reading Course very much. I sincerely wish to put into practise some of the good things found in them. I think our young people could not take up anything better in their spare time. With regard to young people's meetings, I can say for myself that they have been a great benefit to me. I look forward to them and enjoy them more than anything else, and I wish to help all I can to make the meetings a success." — Elizabeth Wasell, Ontario. "I believe I can truly say that the young people's work has helped me to higher ground. I have tried to make the motto and the aim of the society my own. The Reading Courses have been especially helpful to me. By giving me a new view of missionary work, they have broadened and ennobled my ideas of life, and given me a deeper longing to see others converted. I have learned the texts and some of the poems in the Morning Watch Calendar, and I know that they have helped me gain some victories over the enemy. I shall never regret the time and study needed to pass the Standard of Attainment examinations. As I studied the special truths which we believe, and then read how the early pioneers sacrificed and suffered to spread those truths, I felt more firmly convinced than ever that we have the message for this time, and my greatest desire is to have a part in publishing it. I can not express how much it all has done for me. It has helped me better to appreciate good reading, and to overcome my desire for light reading. It has helped to keep my aim in life before me, and to strengthen that aim. These are but a few of the many things that the young people's work has done for me." — Emma Twitchell, New York. "I will tell you just a little
That the work has done for me:
I can look upon the fallen
With more tender sympathy,
And the dear souls now in darkness
Seem to call me to their side,
When I read the readings given.
O to point them to my Guide!
And the Standard of Attainment
—Has helped me to look above,
Ever longing to press onward,
Trusting in my Saviour's love.
Then the Morning Watch—God bless
it!—
Helps me through the trying day,
And I know my Bible better.
Brighter shines the narrow way."
— Olive Twitchell, New York. "The young people's work has been of inestimable value to me. In society work I have had the privilege of being both learner and leader. From the Reading Course I have learned the importance of systematic study, and the need of spiritual food for Christian development. The Morning Watch texts have increased my store of Bible knowledge, and I have learned many texts that are not only helpful to me now, but will be a source of help and strength in the time of trouble, when our Bibles will be taken from us. And more than this, the young people's work has helped me to advance spiritually, and has increased my faith in the soon-coming Saviour." — Lynne Rainwater, Tennessee River. "The work of the Missionary Volunteer Society has been of benefit to me in many ways. It has enabled me to appear in public with less embarrassment, and to work more intelligently on committees. But above those things, I value the interest it has given me in personal21work for the young people. I realize that such work is more beneficial than any other line of work taken alone. This work is a means of making the young people feel that they have a part in the work of the church."—A society leader in Oklahoma. "My connection with the young people's society has caused me to have more confidence in the work for the youth; it has also caused me to have more faith in God. It has given me a greater insight into the work of the young people, and the responsibilities connected therewith. I can not recommend the work too highly to those who become members with the determination to work with and for the society. There is a peculiar pleasure in this to be found nowhere else, when we keep in mind that it is God's work, and that we are really working for him."—A society secretary in Oklahoma. "My experience in Missionary Volunteer work has been limited to a small country society, yet I can recall many instances that have helped me to a higher and better life. I have acted as leader of the society much of the time, and my experience has not been without heartaches; but God has made all things work together for good, and I have a deeper love for souls, a firmer trust in God, and a stronger desire to become like the perfect Pattern. I thank God for what he is doing for me and others through the young people's work."—Lottie A. Gibson, Ohio. "The help that I have received from the young people's work is beyond the expression of words. The helpful Christian association, the prayer bands, personal work, and the Christian Help work have awakened a new love for this great truth, and a greater sense of the work and sacrifice of Christ. The Reading Course, too, has given me a breadth of mind and a higher aim in life. The Morning Watch Calendar has led to a systematic and thoughtful study of the Bible."—Mark Wilson, South Texas. "I believe those who planned the course of Standard of Attainment were guided by the Spirit of God. I can not speak too highly of its merits, for it has been a great blessing to me. I feel better acquainted with the great principles upon which our denomination is founded, and the spirit of sacrifice and devotion which characterized the pioneers of this work. I would recommend it, together with the Morning Watch Calendar, to every Missionary Volunteer. I am sure that these two factors will do much to prepare the young people to give the message."—Blanche Hicks, Indiana. "The Missionary Volunteer Society has been a help to me in more ways than one. I believe that the greatest benefit I have derived from it is the realization that I am one of many thousand young people, scattered throughout the world, all of whom are interested in the same things, and striving to do what they can to finish this great work. This has been an inspiration to me which nothing else could have been."—Anna J. Olson, North Dakota. "The young people's organization has been of great benefit to me. From among the multitude of books constantly before me, I have found those chosen for the Reading Courses to be among the best that could be obtained for young people who are striving to prepare themselves for some place in the third angel's message. The Standard of Attainment sets before us a worthy aim, and I feel that more of our young people in this State should strive for it. For four years I have kept the little Morning Watch Calendar in my Bible, and have found the verses learned to be a comfort and strength to me. May this work for our young people be ever pushing onward, for I know it is helping many in the upward way."—A Missionary Volunteer in South Dakota. "What has the young people's work done for me? It has given me a clearer vision of God, and has brought before me more strikingly what he expects each one to do. It has helped to give me a longing for the salvation of my fellow men. My work in connection with the society has shown me much concerning my duty to those who have charge of such work. The Morning Watch has brought me more blessings than any other thing that I can think of. Many times it has helped me to spend a day quietly and peacefully with God which otherwise might have been filled with failures. In short, this work has placed me in closer relationship with my Master."—A Missionary Volunteer in South Dakota. "Before stating what the Missionary Volunteer Society has done for me, I stop and ask myself the question, What have I done for the society? It is a faithful saying, 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' I can truly say that my labor in this department of the Lord's work has been richly rewarded. The Christian association, the exchange of the best thoughts, the cooperation of effort for a definite purpose, bring strength. My interest in the Young People's Department increases as I advance in harmony with the splendid plans laid for its development; the Reading Course, the Morning Watch, and the Standard of Attainment are truly in the line of Christian progress."—Byron A. Meeker, Upper Columbia. "My connection with the Missionary Volunteer Society has given me an increased interest in missions, both at home and in the foreign fields. It has made me feel a greater personal responsibility in the salvation of unconverted young people. I believe an increased impetus could be given to our missionary work if every young person in the denomination was encouraged to join the organization."—Bessie Plaiz, Upper Columbia. "The young people's work has been a great help to me. It has made me realize more fully God's love and protecting care and the great need of consecrated young people to make special preparation for missionary work both at home and in foreign fields. I am so glad to be a member of the Morning Watch circle, for it brings us nearer together as one large family of the same kind, long-suffering Heavenly Father."—Lida Ackley, Northern California-Nevada. "One of the greatest benefits I have derived from the young people's work has been the knowledge it has brought to me of the work in foreign fields, and with this knowledge has come a burning desire for service in the regions beyond."—Edith Barnes, Northern California-Nevada. "The young people's society has been a training-school to me. Preparing papers to read, learning texts for Scripture drills, and doing other small tasks assigned have given me a valuable experience. Realizing that the Lord's work demanded my best efforts, I have tried to do faithfully the work allotted to me, and the Lord has abundantly blessed every effort. Reading our good books, and studying the great harvest-field and the need of workers, have helped me to become acquainted with our best Friend, and have given me a greater desire to devote my strength and talents to the Master's service."—Vivian Nightingale, Southern California. "First, by attending regularly, it has taught me to be faithful in all things. The Morning Watch texts, learned to be answered at society roll-call, have strengthened my memory, and given me a clearer and deeper insight into our Sabbath-school lessons. Second, it has been an encouragement to hear of the work of the missionaries, and to see the interest of the young people to improve the opportunities afforded in our meetings to train for service in the great vineyard of the Lord. Third, I have found the conventions beneficial along the lines of society work and social improvement. Fourth, I have learned from the Reading Course that, like Livingstone, we may take up our duty daily, and wind our path in the shape of the cross. It is my earnest desire that others will attend and learn faithfulness, happiness, endurance, and friendship. This is the help the young people's work has given me."—Lillian Jaeger, Southern California. Just here we must close this interesting symposium. We can not at this time hear from the other young people who are waiting to add their tributes of gratitude for the Missionary Volunteer work. In our symposium the first representative speaks from near the restless Atlantic, and the last from the shores of the sunny Pacific. Here we have a chain of representatives reaching across the continent, and we might extend this chain until it encircled the globe; for not only in our own country, but in other lands also young men and women are pressing into this young people's movement. In South America, in Europe, in Africa, in Australia, in the Orient, and in the South Pacific islands our Missionary Volunteers are advancing with firm tread under the blood-stained banner. Truly, God has marvelously blessed this work in the past, and we can not doubt its future success.