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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
May, 1938
Beach and Back-Yard Bible Clubs By ELMER L. WILDER Imperial, California
As a preliminary signal for our neigh borhood meetings, we drove our car slow ly through the near-by streets, trumpeting our theme song, which, with new words, had been adapted to the music of “ Bringing in the Sheaves.” This old tune awakened memories for adults as they heard the familiar melody carried to them by the notes of the trumpet. Workmen stopped and listened as our car passed, and could be heard saying, “ Bringing in the sheaves.” The words that the boys and girls learned were: “ Come to Sing and Bring, Come to Sing and Bring, Every day but Sunday, Come to Sing and Bring* Bringing boys and girls, Bringing boys and girls, W e shall come rejoicing, Bringing boys and girls.” How the News Spread A mother ceased her housework to look and listen as we passed. The sign in the car window read, “ Sing and Bring Club.” The trumpet was saying, “W e shall come rejoicing, Bringing in the sheaves.” “ It must be something religious,” she thought. “ I’ll ask the children when they come home— perhaps they will know.” They did know ! “ It’s a Bible Club, held in Mrs. Smith’s back yard, over on Twenty- Second Street! May we go? The Brown twins have invited us.” “ Yes, of course. It must be all right if it’s at Mrs, Smith’s.” Off they dashed—to return at the end of an hour with smiles of satisfaction. “Well, how did you like it?” “Mother, it’s the keenest club in town. They have a young man who plays the trumpet, and another who plays a little fold ing organ. The third man taught us some
new songs, told us about the Spool Family and how they were freed from sin by the blood of Christ.” “Bob, let me tell about the memory verse,” said Betty. “The organist taught us the memory verse. It was John 3:18. The verse was written on the blackboard, and all of us read it. Then he erased a few of the words, and we repeated the verse. W e found we could fill in from memory the words that he’d erased. It wasn’t long until he erased it all, and we could say the whole verse from memory! It’s fun to memorize that way.” While Betty was catching her breath, Bob began, “ Mother, would you like to hear us sing the song Mr. W ilder taught us? He called it a chorus. It goes like this: “ ‘I’m so happy. Here’s the reason why: Jesus took my1 burden all away. Now I’m singing as the days go by— Jesus took my burden all away. Once my heart was heavy with the load of sin— Jesus took the load and gave me peace within. Now I’m singing—here’s the reason why: Jesus took my burden all away.’ “ The fellow that played the trumpet punched our cards for being present today. If we can get two new kids for tomorrow, we’ll have four punches apiece and will get the Sing and Bring Club button.” Glimpses of Great Results The gospel proved to be “ the power of God unto salvation” to many children in that pleasure-loving beach city. Many boys and girls came with sad faces, for they had come from broken and discordant homes. A t first they looked skeptical, then interested, and many, by the time the meetings closed, reflected in their faces the radiance of the
men and women spectators showed a great interest in hearing the children sing the gospel choruses. They also liked to hear the musicians play, as well as to see the visual methods of presenting gospel truth. Around a hundred children of all kinds would be present at one of these beach playground meetings. Scarcely a day on the beach passed without a word o f encouragement from some child of God who would wish us well in evangelizing the boys and girls. “ Hello, Sing and Bring Club men,” said a workman in a garage as we drove in to have our car serviced. Not having our customary signs in the car windows, we wondered how we had been recognized. We inquired, and he said, “ I attend your meet ing at the beach each day during my noon hour.” Back-Yard Evangelism But not only the children along the beach needed the story of the Lord Jesus. In count less neighborhood groups, children were playing about the streets, on vacant lots, or in back yards— in the majority of cases with scarcely a hearsay knowledge about the Saviour. W e felt that we must secure meet ing places in these residential districts. A few of God’s choice people were soon found, and we presented our plan to them. Without exception, they invited us to hold classes at their homes. They knew of others who were interested. W e had more open doors than we could enter. One woman said, “W e have been praying for the boys and girls of this neighborhood, and we believe your coming is an answer to our prayer.” The classes in the residential districts met in the back yards. This arrangement had the twofold advantage of allowing the chil dren to feel free to attend in their play clothes, and of sparing the hostesses the
newly found life and Light. Children came who had never heard the gospel of Christ—• knew nothing of His blood shed for them. In some cases they had been without any religious in struction whatsoever. A boy froma Christian Science family told what themeetings had meant to him: “ I once thought God would give us the things we asked for, but that was all I knew about Him. I now have accepted Christ as my Saviour and see what it’s all about.” It was the knowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ was being proclaimed to boys and girls to whom He had been almost wholly unknown that gave spe cial joy in this ministry. During [ Continued, on Page 226]
added care of an inside meeting. In one locality the children were delighted to gather in a barn where they perched on bales of hay covered with blankets. At one of the homes blankets were hung across the clotheslines to provide shade for the outdoor class. H u ge b ea ch u m b re lla s furnished informal and colorful shelter at another meeting place. God marvelously opened the way, and by the time we had been in town forty-eight hours, we had conducted five meetings. W e had the joy of holding as many as five meetings in one day, each meeting covering a period of forty-five minutes. Each series of classes in a given place continued for approxi mately ten days.
• One of the neighborhood Bible groups that assembled in a beach town last summer in response to the methods of child evangelism described on these pages.
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