Education Needs Pose Challenge to Church
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IN THIS ISSUE: * School Enrollment Rises * Radio Program for Navajos * Bible School Opportunities :PFFICIAt ..001.KAT.I.ON .pf THE :COLUMBIA UNION" CONFERENCE: .::•.• • •:. ••• • • " OF SEVE NTH-DAY; ADVENTISTS . • . VOL. 70, NO. 34 AUGUST 26, 1965 WASHINGTON, D. C. Mission Fields Face 10,000 Will Enroll Personnel Shortage Two thousand years ago the Mas- ter, seeing the needs of the crowds Education Needs Pose that pressed about Him, told His dis- ciples: "The harvest truly is plen- Challenge to Church teous, but the laborers are few." If this observation was valid in 30 A.D., FOR the first time in the Columbia The Sabbath School records show it is even more true in 1965. Union Conference more than 10,000 that there are more than 8,000 chil- There is a constant shortage of children and young people are ex- dren enrolled in the cradle roll and personnel in nearly every line of pected to enroll in the schools for the kindergarten divisions. This means mission activity supported by the coming year. This represents a mag- that each year an average of 1,350 Seventh-day Adventist Church. This nificent effort on the part of the more children in our churches reach is especially true of the medical church membership school age. Currently we enroll about work. Since the Church is operating to carry out the 765 in the first grade in the church more than 200 hospitals and sanitar- divine injunction to schools. This leaves 600 a year, or al- iums around the world, it takes large make provision to most 45 per cent, who are unpro- numbers of people to staff them. The educate their chil- vided for as far as church school is need is particularly acute in the dren in our own concerned. overseas hospitals where, in most schools. A similar situation exists for the situations, there are no national phy- This is a com- sicians, or not enough to meet the academy-age group. Our records in- mendable r e c o r d. dicate that we have more than 5,000 demand. However, recent The needs for physicians and den- young people of academy age. Our surveys made by several of the con- intermediate schools and academies tists, listed by world divisions, are ferences, as well as the records of the as follows: Far Eastern Division, 21 enroll about 2,300, or 45 per cent of Sabbath School Department, indi- these. The other 55 per cent are ei- physicians; Inter-American Division, cate that there are still almost 6,000 nine physicians; Northern European ther in the public high schools, or children and youth in the Union else they are not attending school Division, four physicians; Southern Conference who do not enjoy the at all. Figures for youth at the col- Asia Division, seven physicians; privilege of a Christian education in lege level are not available, but it Trans-Africa Division, three physi- a church school, an academy, or Co- cians; Middle East Division, one den- lumbia Union College. (Continued on page 4) tist. This makes a total of 45 calls for physicians and a dentist for the world field. The physician shortage is indi- cated for both general practitioners and specialists such as internists, sur- geons, radiologists, and gynecolo- gists-obstetricians. Some of the most urgent calls are as follows: FAR EASTERN DIVISION Internist, Tokyo Sanitarium and Hospital—Japan. Internist, Bangkok Sanitarium and Hospital—Thailand. Internist, Youngberg Memorial Hospital—Singapore. Surgeon, Pusan Sanitarium and Hospital—Korea. INTER-AMERICAN DIVISION General practitioner, Davis Me- morial Hospital—British Guiana. General practitioner, Andrews Memorial Hospital—Jamaica. Among the new schools opening this fall will be Greater Wilmington Junior Academy. A com- (Continued on page 4) pletely new school in an attractive rural setting, it will provide excellent facilities for its students. Former Medicine Man Is Navajo VOP Speaker Mrs. Mason saw in him just the man she felt God could use at Monument Valley. The first thing she did was to have Tom paint their home, though it didn't need painting. Later, she persuaded the contractor to have Tom do some painting on the hos- pital. All the while Mrs. Mason was studying the Bible with him. He was deeply interested in the prophecies of the Bible. "When we began to study about the Sabbath, Tom would just shy away," Mrs. Mason remembers. "I would have the Sabbath lesson all ready for him, but he would have so many questions that he would go all around the Sabbath." On the day Mrs. Mason was going to present Daniel 7 to Tom she went to every home in the mission, saying "This is the day. Pray right now. I Tom Holliday, a former medicine man, confers with Mrs. Lloyd Mason, Monument Valley am going to start at a certain hour, Mission, and Elder Wayne Hooper of the Voice of Prophecy concerning a new broadcast in and pray that Tom will accept the the Navajo language. Sabbath." The study began and Tom seemed A FORMER Indian medicine man is physical needs of the Navajos, Mrs. to be half asleep. Suddenly he came the speaker for the new Navajo Mason took over the duties of a Bible to life as if he had just had a shot Voice of Prophecy broadcast which instructor. About this time an inter- of adrenalin. "Give me that all over will soon be heard over a station in preter was desperately needed for again," Tom said. "Now, please write Farmington, N. M. the Sabbath-morning services at the it all out for me." Tom Holliday is the former medi- Monument Valley Mission. This was the turning point. Tom cine man and the story of his con- "We were using a translator who was baptized and with him came version is a thrilling one. was drunk most of the time," Mrs. many members of the congregation Tom lived near Oljatoh, about ten Mason recalls. "His heart was not in he had started. Since then Tom has miles from the Monument Valley his work at all, and we didn't have assisted the white pastor at the mis- Mission. As a young man he was edu- him half of the time. We would come sion with the pastoral work. cated in a government school. In ad- to the Sabbath-morning service— The new radio broadcast repre- dition to his liberal arts education, he and there would be no translator. sents a major step forward in the learned the painting trade. He also We just had to have one." reaching of the 100,000 Navajos who learned to drink heavily. When Tom came to the hospital, (Continued on page 3) Tom was turned to Christ by a godly Presbyterian minister. His neighbor was a trader named Ed Smith. After Tom's conversion, Ed Smith remarked: "If I should never see another Christian in the world, I would know there is a miraculous power in Jesus Christ by looking at the life of Tom Holliday. He was the worst Navajo I ever saw in my life. There wasn't anything that fellow wouldn't do! We were afraid of him. But the change that has come into his life is a miracle of God!" The new convert found inconsis- tencies in the church he had joined and one day said to himself: "This isn't for me." He attended another church, but was still dissatisfied. He finally decided to establish a little church of his own. Now enters another family that has had a strong influence for good. These workers for God are Dr. and Mrs. Lloyd Mason. They lived in Bishop, Calif., where Dr. Mason had a busy practice. But, hearing the call of God, they moved to Monument Valley in 1957. Monument Valley Mission and Hospital serves the Navajo Indian in one of the most remote areas of the United States. The outreach of the mission is being extended with a weekly Voice While Dr. Mason ministered to the of Prophecy broadcast in the Navajo language. 2 COLUMBIA UNION VISITOR Former Medicine Man . Stronger Than Poison (Continued from page 2) By T. S. Geraty are desperately in need of the mes- Associate Secretary of Education, General Conference sage. Many of them have transistor radios and can hear the broadcast. THE flashy, beetle-eyed witch doc- all other gods. Bless my food and re- The Voice of Prophecy has coop- tor pronounced his verdict: "Your veal Your power. In Jesus' name. erated in making the broadcast pos- son is getting too much religion. Amen." sible. Returning to the studios in the Christianity will bring a curse upon Bwerki ate his meal with relish, middle of his v a c a t i o n, Wayne your family. Your son should die to and then went out into the family Hooper, Director of Music Program- free you from the curse." fields to work. Relatives and friends ming, made the new broadcast pos- To one of our mission schools in from the African village followed sible by learning to sing in the Nav- Africa Bwerki had come as a heathen Bwerki out to the fields to watch him ajo language, using the International student. He wanted to learn to read die. The special potion from the Phonetic System. He prepared 36 and write. These he learned, but he witch doctor was deadly, and nor- baritone solos for program use. Other learned more—he became acquainted mally death occurred within min- members of the Voice of Prophecy with Jesus. utes. The young lad, who had been music group also recorded songs in Bwerki came home to visit his a student at our Seventh-day Ad- the Navajo tongue.