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Education
There are many lines in which the youth can find opportunity for
helpful effort. Let them organize into bands for Christian service, and
the co-operation will prove an assistance and an encouragement. Par-
ents and teachers, by taking an interest in the work of the young people,
will be able to give them the benefit of their own larger experience,
and can help them to make their efforts effective for good.
It is acquaintance that awakens sympathy, and sympathy is the
spring of effective ministry. To awaken in the children and youth
sympathy and the spirit of sacrifice for the suffering millions in the
“regions beyond,” let them become acquainted with these lands and
their peoples. In this line much might be accomplished in our schools.
Instead of dwelling on the exploits of the Alexanders and Napoleons of
history, let the pupils study the lives of such men as the apostle Paul and
Martin Luther, as Moffat and Livingstone and Carey, and the present
daily-unfolding history of missionary effort. Instead of burdening their
memories with an array of names and theories that have no bearing
upon their lives, and to which, once outside the schoolroom, they
rarely give a thought, let them study all lands in the light of missionary
effort and become acquainted with the peoples and their needs.
In this closing work of the gospel there is a vast field to be occupied;
and, more than ever before, the work is to enlist helpers from the
common people. Both the youth and those older in years will be called
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from the field, from the vineyard, and from the workshop, and sent
forth by the Master to give His message. Many of these have had little
opportunity for education; but Christ sees in them qualifications that
will enable them to fulfill His purpose. If they put their hearts into the
work, and continue to be learners, He will fit them to labor for Him.
He who knows the depths of the world’s misery and despair, knows
by what means to bring relief. He sees on every hand souls in darkness,
bowed down with sin and sorrow and pain. But He sees also their
possibilities; He sees the height to which they may attain. Although
human beings have abused their mercies, wasted their talents, and lost
the dignity of godlike manhood, the Creator is to be glorified in their
redemption.
The burden of labor for these needy ones in the rough places of the
earth Christ lays upon those who can feel for the ignorant and for such
as are out of the way. He will be present to help those whose hearts are
susceptible to pity, though their hands may be rough and unskilled. He