Devotional, Social, and Recreational Activities

CHALLENGE OF A WORLD TASK: Devotional, Social, and Recreational Activities

"The sincerity, devotion, and love toward God that these students demonstrated increased even more my full confidence in the Adventist ministry."

Assistant Director, Seminary Extension School, South America

It was a constant source of inspiration to me to witness eighty-one faithful ministers studying under the directions of the three consecrated brethren from the Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. The sincerity, devotion, and love toward God that these students demonstrated increased even more my full confidence in the Adventist ministry. With this type of worker our churches will be well taken care of, and very soon the South American continent will be illuminated with the glory of God. My one regret was that a large group of our ministers had to remain by the work in their fields in order to take care of the growing interest, while the rest of us took advantage of this wonderful two months of study.

Although both students and teachers were aware of the need of a more extensive culture and a broader education in order to labor in a world that is turning more and more hostile to the message, still we comprehended that our prime necessity was a closer walk with God, surrendering our will to Him daily.

MORNING DEVOTIONAL PERIOD. Each morning from ten to ten-fifteen, groups of seminarians met in five different rooms for meditation and prayer. The faculty members were together in another room. How fervent and inspiring were these moments! It was felt many times in a special manner that the Divine Presence was among us.

Day after day, regularly after the supper hour, one could see many workers some alone, and others in small or larger groups directing their paths to the eucalyptus grove in order to seek the Lord in prayer for purity of life, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and for a greater efficiency in the saving of souls. Many times as the men returned from this devotional period one could see in their faces that they had just been in the presence of God, for their expression was one of joy and peace showing the confidence they had in Christ. I said to myself several times as I watched them pass by with such humility that with these consecrated men of God at the helm, our churches would surely be strengthened and the evangelistic work would win greater triumphs in the future.

WEEK-END MEETINGS. Every week end the teachers, as well as a goodly number of seminarians, visited the churches in Montevideo and in the interior of Uruguay, as well as in Buenos Aires, Argentina, delivering the Word of God to our dear people.

Representatives from the different mission fields related to the young people at their Missionary Volunteer Society meetings precious experiences which occurred in the jungles of the Amazon, on the Sao Francisco River in Brazil, and among the Indians in the Lake Titicaca region. They also inspired the young people with the victories that had been won in the public efforts held in our great, cities. The youth of the churches were filled with a great desire to accomplish much for God as a result of the words they heard. The churches and groups of all Uruguay greatly appreciated these blessed meetings held over the week ends.

SOCIAL AND RECREATIONAL. Every after noon between five-forty-five and six-forty-five many of the seminarians put aside their heavy studies and gave themselves over to the prac tice of healthful exercises, which gave them new vigor for their evening studies and more confidence to face the frequent examinations.

Thursday evenings were reserved for social programs. One evening R. A. Anderson took us with him on a trip to the Bible lands of Egypt and Palestine with the use of his beautiful col ored slides. On another occasion L. E. Froom gave an illustrated lecture on the life of the Waldenses. On a certain Thursday evening Eduardo Y. Kanna related the persecutions and death sentences that fell upon him during the last world war when he was in Finland. His talk was also illustrated with slides. Pastor Paul S. Seidl, a missionary on the great Sao Francisco River, took us on a tour along this wide and tropical river, where superstition sur rounds the people, and they are in constant doubt and fear. The only hope for them is the gospel, which liberates them and makes them a happy people.

One evening through the kindness and cour tesy of the American Embassy, we were shown some educational, scientific, and industrial films, which delighted all who saw them; and on the last Thursday evening when we were all together a literary and musical program was presented. The high point of the evening was a humorous sketch of the interesting happen ings during the past eight weeks.

Every program was enlightening and inspi rational. On these occasions we were delighted with vocal selections rendered by Luiz Gianini, who has a beautiful tenor voice.

CONSECRATION SERVICE. On the evening be fore the graduation services Pastor Figuhr pre sided at the consecration service for the semi narians. In his message he exalted the greatest of all evangelists throughout the centuries the apostle Paul. He presented this great man of God as dedicating his entire life to the salva tion of souls and to the care of the many churches he raised up. His life was one of hard labor and persecution. The seminarians were challenged to imitate the fervor of this great apostle and to dedicate their lives to the work of God. It was unusually touching to hear the testimonies of all the workers as they re sponded to this challenge, offering their lives to be sacrificed upon the altar for the work of God.

This seminary extension course will ever be remembered with holy emotions by all the stu dents, and the expense involved will doubtless produce great dividends in souls brought to the feet of Jesus.

 

 


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

Assistant Director, Seminary Extension School, South America

May 1950

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

PASTORAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES: Fit Your Sermon to Your Congregation

Teach you how to preach the gospel more effectively

THE REALM OF RESEARCH: The Aramaic Problem of the Book of Daniel No. 1

An analysis on the book of Daniel and the language that it is written in

EVANGELISTIC OBJECTIVES AND TECHNIQUES: Multipurpose Evangelistic Cards

"Our fellow evangelists may be interested in a card used in our last campaign."

LITERATURE EVANGELISM: Cooperate With Bible Instructor

Different degrees of interest shown by people

PASTORAL PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES: Organizing Church Groups

Suggestive details on how to break down a large congregation into small groups

BIBLE INSTRUCTOR COUNCIL

Group of three articles

BETTER SPEECH AND DICTION: Is Voice Culture Essential?

"A good tradesman or mechanic never works with dull tools."

QUERY COLUMN: Pagan Sunday Observance

Was Sunday generally observed as a day of rest by sun worshipers throughout the Roman Empire prior to March 7, A.D. 321, the date when the emperor Constantine issued the first civil law forbidding labor on that day?

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - SermonView - Medium Rect (300x250)

Recent issues

See All