Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6

Missionary Teachers

Teachers should be educated for missionary work. Everywhere there are openings for the missionary, and it will not be possible to supply laborers from any two or three countries to answer all the appeals for help. Besides the education of those who are to be sent out from our older conferences as missionaries, persons in various parts of the world should be trained to work for their own countrymen and their own neighbors; and as far as possible it is better and safer for them to receive their education in the field where they are to labor. It is seldom best, either for the worker or for the advancement of the work, that he should go to distant lands for his education. The Lord would have every possible provision made to meet these necessities; and if churches are awake to their responsibilities, they will know how to act in any emergency. 6T 136.3

To supply the need of laborers, God desires that educational centers be established in different countries where students of promise may be educated in the practical branches of knowledge and in Bible truth. As these persons engage in labor, they will give character to the work of present truth in the new fields. They will awaken an interest among unbelievers and aid in rescuing souls from the bondage of sin. The very best teachers should be sent to the various countries where schools are to be established, to carry on the educational work. 6T 137.1

It is possible to have too many educational facilities centered in one place. Smaller schools, conducted after the plan of the schools of the prophets, would be a far greater blessing. The money which was invested in enlarging Battle Creek College to accommodate the ministers’ school would better have been invested in establishing schools in rural districts in America and in the regions beyond. No more buildings were needed in Battle Creek; ample facilities were already provided for the education of as many students as ought to congregate in one place. It was not best that so many students should attend this school, for there was talent and wisdom to manage only a certain number. The ministerial institutes could have been held in buildings already erected, and the money used in enlarging the college could have been invested to better advantage in erecting school buildings in other localities. 6T 137.2

New buildings in Battle Creek meant encouragement for families to move there in order to educate their children in the college. But it would have been a far greater blessing to all concerned had the students been educated in some other locality and in much smaller numbers. The flocking of the people to Battle Creek is as much the fault of those who are in leading positions as of those who have moved to this place. There are better fields for missionary enterprise than Battle Creek, and yet those in responsible positions have been planning to have everything there of the most convenient character; and the large facilities are saying to the people: “Come to Battle Creek; move here with your families, and educate your children here.” 6T 138.1

If some of our large educational institutions were broken up into smaller ones, and schools established in various places, greater progress might be made in physical, mental, and moral culture. The Lord has not said that there should be fewer buildings, but that these buildings should not be centered too much in one place. The large amount of means invested in a few localities should be used in providing facilities for a wider field so that many more students could be accommodated. 6T 138.2

The time has come for lifting the standard of truth in many places, for arousing an interest and extending the missionary field until it shall encompass the world. The time has come when many more should have the message of truth brought to their attention. Much can be done in this direction that is not done. While the churches are responsible for keeping their own lamps trimmed and burning, devoted young people must be educated in their own countries to carry forward this work. Schools should be established, not such elaborate schools as those at Battle Creek and College View, but more simple schools with more humble buildings, and with teachers who will adopt the same plans that were followed in the schools of the prophets. Instead of concentrating the light in one place, where many do not appreciate or improve on that which is given them, the light should be carried into many places of the earth. If devoted, God-fearing teachers of well-balanced minds and practical ideas would go into missionary fields and work in a humble way, imparting that which they have received, God would give His Holy Spirit to many who are destitute of His grace. 6T 138.3