Graded missionary education in the church school; progressive plans of social service and missionary instruction for training pupils from four to eighteen years of age

f OCT IH 1917

BV 2090 .B4
Beard, Frederica.
Graded missionary educatio
in the church school

GRADED MISSIONARY
EDUCATION IN THE
CHURCH SCHOOL

i OCT 18 1911

GRADED MISSlONAfe^HlLili^
EDUCATION IN THE
CHURCH SCHOOL

PROGRESSIVE PLANS OF SOCIAL SERVICE AND
MISSIONARY INSTRUCTION FOR TRAINING
PUPILS FROM FOUR TO EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE

By FREDERICA BEARD

' If you wish to introduce any ideas into a nation's
life, you must put them in the schools."

— Von Humboldt.

' Whatever ideas are to grip the church must be
taught in the Sunday School."

—George H. Trull.

THE GRIFFITH AND ROWLAND PRESS

PHILADELPHIA
BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS

LOS ANGELES TORONTO. CAN.

Copyright 191 7 by
GUY C. LAMSON, Secretary

Published April, 1917

Note. It is hoped that any one interested in one
part of this subject will read the whole of the book,
so as to get the full idea presented here. Other-
wise the points and plans made for any one sec-
tion may not be appreciated or used to the best
advantage.

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. Three Essentials ■ i

11. Training Little Children in Service. . ii

III. Missionary Activities for Children

Six to Nine Years of Age 22

IV. Missionary Instruction and Work for

Children of Nine to Twelve Years 42

V. Missionary Service and Instruction
for Boys and Girls of Twelve to
Sixteen Years 78

VI. Missionary Service and Instruction

for Young People 99

A Chart Showing Departmental Plans

FOR THE Sunday School , . . . I33

GRADED MISSIONARY
EDUCATION IN THE
CHURCH SCHOOL

THREE ESSENTIALS

A PLAN is essential, not for one Sunday only, nor
for one month, nor for one year, but for tlie entire
missionary education of a pupil in the Sunday
School.

Sunday Schools have some plan for biblical in-
struction, whether it be adequate or inadequate;
but there has been little attempt even in an indi-
vidual church to make one for both missionary
service and instruction that shall provide mission-
ary education for a pupil who enters the Sun-
day School at four years of age and graduates at
eighteen.

There is, however, a growing realization that if
children are to be trained as Christians in our Sun-
day Schools, it is impossible to omit the missionary
element, that this is the heart of the Christian
spirit, and that in the broad sense of the word a

I

2 Graded Missionary Education

Christian and a missionary are one and the same.
We need to give, therefore, more careful thought
to this part of Sunday School training.

In the printed curricula of certain Jewish and
Unitarian schools most valuable plans have been
outlined for benevolent activities in the different
groups. Other schools here and there are working
to the same end with graded social service in opera-
tion. These schools have taken a great step in ad-
vance of those of other churches, but they do not
include lines of instruction that would seem ad-
visable, nor fully indicate how the activities and the
instruction may be correlated, each being a means
to the other. Such considerations are most neces-
sary for each individual church. It is to be hoped
that the presentation of the following plans may
lead to this end, and be suggestive to those who
seek to strengthen their work.

In studying the illustrations given of how these
plans can be, or have " been, fulfilled, two things
should be remembered: (i) The principles under-
lying such work are applicable to Christian train-
ing anywhere; (2) the most ideal plan will not be
ideal for the local school, except as it is adapted to
local conditions. These include the characteristics
of the school group, its nationality, general educa-
tion, and cultural opportunities; also the general
character of the homes to which it belongs, and
their locality, whether it be city or country, suburban
or tenement district, mining-town or fishing village.

In the Church School 3

The wisdom cf thinking of these points in rela-
tion to Christian missionary training will be self-
evident as the following outline is studied.

A PROGRESSIVE PLAN is also essential if there is to
be any real education in this direction. It must
correspond to the needs and interests of the little
child' to begin with, and change as the child grows
until it appeals to the young man and woman and
supplies what they need. A seven-year-old Chris-
tian must be a seven-year-old missionary, but he
will be very different from a twelve-year-old mis-
sionary, and a missionary of twelve years must be
very different from one who is twenty. The prin-
cipal or superintendent of each department of a
Sunday School should make a plan to correspond
with what else is to be done and taught through the
year, and this should be submitted to the super-
visor or director of instruction of the entire school,
so that he may see that all the parts when brought
together make a progressive and unified whole for
the good of the pupil as he passes from one depart-
ment to another.

Among persons interested in missions there are
two view-points : One shows the child to be trained ;
the other, the " cause " to be helped. Are these
two purposes of an opposite or unrelated nature?
It would seem so sometimes, as one listens to the
words spoken by some earnest Christian workers
who are absorbed in the object to be aided, with-
out a thought of the children to be trained. But

4 Graded Missionary Education

careful consideration will show that the one is de-
pendent on the other; they should not be thought
of even as parallel, for parallel lines do not con-
verge, and one never grows out of the other. To
cultivate the missionary spirit must be the primary
purpose — not to give to that society or this mission,
which requires '' so much money." In saying this
we should not slight the cause for which there is an
immediate and crying need, financial and otherwise.
Who can wonder at the eagerness and longing for
help of those who are giving their Hves to some one
cause ? But to put this first, even for its own sake,
is a short-sighted view. Five dollars may be given
to-day, but if the children are not educated rightly,
five hundred dollars will be missing from the mis-
sionary offering to-morrow. If the foundation is
well laid, the helping of every cause, the teaching of
the gospel to every creature, will be the final ex-
pression. The late J. T. McFarland, of the Method-
ist Church, said : " Let us carry missions into the
Sunday School primarily for the sake of our chil-
dren themselves, that they may come to their largest
development. The immediate raising of money is
a trivial thing as compared with this great aim."
And Prof. Theodore G. Soares has wisely given
four " canons " on Graded Education in Altruism :

I. Disregard utterly the material results of
the children's giving, their moral development
being the only worthy consideration.

In the Church School 5

2. Let all their giving and serving be within
the limits of their own social experience, and
therefore graded to meet the enlargement of
such interests.

3. Have all such efiforts genuine expressions
of the child's self, not using the child as a mere
agent of another's benevolence.

4. Let all such altruistic effort look forward
to service forming the habits of benevolence.

The greatest missionary work of the church is to
train its children in Christian service, or there will
be no church to carry on missions thirty or forty
years from now. The first motive in this work must
be " to save the child from selfishness " — why ?
" To save the world from sin ; " this is to be the
result.

In making a progressive plan such an aim needs
to be kept clearly in mind. Then something more
will be done in Sunday School than the assigning
of so many " collections " for the year to so many
worthy objects ; the little children's pennies will not
be turned over, for instance, to a Young Men's
Christian Association, nor the young men's money
given to foreign missions, of which they have known
nothing, and in which contribution they have had
no deciding voice.

When the importance of, and the possibilities
through, such an aim and plan are realized, the day
will be altogether passed when churches allow their

6 Graded Missionary Education

schools to pay their own expenses by means of the
contributions of the pupils; they will see that a
greater good is to be gained for both school and
church than can result from this method that, unfor-
tunately, is still in use in many places. No stronger
expression can be made on this subject than that
by John Franklin Goucher, who says : ^

Contributions to the expenses of the Sunday School
by those who are to receive the direct benefits of their
own gifts are not acts of benevolence. In fact, for the
church to pay the expense of its own Sunday School
is no more an act of benevolence than it is for a father
to pay his family's living or educational expenses. For
the child to be taught to give primarily to anything
which centers in himself, or to anything in which his
personal relation is the determining factor, or to give
simply to relieve his church of its duty to give, rather than
to supplement the giving of the church that it may en-
large its work, is to strengthen the principles of selfishness.

The church should provide for the expense of its own
Sunday School, and let the children and youth have the
culture, influence, the character-developing privilege of
contributing to the world's evangelization. The aim in
Sunday School giving should be to cultivate genuine, un-
selfish, thoughtful habits of giving; that is, true benevo-
lence directed by an enlightened conscience and an in-
telligent sympathy. The object should be made humanly
interesting, thoroughly worth while, so defined, and so
presented as to convince the giver of its real need and his
obligation to help, and thus secure his personal sacrifice
through his sense of duty and his awakened interest in
the object.

1 " The Sunday School and Missions."

In the Church School 7

At a sectional meeting of the Edinburgh Mis-
sionary Conference having the subject '' Children
and Missions," the Rev. W. Hume Campbell em-
phasized " the need of a science of missionary edu-
cation." He said, " One of the most pathetic facts
in Christendom is the enormous wastage of endeavor
lost as regards results, simply for want of knowing
how to set to work." The Conference, he urged,
should " send out a loud call to all missionary so-
cieties, bidding them to see that all their workers
had some kind of training, that they must have
skill as well as knowledge, that they must know
something of the How? as well as of the What?
and the Why? of their work, and in the Hght of all
that is known to-day about the development of the
child, they must be ready to revise and, if neces-
sary, throw overboard the folk-lore methods of an
olden time. It would be wiser for missionary so-
cieties to vow not to rush their young people's work
ahead of their power to do it properly, than to think
that they could estimate the future evangelization
of the world by the number of young people who
were being passed through anybody's hands. If
they aimed at numbers they would lose efficiency
as well as the numbers they aimed at; if they aimed
at efficiency they would, in the long run, get ef-
ficiency and numbers that deserved to be weighed
as well as counted."

A CORRELATED PLAN, as wcll as a progressive one,
is needed : missionarv instruction should be related

8 Graded Missionary Education

to the other teaching of the Sunday School, and
should be naturally connected with the experience
of the children. Instead of having " five-minute
talks " on isolated missionary topics, it is possible
and desirable to have the talk sometimes to the
individual class as an outgrowth of the lesson
stories studied, or, if it is given to a group of
several classes, to have it related to the life and
interests of the pupils as a whole. How this may
be done is suggested in the following chapters.

There should be correlation also in the organ-
ized effort put forth by any one church for the
Christian education of its children. This was sig-
nified recently by an interesting illustration from
a minister who had sought to find out the con-
ditions regarding religious education in his own
church. He called together all the leaders of work
carried on with children and young people; seven
organizations were found, including Sunday School,
Christian Endeavor, Mission Band, Boy Scouts,
and Temperance Legion, each overlapping the other,
and several of them for the same group of children.
Each leader was earnestly trying to get all he could
from the children in the way of attendance, work,
and financial gain, without definite knowledge or
even thought of what was being done for and
with these children in the other organizations. The
work will be simplified and strengthened, and at-
tain truer results when the Sunday School is the
center and the mainspring for all that is now done

In the Church School 9

in these separate organizations. Ought not a school
of rehgion — and what else is the Sunday School —
to be a school of Christian Endeavor, a mission
band, and a temperance society? We do not mean
from the formal standpoint, but in spirit and in
action; and is not the spirit more than the letter,
the doing more than the name? In other words,
the one organization may correlate all the good
work that is now done disconnectedly, and often
disadvantageously. The Sunday School can never
fulfil its high mission until it unites Christian ser-
vice with instruction ; and the Boy Scout movement,
for instance, will serve the highest purpose when
it is linked to the church, and a Sunday School
class is also a Boy Scout group. Each organiza-
tion for Christian service or instruction has been
of value in emphasizing the specific need it repre-
sented ; but recognizing these various needs, a more
carefully arranged school, which may well be termed
the church school, may include them all, and then
unity of effort must result in more effective train-
ing. Great care and wise supervision undoubtedly
will be required for the working out of such a
plan.

Trained leadership is essential if the Sunday
School Is to measure up to the opportunity that is
before it. The boys and girls of to-day will be
loyal to the church if provision for this is made In
the kind of training given. Such training must be
different from that of former years, because life as

B

lO Graded Missionary Education

a whole is very different from what it was a genera-
tion ago. There are ways of teaching now that
were unknown then. When these are applied to
religious education in general, and to missionary
teaching in particular, we may look with confidence
for an increasing interest and consecration on the
part of young people. In this outcome will be the
reward for all the time and effort expended in find-
ing out how best to train Christians who shall be
messengers of light and love to all the world.

II

TRAINING LITTLE CHILDREN IN SERVICE

The Principle

A little child wants to help — not for the sake of
helping at first, but because of the desire to do, the
love of companionship, and the natural tendency to
imitate. To do as mother does is a great enjoyment.
But these three instincts, the self-active, the social,
and the imitative, may be so guided that a desire to
help, and an effort for another from a really al-
truistic motive, may be gradually developed. It is
the same with this as with all other high motives- —
it is potential in every little child, as a germ to be
developed, but is dependent on the use first of
natural instincts which are in themselves selfish,
and must be recognized as such. When these are
exercised in right directions the habit of doing
with and for others is established. Through the
doing grows the feeling of love and compassion
and a considerate thought for others.

This point has been strongly expressed by Mr.
Ralph E. Diffendorf er in these words : " Believing
as we do that the impulse to live the life for others
is both naturally and divinely given, its education

II

12 Graded Missionary Education

is governed both by natural and supernatural laws.^
Underneath it are those essential social instincts and
altruistic feelings. Over it hovers the influence of
the spirit of God inspiring us to give ' sl cup of cold
water ' in his name.''

The social instincts, as classified by Professor
Kirkpatrick in his " Fundamentals of Child Study,"
are: (i) The desire for companionship of others;

(2) the impulse to feel as others do — sympathy;

(3) the love of approbation; (4) the desire to
serve the common good or to help others — that is,
altruism.

From an educational standpoint, these instinctive
feelings grow, are strengthened, and become domi-
nant in life through use. This is the simple funda-
mental principle. We must give, therefore, adequate
opportunity for the growth through exercise of the
unselfish life. A thorough realization of this prin-
ciple almost startles us. It means almost a reversal
of our present system of religious education. If
nothing else, it means that we will plan as defi-
nitely and as conscientiously for the arousing of
these feelings and their expression, as we now
study our lessons. In planning these activities
we must keep in mind the needs, interests, limita-
tions, and possibilities of each stage of growth in
the child's development.

^ We question the distinction made here between the natural and
the divine or supernatural, but believe Mr. Diffendorfer's expression
on education through use as the simple fundamental principle will be
helpful to many readers.

In the Church School 13

The Plan

Our plan then in training little children in mis-
sionary service will be to provide ways in which they
can participate in doing good, without much being
said to begin with about caring for others or about
giving money. They can do most in helping those
who are very near them every day. The Sunday
School teacher may lead the children to tell of
ways in which they " help mother," and then sug-
gest some that will require effort sometimes, e. g.,
when father or mother is very tired, a three-year-
old may fetch the slippers or the newspaper, may
find the needle or the handkerchief.

In the Sunday School room children may be en-
couraged to help by placing the teacher's chair
for her, by giving out papers and pictures needed
by others, by bringing flowers " to make the room
beautiful," and in many other ways. We need to
remember the little girl who said, with tears in
her eyes, " Oh ! mother said I needn't help her 'cept
by being good." Such generalization would never
develop a missionary spirit. Froebel says : " Be
cautious, be careful, and thoughtful at this point, O
parents. You can here at one blow destroy . . .
the instinct of formative activity in your children
if you repel their help as childish, useless, of little
avail, or even as a hindrance."

There is no real giving when children bring
money of which they do not know the value, and

14 Graded Missionary Education

which is not their own to give. More real good
will be accomplished by proposing to them some
act of kindness, though it be a very little one, and
in one sense is not kindness, because it calls forth
no unselfishness. Mother gives her little ones bread
for breakfast; how natural for them to save some
crumbs and give these to the birds. On a hot and
dusty day, or an icy winter's day, a child may set a
pan of water in the yard for birds and animals, and
through the act a sympathetic feeling may be born.

The first step in missionary training is to cul-
tivate a habit of doing something for others; and
" others " may be plants, animals, persons.

The second step is to cultivate a habit of helping
those smaller, weaker, or poorer than ourselves.

The third step is to cultivate a desire to make
every one happy. We shall then have missionaries
in embryo. For, do we not believe, a missionary
is one sent of God to carry light and life anywhere
and everywhere ? Jesus said, " I am the Light,"
and, " I came that they may have life, and may
have it abundantly."

The First Definite Missionary Service in
Sunday School

The first natural giving of a little child is from
his own store of goodies — an apple or an orange
saved, a piece of candy, a picture, or a toy. We
cannot expect a voluntary gift of this kind every

In the Church School 1 5

week; it would not be well to encourage it. But
to plan a special opportunity for this is wise every
now and then.

When a four- or five-year-old child has pennies
to spend, and finds that they may be exchanged
for candy, fruit, bread, or milk, a story in Sunday
School about a baby needing milk for breakfast
will surely bring an offering of pennies if this is
proposed. A definite time for such an offering
may be planned, and all the Sunday School group
may unite in it. From that time on there will
be a variety of things in which these small but busy
workers may join, as suggested by the program
given in succeeding pages.

How shall these missionary plans be a natural
outgrowth of the lesson stories? This is easier to
arrange in the kindergarten or beginners' group
than perhaps in any other department of the Sun-
day School. If the year's teaching begins in the
fall, the first stories chosen by many teachers are
those of the home, and father's and mother's care,
leading on to Thanksgiving and the care of the
heavenly Father. At that time it is very natural
to have an offering of fruits and vegetables. If
the year's work begins in the spring, the flowers
and birds might be the central interest of the
stories, and care for these follow.

The Christmas stories may be planned so as to
lead to gifts of pictures and toys. Some definite
missionary expression on the part of the children

i6 Graded Missionary Education

should be associated with the rehgious festivals of
the year.

There are stories essentially of a missionary type
in the Beginners' Series of the International Graded
Lessons, under the themes " Children Helping,"
'' Friendly Helpers," *' Love Shown by Kindness."

Suggestions similar to those in this chapter may
grow out of the stories in '* Kindergarten Lessons
for the Bible School," by Lois Palmer.

The following stories are illustrative of those that
cultivate a spirit of helpfulness:

The Golden Fairies'

A company of these golden fairies went hand in hand
into the woods one day. They were very bright and beau-
tiful as they skipped and danced along their way. Pres-
ently they came to a place where a tiny flower baby lived.
The little one was fast asleep in the dark-brown earth,
which was its house. A crack in the earth near-by made
a window for the fairies to peep through.

The house was very dark and very cold. They saw the
baby fast asleep, and they said to each other, " Let us go
away and come again some other day, and we will each
bring something for the baby." Then one little fairy
said, "Let us make the dark house light," and another
fairy said, " Let us make the cold house warm." A third
fairy said, "I would like to give the baby a new dress,"
and the last fairy said, "I will carry a kiss to the little
one."

And so it was. When they went back they stayed a
long, long time. As they worked together the house grew

'^ From the author's " The Beginners' Worker and Work," The
Methodist Book Concern.

In the Church School 17

lighter and lighter. Then it began to grow very warm.
The baby moved a little, and one little fairy passed very
softly through the window and gently kissed the half-
waked flower. Then they all called, " Come, little one,
come out and play with us."

As the baby flower opened wide its eyes, it saw itself
clothed with a beautiful violet dress. A sister who had
waked earlier, and gone out into the world, looked from
her place, and said, " They always call us violets."

Children, can you guess who were the golden fairies?
They go into many dark places of the earth. They help
to make the world beautiful. Often they peep through
your window. Sometimes you may see them on the
curtain, on the wall, or on the floor, and I have seen them
dressed in the most beautiful colors of red, orange, and
yellow, green, blue, and violet, standing side by side.

A little child sang this song about one of these fairies —
its name I will not tell, but you say it in the right place :

" When I'm softly sleeping

In the early morn.
Through my window creeping

A comes new-born.

It softly says good morning ;

Then with golden light.
Peeping through my curtain,

Makes my room so bright.

• "Welcome little ;

Kindly thou hast come.
Bringing cheerful

From thy far-oflF home.
Welcome little ;

Gladly I would be
Pure and bright and gentle,

Helpful just like thee."

i8 Graded Missionary Education

A Baby to Help

I was taking a walk one day, and I heard a baby cry.
I looked up, and there was a large house, larger than
the houses where you and your babies live. There was
a name over the door that said, " For little babies who
have no father or mother to take care of them." I went
in, and I saw some dear little white beds, and in some
of the beds there were some babies fast asleep. There
was a nurse near-by who was playing mother to the babies.
By her side stood little Esther. She was just about
as big as our Esther. And the good nurse told me a
story about her. "We found Esther," she said, "a little
while ago, and she had no shoes and no stockings on her
feet; that day she had had no breakfast, and we were
so glad to bring her to this home with the other little
children. Somebody gave us some milk for her, and we
found some shoes and some stockings that another little
girl did not need. But Esther will be hungry to-morrow
morning ; she will need some more milk and some crackers.
We have so many children here ; I am afraid we shall not
have enough milk for them all. Is there any one, do you
think, who would give some pennies to buy some milk for
Esther?" I gave the nurse pennies for milk that day,
and told her I knew some little children who might like
to help her. Here is Esther's picture; would you like
to put some pennies in this bag and send them to the
nurse for Esther's milk? I think we could give her break-
fast on all these cold mornings when we are hungry, for
she is hungry too.

Program for Missionary "Work and Giving of
Children Four to Six Years of Age

This plan represents what was successfully car-
ried out in a kindergarten Sunday School.

In the Church School 19

Offerings :

I. Of things (instead of pennies).

Pictures given and mounted by children for
sick playmate.

Apples or oranges " saved " by most of the
children for kindergarten of needy little ones
at Thanksgiving-time.

Small toys from children's own collections
packed with their help to go at Christmas to
a " home " for little children.

Flowers brought for aged people; bunch
carried to "Grandma Hoyt " by Tom, May,
and Susie.

One fresh egg purchased by each child and
placed in basket in Sunday School for Old
People's Home — '' the home near-by, where the
grandmas live."

2. Of money.

" One half-pint jar " of pennies half filled
by the children for milk for " Esther " in the
Foundlings' Home.

A little bag filled with pennies " to buy a
birthday plant for the minister," to whom it
was carried by half a dozen children.

A small box of pennies " for Christmas
gloves for the janitor," to whom these were
given on Sunday, when the group wished him
" A Merry Christmas."

20 Graded Missionary Education

Another box for a Christmas picture to be
given to the primary room. (This was sepa-
rate from that of the kindergarten, and was
'* the place where brothers and sisters a little
older worked and sang.") All marched to this
room with " the surprise."

The gifts asked for — it will be noted — were those
in which little children would be interested, and
were a part of their every-day life — milk, eggs,
fruit, flowers, pictures.

The " objects " presented were well known to
the children. " The sick playmate " was Margaret,
whom they knew well. " Grandma Hoyt " was a
familiar character to most of them. The " Old
People's Home " was in the vicinity of their homes.
Most of these children attended kindergarten; if
this had not been so, a kindergarten in which were
those needing help would have meant little to them.

The particular plan made for each group should
depend on the life and immediate interests of the
group, and no plan in every detail can be suited
to two groups. Things excellent to do in one place
might not be at all good in another.

The purposes in having gifts for the pastor, the
janitor, and the primary class were: (i) To culti-
vate a church family feeling and relationship; (2)
to have the children think of those who worked
for them in the church; (3) to have a family feel-
ing in the different departments of the school. In

In the Church School 21

the separation into graded departments and classes
there is danger of a lack of unity and of a loss of
esprit-de-corps in a school as a whole. There is no
need for this unfortunate result if plans are made
for cooperation, consideration of each other, and
occasionally work in which all have a share.

At some time it would be well for the kinder-
garten group to make a gift to the general super-
intendent, and on some one Sunday arranged for
beforehand, to put flowers in the church. From the
earliest days the children should be led to feel
that they belong to the church family, and that
the Sunday School is connected with the church.

Ill

MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN
SIX TO NINE YEARS OF AGE

A Guide for Beginning

Where shall we begin with these children ? From
the standpoint of their interests, limitations, and pos-
sibilities. All their interests center in home and
school. As soon as a child enters school his mental
and moral horizon widens perceptibly. The very
fact that he meets daily a little community coming
from many and widely different homes changes it
even more than the lessons he learns in the school-
room. But these too have their influence. The fact
that a child begins to read will affect the kind of
missionary teaching he may have. While most of
his work for others should grow out of his im-
mediate experience, like that of his little brother's,
yet he has a realization of time and place, and an
imagination regarding these that will enable him to
do good farther away ; he " loves to go places," to
take a trip on the cars, but we need to remember
that his real geographical interest and knowledge,
his love of travel and adventure are especially
strong a few years later. This illustrates the " pos-

22

In the Church School 23

sibilities " on the one hand, the " Hmitations " on
the other. Practically applied to missions, it means :
a larger home missionary service than that of the
kindergarten child, and a little foreign missionary
service, but only a little — just what will naturally
link itself to the every-day experience. For exam-
ple, Turkey became just as near as Chicago to one
group of children living near that city, when a
friend, '' a real missionary," came home, stayed
with the family of one of the boys, and talked to
the primary class about his Orphans' Home, bring-
ing them pictures of the place; to give to that was
as real and vital an interest as if the home had
been on the next street. In reality, it was not
foreign missions at all. This illustration shows
that no rigid plan should be adhered to, because
we can never know what opportunities will develop
for broadening children's sympathies and efforts.
A kindergarten training teacher once said to a
graduating class, " A kindergartner who has no
program is a very poor one, a kindergartner who
always keeps to her program is one that is worse."
So it is with the teacher of religion. There should
be a clear idea of what ought to be done by and
with the children while they are in the primary
department, and then, on that basis, a plan should
be outlined for the immediate year, but — it may
be — not rigidly held to. A good reason for change
is always desirable, however, if a plan is set aside.
In considering the purpose of all missionary train-

24 Graded Missionary Education

ing Doctor Sailer, as quoted by Mr. Trull/ says
what is especially applicable to the elementary
grades :

Our aim is to develop missionary attitudes and habits.
It is certainly not merely to impart general missionary
information. That is only a means to an end, and often
a very inadequate means. By attitude I mean the frame
of mind, the disposition we come to have toward certain
things. These attitudes rest on impulses, either instinctive
or acquired. Habits are formed by these attitudes in action.
We should remember that habits not resting on impulses
will have no vitality; on the other hand, that impulses
not crystallized into habits are simply wasted. Teaching
should concern itself mainly with securing attitttdes rather
than imparting information.

It is essential then to consider

What to Include in the Primary Department

1. A habit of missionary activity.

2. Cultivation of a missionary spirit from the
standpoint of eight-year-old development.

These two things to be gained in three years
through suggestion, story, and the doing of simple
but definite forms of missionary work.

Suggestion is a more general, but a no less im-
portant influence than the other two. It is often
incidental, but it helps to cultivate a right spirit,
and gradually to form a standard. Teachers often

^ George H. Trull, " Missionary Methods in the Sunday School,"
p. 39-

In the Church School 25

ask, How can suggestion be made? Let us ask
another question, What is the most important ser-
vice for an eight-year-old missionary? Both ques-
tions may be answered by the following illustrations :

"Margaret, will you be mother's messenger, and go up-
stairs and ask Susan to give you the basting-thread ? "

The little girl was busy with her dolls. It cost some-
thing to stop ; she hesitated. " I don't want to," sprang to
her lips, and then she ran. Tossing the spool on high, she
danced back, exclaiming, " Why, mother, I guess I'm your
angel ! " I — her Sunday School teacher — listened : Mar-
garet had sat beside me on the previous Sunday when
the minister had said that angels were God's messen-
gers. Was she not doing missionary service? Had she
not "lost her life" for three minutes? — her play was her
" life," and she had given it up.

I was watching Christians. One morning three nine-
year-old boys were starting off on roller-skates; Bobbie,
of five years, cried, "Can't I go too, Jack?" and Jack
began, " No, you can't, you're too small," but— he stopped,
and something made him say, "Well, I guess you can tag
on right here," and Bobbie went "tagging" with shining
face. Do adult Christians always take with them the
people they do not want?

While watching, I heard of another group of boys
who came upon a little lame dog. "Let's have some
fun," said one to the others; "hold him up by his front
legs, and see him go on one hind leg." Up spoke Johnnie :
"No, you don't; I'm going to take him home, and you
can go ahead to the park."

Love is the center of the Christian life — love to
mothers, to Bobbies, to little lame dogs. By the

26 Graded Missionary Education

expression of love we gradually become more like
Christ. Psychology is telling us that action pre-
cedes feeling and knowing, and Jesus said this long
ago, " He that doeth the will of my Father shall
know of the doctrine." Love is to be enacted first
at home, at school, at Sunday School.

Suggestion is a powerful means for gaining such
results as these, especially that which is indirect.
Therein lies the value of the story in addition to
the incidental influence of the teacher, the story
too, that might never be thought of as '' missionary."
True sympathy — not sentimentality — awakened by
a story and put into action for a lame dog, or a
crippled old woman, will lead, if guided rightly,
to unselfish effort for those who do not know of
Jesus and his love.

A Christmas morning was made happier for
three or four old people, shut away from any church
service, because half a dozen children of the pri-
mary class sang Christmas carols at their windows
or within their homes. What greater gift or better
missionary service could these little people render
than to leave their own celebrations, and use a little
of the day In this way?

A primary teacher planned two months In ad-
vance of Children's Day that her children should
have an offering then for the sick that would be
more thoroughly their own than the flowers father
or mother might give them to carry in the proces-
sional. Bulbs were purchased with some of the

In the Church School 2^

Sunday School pennies, and each child planted one
in a pot, tended it, and carried the plant when he
marched into the church on the Sunday in June.
In order to have this plan a success a letter of ex-
planation was sent home when the bulbs were first
taken.

A Plan for One Year

The following description of work carried out in
a primary department during one year shows what
may well be done in channels usually termed mis-
sionary. Such work becomes interesting and real
when the activity of the children themselves is
employed.

A large sheet of paper was hung on the wall.
In imagination we were to go from one place to
another " to do as Jesus did, who went about doing
good." The paper would help in the making of
this journey. The first place to do good was at
home, so the offering for the first month was given
" to help take care of our own church," and a pic-
ture of the church was set in the center of the
sheet of paper. For one month out of three we
came back and worked for that; sometimes it was
to get a specific thing, like curtains or a picture for
the Sunday School room ; at other times the money
given went directly to the church fund " for some
of the coal," or " to help pay the janitor for his
work."

28 Graded Missionary Education

In the second month we played ** visiting " a neigh-
boring small church, of which some of the children
knew, and a line was drawn to it from the home
church. It had lately been built, and the little chil-
dren in this Sunday School had no blackboard.
We decided to use the pennies given in October
to buy a small board. Pictures of the church and
of the blackboard were made at the end of the
line. The latter was brought to our school for the
children to see, and then sent with a letter written
by one of the oldest boys.

Another line was drawn to Chicago, the great
city near which we lived. So much was to be done
there that we stayed for two months. One of our
teachers knew a little girl who could not go to
school till she had shoes and stockings and a coat.
Two or three mothers gave us these, but the children
brought them to Sunday School and packed them
up ; " our own pennies " bought a gingham dress,
some underwear, and a bright hair-ribbon; and
how happy two boys and a girl were to be " the
committee " with the teacher to carry the bundle to
the child's home.

We learned too of a band of people who were
working " to make the city good," and whose name
was the Baptist City Missionary Society ; the initials
B. C. M. S. stood at the next line made on the
paper; to one of the society's missions money was
given, with needles and thread for the sewing-
school. At Christmas a Home for the Friendless

In the Church School 29

was found, and we played " being friends." A box
was sent with a bright ribbon and a Christmas note
for each girl, and a handkerchief and a note for each
boy, the notes being written by the Sunday School
children, after we had learned from the matron
the names of all the inmates.

In January we " stayed at home," and the next
month started South to a place where coal was dug
by miners. A picture of a small house showed
where their children went to Sunday School, and
two dozen little red chairs were shipped down there.
We went, in March, on our imaginary trip to a
school for colored girls, and gave them a picture of
Jesus Christ for their schoolroom wall.

April was " stay-at-home month," but a friend
from far-away China happened to come to see us.
This was now the time for " foreign missions," and
in May, after hearing stories of the Chinese chil-
dren, we gave this teacher pictures we brought
from home, some half-worn readers, and some new
little Bibles to take across the sea with her. The
paper on the wall now showed a long, long line to
reach her home in China. In June came Children's
Sunday, and we joined with the friends of the
American Baptist Publication Society to make new
or better Sunday Schools in many places of our own
country by sending the Society five dollars.

When money is given, care should be taken as to
how the gift is made. Children of this age do not
comprehend the exchange of money; they cannot

30 Graded Missionary Education

understand that five hundred pennies can be ex-
changed for a five-dollar bill, or a gold piece, and
the one be equivalent to the other. An illustration
of confusion occurred only the other day: A pri-
mary department was to give five dollars to a mis-
sionary work, and the missionary came to speak to
tlie class; the teacher's own child handed her a
five-dollar bill before Sunday School, and later the
missionary thanked the children for their pennies;
Willard spoke up, saying, " Why, my father gave
me that bill to bring to you ! " There was no con-
nection in his mind with the Sunday offerings, nor
any realization on the part of the others of what
was being done.

Attention should be given to several points no-
ticeable in the plan outlined above :

1. It makes use of the child's natural interests
in home and school, work and play.

2. It begins with what is nearest to him, and
then as opportunity comes, enlarges his view so
that he may know of other children of the heavenly
Father who need help.

3. It makes the giving concrete and particular;
the gifts are things which children of this age realize
are necessary or nice to have. The children are
materialistic in their appreciation.

4. It introduces a plan of instruction for ac-
quainting the Sunday School pupil with the mis-
sionary Societies of the church. This ought to be
a part of Sunday School training, so that when

In the Church School 31

pupils come into church-membership they will have
some knowledge of what their church is doing and
be ready to cooperate. This will be more fully
discussed and planned for in later chapters of this
book, as it has a larger place in plans for older boys
and girls.

Another way of making real the different objects
to which contributions are made is by having a
poster about each one. There might be a poster for
each month, not already prepared, but grozving
through the month by the pictures the children
add to it about the particular subject for that time.
For example, suppose a group is helping to pro-
vide a playground in a city's tenement district, the
poster might be arranged thus: The Playground
We Are Helping to Make, as a heading in
simple large letters; in the center a picture of a
playground with children at play (such may be
often found in the " Survey " and the " Play-
ground " magazines) ; in one corner a picture of
two or three children and the words underneath
it: No Home Yard in Which to Play. If the
primary class money pays for a swing, have that
drawn in another corner, with the words. Our
Swing. A letter that had been written, telling about
the need for this, might also have a place on the
poster.

When a group is working for China a fine
poster can be made on this subject; for example.
entitle it Our Chinese Friends, place pictures of

32 Graded Missionary Education

Chinese children and of a school in the center, add
other pictures of objects, such as a Chinese cart and
a house-boat, that may be referred to in a story,
making real this strange country. When other for-
eign people are the special interest — the Japanese,
Eskimo, or the Indian, similar plans for posters can,
of course, be carried out. A wealth of material is
easily obtainable for this sort of thing. Discrimina-
tion should be made as to pictures of subjects suit-
able for young children. The best are those that tell
a story of child or home interests, and are full
of action rather than descriptive of place. Some
kinds of pictures ought not to be used with children,
e. g., " A Moslem at Prayer," " A Chinese Idol,*'
" An African Witch-doctor," or " Sacrifices of
Human Beings." Picture post-cards well selected
will be helpful. The Detroit Photographic Company
has some of the best. Good pictures often may be
cut from the magazines and pamphlets of the Home
and Foreign Mission Societies, especially " Every-
land," a magazine for older girls and boys, but
which has in it much to help primary teachers. The
Missionary Education Movement, 156 Fifth Avenue,
New York City (Interdenominational), will give
valuable aid to any one interested in teaching home
or foreign missionary subjects. Material giving in-
formation and suggestion may be obtained from
the missionary Societies of the different denomina-
tions. For instance, a set of twelve good Japanese
picture-cards may be had from the American Bap-

In the Chmxh School 33

tist Foreign Mission Society ; also missionary object-
lessons on Japan and Africa, which at times may be
useful. This Society also furnishes '' hand-colored
views " on post-cards of all the Baptist mission fields.
Some of these will be useful for the primary chil-
dren, and some for older children. The Woman's
Home Missionary Unions of the different denom-
inations have pamphlets and pictures about the
Chinese, Indian, Negro, and Eskimo, from which
may readily be culled suitable matter for young
children.

A good teacher will use discrimination, gather
information from these sources, and weave some
of it into stories, or adapt missionary stories already
written, so as to meet the need from a true edu-
cational standpoint. The first story of the following
group is an illustration of how certain facts reported
by a home missionary were pictured to primary chil-
dren by the imaginary addition of " little Jim."

Illustrative Missionary Stories for Primary Pupils

A Prairie Sunday School

Little Jim was riding " across country " with his father
one day. They had come some distance over the prairies
without seeing any one. But now they caught sight of
one farmhouse and then another, and then, all of a sudden,
they heard the sound of singing. It came from a little bare
house that stood off by itself, and looked like a box-car
with a small door on one side. Up they drove to see
what was going on; inside were about thirty people, big

34 Graded Missionary Education

and little. It was Sunday afternoon, and they were hav-
ing Sunday School in this funny house. They had no
church, and a few weeks before they had had no Sun-
day School. The nearest one to these people was seventy-
five miles away. One lady had been living there for ten
years, and had only been able to go to church five times
in all those years ! Jim and his father found a man there
who traveled every Sunday twelve miles; he wanted so
much to come to Sunday School. Just a few weeks before
Jim's visit some one had said : ** Wouldn't it be nice to fix
up this little house and have a Sunday School? Some of
the people who have moved out here used to like to go
when they were in their old homes, and some of these
children have never been to a Sunday School — they don't
know what it is." So, with the little money they had,
some of the people fixed up the empty house the best way
they could, with a carpet and some seats. They decorated
it with flowers, and were given a present of some song-
books. Then they went all round the country, and invited
all the friends to come, fathers and mothers and children.
Just think! the man who came twelve miles was so in-
terested in the Bible stories that he wanted to buy a Bible.
He rode to the near-by town and asked to buy one.
The storekeeper said, " Why ! I've been selling things here
for twenty years, and this is the first time any one has asked
for a Bible."

Would you, boys and girls, like to see a picture of this
Sunday School? And can you guess who started it, and
gave the money and the books? Far, far away there
were some people who had said: "There are so many
places where there are no Sunday Schools, or where the
children need to have better ones; can't we join together
and help them ? " Now there is so much to do, this
Society asks us to join and help too. Shall we? And
will you bring pennies next Sunday to help a Sunday
School just like this one?

In the Church School 35

A Bible Missionary Story"

A company of people were traveling on their way, go-
ing a little farther every day. They were hoping to reach
a beautiful home that had been promised to them. They
had many things to make them glad as they went on and
on. But one day they saw a little child hungry and
cold. "We must stop," said these people, "and give
this child some of our food." And near-by they found
the mother, and as they looked at her and her children
they said, "We have much more than they; cannot we
spare some of our things?" and they gave them some
clothes.

As they traveled on they saw an old man; he was hav-
ing a hard time all by himself, stumbling on his way.
" He is a stranger and all alone — suppose," said one, " we
take him with us and help him on the road." And so
they did.

By and by they came to a large house. Here people
were sick and troubled. Into this house these friends
went; they stopped doing their own work and tried to
make these other people happy. And some of them
saw another house where people stayed who had done
wrong, so much wrong they could not go out to play.
Our friends went to them, and told them how they
could be good and free and glad again.

A long time went by, and there was much to do, and
then these friends came to the home of which they had
heard. It was the palace of a King. The King stood at
the door and said : " Come, my friends ; come and share
my home with me. When I was hungry you fed me,
when I was sick you visited me, when I was in prison
you came to me." And the people looked at each other.
"What does the King mean? We never did anything

« From the author's " The Beginners' Worker and Work." The
Methodist Book Concern.

36 Graded Missionary Education

for him ! " " Ah ! but," said the King, " you did it for
those I love, and that is just the same."

Two Foreign Missionary Stories

Zekieh and the "Hat-lady"'

If you traveled to far-away Turkey you would find
Zekieh — a little girl with this funny name. One morning
the boys and girls who lived in the neighborhood of
Zekieh's home were standing around Ahmet, buying beau-
tiful red and yellow sticks of candy. It was Sunday,
and they had been playing tag and leapfrog and marbles
on the hillside all the morning. You see they had
never been taken to church in all their lives, nor to
Sunday School; and no one had ever told them that
Sunday is not a day to play games just like every other
day. Suddenly some one called : " Come, Fatima ; come
quick! A hat-lady is coming. See? Perhaps she'll have
some pictures ! " And Zekieh, who had gone to ask for
a penny, came running back, her twenty black braids of
hair standing out in all directions, and the shells and
pieces of money sewed on her red cap tinkling together
as if they were excited too. Quick as a flash everybody
deserted Ahmet and started down the street. Even Kevork
and Misak, who were just going to have a wrestling
match, forgot all about it. So when the " hat-lady " turned
the corner she ran directly into them.

"Where are you going, hat-lady?" asked Zekieh. She
wore a very long gown with stripes on it and slits up
the side so she could run. Over that was a gay blue
jacket and a gay sash, but her face was so bright that
the lady didn't notice her clothes at all. She turned and
smiled in a way that made Zekieh feel warm all over.

3 Used by permission of Woman's Board of Missions, Boston, Mass.

In the Church School 37

"Why, I have come just to see you, and I've brought
some pictures and stories," she answered. " Where is a
good place for us to sit down ? "

" Isn't the writing beside the pictures funny ? " whis-
pered Fatima to Zekieh. "Let's keep close to her, and
perhaps we'll get a chance to ask why it looks so dif-
ferent from the printing on the newspapers."

And so they found a good stone for the hat-lady to
sit on, and then they all crowded about to hear the story
she had to tell. Now, perhaps I ought to say that this
lady had gone on a very long journey from the country
we live in 'way over to the land called Turkey. And
it was because she wore hats just like ours here, and
quite different from the shawls and handkerchiefs that
the women in Zekieh's country use on their heads, that
all the Turkish children called her the "hat-lady." She
was very fond of boys and girls; in fact. If you had
asked her, she would have said that she had gone to
live in Turkey just on purpose to get acquainted with the
boys and girls who belong there. " I like to help them
grow in the right way," she sometimes explained to people.

The first picture that came out of her envelope was
of a little baby lying in a manger — a baby that was all
white and shining! His mother was leaning over to look
at him, and in the back of the picture were some cows
pushing their noses in to see what was happening in
their stable. When the hat-lady turned it so they could
see, the Turkish boys and girls said " Oh ! " and " Ah ! "
just as if it had been a whole Christmas tree, for they
had never seen anything like it before in all their lives.
" Just look at the colors on it ! " whispered Mehmet to
the boy next him. " Didn't they have any place for the
baby except the stable ? " asked Fatima ; and Zekieh, be-
fore she stopped to think, said right out : " Why, he looks
even beauti fuller than my baby brother. Who is he, hat-
lady?"

38 Graded Missionary Education

So then the hat-lady told a story about the picture.
Can you guess what it was? And after it was ended
she leaned 'way over and dropped the card right into
Zekieh's lap !

" I think the boys and girls in America who had these
cards in Sunday School and saved them to send to me,
would . like you to have this one," she said, " because
you have a baby brother."

And after that there were other pictures ; one was of a
man with a beautiful face making a poor sick woman
well, and in the next were some children gathered up
close around him, and in another it was dark and rainy,
and the same man was carrjdng a little lamb into the
fold. Zekieh hugged her card and her eyes grew bigger
and bigger as she listened. " I never knew there was
anybody as nice as this Jesus-man," she whispered to
Fatima. " Don't you wish the hat-lady would come every
single day to tell us about him?"

Perhaps the lady heard. Anyway, when the last story
had been told and the very last picture had been given
away, and the hat-lady had stood up ready to start back
to her house in another part of the city, what do you
suppose she said? She spoke to all the children together,
but Zekieh thought she looked straight at her, and she
smiled again in that way that made Zekieh feel warm
all over.

"We tell stories about the Jesus-man every Sunday
morning over at the corner of the market. Sometimes
there are pictures too, and I'd like you to come if you
want to," was what she said.

Zekieh stood and watched until the lady was quite out
of sight around the corner; then she started off to show
the baby in the picture to her own baby brother.

"Are you going — on Sunday?" whispered Fatima, close
beside her.

" Well, I guess I am ! " answered Zekieh.

In the Church School 39

Two Brown Babies*

One morning Juana and Carlos stood at a schoolhouse
door, wishing they could go inside. If you could have
looked at them you would have seen two very brown
children, who were very tiny too. The friend who told
me this story called them "the Brown Babies." They
were peeping into a room full of children who were
busy at work, just as you would be in school. They called
their teacher by a pretty name — la Sefiorita. If you should
go to this school, you would have to sail over a beau-
tiful blue sea to a place called Porto Rico. That is what
la Senorita did, so that she could teach the children who
lived there how to be good, and could tell them of Jesus
Christ.

Juana and Carlos wished they could hear the stories
the other children heard. But la Senorita saw they had
no clothing, and without any they could not be in the
school. She had no empty chairs either, so she shook
her head and said, "No," just as your teacher would if
there was no room in your school.

Big brother Jose was in schoolj busy with his lessons.
He had told the brown babies some of the things he
had learned, and how God loved such little brown peo-
ple as they were. That day when waiting outside, Jose
thought of a way to help. After school he went out into
the country, and went up the steps of a pretty house to
a lady sitting on the piazza.

" Sefiora," he said politely, " I wish to have some coco-
nuts."

"We have no coconuts to give away," said the lady.
" But I wish to buy some," explained Jose ; " I wish to
buy and sell. I will pay one cent for each coconut; then
I will carry them to the city and sell them for two cents."

* Adapted from the story given in " Over Sea and Land," and re-
produced in " See Latin-North America Without Leaving Home,"
published by the American Baptist Home Mission Society.

40 Graded Missionary Education

"What will you do with the money?" asked the lady.

" Buy clothes," answered Jose.

" But you have clothes," said the lady,

" Oh ! " exclaimed Jose, " I want them for the little ones,
so they too may go to school."

" Then you may have the coconuts without pay," said
the lady.

" I wish to earn the money, Senora," replied Jose.

" Very well," said the lady ; " you may help yourself."

For three days Jose worked hard gathering coconuts
and carrying them into the city. On the fourth morning
he went straight to the teacher, his hands full of money.

" I have the money to buy clothes for the children so
they can come to school. Please take it and buy."

La Seiiorita asked Jose where the money came from.
When he told her he earned every bit of it himself, she
could not refuse to let the brown babies come in. She
bought clothes for them. She also wrote to some friends
and asked them to pay for two chairs, and so they did.
Juana and Carlos are now happy in school, and are
growing better just as God meant them to grow.

The International Graded Lessons have mission-
ary stories under the themes, " Love Shown by
Giving," " The Helpers of Jesus Carrying on His
Work," " The Needs of Children the Wide World
Over." The last of these has special reference to
the North American Indians, the Eskimos, and the
Japanese.

In the Primary Lessons of " The Completely
Graded Series," under the title "Jesus' Way of
Love and Service," there are lessons cultivating
the missionary spirit, such as " Willing to Serve,"
" Showing Friendship," etc.

hi the Church School 41

A Summary of Missionary Training During Three
Years in a Primary Department

Training:

In care for animals — especially disabled ones:
lame dogs, old horses, etc.

In kindness to the aged — visiting old people with
flowers, etc., singing to them.

Through small gifts to the home church, to the
other departments of the Sunday School (flowers,
a vase, a picture), to the pastor, superintendent,
janitor. (See page 19.)

By concrete information of schools and homes
for children, and gifts to these.

Through stories of child life in mission lands.

Through simple instruction about organized
" helpers," such as a city missionary society and a
society for the establishment of Sunday Schools,
with gifts to these.

Additional Books and Pamphlets Suggestive to
Primary Teachers

Trumbull, H. C. : " Child Life in Many Lands."
Diffendorfer, Ralph E. : " Child Life in Mission

Lands."
Andrews, Jane : " Seven Little Sisters."
Hall, Katherine Stanley: "Children at Play in

Many Lands."

Smith, Mary E. : " Eskimo Stones."

Griggs, W. C : " The Children in Mission Lands."

D

IV

MISSIONARY INSTRUCTION AND WORK

FOR CHILDREN OF NINE TO TWELVE

YEARS

What to Do

Very live work needs to be planned for these
boys and girls, whether it be by way of instruction
or by service. They are overflowing with energy,
they must be doing something, and the subjects
presented to them for study need to be full of
life. Mere sentiment will not appeal during these
years. If there is action admirable to these chil-
dren, their feelings are stirred, and the will to act
in the same way is called into play.

The field is large from which to draw both for
missionary subjects and objects of missionary
service, for these boys and girls are intensely in-
terested in stories of exciting action and danger-
ous exploit, such as often form a part of a mis-
sionary's life, especially one of earlier days. The
children enter with zest into geographical study
if the places are connected with the life of those
whom they know or study about. The latter part
of this period (which is that from nine to twelve
42

In the Church School 43

years) is the time of all others when the museum
attracts, when the boy and girl care much to see
collections of interesting objects, and anything for-
eign and strange has a fascination. These interests
are suggestive in relation to missionary training.

Home philanthropies will not appeal so much as
the doing for an uncivilized people, or a people of
curious and strange customs. This is the time for
definite study of foreign missionary countries, and
for stories of some of the brave men who lived and
died to make the people Christian. With this
knowledge and related to it, plans should be in-
troduced for definite service.

Foreign missions are not, however, the only thing
for this period. There is another part of mission-
ary training that touches the practical every-day
Christian living of these boys and girls. They
admire and are increasingly interested in the brave
man — the hero. The stories of the knights of
olden time have a charm. The children's moral
standard needs to be raised. They should be en-
couraged in the practice of knightly deeds of cour-
tesy and kindness, of courage and of heroic obedi-
ence. To help an old woman with a heavy basket,
or to give up a seat to one who needs it, is the busi-
ness of a knight of to-day. To shield and assist
the distressed and oppressed is the greatest work
of a hero.

To be a knight or a hero may mean more to
this boy and girl than to be a missionary, but the

44 Graded Missionary Education

spirit back of the names may be one and the same.
Does it not stir one's admiration to see a manly
little fellow give his seat in a street-car to an old
man? When this occurred one day it seemed as
if the eyes of all round about glowed with more
kindly feeling than before. Again, when a small
newsboy said, in response to a stranger's inquiry,
" I'll show you, ma'am, the way to the station,"
it was interesting to see his glad look of satisfaction
as the lady thanked him graciously for " having
helped her so much — she needed a gentleman to
show her, the way." The boy, when he offered,
may have looked for a nickel; the lady suspected
that he did, but she did him more good than money
could do — she made a knight of him for the mo-
ment, and the boy zvas satisfied.

Individual interest is strong in the early part
of this period: /, me, mine, stand out strikingly.
Desire for leadership is keen. Recognizing these
tendencies, without opposing them, it is possible to
turn them into channels of righteousness. These
egoistic youngsters should be made leaders in good
projects, should be led to feel that, being strong,
they must protect the weak, and should be given
certain responsibilities as members of the church
family. Clara Bancroft Beatley has well said:

The children's work at day-school, even with the best
of teachers, tends to self-attention and self-advancement.
The child must possess certain measures of self before he
can appreciate the needs of others, but he should not be

In the Church School 45

permitted to wait for adolescence to know something of
the rewarding joys of service. In early years the church
groups may provide just that form of social activity
which will show to the child his place of helpfulness in
his own home, and in the larger world of others. The
balance of the individual and the social may be acquired
in the formative years, and through continuous training
may be preserved for the years to come.

To name all the great and the good whose service began
in childhood is impossible. Within a century the lives of
Abraham Lincoln, Alfred Tennyson, John Greenleaf Whit-
tier, Harriet Beecher, Louisa May Alcott, and Alice
Freeman are but a few of the great examples whose
powers of leadership were called forth by the simple
tasks and responsibilities of childhood.^ Every home
should aim to provide for such early service by the shar-
ing of the family cares, gradually enlarging its interests to
include those of the larger family of the church. If the
home of to-day, through changed conditions, fails to train
its children in tasks of service, herein may be found the
larger opportunity of the church. The great human
family is forever calling out in its need, and willing
hands and feet may go on mercy's errands everyivhere.

The church should welcome the children into a definite
progressive work for humanity, no school of the church
being complete without a carefully arranged plan for
social service.

How to Do It

I. Plan for training in knight-li-ness or gentle-
manli-ness in the simplest ways (in spirit these are

^ As regards missionaries, Martha B. Hixson tells us that *' through
some incident in childhood, Alexander Duff, Fidelia Fiske, Eliza Ag-
new, Alexander Mackay, and others received their first impulse to
become missionaries," " Missions in the Sunday School," p. 3.

46 Graded Missionary Education

one and the same ; some one has well said a gentle-
man is one considerate of others) . Any complete or-
ganization, such as " The Knights of King Arthur,"
had better be reserved for the next grade, the '* inter-
mediate " or " senior grammar grade." For girls of
nine and ten years we doubt the wisdom of any or-
ganization, such as '' The Blue Birds," recently ar-
ranged to precede the Camp Fire Girls, which is so
fitting in its place. It is better first to encourage do-
ing as individuals because this is the more natural
way at this age, and it does not interfere with
home duties and interests which should stand first.
When group work begins, it had better be through
simple home and school relations, rather than in
a community or national organization. Now is the
time to form a standard of Christian womanliness
before the superficial notions of ladylikeness find
a place. Acts of courtesy, thoughtfulness for
teachers and visitors, and especially respect for
the aged may be practised as opportunity occurs
in the Sunday School room if the pupils are as-
sembled in a department and a room by themselves.
The children are not so self-conscious as they will
be later, and are very ready to act as leaders in
ofi'ering seats and books, in carrying things, open-
ing doors, etc., if such action is encouraged and
planned for. These " little " things are worth heed-
ing: they cultivate a habit of looking out to help
people.

Insignia of any kind is attractive to these boys

In the Church School 47

and girls, and a simple badge of honor for trying
to be true and kind is worth much. The children
may be put on their honor to remove it if they do
not try. This is only one way of cultivating the
spirit, and it will not be effective always, and can-
not be used continuously to any advantage.

The story of '' The Knighting of the Twins," if
adapted, is a good one to use (see book bearing
this title by Clyde Fitch), also that of " How Cedric
Became a Knight," if changed to suit these older
children rather than the little ones for whom Eliza-
beth Harrison has told it. (See " In Story Land.")

Such stories may be given from the department
platform or related to suitable lessons for a single
class (do not supplement in an unrelated way), or
occasionally be put in the place of " the regular
lesson " if they fit the plan of training better than
that does.

If the lessons are from the life of Jesus there
will be many opportunities to show how he helped
the oppressed and the unfortunate.

Examples from the every-day experiences of the
pupils may be made use of; e. g., when Lincoln's
birthday is celebrated in school and community, it
may be emphasized in Sunday School that he was
like Jesus, in that he sought to make men free.

Without direct application the question may be
suggestively raised. Where are the oppressed and
unfortunate for us to help? Backward schoolmates
may be assisted. Children of another race — the

_)8 Graded Missionary Education

Jew, the Negro, the Chinese — ^may be respected and
kindly treated; it would be helpful to show how
in many qualities they are equal to our own race.
On the other hand, reference to their needs and
the countries from which they come will lead to
foreign missions.

Kindness to animals, as well as to persons, should
be encouraged, especially to those who are crippled
and needy. The Sunday School as well as the day-
school should emphasize " a Band of Mercy " spirit.
The simple pledge, '' I will try to be kind to all liv-
ing creatures and try to protect them from cruel
usage," is fitting for these boys and girls. '' Our
Dumb Animals," published by The American Hu-
mane Education Society, Boston, Massachusetts,
provides stories like those given below, and in this
paper it is stated :

" We send without cost to every person who
forms a Band of Mercy of thirty members, and
sends us the name chosen for the Band and the
name and post-office address of the president who
has been duly elected:

" I. * Our Dumb Animals ' for one year.

" 2. Twenty leaflets, containing pictures, stories,
poems, addresses, reports, etc.

" 3. Copy of ' Songs of Happy Life.*

" 4. An imitation-gold badge for the president."

The stories that follow, besides cultivating a spirit
of thoughtfulness, may help to form an ideal of
faithful service and of giving life to save the lost.

In the Cliurch School 49

Old Tom

John Porter mounted the veranda steps with an ap-
prehensive heart. Yet he reassured himself : " Better brace
up and tell her — the sooner the better." Mrs. Porter looked
up smilingly from her letters which the postman had just
left. Her pleasant attitude made his task the harder. But
feeling that the dreadful ordeal would give ease to his
troubled conscience, he sat down, and began :

" Now, Doris, you mustn't take on over what I'm about
to say to you. But I may as well out with it first as
last. I've sold Old Tom. I hadn't expected to sell the
old fellow; I'm sorry already, but I had a chance to get
fifteen dollars for him, and if he couldn't have got rid
of that cough and rheumatics, even a jockey soon wouldn't
have bought him for three."

Porter expected a protest of words, but there was
complete silence. The accusing sentence of a court of jus-
tice could not have given him a keener torture. At last,
in a strange tone his wife inquired: "Who bought Old
Tom?"

" Tony Menzi."

" That huckster that was around yesterday? "

" Yes."

" Has the man gone ? "

" Yes, he started with him for the city at three o'clock
this morning."

Then Mrs. Porter spoke. "John, I'm going to say
something I've never thought, felt, or said before, /'m
ashamed of you! You've often made a protest at cruelty
in the community, but what have you done, but a thought-
less and cruel deed? Tom gave us twenty years* work for
nothing but his board. He's hardly ever had a whole
week-day of rest. It's been Tom here and Tom there,
always put to do the extra jobs, and trips to town often
when he was tired out. And now, just because he was

50 Graded Missionary Education

getting old and lame and had a cough, you've sold him
to a life of misery and neglect. I thought you despised
a traitor. But what else have you been to Old Tom?
I wish I could at least have said good-bye to him, and
told him how faithful he has been ! "

Porter knew he had the wrong side of the argument,
yet he made a spirited defense, saying that farmers were
a practical sort, and couldn't let " chicken-heartedness "
stand in the way of business. Seeing his words were of
no effect, a happy thought struck him. He took out his
pocketbook and tossed three five-dollar bills into his
wife's lap.

" I heard you talking about a new dress the other "

But she did not wait for him to finish.

" Do you think I could wear a dress bought with the
price of Old Tom? I'd rather wear a three-cent calico!"

Little more was said, but each day at the time Porter
had been used to prepare Old Tom's bran mash, he had
a strange sense of remorse and longing for the faithful
old creature, and a feeling of loneliness came over him
as he passed the empty stall.

Over a year later Porter, on a business trip, was driving
his " machine " through a beautiful section of country
several hundred miles from home. He heard angry shouts
and saw a short distance ahead a heavily loaded wagon
and a fallen horse. Something was wrong, and he stopped
his auto. The wagon was twice too heavily loaded for
the old horse that had passed from one master to an-
other, and had at last been sold to an ignorant, coarse
pedler. The man had been whipping the horse, but find-
ing that of no use, was securing a fence-rail to beat the
old creature yet more violently.

" Put that club down ! " commanded Porter. " What's
the trouble?"

In the Cliurch School 51

The pedler obeyed, pointing angrily to the horse and
wagon. "He notta no good! I pay free dollar! Man
cheat. Horse notta no good ! I kill him ! "

Porter freed the horse from the miserable, ill-fitting
harness. A faint neigh of recognition greeted him. It was
Old Tom!

" It's the first time John ever forgot," thought Mrs.
Porter with a wistful smile, as the day passed on to
afternoon and no reference was made to her birthday. The
pleasing little " surprise " gift that alwa3^s marked the
day was lacking.

She heard voices at the side veranda and, going out,
was greeted by a sight that filled her eyes with joyful
tears. Her birthday gift had not been forgotten. Old
Tom's familiar face greeted her — just a shadow of his
former self, silent as to the harrowing experiences of
the past year, but neighing for joy at the sound of her
familiar voice.

" Old fellow, your vacation has just begun," said Porter;
" but I fear it's come pretty late. You'll be a star boarder
as long as you care to stay. I've learned my lesson."

Old Tom was a star boarder for two months. Then
one dreamy autumn morning he was found " asleep " under
the whispering chestnut tree where in his busy life he
had seldom had a restful hour in its peaceful shadows. —
Alice Jean Cleator, in '* Our Dumb Animals."

The Story of Barry ^

The following story of Barry is taken in part from
"Dogs of all Nations," by Conrad J. Miller, who says
nothing, however, about the way Barry finally lost his

- Used by permission of The American Humane Education Society,
Boston, Mass.

52 Graded Missionary Education

life, and makes no mention of the monument in his
memory set up in the Dog Cemetery in Paris :

Mr. Miller says : " On the highest point of the moun-
tain pass that leaves Martigny in the valley of the Rhone
across the Great Bernard into Italy, there stands in a
dreary solitude, shut in by wild, rugged mountains covered
with eternal snow, the most elevated dwelling-place in the
Old World — the Hospice of Saint Bernard. Ten or twelve
monks reside here in the midst of the most complete
wilderness, where winter reigns eight or nine months. . . .
The Hospice offers to every one a refuge, with kindly
help and care. The monks are especially busy in winter-
time, when they go forth to seek and rescue the lost
wanderer. Every year many lives are saved through their
endeavors. Specially trained dogs accompany the monks,
or are sent out alone to search for those in danger."

The rest of the story of the brave dog is substantially
this: It seems that two travelers were lost in the Alps
in a blinding snow-storm. One of them in his extremity
insisted that, as a last resort, he should have recourse to
the brandy flask. His comrade urged upon him the folly
of this, inasmuch as after a brief period of exhilaration,
the reaction would leave him in a worse condition than
before. Refusing the advice of his friend, he drank heavily,
and after forging ahead for a short distance, became
utterly exhausted and sank in the snow. His companion
struggled on, and at last was able to reach the friendly
shelter of the Hospice. Here he told the story of his
lost fellow traveler.

Barry was called by the monks and told to take the
traveler's trail, which he did, finding at length the man
who had been left behind, unconscious in the snow. Barry
finally, by various methods, roused him from his stupor,
only to be mistaken by the more or less dazed man for a
wild beast. With what remaining strength he had, the
traveler managed to get his knife out of his pocket and

In the Church School 53

plunge it into Barry's neck. In spite of this, the faith-
ful dog kept at his task until the traveler realized that
he had evidently been found by one of the dogs of the
Hospice. He struggled to his feet, and half leaning on
the 'dog, whose strength was rapidly failing from loss
of blood, finally reached the Hospice. On its threshold
this noble creature, who had stained every step of the
way with his own life-blood, fell exhausted, having given
to all humanity a lesson in fidelity to a trust as great as
could well be taught.

On the monument in the cemetery in Paris is the fol-
lowing inscription : " He saved the lives of forty persons,
and was killed by the forty-first."

2. The above is fundamental for considering
" simple community service in home, school, and
church '* ; this " second line of approach " only sug-
gests more definite work. That of messenger in
either place may be linked to the knighthood idea.
Cultivate a pride in being chosen to be a messenger
of the church. " Who can be trusted ? " may arouse
ambition in the right direction. Provide some defi-
nite errands for the benefit of the whole school or
the church: it may be for each child to carry six
invitations to as many homes (if there is reason to
doubt the faithfulness of the messenger, trust him
with only one, but do not let him know of the
doubt) ; it may be to carry flowers to a sick pupil
or friend ; it may be to carry a note to the minister
or to the superintendent. Make errands for the
good of the children, by which they can serve the
church.

54 Graded Missionary Education

In an article on " Relating the Child to the Com-
munity Through the Home " ^ Nannie Lee Frayser
shows that an opportunity is open to parents and
teachers for forming standards and leading to help-
fulness in the community. She says :

It was interesting in talking informally with a group
of about thirty boys and girls who came from normal
American homes, to gather the ideas which they had
formed regarding community life and the duties which
they, their parents, and their companions owed to it. It
was equally interesting to hear them state quite frankly
their ideas regarding the relative positions of men, women,
and children in a community life, and to find out in what
ways they felt the community as a group force had con-
tributed to their welfare.

Strange to say, the majority of them seemed to feel
that a woman had no civic duty whatever beyond the
confines of her own front door. They did not even carry
her so far as the front lawn, for here, they considered, the
opportunities of boys and girls began. One little girl
did permit her mother to perform the function of seeing
that the front porch was kept spotlessly clean in order
that the neighborhood ideal should be kept up to the
standard, but the majority of the children decided that a
woman's place was in the house, preferably " to see that it
is kept clean"

One enterprising and quite revolutionary boy of eleven
stated emphatically that he thought women ought to belong
to women's clubs in order to learn better how to help their
community, and one long-headed little fellow suggested
that they ought to vote, especially on school matters because
they had the most to say about the education of the chil-

3 See "The Pilgrim Teacher," December, 1913.

In the Church School 55

dren. One suggested that they might be on boards of
control for the management of philanthropic and public
institutions because they knew so much about housekeep-
ing. But in the main their ideas regarding the contributions
which women should make to the community were rather
hazy.

As to the men, they seemed to have quite a flood of
illuminating ideas. They thought " making speeches " was
quite a necessary civic duty for men. That they should
vote for the people who would enforce good laws and
maintain a moral standard in the community seemed a
perfectly natural conclusion. One girl even went so far
as to say that she thought a man could show real public
spirit by paying his tax bills promptly as well as giving
the same righteous attention to the licenses for his animals
and automobile.

One boy said he thought a man ought always to cast
his vote for that candidate whose platform stood for the
good of the community if he wanted truly to serve his
fellow citizens.

One boy stated his thought in these exact words, "A
man can give subscriptions to movements for civic good,
and let the police know if any one has done wrong, as
well as vote for the right person." This boy was eleven
years old.

As to what the community had done for others they
were quick to mention the agencies that had been estab-
lished by the city for the benefit of those who needed the
city's parental care, and chief among these agencies they
regarded the " Babies' Milk Fund " and the " Industrial
Home."

When it came to the question of what the community
had done for them individually, the library came first every
time, and after that the parks and the playgrounds. As
they thought it out, however, they included fire depart-
ments, police protection, street cleaning and lighting, pub-

56 Graded Missionary Education

He schools, art exhibitions, free concerts, the laws which
safeguard life, street paving, swimming-pools, and all
the things which make life in a city delightful.

It was very easy to lead this group of boys and girls
to feel that as people think together for the benefit of the
community good laws are the result of that thinking,
and that all good citizens obey good laws.

But when it came down to what they individually
had done for their community in return for its expendi-
ture of social thought on them, they seemed lost for
a while. Finally, one timidly ventured that he had " kited "
banana peelings off the sidewalk, another that she had
never thrown any trash on the public highway, one that
he had not defaced any public property, another that he
had directed people to the correct street when they were
not familiar with the locality, another that he had shoveled
the snow off his own front pavement as quickly as possible
after it had fallen, another that he had tried not to yell
so loudly that he would disturb his neighbors, one that
his family tried to bum only such coal as would send
out no smoke to his neighbors and he liked to take care
of such a fire, and one that she had planted flowers in her
front and back yard where she thought her neighbors
could enjoy them, and on and on it went through a gamut
of simple and homely things.

Does this subject seem far afield from Sunday
School teaching? Has it not in it the spirit of
the Ten Commandments for to-day? Does it seem
far afield from missions? Has it not in it the
missionary spirit of sacrifice and effort for another's
good? Such a spirit will tend to a life spent to save
men from sin.

3. The study of foreign missions, and work for
these, may grow naturally from :

In the Church School S7

a. Reference to children of other races in
school or community. (See page 47.)

b. Study of Bible heroes leading to Chris-
tian heroes of a later time.

c. Study of the Bible as a book, leading to
the work of the Bible Society and its distribu-
tion to peoples of the whole world.

(a. and c.) Stories of immigrants coming from
their far-distant homes will be of value.* Informa-
tion as to the distribution of Bibles at the harbor of
New York by the Bible Society, of the gladness of
the people in receiving a book in their home tongue,
and of how some, through reading it, have gone
back to tell the gospel to their friends, may do a
double good: arouse the pupil's interest in helping
forward this good work, and develop a greater rever-
ence for the Bible and eagerness on their own part
to know the book.

The pamphlets of the New York Bible Society
give facts and incidents of which the following are
samples :

It does home and foreign missionary work at the same
time, by supplying the Bible in different languages to the

* " Immigration Picture Stories," by Fanny L. KoUock, include five
pictures, 12 x 15 inches each, and a story to be used by the teacher
with each picture. " Old Country Hero Stories," by Florence M.
Brown, gives heroic incidents from the lives of the national heroes
of the countries whose peoples are in America in large numbers.
These could be read in a week-day class gathering rather than on
Sunday, or by the children to themselves. They might also be
adapted for special occasions on Sunday.

58 Graded Missionary Education

immigrants landing at Ellis Island, by furnishing the Bible
to sailors on vessels in the harbor, by placing the Bible
in hotels, hospitals, and prisons. It distributes the Bible
free to those who cannot afford to pay anything, and to
all others at cost. It has circulated in one year 338,404
volumes of the Bible in forty-one languages in the city
and harbor of New York.

Three years ago an educated young Russian on landing
at Ellis Island was presented with a New Testament in
his own language, by a missionary of the New York
Bible Society. It was the first time he had ever seen
any portion of God's word. The village in Russia from
which he came had not a single Christian living within
its boundaries.

One Sunday, some time after, a young Russian was
baptized in one of the churches of New York City. He
was the same man who had landed at Ellis Island and
had received the Testament. He had been converted
through reading the little book, and had decided to return
to his own country as a missionary. He delayed sailing
in order that he might be baptized in the country where
he had found the true light. His parents had disowned
him because of his conversion, and he will be the only
Christian in his village, yet he has gone back to tell
the people there the story of salvation.

A poor woman who will not accept the Bible free, pays
a few cents each for New Testaments. One of these she
gave to a girl who is employed in a down-town office. The
girl began reading it during her lunch hour. Some of her
companions inquired what she was reading; she replied
that she would read to them, and for a considerable time
she has been reading the New Testament to a company
of girls employed in that office.

A prisoner in Sing Sing, to whom a Hungarian Bible
had been given, said, "The happiest day I ever had was
the Sunday you gave me the Bible."

In the Church School 59

Opportunities for service will come in this con-
nection. One Sunday School group, who were
familiar with the coming and going at New York
harbor, gave scrap-books and kindergarten occu-
pations for children detained on Ellis Island. With
such things an offering of money might be given for
Bibles for the fathers and mothers.

Pupils will be interested in seeing " Specimen
Verses " of the fifty-three languages in which the
Bible has been distributed (Bible Society Leaflet).

When Sunday School lessons are on the Bible, as
in one part of the Junior Series of the International
Graded Lessons, or in " The Introduction to the
Bible " of " the Constructive Bible Studies," these
missionary plans will fit well.

(a. and b.) In turning to foreign mission studies,
the particular country chosen to begin with should
depend on one of several things : the foreign children
familiar to the pupil, the heroes studied in the Sun-
day School lessons, or the missionaries connected
with the local church of which the school is a part.
It may be, therefore, China, Africa, or some other
country, and each of these might be taken in turn
in the four years for one part of the school year,
depending on conditions. If China or Japan were
the special interest in the primary department from
which these children were promoted, it would be
wise to take a fresh topic.

According to the particular approach, whether it
is to be by way of the immigrant, say, a Chinaman

6o Graded Missionary Education

in the home vicinity, or by way of some hero, such
as Livingstone, or by some Hve missionary famiHar
to the pupils, the following materials and methods
will fit on occasion.

Stories of missionary heroes, such as Carey, Mor-
rison, Judson, Whitman, Evans, Livingstone, and
Paton, are included in the Sunday School lessons
of the Junior Series of the International Graded
Course, and form an excellent basis for interest in
and service for the countries where these men
labored. At this age of interest in the exciting in-
cident and the heroic act, there is especial oppor-
tunity for arousing desire and effort to continue
the brave work these men began. What do these
countries need now ? What can we do tO' help ? are
good questions to raise. Have some plan of work
to propose; the plan should not be a predetermined
one, at least in its form of presentation. Let the
children cooperate in deciding what and how to do.
If their interest has been awakened, they will be
generally eager to accept a plan. To create an
enthusiasm is the teacher's part.

A glance at the list of stories under the title
" Christian Apostles and Missionaries," in the Junior
Bible, Part IV, of " the Completely Graded Series "
of Sunday School lessons, will show the emphasis
placed on missionary training in that plan.

" A Hero of Macedonia," in " Here and There
Stories'* (published by Woman's Board of Mis-
sions, Congregational House, Boston), brings the

In the Church School 6i

thought down to the boy life of to-day. The fol-
lowing is a sample of how stories may be developed
from the good material offered by the American
Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Boston, the Amer-
ican Baptist Home Mission Society, New York City,
and the American Baptist Publication Society. (See
also page 70.)

The Story of White Arm ^

Is not "White Arm" a funny name for a person? He
was an Indian, and I wonder why they called him by that
name. Perhaps you can guess when you have heard about
him. Out in southern Montana there is a tribe of Indians
called the Crows, and White Arm belonged to this tribe.
One day a missionary, who had been sent by the Baptist
Home Mission Society to help these people, came to Lodge
Grass, where White Arm lived. The missionary carried
a typewriter with him, and when the Indian saw it he
thought the machine was wonderful. He looked too at
" the Great White " from New York, and the more he
looked the more he loved this man. White Arm and
some of the other Indians wished their children to be
taught in school and church, so the Mission Society de-
cided to help them, and sent another missionary, Mr. Pet-
zoldt, to live and work there.

The first thing to do was to find a good place for a
mission building, and to have it roofed over before the
winter's snow came. Mr. Petzoldt found all the best
land had been taken. White Arm saw he was troubled,
and said: "My land is just what you want; take it,
and give me some elsewhere." The missionary wrote
to the old home friends: "This land is just right, the

5 Adapted from leaflet entitled " The Transformation of White
Arm." The American Baptist Home Mission Society.

62 Graded Missionary Education

trees and the river near-by and the pine-clad hills in the
background make it beautiful. Stone and sand for the
building are here, and we are all working hard."

At the time the first missionary, Doctor Chivers, came
with his typewriter. White Arm was living in a house.
But now he left this comfortable log house and went back
to a tent such as the tribe had always used. Do you think
White Arm liked the tent better? Listen! A little while
after Mr. Petzoldt came, Mrs. Petzoldt and their chil-
dren followed. They arrived before it was possible to
get a house ready for them. White Arm knew there was
no place for the family, so he moved out of his cabin
home into the tent, and said : " You take my house ; you
shall have the best I can give."

How he helped to get the logs for the mission chapel
and the missionary's home is told in his letter to Doctor
Chivers.

Camp Chivers, Wolf Mountain, Montana.

Doctor Chivers:

Dear Friend : I am helping Mr. Petzoldt all I can ; I am
working more than the other Indians to get the school
finish. I am no more a Crow Indian. I am A White Man
now.

You know my house and my farm, and where it is. I
would like very much to see where you live, but I have
no means to go. We call this little camp under your
name and honor. I am going to stop the Indian way of
living and live like a white man.

Mr. Petzoldt was looking for a place for the school ; he
seen me about it, and I was very glad to give him a piece
of my land. The land I got new cost me a good deal.
I put up a tent for myself, and let Mr. Petzoldt stay in
my house; I lend him my team when he needs it. I am
treating him as well as I can. I am helping you to get
the buildings. I wish you would help me in something some

In the Church School 63

time, when I ask you. We have already cut one hundred

and fifty logs; it is hard work.

I bid you good-bye, Your friend, .,, .

-' ^ -^ ' White Arm.

For some time the Crow chief did not tell any one he
would be a Christian, but there came a day when he took
a journey with the missionary to St. Louis, where was
held a large missionary meeting. He had talked with his
friends about the "Jesus road" (as he called it), and
at this meeting he heard a white man speak, whose face,
he said, made him decide to be a "Jesus man." Having
decided, he wanted to tell the good news to every one.
That very day he sent word to his wife, "Pretty Shell,"
telling her, and asking her to walk with him on the Jesus
road. In the meeting the great red man stood up beside the
white missionary, who interpreted what he said, and this
is what he told the people:

"The Great Father knows White Arm— knows he's
bad — send missionary to make him good. Now White
Arm knows the Great Father, because missionary tells him
of Jesus. Jesus loves White Arm, and White Arm loves
him. The Great Father wants White Arm to walk in
the Jesus road; Jesus road a straight road, all straight;
White Arm walk in it, walk straight. Tell the people this.
That's all."

When White Arm went home he learned more and
more of what it means to be a Christian. He and Pretty
Shell were baptized, and did much to lead others to the
First Crow Indian Baptist Church of Lodge Grass, that
they too might learn to walk the Jesus road.

Never before has there been such a possibility of
j]^etting good missionary material for use with chil-
dren. For reading by boys and girls of ten to
twelve years, nothing surpasses the magazine

64 Graded Missionary Education

'' Everyland." " The Finding Out Club " and the
letters from Aunt Helen alone would be worth
while.

In developing missionary lessons, imaginary jour-
neys with a real geographic background may be
taken. The pupils can make outline maps, or use
these to mark the journey of a missionary, or to
put in certain mission stations in a country in which
they are interested. To give information about a
few of these will be better than to inform about
many. If a missionary with whom a class is ac-
quainted is in Canton, the question may be raised,
How can we go to him? and the route be traced
with the help of a good geography and railroad
folders. There are many devices for work of this
kind. The sand-tray is better used at this age than
with younger children in Sunday School. But —
geography is not to be the absorbing interest. Time
valuable for other things is often devoted to this.
A blackboard is a quicker medium for conveying
an idea, and in relation to the present subject is
better than sand. Curios and the constructive work
of children, showing the customs and social life of
the people, will often shed light on their ways and
needs. But objects are only tools to lead to a bet-
ter understanding for the sake of missionary in-
terest and service. Do not forget the purpose in
the use of material and that time is limited.

It is worth while to use " the collecting interest,"
and to get pupils to assist in gathering together

In the Church School 65

things representative of the different countries, and
to classify pictures and keep them in scrap-books
or envelopes.^

Impersonation is a great interest at this age. To
'' be it " always pleases. Sometimes the children
may take different characters by simply acting out
parts of a story. At a week-day missionary meet-
ing or special gathering, they may be costumed to
represent the people of whom they have studied.

Discrimination is needed in the use of printed
missionary programs ; some are good, some are un-
desirable. The program sometimes should be one
to aid the study of a life, or to throw light on a par-
ticular work that is being helped; sometimes one
just to cultivate a missionary spirit. The latter
seems the more uncommon, and so typical sugges-
tions for this are given here :

Program for Department Missionary Service

Children nine to twelve years
One class or group sings:

We've a story to tell to the nations,
That shall turn their hearts to the right;
A story of truth and sweetness,
A stoty of peace and light.

« Of course, if there is no Mission Band or Junior Baptist Young
People's Union or Junior Christian Endeavor, more time will be
needed than the one hour on Sunday to train a Sunday School class
in Christian service. Aside from the question as to the wisdom ot
separate organizations, no Sunday School teacher can do a success-
ful work if he does not meet his class sometimes on a week-day. 1 he
plans suggested here will be impossible of fulfilment in only the
Sunday session.

66 Graded Missionary Education

REFRAIN

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright,
And Christ's great Kingdom shall come to earth,
The Kingdom of love and light.

A class recites:

" Let the wicked forsake his way, , . and let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him : and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Another group sings:

We've a song to be sung to the nations,

That shall lift their hearts to the Lord;

A song that shall conquer evil

And shatter the spear and sword.

^„ . (Refrain as above.)

All Sing:

It came upon the midnight clear.

That glorious song of old. (One verse.)

One class recites:
" For God so loved the world," etc. (John 3 : 16.)

A group sings:

We've a message to give to the nations,
That the Lord who reigneth above.
Hath sent us his Son to save us.
And show us that God is love.

Leader:

How shall we tell the story?

Different members of the department recite as
follows:
" Be ye kind one to another."

In the Church School 67

"Let us not love in word, neither with the tongue;
but in deed and truth."

" If a man say I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar."

" Do good, hoping for nothing again."

"He that sheweth mercy, let him do it with cheerful-
ness."

" Give to him that needeth."

Story told by a teacher:

In the Golden Book^

Within the courts of Paradise, at the gate of the palace
of the King, stood a child, watching the faces of those
who passed in.

"May I go in too?" she asked of the angel who kept
watch at the gate.

" I do not know, dear child," said the angel ; " our
Great King is giving audience to-day to those whose
names are written in the Golden Book of Remembrance."

"But whose names are written in the book?" asked the
child.

" They are those whose good deeds the King likes best
to remember," the angel said ; " shall we see if your name
is there?"

" Please do ! " exclaimed the child ; " and oh ! I do hope
it will be there. I have done so many kind and good
things in my life. My teachers all praised me, and said
I was the best girl in my class."

Then the angel opened the great Golden Book of
Remembrance and searched it carefully. "Dear child,"
he said, "there is nothing of all that in the book."

"Well," said the child, somewhat crestfallen, "please
look into the book again. I once gave half the money
from my savings-bank to a missionary, for him to teach

'Adapted from " Everyland," December, 1913.

68 Graded Missionary Education

a little Negro boy — none of the other children gave so
much."

Again the angel turned over the pages of the great
Golden Book. " No," he said, " there is nothing about that
here."

Then the child began to be afraid, but she tried hard
to think, and she said : " Do 3'ou know, at Christmas-
time I used to give half of my playthings to the poor chil-
dren? Surely that must be in the book."

Once more the angel sought in the Golden Book, and
once more he shook his head. " It is not written here."

Then the child's face fell, and the tears came into her
eyes. " I can remember nothing more," she said. " I am
so sorry. Oh, how I wish that I could have done some-
thing to make the King glad."

But the beautiful angel looked lovingly down and said :
" My little one, every deed of kindness gladdens the
heart of our King. But in the Golden Book are written
the deeds that are done with no thought of praise, but
just for love's sake; and it is written in the book that
once a little girl found a poor, hungry boy in the street,
and gave him the cake that had just been given to her.
You were that child."

And the child looked up doubtfully, and said: "Oh, I
know nothing about it. If it was really I who gave the
cake, I must have forgotten it."

The angel smiled sweetly, and said, "The things we
forget are often the things the King likes best to re-
member."

And he took her by the hand, and led her up the shining
steps and into the throne-room of the King; and a voice
in which was the music of all sweet sounds said to her:

"I was hungry and ye gave me to eat; . . . Inasmuch
as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these
least, ye did it unto me. Dear child, I thank j'-ou for
your gift."

In the Church School 69

Prayer:

Our Father, help us when we work and when we give to
do both as Jesus would.*

Another good plan would be to have simply a
story-hour, using the above story, and that of
" White Arm," or of '' The Hero of Macedonia "
(see page 60), ending perhaps with a letter from
some missionary needing help in a particular work.

If a number of different nationalities are repre-
sented in a school in this country, a good mission-
ary flag-day exercise is that in which each represen-
tative carries the flag of his own country, and all
gather around the American flag, while one child
brings forward a banner bearing the words, " One
is your Father, all ye are brethren," and a hymn
is sung, such as " Brightly gleams our banner "
(see tune under Children's Services, " New Bap-
tist Praise Book," published by the American Bap-
tist Publication Society, Philadelphia).

If there are no foreign children in the school,
the same idea may be carried out, especially in re-
gard to " mission countries," by the pupils wear-
ing the costumes and carrying flags of the dififerent
nations.

This is the time for memorizing hymns, and those
of a missionary character should have their place.
Hand-work may assist in the memorizing and add

^ The good of this program will be largely dependent on the smooth-
ness with which one part is connected with another; there should be
no break nor calling for any song or recitation.

yo Graded Missionary Education

interest. The illuminating of hymns in effective
coloring is an attractive occupation. The following
are good hymns for this age : ** From all that dwell
below the skies," " From Greenland's icy moun-
tains/' " God bless the land our Fathers loved,"
" The whole wide world for Jesus."

Instruction should be given in regard to some
of the missionary Societies of the denomination to
which the local church belongs. Little by little the
Sunday School pupils should become familiar with
the organizations in which, as church-members, they
ought to take an active share. Knowledge of at
least two Societies, one foreign and one home, should
be given in connection with the subjects studied and
the work done. Information about these needs to
be given in a bright, wide-awake story form; often
the children may learn of the Societies by way of a
kind of work that is of most interest to them. For
instance, boys and girls of this age enjoy stories of
journeys on land and water. The American Bap-
tist Publication Society sends out seven chapel cars
to pioneer districts where there are no churches nor
Sunday Schools. Gospel cruisers are also used to
reach people who need helping. With the aid of
pictures (which may be secured from the Society,
together with leaflets that will inform teachers) in-
teresting accounts may be given. One of these
leaflets tells of the Life-Line, a boat that has
gone up and down the rivers of Oregon among
tbe logging-camps, carrying a missionary who helps

In the Church School yi

to save people from wrong-doing by telling them of
Jesus and how to follow him.

Letters are a means of vital connection, and
should be planned for between the missionaries and
the children, especially when the latter make a gift
to a particular work. The missionary boards dis-
courage gifts being made for individuals because
" a child grows up or an individual dies," and
the individualizing process makes more work for
the Societies, so they urge that " a gift be localized,
but not personalized." These reasons can be readily
appreciated, but if a local work, such as a school in
India, or a hospital in China, is aided, there should
be some personal touch for the children's good, and
ultimately for the good of the cause. One of the
boards has issued a general letter to children from
a woman missionary, telling about Chinese children
as she knows them. It is so full of life that " just
to read it makes you want to help." Other mis-
sionaries who know how to write to children might
be persuaded to do this. If a letter is used, it
should be read. A story is better told usually, but
if not read, a letter loses its individuality — it be-
comes a story. It may need to be simplified and
abbreviated. Letters such as the following make
children eager to work for others :

I am wondering if some American boys and girls would
not like to send a letter or a picture post-card to Wesley?
I know he would enjoy it. Perhaps he would like to
write a letter to an American boy. Then there are many

"^2 Graded Missionary Education

other fine boys in this school who could share the letters
if there were too many for Wesley.

How I wish you could all see these children in our mis-
sion schools in China. I know you would love them.

Your loving,

Aunt Helen.®

Will you not sometimes write post-cards to my dear
little gipsies? They will be so delighted with them. And
you must not be angry with me if I answer you only in
** Everyland." Your letter or cards I will translate into
the gipsy language, so the boys and girls will be able to
read them. You see I am very busy all day long, and
would not have time to translate letters to you from
my gipsy children. It also costs lots of money to send
letters into foreign countries, and our gipsies are very,
very poor/"

Will you thank the children who made the scrap-books
which Mrs. Peabody left with me a little time ago? They
were very attractive, and have been left in a home in the
South End, where they are fully appreciated.

The children may be interested to learn that some of
the two dollars they sent was spent for a little group
of South End children, whose mother was suddenly taken
ill and carried away to the hospital. I found the kitchen
floor, the dishes, and the beds so dirty that Johnnie and I
went to a five-and-ten-cent store and bought : One dust-
pan, ten cents; one coal-shovel, five cents; one soap-
cup for kitchen well, five cents ; one wash-basin, ten cents ;
one candlestick, ten cents. Then we sent out for a quart
of milk, nine cents ; one-half dozen rolls, five cents ;
twelve cents' worth of butter; and twelve cents' worth of
eggs. With these we helped Marie make a royal bread-

» Extract of letter printed in " Everyland."
" Extract of Miss Plingner's letter in " Everyland."

In the Church School 73

pudding, which we learned to-day that the children ate
before their father returned in time to have some for
his supper.

To-day in the closet we found some split pease, so we
decided to make split-pea soup. We sent and purchased
(with your money still) one quart of milk, two onions at
one cent each, three cents' worth of fat pork, and two cents'
worth of cabbage. When I left the house the soup was
boiling for supper, much to the delight of the children."

The activities in which children of this age may
be employed are many; the danger is in having
too many. In the beginning of this chapter it was
said that the field is large from which to draw for
both instruction and service. Selection is a neces-
sity. Two lists of suitable interests and activities
are given below, with the thought that some of these
may be suited to every individual group.

Work Done in One Year by a Junior Class
of Seven Members :

Six plants given to shut-ins.

Fruit given to two shut-ins.

Bouquet of roses sent to sick schoolmate.

Visit made to German Evangelical Home and
seventy-five Christmas papers left.

Visit made to Home for Old People and
two himdred and fifty papers left.

Donation taken to an Industrial School:
twenty-five pads of writing-paper, one box of

"Adaptation of letter sent to The Disciples' School, Boston.
F

74 Graded Missionary Education

pencils, one box of pen points, two drawing-
tablets, and ten blotters.

Visit made to children's ward of hospital, and
two hundred and fifty pretty cards with Scrip-
ture verses, three scrap-books, and flowers left
there.

One dollar given toward the support of a
native missionary in India.

Five dollars sent to China to buy Bibles for
forty junior girls in a mission school.

Social and Benevolent Activities of One Junior
Department

A Journey to Many Countries:

1. Each child was given a slip of paper on
which was a number. When the bell rang
all were to go down-stairs, and each was to find
a table bearing the same number as his slip.
On the table were many curios from one foreign
country; then one of the older boys or girls
told what these were, and all he or she knew
about the customs of that country.

2. The bell rang, and each group changed to
the next table. So the game progressed.

A Journey to Japan:

I. One boy brought a stereoscope. Through
seeing pictures, the children went in imagina-
tion to Japan.

In the Church School 75

2. Arrived there, they played Japanese
games.

3. They heard a Japanese story.

An African Night:

Just before preparations for the Livingstone
Centennial all were imaginary Africans; used
the African village curio-box ; had the story of
Catla and Ara, and played African games.

Other Activities:

1. A set of illustrated hymns and Scripture
verses made for a missionary to take away
with her at her request.

2. A happy day spent in gathering violets,
making them into bunches, and taking to the
sick.

3. A special offering made for Easter flow-
ers ; these were taken to the children's hospital.
One year the juniors found children asleep, and
were delighted to put flowers down beside them
and slip away.

4. Christmas parties; much of the interest
in doing for others grows out of these :

A Christmas-tree arranged for *' Sunshine
Home for Children '*• — an institution in the com-
munity. Matron of home cooperated, and had

76 Graded Missionary Education

children send letters to Santa Claus. Juniors
had much fun in opening these letters and in
trying to provide what was asked for.

Decorations for tree were brought from sup-
ply for their own. Juniors decorated the tree
themselves; wrapped and marked packages.
The party was given in the basement of the
church — juniors and ''Sunshine" children to-
gether. Each group sang their songs.

5. Fourth-year girls banded together to do
good.

Collected magazines for hospital.

Collected magazines for Alaska fishermen.

Collected post-cards for missionary in China.

Dressed two dolls for lady going out from
their own church as missionary.

It is well to have some school interest and some
class interests. A spirit of cooperation and not of
competition should be cultivated. In making gifts
of money the children should have a voice; if the
school decides to help a certain cause, a class may
decide on the amount of its contribution. When a
class works by itself, two equally good objects
sometimes may be presented, and a vote taken as to
the use of the class money. In any case there
should be intelligent cooperation. The definition of
a Sunday School given by one of Judge Lindsay's
street urchins needs to be remembered : " It's a

In the Church School 77

place where they takes y'er penny, and gives y'er
nothing for it."

Additional Books for Teachers and Pupils

There are so many books of travel and story for
children of this age that the attempt to discriminate
here will not be made. The teacher is referred to
" One Hundred Most Popular Missionary Books "
for selection.

"Our World Family/' "Fifty Missionary Sto-
ries" (Brain), and " Fifty Missionary Heroes Every
Boy and Girl Should Know" (Johnston), will be
suggestive to the teacher. " Handwork in Relig-
ious Education," by Wardle, contains some excel-
lent missionary illustrative material.

V

MISSIONARY SERVICE AND INSTRUCTION

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS OF TWELVE

TO SIXTEEN YEARS

The Opportunity

" Yes, God helping me, I will " — that was the
inner response of James Chalmers, the missionary
hero to New Guinea, when at the age of fifteen
he heard in Sunday School a letter read from
the missionary field and the superintendent say,
" I wonder if there is a boy here who will be-
come a missionary, and by and by bring the gospel
to the cannibals." It was the first step of which
no one but James himself knew. This is the time
of "first steps." During this period of the form-
ing of ideals and of the seeing of visions, the be-
ginning of a life-choice is often made. The par-
ticular life-work in many instances proves to be
diflFerent from that thought of at fourteen, fifteen,
sixteen; but the ideal remains, and the type of en-
deavor is often the same.

At this time the opportunity for guidance is large ;
so also is the need for tactfulness. Life past and
present is absorbing. For biography and history,

78

In the Church School 79

of the right kind, there is a keen interest. Reading
does more than any one thing to form ideals high
or low. Ideas may lead to ideals. Thought gov-
erns action more than ever before. With the
growth of social interest and altruistic feelings
should come definite lines of service. To give senti-
ment full play, while saving it from degenerating
into sentimentality, will be one means of leading to
true altruism and self-sacrifice. To stir the emo-
tions without supplying an outlet in action will do
more harm than good. To make missionary plans
and carry them out successfully requires a careful
study of boy and girl life at this period of develop-
ment ; a study of group tendencies manifest in " the
bunch," " the gang," and *' our crowd " ; a study
of individual tendencies, e. g., the ambitions, the
often intense eagerness, restlessness, secretiveness,
romantic fire of youth, with the similarities and
dissimilarities of the sexes. These studies may be
made through observations of young people at home,
at school, on the street, and the playground. But
the noting of one character, or of many groups, must
not lead to decisive conclusions. The testing of
these by reading the conclusions reached by students
of hundreds and thousands of children will be valu-
able. The books most helpful to the Sunday School
teacher for this purpose will be listed at the end of
this chapter.

The character of the Boy Scout movement and
of the Camp Fire Girls shows a recognition of boy

8o Graded Missionary Education

and girl nature, made evident by the response these
organizations have received. They should be af-
filiated with the church and not separated from it;
they may serve for the " club " organizations of
Sunday School classes, to which other distinctively
church interests may be added. When in four
years three hundred thousand boys enlist in a move-
ment, and in one year seventy thousand groups of
girls are organized, it behooves those who are work-
ing with young people to find out the reason why.
We find provision made for activities, realistic, use-
ful, and exciting, for the heroic and adventurous
undertaking, for the romantic element, and for pro-
gressive attainment of honors through definite ac-
complishment. In these organizations emphasis is
placed on trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, and
courtesy, and they carry on, in ways suited to the
age, the good elements of knighthood suggested in
the preceding chapter for training in social service.
The same is true of " The Knights of King
Arthur " and similar agencies, the spirit of which
needs to be cultivated in the Sunday School. The
group, as a group, should be led to live out in
their daily life something of the ideal that is set be-
fore them. Plans need to be made for this, e. g.,
something may be read or described that will in-
spire, and then, at the right moment, the proposition
may follow, " Can't we do something like that ? "
Those teachers who have read Zona Gale's " When
I Was a Little Girl," may remember the closing

In the Church School 8l

scene, which seems to depict the feelings and ex-
pressions of girls of eleven to thirteen years; they
had had a play of " Court Ladies " awaiting the
arrival of the knights, and at the end one says:

"Why couldn't we get a quest? Then it wouldn't have
to stop. It'd last every day."

"Girls can't quest, can they?" Betty suggested doubt-
fully. Delia was a free soul. Forthwith she made a
precedent.

"Well," she said, "I don't know whether they did
quest. But they can quest. So let's do it."

The reason in this appealed to us all. Immediately we
confronted the problem: What should we quest for? We
started off over the valley through which the little river
ran shining and slipped beyond our horizon.

" I wonder," said Mary Elizabeth, " if it would be wrong
to quest for the Holy Grail now?"

We stood there against the west, where bright doors
seemed opening in the pouring gold of the sun, thick with
shining dust. The glory seemed very near. Why not do
something beautiful? Why not — why not? . . .

Might not such a spirit be the beginning of mis-
sionary consecration ?

The Plan

One part of the plan, therefore, for training boys
and girls of twelve to sixteen years will be to guide
their ideals. How shall this be done?

I. By including a study of great missionary
characters in Sunday School teaching.

S2 Graded Missionary Education

2. By putting into the hands of pupils books
that will attract; if the books are of a direct
missionary type, they must be of a kind inter-
esting to them.

3. By giving opportunity for the expression
of the pupils' ideals, at least to some degree.

Another part of the plan must be to direct the
emotions and the energies of these young people —
How?

1. By acquainting them with the needs of
the immediate community (including the local
church) and of those farther away, beginning a
world interest.

2. By providing ways through which they
may help to relieve these needs.

3. By leading, not controlling them, in plans
for doing good.

In the detailed development of such a plan that
should cover three or four years' instruction and
service in this " Intermediate " or " Senior Gram-
mar Grade," the leader, be he superintendent or
teacher, will have to exercise great care. For the
best success the two should cooperate in making the
plan, outlining what should be done each year, and
leaving details to be filled in by the class's own
decisions.

It is well to know what has been done in the lower
department so that there shall be a wise continuance

In the Church School 83

of training, and when a class passes from one
teacher to another, a written outHne should also be
passed on, showing the plan and the part that has
been carried out. It is important also to remember
that in the last two years of this Sunday School
period most of the pupils are in high school, and
that fact gives them a wider outlook on the world
at large. Their historical and literature studies
should be taken into account. What an interesting
thing it would be if, when they are studying ancient
history, their Bible lessons should correspond, and
their foreign mission study and efifort have a similar
connection. The Bible would become more real, the
life of the past and the present be connected, and
the need of Christianity be more emphasized. For
instance, Roman history, the life of Paul, and mis-
sions in Macedonia and Asia Minor would be a
good combination.

The International Graded Sunday School Lessons
provide in the first year of the Intermediate Grade
a study of the great religious leaders of North
American history. In the second year there are
lessons on the great characters of church history,
and a three-months' study of Alexander Mackay and
his work in Uganda. In the third year one of
two alternate courses is " A Modern Disciple of
Jesus Christ — David Livingstone." The titles of
the lessons comprising this course are very sugges-
tive to the teacher of pupils of this age, and should
be considered in relation to their characteristics:

84 Graded Missionary Education

The Vision of an Opportunity, A Consecrated De-
termination, A Life Decision, The Stewardship of
Life, The Courage of Conviction, The Redemption
of a Promise, " Commit thy Way unto the Lord,"
A Wider Ministry, The Consolation of Christ and
the Sobbing of a Great Heart, The Motto of a Life,
WilHng Sacrifice for Enslaved Men, The Influence
of Godly Living, The Secret Power Revealed at
Death. A great opportunity is open through such
a study of a great life.

In '' The Completely Graded Series of Sunday
School Lessons " there is one course on " Heroes
of the Faith," presenting heroes of biblical times
and of modern days whose lives show the mis-
sionary spirit of self-sacrifice. There is a double
value in such a comparative study : the Bible becomes
a living book, the characters It portrays are real, and
the ideals found in them are found also in other
men, so religion becomes a present-day reality. At
the time of either of these studies, or in a similar
connection, it would be well to acquaint the pupils
with a missionary in whom their church Is Inter-
ested to-day. Also, to select some one with whom
the class could correspond; who would write to
the boys and girls, describing the work and the
place, and telling of some definite things needed.
If a missionary board, or an Individual missionary,
says, "There Is no time for such writing," It Is
only a question as to the Importance of this corre-
spondence; it might be more fruitful of results in

In the Church School 85

the present and the future than the doing of two
hours' work a month on the field. If it were
the means of making another missionary or of the
contribution of thousands of dollars in the future,
it would be time well spent. And to many mis-
sionaries the letters received from the individual
girl or boy will be encouraging enough to make the
expenditure of time worth while. Girls will write
such letters more readily than boys, except when
the communication is a business one, occasioned,
for instance, by the sending of a check. This sug-
gests that a class should distribute its own funds.
It is a great means of interest and of training, and
arrangements for this responsibility should be made
except when the school unites in contributing to one
object; then one of the older members should be
appointed to act with the school treasurer, and the
work be assigned to different ones in turn.

During these years the pupils ought to gain some
thorough knowledge of life conditions among un-
christianized peoples. At least two countries could
be studied in one year. Striking contrasts will be
interesting, e. g., the savage tribes of the islands of
the sea and the remarkable development of Japan;
still more valuable for the immediate purpose would
be the contrast of a people before and after Chris-
tianity was brought to them.

A short time since, hundreds of boys and girls of
this age in one of our large cities were asked to
write down their chief interest, and reading gained

86 Graded Missionary Education

the highest percentage, even going above that of
games and athletics. A teacher's plan should in-
clude the selection of some wide-awake missionary
lives and stories, and the passing of those occasion-
ally to an individual pupil with " Here is a good
story that you will enjoy." To omit the word " mis-
sionary " in reference to a book or story is often
wise. The following books are especially good for
this purpose, and any one of them may serve as an
introduction to a definite study of mission work
in the place of which the book tells. They will, of
course, be reserved for the most opportune time,
e. g., if the three-months' study provided by the
International Graded Lessons is used, that is the
time for " Uganda's White Man of Work.'*
Mathews, Basil : '' Livingstone the Pathfinder."
Fahs, S. L. : " Uganda's White Man of Work."
Hubbard, Ethel: "Under Marching Orders."
Mathews, Basil : " The Splendid Quest."
Oxenham, John : " White Fire."
Richards, Laura : " Florence Nightingale."
Hull, J. Mervin: "Judson the Pioneer."
Inspiration for the " quest " and devotion to an
ideal may be the fruitage of such reading.

Parallel to the contact with great lives and heroic
spirits must be an opportunity for some expression
of the ideal that is being formed. Dramatic in-
terest may be used to this end. Expression in
play often leads to expression in reality. Great
educational possibilities are opening through this

In the Church School 87

medium, and they are only beginning to be illus-
trated in missionary plays. In the first years of
this period dialogues and tableaux in relation to
home and foreign missionary life will be helpful.
Let us be sure in selecting and arranging subject-
matter for these, that it be really strong and to the
point in content. In the later years of this period
the play that is full of vital action should be de-
veloped. Incidents from the life of Livingstone,
Whitman, or Florence Nightingale might be ar-
ranged for such a play. If the young people of
the senior division join with the high-school girls
and boys in the acting, the outcome will be more
likely to be effective. Information regarding air
ready prepared material for missionary plays can
be obtained from " The Missionary Education
Movement." Its representatives have well said that
" those interested in this form of religious education
should seek to acquaint themselves with those prin-
ciples which scientifically relate the use of the
dramatic instinct to other educational processes.
LTnless the work of preparation and presentation
be regulated in this way, the method will not only
fail to yield satisfactory results, but much harm
may be done." The reading by the teacher of " The
Children's Educational Theatre," by Alice M. Herts,
will be suggestive.

Photographs, small and large, of well-known mis-
sionaries, and exhibit material also, can be secured
from the source named above, and also from the

88 Graded Missionary Education

American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and other
denominational Societies. The manual methods used
in Bible lessons may be applied to missionary studies.
One of the best is the making of a biography,
either by a class unitedly or by a single pupil, and
for this pictures will be desirable; stories about
mission work in one country might be the subject
of another booklet. Missionary hymns well selected
and fittingly connected could be included, and maps
made by the pupils showing journeys and events
would of course have a place. For suggestions as
to doing such work, see " Hand Work in the Sunday
School," by Milton S. Littlefield. Small and large
outline maps of countries where Baptist missions
are established can be secured from the American
Baptist Foreign Mission Society. These may be
filled in by marking places where missions are to be
found. Famous sayings of famous missionaries
could also be used in the right connection, as " We
can do it if we will" (Samuel J. Mills), "Expect
great things from God, attempt great things for
God" (William Carey).

The making of post-card albums of mission coun-
tries is another good work. The observance of spe-
cial occasions, such as the birthdays of pioneer mis-
sionaries, or the celebration of some great event,
may form a good entertainment now and then in
places where occupation should be provided. The
pupils may decorate the rooms with flags and curios.
Collections of curios may be borrowed perhaps, and

In the Church School 89

the girls and boys be dressed in costume. Plans of
this kind suggested in the last chapter may be
adapted to and made useful for the intermediate
group.

A consideration of expression through service
leads us to the other part of the suggested plan,
namely, that which will direct the emotions and en-
ergies by acquainting these young people with some
of the community needs, near and far, and helping
them to meet these needs as far as they can. First
will come training in responsibility for the church
and loyalty to that organization. Three avenues
are open for this :

1. Through class pride and comradeship; al-
ways subordinating the class interests to those
of school and church.

2. Through the cultivation of a sense of
honor to do whatever the minister asks.

3. By serving (under leadership and super-
vision) in ways such as the following:

Assisting at social affairs for the primary and
kindergarten children.

Decorating the Sunday School rooms of the
lower departments.

Singing by groups when desired.

Packing boxes of magazines, books, etc., to
furnish libraries in mission districts.

Acting as doorkeepers and ushers when
needed.

G

90 Graded Missionary Education

Most of these activities cultivate a family spirit
or accord with the interest of boys and girls of this
age ; e. g., girls are eager to assist at little children's
parties, boys are wilHng to use hammer and nails
in decorating a room, or, if in a suburban or
country place, to go and gather in the spring or
autumn natural objects suitable for decoration.
Their interest in reading makes them respond to the
work involved in sending magazines, etc., if they
know, for instance, that in the lumber-camps or
among the sailor-boys there is little or no reading
material. Work for fishermen and the " keepers
of the shore " would be excellent for some boys.
Stories of Grenfell's Mission and a proposition to do
something for it will generally call forth a response.
So also will the pioneer service of missionaries on
the western frontiers and in the mining districts, if
rightly presented. Miss Crawford's life among the
Indians could be made as fascinating to girls as a
story-book. Then the packing of boxes with all
sorts of good things to go to one or more of these
groups will be great fun. When boxes are to be
filled and sent to home or foreign mission fields, it is
best to correspond first with the secretary of the de-
nominational mission board or Society. Sometimes
things are duplicated, or the cost of transportation
and duty will exceed the value of the gifts. Again
particular schools or institutions will be much in
need of particular things, and in finding out and
sending these a greater good will be done, while a

In the Church School 91

greater interest will also be awakened because of
the special need.

Many girls and boys are baptized and come into
full membership with the church between twelve
and sixteen years of age. They should be led to
feel a responsibility for its well-being and for the
success of what it undertakes. Girls should be in-
structed about the Women's Societies of the de-
nomination, and have stories of woman's work.
Boys should be made familiar with such efforts as
the Laymen's Missionary Movement — what it is,
how organized, and why. It would be informing
to find out the proportion of the adult church-
membership of to-day that is familiar with the
missionary organizations for which its church
stands. If Sunday School training includes a
knowledge of these, together with cooperation, we
may hope with confidence that Christ's kingdom
will more quickly come.

Opportunities of service in village and country
churches are different from those of the city. The
excellent use of one of these opportunities was de-
scribed not long ago : A village church in a Western
State stood in grounds bare and unattractive; it
was springtime, and a social gathering of the Sun-
day School was announced for a certain evening.
The special object was kept a secret until after the
supper and games, when all were seated, and a
table was moved into the center of the room. The
sheet that covered it was removed, and there stood

g2 Graded Missionary Education

a model of the church built out of blocks, with the
sheds in the rear. In front was the representation
of a green lawn, with a flower-bed in the center,
and in the angle of the steps was a semicircle of
shrubbery. The corners of the parking also had
shrubbery, and the driveway to the sheds was bor-
dered with a barberry hedge. After a brief talk
about " how little money it took to make every-
thing about the church look as if the people cared
for it," and the showing of pictures of well-kept
church lawns, every one was ready to go to work.
The men's class agreed to furnish top-soil and fer-
tilizer, a young women's class would seed it, two
boys' classes would get the shrubbery from the
woods near-by, the women's class offered to supply
the hedge, and a young men's class to set it out.
Two classes of girls decided to furnish the flower-
bed. The primary class must have some part, so
window-boxes were built at their windows, and the
children contributed the plants. " The teachers
went with the boys in search of shrubbery. This
meant a closer comradeship. The day the shrub-
bery was set out and the lawn seeded, the women's
class furnished a dinner in the church. Plants and
lawn needed water, so a hose was bought and a
water brigade organized, each set of boys respon-
sible for so many days. There were weeding parties
with a picnic lunch. The village paper gave the
school several write-ups. It was talked of at
home, praised by people of the village. The boys

In the Church School 93

and girls said ' our church.' The Sunday School
grew in numbers and interest as it had not before
because the pupils had a mind to work."

While this illustrates a united effort of an entire
school, and for that reason was especially good, it
has a special place here because it shows how boys
and girls can be led to help and become proud of
"our church."

They may be influenced in similar ways to a com-
munity interest and to efforts for improvement in
the place in which they live. The following account
is given as a single illustration of how to make a
plan for service in church and town, and then get
the sympathy and cooperation of a group of boys
to fulfil it. Their teacher knew that the Sunday's
teaching could be only a part of her work if it were
to be successful. If she was to reach her goal she
must work with the boys in the week. It would
take time and trouble, but — seven boys were to be
saved ! Stories from " The Arabian Nights " would
give an evening's " good time." A picnic must fol-
low, for Miss Harrington had something in mind
besides the good time. She knew something of the
Boy Scout Movement; she got the full printed in-
formation, and with it went to one of the best
farmers in the neighborhood, who had boys of his
own. Nothing would induce him to take a Sunday
School class, but he would go on the picnic and
show the boys how to make a fire and do some
other things that Scouts do. There was no organ-

94 Graded Missionary Education

ization of Scouts ; neither farmer nor teacher knew
enough to be leaders, and Miss Harrington thought
that a fuller organization of the class would come
most effectively later. A microscope was taken on
the picnic, and the boys' interest in nature deep-
ened; by and by there were walks to the woods on
Sunday afternoons, sometimes with one boy, some-
times with all. Gradually the boys were set to
work in little ways for the good of the community
and the church. " Would it not be nice to have a
flower-bed down at the station, such as she had
seen at other places ? " Having gained permission,
Miss Harrington asked two boys to bring suitable
plants from the woods. Then — " With a flower-
bed, the bench in front of the station ought to be
clean. If it was not decent to sit upon, what was
the use of having it there?" Soon the boys were
busy, and proud of the station of their town. Under
Miss Harrington's direction one of the boys, deft
with toqls, made a sign-board to be placed near the
church, " to announce the good times." And one
of these good times was a supper in the barn for
the Sunday School, suggested by the teacher, whose
boys cleaned, arranged, and decorated the room for
the occasion. The time came when the class was
more fully organized, a box was supplied for the
money they decided to use for good work, and a
treasurer appointed. The boys voted as to a name
and badge ; a little pin with the words, " I serve,"
was accepted ; and membership in " Miss Harring-

In the Church School 95

ton's Class " had come to be reckoned an honor and
a privilege.

It is wise to train in the systematic giving of
money at this age, not in a narrow and arbitrary
way, but so as to show the value of business-like
method rather than impulsive action. Many boys
and girls have spending-money, and to discuss mo-
tive and regularity in giving will be helpful. Why
do I bring five cents to Sunday School ? would be a
good question for discussion. Would a penny be
better if it were my own, than five cents that is not
mine? How much do I give in one month to help
make some one better? How much do I spend for
" treats " to myself or some one else ? All these
questions would be suggestive for thought. Greater
interest in giving will be gained if the pupils are
made responsible for the use of their money. It is
their gift, and they should be allowed to decide by
vote of the class or school to what they will give,
and if they have a fund, how much shall be ap-
propriated from it for any one cause. Such voting
will be guided to some extent by the presentation
of things wise to undertake. The younger the chil-
dren are, or the less able they are to decide wisely,
the more they should be guided, but free expression
is desirable. A superintendent or committee should
not decide as to the use of the offerings without
at least a presentation of the matter to a school or
department. Shares of stock in some enterprise on
the one-dollar or one-dime plan sometimes work

96 Graded Missionary Education

well. Many " gospel ships " ^ have been sent out
as a result of this method. A report has been given
of one intermediate department which, after a study
of Paton's life and work, formed itself into the New
Hebrides Missionary Company, and sold shares at
ten cents each. Methods of giving referred to in
the Bible might be considered in some classes; also
examples of Christian givers, and the envelope or
savings-box plan be adopted.

The advisability of all these things will depend
largely on the all-around development of a class.
In fact, no hard and fast plans can be laid down,
and no one order of arrangement in the use of sub-
jects be put forward. If this were done, the prin-
ciples set forth in the first chapter of this little book
would be contradicted, for missionary training must
be related to the whole training and the use of one
subject or another, and the precedence of either one
will rightly depend on the conditions in the par-
ticular school — its personnel and locality, its chosen
curriculum, its relations with missionaries home
and foreign, and the philanthropies in the com-
munity of which it forms a part. The choice of
subject-matter should depend also, to some extent,
on the denominational interests ; e. g., the countries
in which Baptists have missions, and their methods
of work will have naturally the leading place in a
Baptist church school. Our aim here is to show

^ See " Gospel Ship Packet." containing the " Log of the Gospel
Ship " and six hand-colored post-cards of the Inland Sea, published
by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society.

Ill the Church School 97

what may be included in each period of child life,
and to indicate how that may be developed.

Additional Books for Teachers and Pupils

Grenfell, Wilfred T. : " Adrift on an Ice-pan."

Grenfell, Wilfred T. : " Off the Rocks."

Lambert, John C. : " Romance of Missionary
Heroism."

Stories of Patteson, Livingstone, Gordon, and
Chalmers (under separate covers).

Holcomb, H. H. H. : " Men of Might in Indian
Missions."

Hubbard, Ethel D. : " Ann of Ava."

Paris, John T. : " Winning the Oregon Country."

Yan Phou Lee : '' When I Was a Boy in China."

Humphreys, Mary G. : " Missionary Explorers
Among the American Indians."

Dimock, Leila A. : " Comrades from Other
Lands."

Henry, John R. : " Some Immigrant Neighbors."

Crowell, Katherine R. : " Coming x\mericans " ;
" The Life of John G. Paton."

Talks on Africa (six outlines. Foreign Missions
Library, New York).

Chipman, Chas. P.: "Heroes of Modern Mis-
sions."

Grose, H. B. : " Men of Mark in Modern Mis-
sions."

Griggs, W. C. : " The Children of Mission Lands."

98 Graded Missionary Education

FOR TEACHERS

On the study of boy and girl character

Weigle, Luther A. : " The Pupil and the Teacher."
McKeever, Wm. A. : " The Training of the Boy."
McKeever, Wm. A. : " The Training of the Girl."
Hyde, Wm. DeWitt : " The Quest of the Best."
Hoben, Allan : " The Minister and the Boy."
Slattery, Margaret : " The Girl in Her Teens."
Fiske, Walter Geo. : " Boy Life and Self-Govern-
ment."

Alexander, John L. : " The Sunday School and the
Teens."

Raffety, W. Edward : " Brothering the Boy."
Richardson and Loomis : " The Boy Scout Move-
ment Applied to the Church."

VI

MISSIONARY SERVICE AND INSTRUC-
TION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Purpose

Before planning any work for young people above
sixteen years of age, we need to see clearly the pur-
pose underlying the training. It will serve as a guide
in the making of plans. Expressed in one word,
this purpose is service. This should be the climax
toward which all the preceding instruction and the
present study leads. This does not mean necessarily
the doing of so-called " church work." It means
something more than that, while that will be in-
cluded. Serving has been planned for by arranging
for many different acts during the earlier years, but
our present thought refers to life service.

Young people need first a growing appreciation
that Christian living is a living for others, that in
the broad sense the terms Christian and missionary
are synonymous. When speaking to a Young Men's
Christian Association, President Wilson said:

I wonder how many of us think of Christianity as an
instrumentality for the practical development of mankind.
No man is a true Christian who does not think of how

99

lOO Graded Missionary Education

he can help his brothers, how he can uplift mankind, and
who does not labor unselfishly for others. The duty of
Christian young men is to uplift the world. They are the
strongest kind of young men. I beheve there is growing
to be more and more a demand for such men in the world,
for the world is growing to appreciate them more and
more.

Mrs. Pearl G. Winchester has well said :

Serving is ministering to needs, not merely indulging
ourselves in generous impulses. If you can help young
people to see this fundamental relation you will render
them a lasting service and forestall a large amount of well-
meant but misdirected activity. The first thing in helping
others is to find out what they really need to help them
to better living.

President Woolley, of Mount Holyoke College,
has said something to this effect :

Since the conditions of modem life are such as to
separate classes rather than to unite them, to make selfish
interests paramount rather than subordinate, it is mani-
festly the responsibility of education to withstand the
drift, to turn the current. There are many ways of stat-
ing the aim, the ideal, but it may be expressed in the
simplest terms. It is, after all, nothing more than the
development of the neighborhood spirit, the friendly "at-
titude," if we may borrow the expression from the Friends,
in the sense in which they use it, but with the neighbor-
hood extended to include humanity of all sorts and con-
ditions : the friendly spirit stretched to the full significance
of what it means in human relationship.

These three quotations make clear the large idea
of service that should be an underlying purpose in

In the Church School lot

work with young people. This purpose should in-
clude leading them to a reasonable appreciation of
the greatness of a life devoted to home or foreign
missions; and in some instances, to a consecration
of themselves to such a service. In the years im-
mediately preceding this age, ideals of life have
been forming, and in teaching, control of these ideals
has been sought through example. Great characters
have been set before these boys and girls, as their
visions, dreams, and longings have been evident, and
appeal has been made by way of spiritual heroism.
Now life decisions are being made more definitely.
Therefore direct appeal through reason is needed
that choices and decisions may be of the highest kind.
The need, the opportunity, the glory of missionary
work should be presented in a reasonable way by
definite information of what is being done, and of
what might be done if men and women should give
themselves to this particular service. The appeal
must come by the wise presentation of " the call," as
George H. Trull suggests, " from all types of fields
for life service." " Home missions " include much
that is not always thought of as such, e. g., the ser-
vice rendered in many a settlement house. More
and more a variety of talents and experiences is
needed on the foreign field — positions of teacher,
doctor, preacher, executive manager, etc., are to
be filled. If it is the Sunday School leader's clear
purpose to guide in life decisions, opportunities will
come for tactful suggestion along these lines, with-

I02 Graded Missionary Education

out an urgent preachment that might do more harm
than good.

Plans for Instruction and Training

In some Sunday Schools a definite goal is set for
the completion of the regular courses of instruction,
and a time of graduation is looked forward to, after
which elective courses are taken. If this graduation
corresponds in time with the average age of gradua-
tion from public high school, it will be at eighteen
years. In harmony with such a plan, two years of
missionary instruction and service can be easily ar-
ranged from the suggestions put forth here. If the
time of the graded Sunday School courses is ex-
tended, there is ample opportunity through these
plans for an extension of missionary study and
work to cover several years.

The best selection to be made from the subject-
matter given below must depend, in part, on how
well equipped the particular young people are, and
on what training they have received in the lower de-
partments of the school. If they have not done the
work suggested in the preceding chapter for the in-
termediate grade, it may be well, in some instances,
to do the most advanced work planned for that
grade. But supposing it has been done, the ques-
tion now for the teacher is, To what shall these
young people go on? This must be determined by
considering what is best fitted for their Christian

In the Church School 103

development. To fulfil the general purpose and
to meet the particular needs of any young people
requires most careful planning. These needs are
affected by age, education, and environment. The
instruction and work of each individual group must
vary to some degree.

For many classes there is nothing better than
the series of Sunday School lessons entitled " The
World a Field for Christian Service " (Keystone
International Graded Courses), prepared by Dr.
Philip A. Nordell. The point of contact and the
point of procedure must be quite different from
those in the earher teaching periods, in the use of
this or any other subject-matter. In the way these
lessons have been developed an appeal to reason and
to choice has been in mind, and there is a recog-
nition of the fact that young people of this age are
interested in world affairs and life questions.

The interpretation of missions given in this series
is large and inclusive, but very definite. The con-
secutive use of the entire plan will be most profit-
able; but when this is not possible, teachers will
find in certain parts excellent help for missionary
instruction, either on Sunday or a week-day evening.
To illustrate: No subject is more important for
consideration, and none can be made more inter-
esting than that of the immigrant. A number of
suggestions on this topic are given in two pages
of "Study 20" of this series. (See Teacher's
Manual.) "Study 21" presents facts on " Medi-

104 Graded Missionary Education

cal Missions " that will stir the hearts and wills of
some young people to help in that direction. On
page 119 of the manual is a statement of what
foreign missions have done and are doing that will
convince any one that they are worth helping. Fol-
lowing such studies as these come a number of wise
discussions on " Finding One's Place in the World's
Work," with the aim of leading to serious thought
and definite consecration.

When young people know the conditions and
needs they will respond. To the Sunday School
more than any other agency comes the opportunity
of letting them know, and in many instances the
Sunday School has passed it by. But there are two
ways of giving information: one by the lecture
method ; the other by suggestion, investigation, and
discussion which, by the way, will include direct
and indirect information. The latter is the stronger
working principle for all teaching, and so must be
applied to missionary training in particular. Good
illustration of the use of this method is found in
the lessons referred to above. It is the method that
appeals to young people, and will bring effective
results. Some information is given, and as they
consider and discuss it and seek to find the truth
out of their own experience and that of others, their
wills will be strengthened to act in the right direc-
tion.

If a biographical form of study is desired, the
text-book entitled " Servants of the King," by

hi the ChtircJi School 105

Robert E. Speer, will be useful. This includes
eleven characters, and is planned for a three-months'
study of home and foreign missionaries. It may
well be used later than the biographical lessons sug-
gested in the last chapter; the subjects are almost
all different, are of women as well as men, and the
form of presentation is better fitted to this age;
the motives and decisions of these missionaries are
brought out with the hope of leading young people
to dedicate themselves to life service in missionary
fields. The title carries with it a suggestion espe-
cially for this age. In one church the young people
in the high-school department of the Sunday School
are using this text-book at their meetings Sunday
evening, and dififerent classes are responsible for
different parts. " Comrades in Service," by Mar-
garet E. Burton, is a companion volume to " Ser-
vants of the King," and also contains eleven brief
biographies of persons who have spent their lives
in Christian service. With this study might well
be associated information regarding the Student
Volunteer Movement and its great leader, John R.
Mott. Whatever course of studies is pursued, a
right place for this should be found in many classes.
(There are, of course, classes where it would not
be of any use, neither would be " The Servants of
the King.") Young men and women will be stirred
by accounts of this man's work and the religious
interest of which he tells. Different class-members
might be given the following facts to report, or

io6 Graded Missionary Education

one person read some more recent saying of Doctor
Mott. In 1899 he could not get within range of
the Russian students. In his visit in 1913, thirty
to forty professors joined with large bodies of stu-
dents to hear him. A great thirst for truth is
shown, and the Russian student seems the most
religious of any.

In an early visit to China he was told by seven-
teen college presidents that he could never reach
the literati of China in public assembly. Five years
later, " the walls of Jericho had begun to crumble."
In 1913, in the largest theater of Canton, he had
an audience of one thousand three hundred stu-
dents, with fifty Chinese officials on the platform,
including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
and the Premier, neither of whom was a Christian.

In a town in Manchuria, chiefly populated by
the ancient literati, the governor built a pavilion to
be used for the meetings. The government col-
lege was closed for the two days, in which Doctor
Mott made six addresses. A test was put before
the students. They were asked to sign a paper
on which were three statements, embracing the fol-
lowing :

1. I agree to read between the months of
March and June the little book in which are the
four Gospels.

2. I will pray daily to the holy God to guide
me to the truth.

In the Church School 107

3. When my reason and my conscience tell
me to, I will accept the Christian faith and life.

Six hundred students signed this paper.

If any members of a Sunday School class had
not themselves definitely accepted the Christian faith
and life, the above might lead them to earnest con-
sideration.

A third plan of study that may be suggested will
be suitable for the more advanced classes ; it touches
on the historical phase of the subject, being a review
of the development of Christianity from early days,
to be followed by a survey of comparative religions.
A study of the growth of the Christian religion will
emphasize its power and show its worth. It will
be helpful also to the older young people to have
an unprejudiced view of the strength and the weak-
ness of other religions, and the need for Christian-
ity in lands where it is not known. In the " Com-
pletely Graded Series " of Sunday School lessons
are courses of this type under the titles, " Prep-
arations for Christianity," " Landmarks of Chris-
tian History," and " The Conquering Christ," the
last of the three taking up a discussion of the non-
Christian religions in a broad and wise way.

Young people of a church should become intel-
ligent in regard to the missionary undertakings and
organizations of the denomination to which their
church belongs. If the boys and girls have been
made familiar with some of these, the young peo-

io8 Graded Missionary Education

pie should be increasingly interested, that they may
feel some responsibility for, and a loyalty to, any-
thing in which their church has a share. Their
interest will depend on the way in which informa-
tion is given. The following outline of a lesson
on the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society
may be suggestive. Such a lesson can be inserted
in the series of Sunday School lessons mentioned
above at the most fitting point, or it can be used
at some special meeting of a class.

The text-book, " Following the Sunrise," by Helen
Barrett Montgomery, will supply material for this
lesson. The Bible words, " The people that walked
in darkness have seen a great light," will be on the
class blackboard or on a large sheet of manila
paper presented before the class. The questions,
(i) How was it that some of these people were
first able to see the light? (2) Who first carried
the light to them? (3) Where is the light given by
the Baptists shining to-day? may be answered by
certain members who have prepared on the fol-
lowing topics (they can tell briefly of the matter in
their own words, or by reading quotations ; assign-
ments should be made a week previous to the class
session) :

1. The beginning of missionary interest a century
ago. (See pages 1-28 of text-book.)

2. A brief story of the first Baptist mission-
aries to India (using pictures in text-book, pages
26-44).

In the Church School 109

3. (i) Word-pictures and other pictures of pres-
ent results from past work. (Pages 50, 51, 56,
60-62; also pictures opposite pages 86 and 112.)
(2) Maps showing Baptist mission stations. (See
text-book opposite pages 23, 97, 141 ; and, if pos-
sible, have large outline maps made and put within
colored dots showing the many stations.)

The leader will add a summary, naming the vari-
ous countries in which the American Baptist For-
eign Mission Society has mission stations. If the
class-members cannot prepare the work proposed,
then the leader may give it in story form under the
above divisions, or write out some outlines for stu-
dents to read, giving the most interesting and im-
portant points.

After such a lesson it will be helpful to have
an evening's entertainment and instruction by a
dramatic presentation of " Jesus Christ's Men."
(See page 122 of the present work.)

A reading circle will be, in some places, a social
interest, and give an opportunity for reading wide-
awake missionary books or stories. This will appeal
to young women more than to young men. If
either of the above courses are studied, it would be
well to have the reading correspond, e. g., with the
first mentioned, " The World a Field for Christian
Service," and the lesson study, " The Immigrants,"
Mary Antin's " The Promised Land " will be ex-
cellent, or if the lesson is on home missions, Ralph
Connor's " Black Rock," Booker Washington's " Up

no Graded Missionary Education

from Slavery," or Don Shelton's " Heroes of the
Cross in America," would be good according to the
particular subject dwelt upon. The last two are of
the biographical type, and if that is the interest,
many books will be available from which to choose,
as, for instance, " Livingstone, the Pathfinder," by
Basil Mathews ; or " David Livingstone," by C. Sil-
vester Home ; and " Memorials of Ion Kieth-Fal-
coner," by Robert Sinker (or a sketch of his life in
pamphlet form). Many biographical sketches can
be obtained in leaflets, as in the so-called " Envelope
Series "of the American Board of Foreign Mis-
sions. A somewhat heavier type of reading, im-
portant for the day and full of interest for older
and well-educated young people, is found in such
books as "The Uplift of China," by Arthur H.
Smith ; " India Awakening," by Sherwood Eddy ;
and " The Social Aspects of Foreign Missions," by
W. H. P. Faunce. Two books of especial value to
advanced groups of young men are " The New
Home Missions," a study of the subject from the
social standpoint of the life of to-day, and " The
, Call of the World," by W. E. Doughty, a discus-
sion of the missionary enterprise and the individual
man's relation to it.

Where a mission study class is formed, it will be
well to connect it with the evening gatherings of a
Sunday School class, or with the young people's
society. It is advantageous to have these different
means of training related and under one manage-

In the Church School m

ment. The Sunday School courses of study and
the mission study courses should be correlated and
in harmony with the group's benevolent activities.

A reading circle may arrange an interesting eve-
ning for young men as well as women by a program
of short stories read or told. If fields of service in
the home country are being studied on Sundays,
selections for an evening's reading might be made
from " Frontier Sketches " (published by the Amer-
ican Baptist Home Mission Society). The follow-
ing is a sample :

SOUTH DAKOTA PIONEERING IN I907
By General Missionary W. C. King

Camp Crook, the principal town of the Little Missouri
Valley, is only reached by stage or team, after a journey
of eighty-five miles, usually from Belfourche. It is not a
large town, numbering in all about two hundred souls, but
a tremendous amount of business is transacted there, and
one is surprised to find department stores of such size and
beauty as exist there. It has a bank, but no church. At
six-thirty of the second day of my stage ride, I landed
there, to be taken by the hand by Brother Backues, our
missionary of that field. He was anxious to be off to
his home thirteen miles away, so we were soon speeding
on westward. Ever and anon we would meet a company
of cowboys headed for Camp Crook, and each time the
missionary would rein up his team and greet them, re-
ceiving hearty response to his invitation to the service
next day.

This was Saturday evening, and early next day we
were off for the schoolhouse, and as we drew near Brother
Backues expressed his belief that we would be the first to

112 Graded Missionary Education

arrive. Imagine our surprise, therefore, on reaching the
brow of the hill, to see the schoolhouse grounds dotted
with vehicles, though it was an hour and a half before
service-time. Some of those present that day drove twenty-
five miles to attend.

What a hearty, eager congregation! They came from
every direction. The cowboys came in shoals, and throw-
ing their belts laden with six-shooters over the fence-posts,
tramped down the one aisle, the big spurs clicking noisily,
to sit on the edge of the platform at my feet and listen
intently to the word. Oh, the exquisite joy that thrilled
me in preaching that day to those hungry souls. At the
close of the service the men arranged the tables and the
women spread such a dinner as the appetite created by the
long stage drive of the previous day prepared one to
appreciate.

Meanwhile, the General Missionary had been given an-
other surprise. One of the leading ranchmen of the
community asked for an interview, and said, "We want
a church here." To my reply that we were about to or-
ganize one, he said, " I know that, but I mean a building —
we MUST have a building, and I wish you would start the
matter here to-day. For my part I am ready to say that
we simply will not live this way longer, and bring up our
children without the sight of a church spire."

On being asked what he would do to start the matter,
he answered, " fifty dollars." Others were ready to do the
same, and before the tables were cleared, nearly four
hundred dollars had been raised in the schoolhouse con-
gregation.

Another thrilling experience of this surprising day was
the outpouring of people at Camp Crook in the evening,
and the intentness with which they listened. Even more
impressive were some of the conversations with the men
of the toM^n. These gave evidence of a profound dis-
satisfaction of soul and an intense heart hunger. " Come

In the Church School 113

and live with us and show us the better way." One of
these who bears a name well known to Baptists, went two
years to Morgan Park Seminary, and has ability above
the average. What a wrench it gave to the heart to talk
with him.

" We are not what we seem, out here, and some of us
long for help — it seems to us that, had we just a little
real help, we could get out of this way of living." There
is one point that is clearer to me than ever, since this
trip — it is worse than useless to send any but men of
the keenest minds and most genuine character to such
places as this.

The physician, the merchants, were like the one I have
just quoted, in that they have trained, keen minds and cul-
tivated tastes, and out there everybody hates cant with a
deadly hatred.

Brother Backues stopped his team and bade me look to
the north, saying : " As you look, reflect that it is sixty
miles to the N. P. line, that those plains are being dotted
with towns like Camp Crook, and covered with communities
like Midland. Now, look west, remembering that it is one
hundred and sixty miles to Miles City, and that the same
thing Is true in that direction, people pouring in, towns
springing up, and the whole country arable and capable
of supporting a vast population. Now, reflect also that,
for all this vast territory, there are but three of us, two
missionaries of any denomination besides myself. Truly,
the harvest Is large and the laborers few."

Supposing the groups had studied of Livingstone
and the Dark Continent, then the story of " Twen-
tieth Century Pioneering in Africa," as told by
Mabel E. Emerson in " The Wellspring " of 1914/
might be used. Here is a part of what she tells :

1 •• The Pilgrim Press,

114 Graded Missionary Education

A new kind of worker started out twelve years ago for
Mount Silinda in Rhodesia, a man who had been a civil
engineer for five years, part of the time as assistant en-
gineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad. The call came
for an industrial missionary, and he had said, " I will go,"
and when he went he took with him a traction-engine and
a sawmill. To get these to their destination was no easy
task, and the writer describes the difficulties at last sur-
mounted, and ends with saying, "A visitor at Mount
Silinda to-day would see missionary homes, schools, and
churches, all built by the people who fifteen years ago
could make nothing better than a mud hut. He would
find a brick building with a machine-shop on the ground
floor, and a carpenter-shop in the basement. He would
find a sawmill where the great logs from the Mount
Silinda forest are made into building materials, and where
the traction-engine is fulfiUing its mission in very truth.
Two miles from the station there is a 3"ard where the boys
make the bricks and the only pressed tiles manufactured
in all Rhodesia.

" The attitude of near-by white settlers has come to be
one of genuine respect for this thriving community. But
Mount Silinda's finest product is the young men and young
women of sturdy Christian character and a home life per-
meated with the Christian spirit. This character-building
is the crowning achievement of the Mount Silinda mis-
sionaries."

(In this connection, "A Master-builder on the
Nile " — a biographical book recently published — will
present, by its very title, an attraction to young
people.)

Other interesting incidents will be supplied by
educational secretaries of the different denomina-
tional Societies.

In the Church School 115

No better story can be found to be used with the
study of medical missions than the following:

A Life for China ^

Arthur Jackson rose from his letter-writing and began
to pace vigorously up and down his bare room at the mis-
sion hospital. The Httle fire that warmed the room was
almost out, but he did not stop to stir it up. The bitter
cold of the long Manchurian winter had no terrors for
this athletic young missionary doctor. He breathed in
deep draughts of the frosty air and beat his muscular arms
about his great chest.

Arthur Jackson had been a crack oarsman in his college
at Cambridge University, England, and in the four months
since he had come to China he had found plenty of work
to keep him in training. His days were very busy with
long walks to visit sick people, with difficult operations in
the hospital, and with coaching his Chinese students in
football. He had had time besides to make amazing prog-
ress in the hardest task he had before him, the learning of
the difficult Chinese language. There was not a lazy bone
in his great body, and the other missionaries had soon
found out that young Doctor Jackson was always ready
for big tasks and never complained of hardships.

As soon as his hands were warm he went back to his
writing. The letter was to his sister in England. It was
dated Mukden, Manchuria, January 12, 1911. "Whoever
invented Chinese seems to have an enormous stock of h's, ^
s's, c's, w's, and n's, which he had no doubt bought at some
jumble sale, and it is a wonder the whole thing has not
been sold long ago at another. I can tell you that saying
* Peter Piper,' or any such catch, is child's play to manag-
ing your s's and w's in Chinese." For a moment he hesi-

« From " Services of Worship," used by permission of The Mis-
sionary Education Movement, New York. ^^ ^x ^ne mii

ii6 Graded Missionary Education

tated and his face was grave, then he plunged right into
his task, and for a long time nothing was heard in the
cold, dreary room but the scratch of his pen on the thin
foreign mail-paper.

" You may have seen," he wrote, " that the plague is pretty
bad in northern Manchuria. We are doing everything we
can to prevent its coming south. You remember that
Mukden is at the junction of the Japanese line running
south and the Chinese Imperial Railway running west to
Tientsin and Peking. It is an important place, as you
can see from this sketch." Here he drew a little map.

" The railroad stations are three or four miles to the
west of the city. Just at this time of year there are
great crowds of coolies, going from their work in the north
down into Peking to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I
have been vaccinated, and I am going to examine the pas-
sengers, to prevent the plague from getting into China.
You need not mention this job I have got to mother, as it
would only make her unnecessarily anxious. Of course,
plague is a nasty thing, but we are hopeful of getting it
under now."

The young doctor's fingers were cramped and cold, but
he did not try to warm them. He rose from his seat and
paced slowly back and forth. He was facing in thought
more terrible hardships than this biting cold. To under-
take this work at the railroad station meant days and
nights of fatiguing work and constant exposure to in-
fection. Suppose, in spite of every precaution, he should
take the dreaded disease. Arthur Jackson knew well the
awful suffering, and he knew that all that the best medical
skill could do would not be likely to prevent his death.
Doctor Jackson paused at the window. Out over the
snowy waste he gazed. Over there to the west ran the
great railway, carrying the plague-stricken people down
to those cities to which their coming would mean death.
What could save Peking and the teeming millions of

In the Church School 1 17

China? Suddenly he squared his shoulders. The Master
himself had not saved his own life. He bowed his head
a moment. When he lifted it, his clean, strong face was
glorified with a look of love and courage. Cheerfully
he sealed his letter and went to his night's rest before
the morrow's task.

The next day Doctor Jackson took up his work at the
railway station. One of the first events of the day was
the arrival of a train of four hundred coolies, some of
whom already had the plague. Doctor Jackson found tem-
porary quarters for them, and then went about his work of
examination. He was dressed in a white overall, outside
his fur coat. He wore strong oilskin boots and gloves, and
a shield saturated with disinfectant over his face. The men
who already had the disease were put in a separate build-
ing, and there Doctor Jackson cared for them. He spared
no pains to relieve their sufferings, and many an hour of
their agony was easier.

Two weeks went by. On Monday, January 23, he came
in to the mission station for luncheon. The missionaries
were all glad to see him, and his brave courage cheered
them all.

" Well, we don't make money out there, but we do see
life," he said gaily, when they asked him about his work.
Then he told them funny stories about his blunders in
speaking Chinese. He kept them all laughing during the
twenty minutes he was there. As he was about to leave
Mrs. Christie said, "You look tired."

" Nonsense ! " was his answer. " You imagine that."
Then, after promising to take care of himself, he said:
" It's a chance few fellows get," and left them.

That afternoon Jackson was in high spirits. He sent
away a batch of sixty coolies who owed their lives to his
care. A new temporary hospital, which had been put up
through his efforts, was all ready to receive the rest of
the men who were to be moved the next day. He went to

ii8 Graded Missionary Education

his rest, rejoicing that the worst was over. He had made
good.

But in the morning he could not help move the coolies.
He was ill himself. Doctor Christie and Doctor Young came
out from the mission. They looked grave, but he laughed
at their fears. But when afternoon came, it was certain
that he had the plague. Even in his suffering he thought
only of those who were taking care of him, and kept show-
ing them how to protect themselves. Everj^hing possible
was done, but it was a losing fight. There was no hope.
Another day he suffered, and at nightfall he died. Under
the starry sky his grave was dug in the snowy ground, and
marked by a little cross of ivy and marguerites.

The viceroy arranged for the memorial service, which
was held February i. In the presence of many leading
Chinese officials and foreign residents, this great states-
man, representative of the Chinese Empire, paid honor to
the memory of Arthur Jackson. His speech closed with
the following remarkable words :

" O spirit of Doctor Jackson, we pray you intercede for
the twenty million people of Manchuria, and ask the Lord
of heaven to take away this pestilence, so that we may once
more lay our heads in peace upon our pillows. In life
you were brave — now 3^ou are an exalted spirit. Noble
spirit, who sacrificed your life for us, help us still, and
look down in kindness upon us all."

All over China the news of Arthur Jackson's death was
carried. Chinese readers saw in their newspapers the
story of his service and sacrifice. His excellency, Hal
Liang, gave $12,000 to help the work of the Medical
College, and with this money the west wing of the college
was built. Then he gave $5,000 more to endow a profes-
sorship in the college as a memorial to Doctor Jackson.
Many wealthy Chinese gave gladly to this memorial. This
money pays the expenses of two men who have gone out
to take Doctor Jackson's place. The work of the mission

In the Church School 119

is more and more successful. Thus Arthur Jackson, by
his death, proved his loyalty to Christ, told the story of
the cross to millions, and helped China more than he had
ever dreamed when he planned to live a long Hfe of service
in Manchuria.

''Services of Worship for the Sunday School,"
on the theme "Brotherhood," prepared by Irene
Mason for young people over twelve years of age,
will be very helpful when the subjects to which the
programs refer are studied, or on special occasions
calling for the use of these. They include " Sym-
pathy for New Americans," " Our Brothers in all
the World," and "Justice for Our Brothers and
Sisters Who Work," etc. In the last named many
incidents are given of the wrongs of child labor—
against which the church has largely neglected to.
fight, as a part of its missionary work. To quote
one illustration here may lead to an investigation of
others :

In a crowded city tenement three-year-old Marietta was
found making forget-me-nots. By working all day and
mto the evening she could make five hundred and forty
blossoms, but for this long day's work she earned only
five cents. Little Marietta's story was told in a prison.
Afterward one of the prisoners who was there for life
handed the speaker a small, shabby purse, saving, "For
the little giri." The purse contained forty-five cents
and a scrap of paper, on which was penciled, "Jerry
Mason to Little Sister."

The Big Brother and Sister idea may well be culti-
vated among the church young people. No hymn

I20 Graded Missionary Education

better expresses the largeness of the missionary
thought than the following : ^

Our Father ! thy dear name doth show

The greatness of thy love;
All are thy children here below

As in thy heaven above.
One family on earth are we

Throughout its widest span ;
Oh, help us eveiywhere to see

The brotherhood of man.

Alike we share thy tender care ;

We trust one heavenly Friend;
Before one mercy-seat in prayer

In confidence we bend ;
Alike we hear thy loving call ;

One heavenly vision scan,
One Lord, one faith, one hope for all,

The brotherhood of man.

In discussing a choice of life-work, or the service
rendered by many volunteers of the King, a brief
prayer at a class session will often deepen a desire
to serve and be the means of definite consecration.
A suggestion as to prayer at home may help some
young man or woman to right and wise decision.
When the sympathy of the young people is stirred, a
united prayer for those in need may be a blessing
to themselves, as well as those for whom they pray.
It is likely also to strengthen the feeling of the

^ From " Songs of the Christian Life," by permission of Charles
E. Merrill Company, publishers.

In the Church School 121

brotherhood of man. When missionary services
are planned, the prayers used may be most helpful
or not at all so. The kind of prayer that will in-
terest and help young people needs to be thought of
before the time of prayer. (See Rauschenbusch's
*' Prayers of the Social Awakening," pubHshed by
the Pilgrim Press.)

Teachers should be familiar with " Thy King-
dom Come,'* a book of social prayers compiled by
Ralph E. Dififendorfer, some of which will be use-
ful for fitting occasions on Sunday or week-days.

Two Orders of Worship of especial beauty and
strength — one " A Service of Good Citizenship "
under the title " Great Memories and Great Hopes,"
and one more specifically missionary, entitled " Thy
Kingdom Come " — together with a number of good
missionary hymns, are to be found in " Worship
and Song," by Benjamin S. Winchester.

The opportunities are many for making attrac-
tive programs of a missionary character. " A cur-
rent-events evening" will be a pleasant variation
from the reading previously suggested. Striking
incidents and facts, such as those of children at
work given in the program mentioned above, may
be distributed to a dozen young people to report, as
one feature of a social evening. Events of a varied
kind are to be found in the magazines : " The
International Missionary Review," " The Mission-
ary Review of the World," and the denominational
monthlies, such as " Missions," the joint publication
I

122 Graded Missionary Education

of the five national Baptist missionary Societies.

Young people are naturally interested in dramatic
representation. To give them the opportunity to
express themselves in this way may provide worthy
social enjoyment, and open up possibilities of bring-
ing them into touch with the spirit and ideals of
noblest deeds.

Missionary plays are a medium of real interest
that is just beginning to be appreciated. The talent
and activity of young people may be, under leader-
ship, utilized to advantage in this direction; some
who are able may write plays ; others may have an
eye to artistic arrangement; while others will be
eager to act in the different roles, and in the acting
might cooperate with the girls and boys of the
lower department. (See page 87.) Through all
they do they may enter into the real spirit of the
characters they represent, and learn more thor-
oughly of the conditions under which missionary
leaders have to work than perhaps in any other way.
Great good is apt to come also through the interest
aroused among those who see the dramatic repre-
sentations. Better plays may be developed than
those already at hand. Among the best of these are
" Two Thousand Aliles for a Book," " The Pilgrim-
age,'* and " Sunlight and Candlelight.*'

A presentation of another character is that of;
"Jesus Christ's Men" (by Caroline Atwater
Mason, The Griffith and Rowland Press, Philadel-
phia), which pictures the origin of early Baptist

In the Church School 123

missions, and in a number of scenes shows the
" spirit of love " triumphing over the " spirit of
evil " through the devoted work of " the Apostles
to the East " and " the Apostles to the West."

An impressive pageant of home missions, ar-
ranged by Mrs. Edith H. Allen, has been presented
under the auspices of the Woman's Home Mission-
ary Federation, by groups of young people from
several churches in one town. It may well be used
in this way. The chief characters are '' the Spirit
of America " and " the Spirit of the Church," and
the episodes include Pilgrims, Indians, colored
Americans, Alaskans, etc. One alteration in the
closing scene will be advisable; instead of the
aliens casting away the flags of their fatherlands
to do honor to that of the United States, they should
unite them to it in the spirit of brotherhood.

The stereopticon is, of course, another oppor-
tunity of the day for bringing to light actual con-
ditions. For some purposes it is the best means.
But, in that it does not employ the activities of
young people, it is not as valuable as the pageant
or the play. Lantern-slides, costumes, outfits for
missionary demonstrations, curios, etc., may be
rented from the Missionary Education Movement,
New York City. Information concerning the plays
and the mechanical helps mentioned above may be
had from the Department of Missionary Education
of the Northern Baptist Convention, 23 East
Twenty-sixth Street, New York.

124 Graded Missionary Education

The Fulfilment

So far the plans proposed in this chapter have
been largely on the instructional side; but in this
the aim has been to use the students' activity and
through all to think of the underlying purpose,
training in service and for service. Now we turn
to consider the forms of service that may be car-
ried on during this period of training, not intending
to have these apart from the instruction and study,
but related to them and often growing out of them.
The largeness of the subjects for consideration
has made necessary a separation on paper for the
sake of clearness.

The service to take precedence should be that in
the home church, to which the young people belong
either as members of the school, or in the fuller
sense of church-membership. The idea of loyalty
and cooperation needs to be assumed as a matter of
course. To some kind of service on the immediate
ground all young people will respond, but they
should not be expected to do one and the same thing,
even if all can do it, e. g., there are young men
who enjoy acting as ushers, there are others who
hate it. Two ways are open for getting them into
service: one way is to study the capabilities and
tastes of each, and then to ask individually for a
choice from two or three things needing to be done ;
the other, to present a number of things to a group
and let them volunteer for service; the former is

In the Church School 125

perhaps the safer way, as young people do not
aways know in what they can best succeed; a boy
may be ready to usher and yet do it so awkwardly
that it will be to his own disadvantage as well as
that of the church. Sometimes, of course, a group
will be needed to work together. The following
plans have been tested and accepted by either young
men or women: Acting as business manager for a
church paper; as assistant editor for the Sunday
School department of church paper; playing the
violin in the primary department; (when school for
younger children was held at a different hour from
that of the older ones) singing a "song-story"
occasionally to the little children; lettering on the
blackboard; making a cupboard for the use of the
school; making a sign-board; acting as leader for
Boy Scout class; assisting at children's Sunday
School parties; serving as reader, e. g., dressed in
Oriental garb, reading " The Song of the Syrian
Guest " at special church service ; singing in chorus
choirs; decorating the church and schoolrooms for
special occasions ; serving at church dinners ; usher-
ing ; providing flowers for the church for a month ;
writing letters or addressing envelopes for the min-
ister. All the young people should be asked to
contribute regularly to the financial support of the
church, even if the ofifering is only a penny a week.
Many of the activities noted above are done for
the younger members of the school ; in this there is
a double value: it puts into action the big brother

126 Graded Missionary Education

and sister idea, and also keeps an esprit de corps in
the different departments.

Together with this kind of work should be coop-
eration in some of the church and school projects.
It may be that the school is supporting a mission
or settlement where there is a playground ; this will
be the young people's opportunity. From one sub-
urban church thirty young men and women, repre-
senting several classes, undertook the care of a city
playground for the summer ; two " girls " being as-
signed to go together the same afternoon each week
for a month, and a couple of ** boys " to go each
evening in the same way. Another group gathered
and took in flowers once a week to a settlement.
When a mission of the church became independent
and needed an addition to a gift of a partial com-
munion service set, the young people supplied the
deficiency, and went in a body to attend the first
communion service. These illustrations but signify
the possibility of planning for cooperation in church
projects. The young people should become familiar
with the special foreign missionary work of their
church, and have some personal share in it. They
should know its denominational Societies through
active work with them by correspondence, etc., and
a responsibility for some particular project, if not
person, in the home and foreign mission field. To
feel, however, that they are helping through one
individual, as, for instance, when a high school
(or senior department) supports a native worker, is

In the Church School 127

a great gain in their definite interest. A room in a
hospital, or a case of surgical instruments, is the
next best sort of thing.

This is the period for training in community re-
sponsibility, for showing the young people that the
church, if truly Christian, must work for civic
righteousness ; some practical ways must be devised
for active work in making better the place in which
they live, and opportunity should be taken for show-
ing the harm of one person's neglect or thoughtless-
ness. These ways must depend upon the particular
locality. Expressions along this line and proposi-
tions from the young people themselves will be
worth more than preachments on these subjects
from the leader. Keeping the walks and alleys
clean, making gardens, helping to get good country
roads, riding in a way not to hurt animals or chil-
dren, using an auto for others, voting for the man
who does " the square thing " — these are only a few
of the many things that may be taken up according
to conditions. Philanthropies in this direction must
depend also on what is in the immediate environ-
ment : if there is an infirmary, singing and reading
one day a week may be arranged for; if there is a
hospital, chapel services may be carried on. In a
neighborhood of boarding-houses " a pleasant Sun-
day afternoon " may be offered to young people liv-
ing in single rooms, who are in many cases strangers
in a city. One group made the inmates of an alms-
house happy by disposing of their work, another

128 Graded Missionary Education

provided a week's vacation in the country for a
working girl. In this, as in all plans for teaching,
the greatest need is to make the right selection for
the best results.

In money-getting and giving for these various
mission enterprises, young people need to be trained
in Christian business methods. The value of sys-
tematic giving should be urged, and comparative
studies made of the uses of money for good or ill. •
Valuable suggestions as to legitimate finance from.
a Christian standpoint may be also brought forward
in connection with the raising of money. The fol-
lowing incident will show the principle to be con-
sidered : A certain class proposed to raise funds by
the selling of popcorn, when one of the members
suggested it would not be fair; the popcorn-field
was already taken care of by two old men, one a
cripple and the other too decrepit to do anything else
to earn a living. The " boys " decided that it would
be legitimate to undertake any enterprise that did
not deprive regular workers of daily means. " Vari-
ous plans were adopted, such as making out mail-
ing-lists for local merchants from the city directory
and voting lists, and doing special tasks for those
who required only occasional service." This class
contributed liberally to home and foreign missions
and kept a regular account-book, showing receipts,
disbursements, and causes aided from time to time.
If it is right, as has been said, for younger pupils
to have some voice in the appropriation of their

In the Church School 129

money, it is much more so for these senior pupils;
they should apply their own contributions to objects
according to vote and on business methods, whether
it be a school or class undertaking. Interest, loy-
alty, and enthusiasm will be engendered thus as in
no other way, while a wise and tactful guidance on
the part of the leader will prevent unbalanced ac-
tion. ' Through methods such as these, young peo-
ple will be trained for responsibilities in church
leadership.

It is possible that a teacher in reading this little
book will feel — to the point of discouragement —
that the plans suggested are more than can be ful-
filled ; for him three things may be recalled to mind :
(i) Such training is not possible in the Sunday
hour only ; if he cannot give other time, an assistant
may do so, who, under other plans, would perhaps
be at work in the mission band of the church.
(2) Selection for the particular group is a neces-
sity from even good material. (3) The entire plan
for the different periods of child life covers at least
fourteen to sixteen years, in which vital energy is
to be directed into right channels. The very rich-
ness of the possibilities at hand to-day may thus
be an inspiration for our planning.

In seeking from the earliest days of training to
the later, for active participation in ministering to
the needs of others, through the medium of the
Sunday School, there must be one controlling mo-

130 Graded Missionary Education

tive : the hope of so fixing the habit that the young
people as they go out to any form of life-work
will go with a missionary zeal and devotion to help
forward by one means and another the kingdom
of God, remembering that " they who turn many
to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever
and ever," and this must surely be, because in so
doing they reflect the light of the Saviour of the
world.

Additional Books for Teachers and Young People

DeForest, John H. : " Sunrise in the Sunrise King-
dom."

Eddy, George Sherwood : ** The New Era in
Asia."

Gracey, Mrs. J. T. : " Eminent Missionary
Women."

Trull, G. H. : " Missionary Heroes to the Indian."
Trull, G. H. : " Missionary Heroes to the
African."

Mott, John R. : " The Decisive Hour of Christian
Missions."

Eddy, George Sherwood : " Supreme Decision of
the Christian Student, or The Choice of a Life-
work."

Helm, Mary: "The Upward Path" (about the
Negro).
Duggan, Janie P. : " An Isle of Eden."

In the Church School 131

Griggs, W. C. : "Odds and Ends from Pagoda
Land."

Sears, C. H. : '' The Redemption of the City."
Gunn, H. B. : " In a Far Country."

FOR ALL TEACHERS

Hutchins, Wm. N. : " Graded Social Service for
the Sunday School."

Athearn, Walter S. : " The Church School."

Ferris, Anita B. : " Missionary Program Mate-
rial."

Trull, Geo. H. : " Missionary Methods for Sunday
School Workers."

Trull, Geo. H. : " Missionary Programs and Inci-
dents."

Trull, Geo. H. : " Missionary Studies for the Sun-
day School.**

Diffendorf er, Ralph E. : " Education Through Ac-
tivity and Service."

Diffendorfer, Ralph E.: "Missionary Education
in the Sunday School."

Missionary Education Movement : " Missionary
Expositions.*'

Missionary Education Movement : " One Hun-
dred Most Popular Missionary Books.*'

Labaree, Mary S. : " The Child in the Midst.'*

132 Graded Missionary Education

Periodicals

" The International Review of Missions."
" The Missionary Review of the World.'
" Everyland."

Note. A classified and extensive bibliography
for teachers and pupils may be found in Trull's
" Missionary Methods for the Sunday School " on
page 100 and at the end of the book.

o>o

^-r*

(^•^o

:?i

'^3 ::^cr^:i

6

t/)

0^

^^.r.^.

•err

CL3 ►^a p-h^ r* fT)

o ill ^

w ni 5 '

CTETS"

n n z> (

033

^3 rtOq

3 >< rt

•O ^

iCu

1-= =

O CI.

s- -o

'3- • w 2:t«

r

3„^

o rt

r?3 I? iE:^^'"^ ^.°«g

rt2a2

n rt

o--^

.3 -'

S'3*. S. oq-. 33- 03'-iju3
?^?PD.3 5 S;?a.S3

CI.O 13 ^. f; 3

S 3-g 5 s

rt 3 — ? r>n

^> tu s: ^

O CO (u
X'3 "> >n
P-rt ft ft

-"■3^1
rt o w g
o _ fu w

3-0. ft.

O fb fv

1 M ^

?r3

1^

w

jT-s; r) c/33 3*w o 3

3S

f» O « rr
-.3 CU

O-^ O f«

P-«-a)3

O O

O.M j^„ 3
•ft o* 2 JO o

•o'C 3 n> (D

3-^

tfl rr& 3

Ills.??-

«) wi<- 3

^^ ^
^^ 3-3.

^-.^ 3-^

H, Q^ ts ft

0D.3P
2 S"f5 c

330 PL«3 2 3*

2 ., O ft (H _ ft

ft P i-n W) (fl rt- u,

•3 w 7) O i<;

3-05"

0^ swf^

o

o 0

5-S

f> aj <*

t« "I n

C M 3*
W ET. P

w 0*0

ft 3 2"
ET.p ^

2 3

J*</'C^^p'^3
3*** "^ n> — rf-

V rti ft ft 3-7

b°

'S3g

O fj «•

" 2".

2 "^o

3 3

?;.^

3 -i
W ft S

-g° e'

o
2.0

ft'3

•3^3 3 "<

a--l 3
52. 0^ ?■

p p o °3.
1/235 ft w

3 -aQ '*!

3.3 ^p* 3-1

^.g'H.S f.

3 3 ft c

en ft O M*!

5 t"

p-

2.5-^
"Sod o

« f»

2S-

p

P-O

3 ft

52 <!

3 I— I
"^ p-H

3 5-pnft

— 3 :i

n> S r4-n>Sr! 3-0 r«- *

/» ^ j_- p to p

;.f5

_ ft 3"** Ch
0 a ?« <

3°

0 tfl ^4-

p e-

•s- M o 2.

ft Br*

3;

ft 2,

!3 f» H^r*
C S— 2 ft
3 ft P 3 o
il'M 3 ft o

IJC"*

"^"O P 2^.
°ft'?3

- ft B"^ Q

O ft.

-t <■

?rft'

>
o

?3

^ Hh ^ l-H

Date Due

V(y o 'Sf

-y6 -Si

|.

1

■ ^C^Bi^^<

(

^

Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library

1 1012 01038 4859