This is the accusation that I heard spoken by one of our educators recently: "Children grow ing up today in Seventh-day Adventist homes and schools do not have enough of the background of mission history. They do not see the vision of what it means to be a missionary. They lack the desire to become an active part of denominational work." He was addressing a group of teachers, and as I listened to his burdened message, I thought, "What can we do to help these children? How can we teach them more of our background and acquaint them more fully with the life of the missionary?"
About this same time a call came from the General Conference Mission Board for our eighth-grade teacher, Mrs. James Meade. She had taught in the John Nevins Andrews School here in Ta koma Park for seven years, and now she and her husband were called to go to Africa as mission aries. This seemed to be our opportunity, not only to teach missions and acquaint the children with denominational history, but to present our experi ences at graduation time in the form of a com mencement program.
Children can memorize readings and poems that are true and present a real message just as easily as something imaginary and chosen with no object in view. So we started in January—the teachers of grades seven and eight working with me in plan ning our project. From then on we taught geog raphy through the eyes of a missionary. Nearly every missionary who arrived in Takoma Park was invited over to the John Nevins Andrews School to talk to the children. The children of these two grades were divided into small groups, and after the missionaries had finished their visits at the school, each group would write a separate report on what had been heard. Much interest was kindled in these missionaries and their .fields of labor.
Elder and Mrs. E. L. Branson, from the Middle East; Elder V. T. Armstrong, from the Far East ; Mrs. J. P. Anderson, from China ; the late Elder C. P. Crager, from Central and South America, were but a few of our guests who told us many stories that the children will never forget. We furnished a mission "Album of Progress" to each child (as used in the Sabbath School Department for Investment). Through these albums the chil dren became acquainted with the pictures of our General Conference workers as well as pioneer missionaries. In their final Bible test they were able to identify about fifty of these leaders from their pictures. Four or five months spent in this way prepared the children's minds for the program which they would present for their graduation at the close of the year.
In organizing the material for the children to memorize for their graduation, I gained much help from our church paper, the Review and Herald. Anecdotes from the mission land as well as longer experiences were worked into our program. The series issued for the 1944 centenary year contained the background or beginning of missions in all our divisions. The current Yearbook provided statis tics and facts concerning the organization which brought us up to date in our denominational "pic ture."When the program was finally ready to be as signed to the children, I took each child alone and read to him what he was to memorize. Together we discussed the importance and responsibility resting upon one who would stand before an audience and speak from the pulpit of the church. It was necessary for these boys and girls to realize that they were "the preachers" for this one occasion, and very soon they realized they were participating in more than an ordinary "school pro gram."As we practiced together, day in and day out, for this occasion, we had many seasons of prayer. This provided a wonderful opportunity for personal work with each of these children. They asked many questions concerning the life of missionaries and seemed so interested in our work that I am sure many of them will be found in the mission fields, telling the story of our soon-coming Saviour, should time last long enough for them to complete their education and preparation.
In order to make mission life more realistic, costumes were used on our program. While an eighth grader was describing the growth and advancement of our work in the Far Eastern Division, several children, dressed in costumes of the Far East, quietly took their places in the back of the plat form. The same method was followed in nearly all the countries described—China, South America, Europe, Inter-America, Mexico, India, Alaska, and Africa. At the conclusion of the speeches the children in costume marched solemnly from the platform and walked the entire length of the church so that they could be seen by everyone.
Appropriate consecration music and missionary poems gave to the program a touch of added solemnity. The culmination of the program was the consecration of their own eighth-grade teacher for missions. In the audience there were many re turned missionaries, and these were asked to join the graduating class and the future missionaries in a consecration prayer. After the graduates had completed their talks (which were all given with out notes) the diplomas were awarded and the benediction was given.
I firmly believe that this type of program is the best advertisement for church schools. True, it takes time and more time, but every moment spent for our boys and girls in this way is worth while. Our schools are different from the schools of the world, and I know from experiment that our children can be made to feel it is a real privilege to help demonstrate this difference in their public programs.
