We believe that the world will be evangelized in this generation by the old and young people working together; but surely a general awakening must first take place. Our boys and girls must be converted and educated in heart and mind. When Frederick the Great heard of the defeat of his army in a certain engagement, he exclaimed, “We must educate.” Can not we say, Education is the chief defense of our youth? If we would save our youth, we must educate. If we would see them on the firing line heralding the third angel’s message, we must educate. To assist in educating our large army of young people, the Missionary Volunteer movement has been launched.
This is far more than a local affair, a young people’s society. It is a movement a great crusade of the church to enlist and train its young people. The marching orders are, “The advent message to all the world in this generation.” The reason, “God wills it.”
“It is a holy thing,” said Disraeli, “to see a state saved by its youth;” but it is a more impressive sight to us to see our youth filled with a passion to give their lives to spread the third angel’s message. The church is only beginning to realize the great possibilities lying dormant in our children and youth. It is said, “The energy necessary to secure the cooperation of an adult advanced in years will kindle the enthusiasm of a score of young people.”
“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!”—Education, page 271. The children and youth in the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists number about 50,000 souls. An army of this size and character demands much attention from the older members.
The world is bidding for our young men and women. Every inducement is held out to ensnare them. In their bosoms the fires of ambition are burning brightly. The normal young person has an intense longing to make the most of life. And this desire is laudable. God’s ideal for each blood-bought life is deeper, broader, higher than we are capable of comprehending.
Satan takes advantage of the throbbing, pulsating life and energy of our young people, and through the medium of the world says: “Come, this line of work will give you social standing, pleasure, and a good home. There is opportunity to climb. We will start you in at twelve, eighteen, or twenty-five dollars a week, and will advance you just as rapidly as you warrant promotion.” Many accept the world’s offer, becoming “hewers of wood and drawers of water” for the Gentiles. You say they have the wrong perspective, and that is true.
A young woman, with tears in her eyes and a terrible struggle going on within, asked one of our workers these questions: “What does life hold out for a Seventh-day Adventist young person? If I must give up outside company, stop attending parties and social gatherings, stop wearing jewelry, flowers, and feathers, stop reading fiction and going to theaters, stop playing light music and singing sentimental songs, what pleasure can I get out of life?”
You say she does not see the positive side of the Christian life. All she sees are the crosses she must carry. That is just the point. Such a time presents a golden opportunity for a sympathetic elderly friend to assist the young person to get a right perspective, and to carefully point out the dangers of the worldly life.
Yearly a stream of young people slowly wends its way from our Sabbath schools and churches, not to be about their “Father’s business,” but to engage in the world’s work. It causes our hearts to bleed. The hearts of fathers and mothers are wrung with anguish, shoulders are stooped, heads are streaked with silver and bowed low; but still the plague spot spreads. Thousands of our brightest and most capable young people have been lost to the cause of God, millions20of heathen have passed unwarned to Christless graves, the Son of God has been put to an open shame in the house of his friends; but what are we doing to stop it?
Our young people are the biggest asset this denomination has. But at the present time upward of 10,000 are unconverted. Statistics show that the majority of conversions occur between the ages of twelve and twenty. The greatest number of conversions occur in the sixteenth year. Between seventy-five and ninety per cent of the members of the different Protestant churches in America were converted before they reached their twenty-third year. As these years pass, the prospects decrease, and after twenty-three very few become Christians.
The years from ten to twenty-five are the harvest time for souls. They are also the most favorable period for the enemy of our souls to work, and he improves his opportunity.
Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House fame, states: “More than 25,000 young people under the age of twenty-five passed through the juvenile and municipal courts of Chicago during 1900, approximately one out of every eighty of the entire population, or one out of every fifty-two of those under twenty-five years of age.”
Mr. Chas. R. Scott, State secretary of boys’ work in New Jersey, writes: “The average age of the boys committed to the State home in New Jersey is about twelve years, and the parents in many cases are responsible for their commitment. There are on the average 525 boys in the home, with over 1,500 on parole scattered over the State.”
Mr. John L. Alexander, an International Sunday School secretary, says: “Only twenty to twenty-five out of every one hundred scholars who enter Sunday school are saved to church membership. More than half our church members were converted before they were sixteen years of age, and only four per cent were converted after maturity.”
If we admit the preceding facts, shall we not recognize youth as the harvest time of souls? During this period the foundations of Christian life are laid, the student life is determined, and the trend for greater usefulness is established.
The spirit of prophecy states: “Very much has been lost to the cause of God by a lack of attention to the young. . . . When the youth give their hearts to God, your care for them should not cease. Lay some special responsibility upon them. Make them feel that they are expected to do something. The Lord chooses them because they are strong. Teach them to labor in a quiet, unpretending way, for their young companions. Let different branches of the missionary work be laid out systematically, and let instruction and help be given, so that the young may learn to act a part. Thus they will grow up to be workers for God.”—Gospel Workers, pages 278, 279.
“Altogether too little attention has been given our children and youth. . . . God requires the church to arouse from its lethargy, and see what manner of service is demanded in this time of peril.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VI, page 196.
Twenty-two years ago the spirit of prophecy gave this challenge: “Let there be a company formed somewhat after the order of the Christian Endeavor Society, and see what can be done in watching and improving opportunities to do work for the Master.”—Extracts relative to medical missionary work, Oct. 2, 1893. Again: “Form Christian endeavor meetings to make plans that will be a blessing. . . . They will have in mind the value and efficiency of Christian endeavor meetings, in preparing missionaries to go forth to give the warning to the world.”—Review and Herald, Jan. 16, 1894.
To meet this specific instruction the Missionary Volunteer Department was launched at the Mount Vernon Sabbath school and young people’s convention in 1907. “The purpose of the organization is the salvation and development of our young people as workers.” The conditions of membership are twofold: (1) Membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church; and (2) willingness to engage in active service for Christ. The object of the Missionary Volunteer Society, in the church, is association for prayer, Bible study, and missionary work.
The Missionary Volunteer Society is a department of the church at work, just as the primary, intermediate, and junior divisions of the Sabbath school are a part of the church at study. In order that there may be the closest cooperation between the Missionary Volunteer Society and the church, the officers should be elected by the church, the same as the elder, Sabbath school superintendent, and church librarian. The executive committee consists of the officers of the Missionary Volunteer Society, together with the church elder, Sabbath school superintendent, or church librarian (as the church may choose). This committee should plan for the meetings and the work of the society.
There is a distinct benefit derived from the Missionary Volunteer Society work. Timid and backward young people are encouraged to take part in the work, and they develop under the responsibilities laid upon them. Many of our workers now in the home and foreign fields, offered their first public prayer and gave their first Bible reading or public talk in a Missionary Volunteer Society. Another great advantage derived from the separate young people’s meeting is that the youth learn to plan and do things on their own initiative. Thus our boys and girls are tied to the church. We must make them feel that they are a part of it, and that they are needed.
The young people may make some mistakes, but Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” Elder Daniells relates an experience that meets many a parallel among our young people. The incident illustrates what a true father or mother in Israel may do for our young people who make mistakes. He says:—
“When a boy I became a Christian, and tried hard to do right. At one time I became very much discouraged. One Sabbath day, when in the meeting the brethren and sisters were telling how good the Lord had been to them, and how they loved him, I felt so disheartened that I decided to give up and end the struggle. So when the meeting was over, I hurried out of the church so that no one would speak to me. I stepped around the corner of the building to wait for mother. “As I was standing there, our good old church elder, just the man I did not want to see, came around the corner of the church. He said, ‘Well, Arthur, I have been looking for you.’ He said he had noticed that I had not taken any part in the meetings for three Sabbaths, that he had been thinking about me and wondering what was the reason. He wondered if he had done anything that had discouraged me, or if his example had not been good, if I had lost courage because of him. Then he said, ‘If I have, I want you to forgive me.’ Well, I could not have an old saint talk to me like that, so I broke down and began to cry. I said, ‘You have not done anything. I am a sinner; I cannot be a Christian; I have tried, and given up.’ At this the old man put his hand on my shoulder and said he knew what it was to become discouraged, that he had passed through the same experience. He assured me that he had confidence in me, and that I must not give up, but try again, and he would pray for me. I looked up into his face, and said, ‘I will try again.’ And never since that time have I given up the struggle.”
The Missionary Volunteer Department is attempting to bring about the conversion of every young person in our ranks. Last year more than 1,700 were won to Christ. This year our goal calls for 2,000 of our children to be brought to the Saviour. Shall we not all work and pray to this end?
But when a young person is converted, he is a mere babe in Christ. He must grow to the stature of manhood in Jesus Christ. In order to grow spiritually, he must receive spiritual food. To help supply this, the Morning Watch Calendar has been provided. This suggests a definite text of Scripture to be studied and memorized each day throughout the year. The Missionary Volunteer Junior and Senior Reading Courses have also been arranged to provide the growing minds with wholesome, inspiring books. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. V, page 519, says: “The special effort of ministers and workers all through our ranks for this time should be to turn away the attention of the youth from all exciting stories.” The child and the young person are inexperienced, and do not know how to choose. To help such we need to serve some dainty morsel to them that will tempt their appetites. Then continue to exercise care and tact in feeding them until their appetites have become vigorous, and the habit for good, pure, elevating reading has been developed.
The Standard of Attainment work has also been arranged for the purpose of getting our young people to study the Bible systematically. Many are Seventh-day Adventists because their parents are. But those who become Attainment members believe the third angel’s message because the Bible teaches it. This class is able at any time to give a reason for the hope that is in them.
The importance of work for our children and young people cannot be over-emphasized.
“The schoolboys of Bourges, in the early French Revolution, bore a flag displaying in shining letters the words, ‘Tremble, tyrants; we shall grow up.’ O that these words, ‘We shall grow up,’ would ever ring in our churches! They21will grow up and make tremble the enemy of our God, or grow up and make us tremble. The Romanists are wont to say, ‘Give us the child until he is ten years old, and you may do what you can with him after that.’ Trebonius, the instructor of Martin Luther, always uncovered his head in the presence of any of his boys. He was accustomed to say: ‘Who can tell what man may yet rise up amid these youth? There may be among them those who shall be learned doctors, sages, nay, princes of the empire.’ Even then there was before him the great leader of the Reformation, that ‘solitary monk that shook the world.’ The children must increasingly receive the attention, thought, and care of the church.”
Pray for our young people, and for those who are working to win them to Christ.
C. L. BENSON.
The Missionary Volunteer Goal for 1915
By M. E. KERN
WILLIAM CAREY, the father of modern missions, said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” The biggest and most important enterprise in this world is that of giving “the advent message to all the world in this generation.” And if any in this world ought to work with earnestness for definite results, it is the people who have this enterprise in hand. The business man looks over his work and his prospects, and sets his goal for the new year. The literary man outlines his work and plans to do a certain amount in a given time. The school takes for its slogan so many students or so much more equipment for next year. Why should not we, as individuals, as churches, and as Missionary Volunteer Societies, carefully study the Lord’s messages to us as his workmen, consider our ability to work, and the equipment we have or can procure, and set a task to be accomplished in a given time—“attempt great things for God”? The Missionary Volunteer Department of the North American Division set a goal last year. Here is the goal, and the results of the efforts to reach it:—
GOAL
RESULTS
Young people added to the church and M. V. Soc.
1,500
1,804
New Members of Attainment
500
677
Reading Course certificates issued
1,000
1,913
Offerings for missions through our M. V. Soc.
$25,000
$19,633.45
These results are very encouraging. It was our first effort on a general goal. Besides, it is very evident that the reports on the first and last items are away below the actual results accomplished. The effort has been a great blessing to the young people of North America. A secretary writes, “It has greatly increased the effort to have a special aim and goal.” The North American Division Missionary Volunteer goal for 1915 is as follows:—
Young people added to the church
and M. V. Soc. ........................ 2,000
Young people to read the Bible
through ................................ 2,000
New Members of Attainment ................. 1,000
Reading Course certificates issued .......... 3,000
Offerings for missions through
our M. V. Soc. ........................ $25,000
Only a few years ago that would have been a tremendous task for the whole denomination; but now our loyal young men and women, boys and girls, who are bound together in one great society, with their faces set like a flint to help “finish the work of the gospel in all the world,” are taking hold of these tasks with perfect confidence of victory.
And what tasks! Can any one tell what 2,000 more young people enlisted under the banner of Prince Immanuel will mean to this cause? And a still greater result, perhaps, will be the reflex influence on those who bring in these 2,000 young people. Though we as young people cannot speak like angels,—as the song goes,—though we cannot preach like Paul, we can tell the love of Jesus; we can say, “He died for all.” It is by personal work very largely that these young people must be won, and personal work is the foundation of all Christian effort. Let all our church and society members endeavor to bring at least one soul to Jesus this year. Only one soul! That seems too low an aim for a time like this, does it not? May it not be many?
Constantly we realize that our lack of power is due to a neglect of the Bible and prayer. Let any who have not done so begin now with the thousands of our young people who have enrolled to read the Bible through this year. Read it prayerfully, study it carefully.
Along the same line is the preparation for Standard of Attainment examinations in Bible doctrines and denominational history. Mrs. E. G. White has said, “Our only safeguard against the wiles of Satan is to study the Scriptures diligently, to have an intelligent understanding of the reasons of our faith, and faithfully to perform every known duty.”—Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1908. And again: “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history.”—General Conference Bulletin, Vol. V. No. 2, page 24.
Then the reading of good books. What profit and delight! And yet how easy to become fascinated with that which is not profitable! The aged servant of the
Lord, Sister White, who has borne so many messages to God’s people in the past, recently dictated a message to our young people from her sick bed. Among other things she said:—
“We should advise the young to take hold of such reading matter as recommends itself for the upbuilding of Christian character. . . . In the night season I was selecting and laying aside books that are of no advantage to the young. We should select for them books that will encourage them to sincerity of life, and lead them to the opening of the Word. This has been presented to me in the past, and I thought I would get it before you and make it secure. We cannot afford to give to young people valueless reading. Books that are a blessing to mind and soul are needed. These things are too lightly regarded; therefore our
people should become acquainted with what I am saying.”
Then there is that splendid sum of money to be raised for missions—$25,000. That is one fourth as much as was given to foreign missions by the whole denomination in the year 1900. Notice what this money will do:—
Support the medical work in India.
Equip a school in Burma.
Provide a mission station and industrial school among the Santals in Bengal.
Provide a boarding school, dispensary, and church in West India.
Provide a training school in South India.
Support six native canvassers in India.
Support four native teachers in India.
Support seventy-five native workers in India.
Provide the Hill allowance for India.
Provide workers’ houses in North India.
Open a new station in South India.
Support eighty-five native teachers in Africa.
Support thirty-two native workers in Africa.
Provide a schoolhouse for the Tsungwesi Mission, Africa.
Support the educational work in Tsungwesi Mission, Africa.
Support the educational and medical work in Nyasaland, Africa.
Support the educational work in Emmanuel Mission, Basutoland, Africa.
Support the medical work in Kolo Mission, Africa.
Provide a house and farm for outstation, Barotseland, Africa.
Pay for the printing of native literature for South Africa.
Support native work in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Support sixty students in the school at Solusi Mission, Africa.
Support twenty-five students at the school at Glendale Mission, Victoria, Africa.
Purchase cart and oxen for the Lusakas Mission, Africa.
The young people of North America are taking hold of this item so vigorously that most of our conference Missionary Volunteer secretaries feel sure that the goal will be reached. It will if every individual does his part, which is $2.50 to foreign missions, aside from Sabbath school offerings. Every penny of this applies on the Twenty-cent-a-week Fund.
Over two thirds of the amount assigned to one conference has already been pledged by the young people. Another Missionary Volunteer secretary writes that, with the exception of one, each society in her conference is keeping ahead with its donations, week by week, and has expressed the determination to “keep it up,” and that the one society which was behind had arranged a special effort to catch up. A Junior boy of eleven in another conference has asked the privilege of supporting a dispensary assistant in India, for one year, $15.36. Another loyal Adventist boy has given $100, money received from the sale of a colt which his father gave him.
Let the parents, church officers, and all the other members of the church encourage the young people in their missionary endeavors. What they do means much to the cause, and it means everything to their own development as loyal Seventh-day Adventists.
M. E. KERN:
Publications Wanted
THE following-named persons desire late, clean copies of our publications, sent postpaid, for use in missionary work:—
Mrs. Geo. H. Durrie, Gardner, Fla.
Eleanor A. Hinebaugh, 15 Clinton Ave., Fredonia, N. Y. Magazines, tracts.
Axel Peterson, Jenner, Alberta, Canada. Papers and tracts in English and Scandinavian.
“Lys Over Landet”
(Danish-Norwegian Light Over the Land)
COVER—A Moonlight Meadow Scene
THE WATCHTOWER
“What Prohibition Does.”
“A Poison for the Youth.”
“One Result of the War.”
“The First Prohibition Country in the World.”
“Pension for Mothers.”
WAR ON THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC
“A Temperance Lecture by a Judge.”
“Alcohol and Cheerfulness.”
“Wholesome Drinks.”
“The Moderate Drinker.”
FRIENDS AND FOES OF HEALTH
“Influence of the Mind on the Body.”
“Nerve-Strengthening Walking.”
“With the Open Windows.”
“A Great Danger.”
THE HOME
“The Indians and Their Future.”
“How the Desire for Strong Drink Was Cured.”
“Infants Speaking” (allegory).
FOR FREEDOM AND RIGHT
“Catholic Attack on the Free Press.”
“The Powers Courting the Papacy.”
Prices: Single copy, 10 cents; 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each. Order of your State tract society.
NOTICES AND APPOINTMENTS
NOTICES AND APPOINTMENTS
Camp Meetings
CENTRAL UNION CONFERENCE
Wyoming .................................... June 8-15
Colorado, Boulder .......................... June 17-27
West Colorado, Grand Junction ................. June 28 to July 5
Missouri .................................... Aug. 5-15
Nebraska ................................... Aug. 19-29
West Pennsylvania .......................... June 10-20
Eastern Pennsylvania ....................... June 17-27
Chesapeake, Hamilton Avenue Grove, Baltimore, Md. ........ June 24 to July 4
New Jersey ................................ June 24 to July 4
Virginia .................................. Aug. 5-15
Ohio ...................................... Aug. 19-29
West Virginia ............................. Aug. 26 to Sept. 5
NORTHERN UNION CONFERENCE
Iowa, Waterloo ............................. May 27 to June 6
Minnesota, Anoka .......................... June 3-13
South Dakota ............................... June 10-20
North Dakota, Jamestown .................... June 17-27
Iowa Sanitarium and Benevolent Association
By A. R. OGDEN
THE Iowa Sanitarium and Benevolent Association, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Iowa, will hold its annual meeting in connection with the Iowa State conference and camp meeting at Waterloo, May 27 to June 6, 1915. The first meeting of the above-named association will be held Tuesday, June 1, 1915, at 9 A. M. Whatever business may properly come before this association will be considered at this meeting.
A. R. OGDEN, Chairman.
Iowa Conference
By A. R. Ogden
THE fifty-second session of the Iowa Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists will be held in connection with the State camp meeting at Waterloo, May 27 to June 6, 1915. The first meeting of the conference session will be called at 9 A. M., Friday, May 28. We trust that all the churches of the Iowa Conference will elect a full delegation. Each church is entitled to one delegate for its organization and to an additional delegate for each fifteen members. Conference officers will be elected, and such other business as may properly come before the conference session will be transacted.
A. R. OGDEN, President.
Iowa Conference Association
By A. R. Ogden
THE Iowa Seventh-day Adventist Association is the legal corporation of the Iowa Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists, incorporated under the laws of the State of Iowa, for the holding of properties and the transaction of the legal affairs of the denomination in the State.
The annual meeting of the above-named association will be held in connection with the State conference and camp meeting at Waterloo, May 27 to June 6. The first meeting of the association is called Monday, May 31, 1915, at 9 A. M. A. R. OGDEN, President.
Addresses Wanted
MRS. N. L. HULING, clerk of the Bartlesville (Okla.) church, desires information concerning the whereabouts of the following persons: J. H. Klumph, Wedsel Harris, Ollie Moore, and Louis Rhamey.
“Zeichen der Zeit”
(German Signs of the Times)
COVER—A Spring Scene (in colors)
LEADING ARTICLES
“The Love of God Revealed in Christ,” by Mrs. E. G. White.
“Onward March of the Bible.”
“Shall We Study the Prophecies?”
“The Seven Churches.”
“Longing for the Father’s House.”
“Luxury, Prodigacy, Then War.”
“The World’s Greatest Danger.”
“The Millennium, When Will It Be?”
“The Papacy at the Summit of Its Power.”
“The Three Angels’ Messages; Are They God’s Last Call to the World?”
Prices: Single copy, 10 cents; 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each. Order of your State tract society.
“Tidens Tecken”
(Swedish Signs of the Times)
COVER—A River Sunset Scene
LEADING ARTICLES
“Without Money and Without Price.”
“Worthy Is the Lamb.”
“True Faith in Christ.”
“Spiritualism.”
“Coworkers With Heaven.”
“The Ministration of Death.”
“Awake!” (poetry).
THE WATCHTOWER
“Luxury, Prodigacy, Then War.”
“Nearness of Our Heavenly Home.”
HOME AND HEALTH
“A Wise Consideration.”
“The Object of Life.”
“The Opportunities of Life.”
(Three single orders—from Jamestown, N. Y.; Chicago, Ill.; and Brooklyn, N. Y.—call for 1,650 copies.) Prices: Single copy, 10 cents; 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each. Order of your State tract society.
Requests for Prayer
An afflicted sister in Tennessee writes: “I have been sick for two years. My only hope for health is in the Lord. Pray for me.”
A West Virginia sister requests prayer for the conversion of her husband and her son and family.
This request comes from Wisconsin: “Please pray that a sister may be relieved of a nervous trouble, from which she suffers much.”
A brother writes from New York: “Will you not pray that I may be granted speedy deliverance from debt?”
