February 1928
T h é
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
117
Eighty Per Cent of Our Students Must Work A G rowing P roblem for B ible I nstitutes
HE Bible Institute of Los Angeles has this year the largest enrollment it has had in three years. Practically 80 per cent o f the present stu dent .body are compelled to work their way through school. This applies to the young women students as well as the young men. Our faculty is confronted with a serious problem which lias been growing more acute. Students coming to the Institute are younger than when the Institute had its in ception, 'due to the fact that the age of high school gradu ates has been gradually lowered in recent years. The employment situation in Los Angeles is critical. On account o f the extensive advertising of Southern Cali- [fornia throughout the country, thousands of people have been deriving the impression that jobs were plentiful in Los Angeles, and every train brings scores o f newcomers who have no idea o f how they will obtain a livelihood. Whereas a few years ago we could almost guarantee part time employment to a prospective student, there are now so many jobless people in Los Angeles that we have for ¡ some time sought to make it clear through our catalog and student bureau that we absolutely could not guarantee posi- j tions and that students coming without funds, would do so \entirely upon their own responsibility. Our workers do Itheir utmost to find positions suitable for our students, but jin a great modern city, we cannot risk these young lives -committed to our care in many places that might be open i to them. _ S tepping O ut on F a ith In spite o f all warnings to prospective students that the [(¡Institute assumes no responsibility for their living ex penses, scores o f them, hungry for spiritual things and eagerly looking toward various fields of Christian endeavor,- '¡like Abraham, step out on faith, not knowing whither they ¡¡may be led or how their needs will be met. They consider |Phil.- 4:19 God’s bond, and why shouldn’t they? They ‘reach Los Angeles to be sorely tested, and young as many of them are, they are confronted with problems that might well stagger more mature Christians. Many' of these young folks, be it remembered, have ' come from churches whose pastors are liberalistic in their sympathies and, therefore, opposed to their seeking a Bible school training. Frequently, they come from homes -where Christ is not honored and parents are averse to -their sons or daughters entering Christian work. These ¡young people are ready to go through fire ratlier than to [return home in defeat. Why are the needs not met? That is the question which has come squarely up to the faculty of the Bible [Institute. Have we done our part? The course is given :to every student without tuition charge , Board and room in our-building is offered them on a cost basis. Tremen dous effort is required to raise funds to maintain the work. Still- - is there more that we should do ? H ave W e D one A ll W e S hould ? In these days many institutions of learning are actually paying students to attend; scholarships are easy to obtain. Colleges and seminaries are heavily endowed and fellow
ship funds are easily maintained through the aid of large alumni associations. W e need not enter into the question o f what is taught in many of these institutions. The Bible Institute o f Los Angeles has never made a general appeal for scholarship funds. The student-fellow ship fund for aiding needy students has been maintained by the sacrificial gifts of the students themselves, but has never begun to meet the needs. Why should we not now lay this situation before the friends o f the Institute and ask them to consider it from the standpoint of a God-given opportunity of the most definite and practical kind ? I f the moral and spiritual level of our country can rise no higher than that of the home, how shall we raise the level' of the home? It is now pitifully low and getting lower. Obviously, Christian education must be provided fo r many o f the new generation. We must send back into our small towns, young men and women of high ideals and spiritual vision. How shall we retrieve the foreign missionary situation ? Manifestly by sending out greater numbers of young mis sionaries with a working knowledge of the W ord1o f God and a passion for souls. I ncreasing D ifficulties F or Y oung P eople But it becomes increasingly difficult for our young peo ple to get the training. Our Bible Institute dormitories could be crowded to the roofs, dared we encourage all to come who crave training for Christian service but can not find the wherewithal to carry them through. If these young people do not enter upon this training immediately at the conclusion of their high school courses, in many cases it means that they will never get it. May we ask you to help us consider this problem of securing a fund to be carefully administered by the faculty of the Institute? Grants to students would not be in cash, but applied under faculty direction to the necessities of Institute training. In cases where there was likelihood of a student being able to reimburse the fund later, these grants would be in the nature of loans. In the cases of those preparing for the mission fields, no reimbursement would be expected. W e are praying that some may be led to make sub stantial gifts so that a goodly portion o f the scholarship fund eventually could be invested so as to provide regular income. The immediate needs are pressing, however, and gifts o f any size will be gratefully received and conscien tiously disbursed. (Address: Albert E. Kelly, Secretary Extension De partment. ) C a n 't B e R e p e a te d Dr? W . Y . Fullerton, said in an address recently: " There are two events in h istory that can never be re peated: they are Calvary and Pentecost. We speak loosely if we ever use either of these two words about any per sonal experience. Whatever our sorrow may be, we never know a Calvary; whatever our Christian experience, we never know a Pentecost.”
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