Choosing the School
235
groups of Sabbathkeepers, and a plan more pleasing to the Lord than
that which has been sometimes followed, of sending young children
away from their homes to attend one of our larger schools.
Our small companies of Sabbathkeepers are needed to hold up the
light before their neighbors; and the children are needed in their homes,
where they may be a help to their parents when the hours of study are
ended. The well-ordered Christian home, where young children can
have parental discipline that is after the Lord’s order, is the best place
for them
A Problem for Isolated Members—Some families of Sabbath-
keepers live alone or far separated from others of like faith. These
have sometimes sent their children to our boarding schools, where
they have received help and have returned to be a blessing in their
own home. But some cannot send their children away from home
to be educated. In such cases parents should endeavor to employ
an exemplary religious teacher, who will feel it a pleasure to work
for the Master in any capacity and be willing to cultivate any part of
the Lord’s vineyard. Fathers and mothers should co-operate with the
teacher, laboring earnestly for the conversion of their children
Work as for Life to Save Children—In some countries parents
are compelled by law to send their children to school. In these coun-
tries, in localities where there is a church, schools should be estab-
lished, if there are no more than six children to attend. Work as if you
[309]
were working for your life to save the children from being drowned in
the polluting, corrupting influences of the world.
We are far behind our duty in this important matter. In many places
schools should have been in operation years ago. Many localities
would thus have had representatives of the truth who would have given
character to the work of the Lord. Instead of centering so many large
buildings in a few places, schools should have been established in
many localities.
Let these schools now be started under wise direction, that the
children and youth may be educated in their own churches. It is a
grievous offense to God that there has been so great neglect in this
12
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 158
.
13
Testimonies For The Church 6:198, 199
.