Joshua White - True Education P1 - A Foundation

we're gonna look though at a very very important topic and as I mentioned this is the start of really three messages that are are separate and yet they really work together and go together so there'd be this afternoon tomorrow morning early and then tomorrow at two o'clock also I was really tempted to call this talk a reason to exist it was the year 1938 dr. Toshio Yamagata and elder Francis Maillard of the Japan Union mission met with dr. Mizuno who was the great educator and director of social and religious education for the nation of Japan these men from the Adventist mission were there to ask dr. Mizuno the government leader for permission to continue to keep the SDA school at the mission open at a time when most religious and parochial schools were being closed they asked permission to continue to follow the radically different plan of education that was then in place a plan that included the harmonious development of the physical the mental and the spiritual a plan which we have been given counsel to follow in the book education but unfortunately we rarely see followed today dr. Mizuno the government leader answered them and said I have already wrote read your book education I understand your plan and he said in words both profound profound and convicting quote if you follow your plan you have no reason to worry if you do not follow your plan you have no reason to exist we have been given a plan a plan of Education a plan of health a plan of evangelism we could go right on down the list a plan that will make us a peculiar people a plan that is different from the world a plan that will set us apart and a plan that may even generate persecution and ridicule a plan designed by God and instituted by God given us by God to prepare us for heaven and enable us to spread the gospel and finish the work on this earth if we follow this plan we have no reason to fear because it is God's plan but if we do not follow the plan we have no reason to exist we may as well be just another denomination because if we seek to be like the world around us we have taken away the very reason for our existence we've been given an educational plan a very simple plan and it is one that gives us a reason to exist in this afternoon I'd like to take us through the very basics of this plan well your bow your heads with me Father in heaven thank you that we have the privilege and opportunity to look at your plan thank you that you have given us a plan and lord I ask for a special measure of your Holy Spirit this afternoon you know I need it lord I pray that you will speak through me you'll fill me with your spirit may I only share your words and nothing else please open our hearts and minds to understand your truth as we should before I ask in Jesus name Amen now as never before we read in the book mine character and personality now as never before we need to understand the true science of Education if we fail to understand this we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God is that reason enough to study the plan of true education we could stop right here and say that this must be critical never have a place in the kingdom of God without understanding the science of Education No okay this should give us a bit of a definition though of what education and true education really is though because this must be more than just what is conventionally defined as education this must be more than study of the sciences and history and things like that because last I checked God did not have algebra as an interest requirement for heaven thankfully not many of us would fail probably no there must be way more to education than merely the study of academics so perhaps it would be good to ask ourselves the question what is the goal to you let me ask you what is the goal of true education welcoming answers yes to restore in us the image of God absolutely correct anyone else character development what was that preparation for eternity absolutely all correct answers yes to know the character of God his plan of salvation absolutely anyone else you've all given correct answers and in fact if we study the spirit of prophecy and we boil it down we can really deuce three main goals of true education did you have comment to know God's will absolutely yes three main goals of true education if we really look at it in the spirit of prophecy here they are number one true education and redemption are synonymous meaning they are one it is restoring the image of God in the soul where do I take that from the book education page 30 in the highest sense the work of education and the work of redemption our one point number two true education is the harmonious development of the physical the mental and the spiritual powers again from the book education true education is the harmonious development of the physical the mental and the spiritual powers and thirdly our our third main point of true education is that true education is preparation for service here on this earth for the spread of the gospel and throughout eternity you see service won't end here on this earth we will continue to engage in service in heaven and again from the book education true education prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and the higher joy of wider service in the world to come within these three suppose there are many other principles that we could fit in but if it does not fit in with these three principles then it may not be a part of the plan of true education if we put it in a nutshell I believe it would look something like this it is cultivating the entire person to be christ-like that's the plan of redemption and preparing them and the entire person is the physical mental and spiritual preparing them for service in this world and in heaven really in a nutshell true education has nothing to do with how many degrees you has how many classes you've taken how much time you've spent in school whether you have a nice house and a job or any of those other things not that there's anything wrong with those things but they're not a fundamental part of what true education really means is that clear does it make sense excellent so now I'd like to unpack each one of these points individual this is a framework for our talk this afternoon understanding each one of these points and what it means to us from the spirit of prophecy the Bible and science point number one that true education and redemption are synonymous let's let's unpack this a bit we read that in the highest sense the work of education and redemption are one what does it mean for something to be one it's the same thing right if one thing is true then the other will also be true because the two things have become one the true object we read in Christian education the true object of Education is to restore the image of God in the soul why so that's because we were created in the image of God right and so we have to God has to bring us back to what we were created for and that's the process of redemption and we're also told that that is the process of Education and the process of life education equals redemption they are the one one and the same true education needs to fit us for earthly life but it must also fit us for heavenly life the Book of Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding it's very easy for us to gloss over this we say oh yes we must have have Bible class is that what this is saying really I think it's much deeper than that it is the beginning of wisdom it's where you start you want your child or yourself to gain wisdom and understanding begin with the study of God's Word and understanding who God is in Deuteronomy God tells his people to diligently instruct their children in his ways and his laws in the evening when they got home from work right how often did he tell them to instruct us their children about God when you sat down when you rise up when you lay down all throughout the day it was to be a part of everyday life to instruct the children about God we read that the Bible should be made the foundation of study and teaching what is a foundation suppose you're building a house and you said you know what no one's gonna see the foundation why do I need to spend so much time on it and so you said you just did a real quick job with the foundation you did not lay a good foundation would people know is it true that no one saw that yes it's true nobody saw the foundation but with people see the results of it after time absolutely when the house wall is crooked or the roof starts caving in whatever happens they will know that you did not lay a good foundation the Bible should be the foundation of study and teaching in our schools in our homes as we build that house of character we must make the Bible the foundation the essential knowledge is what do you think a knowledge of God and of him whom he has sent and in reality if we look back through history all the greatest men of the world who have come up with the brightest ideas were they any surprise to God was was God like whoa that's a really neat discovery no I'm pretty sure he knew about it did he not God is the foundation of wisdom and as we seek to understand true wisdom God will lead us because he is the source the first great lesson in true education is to do what to know and understand the will of God take the knowledge of God with you into every day of life let it absorb the mind and the whole be God gave Solomon wisdom but this god-given wisdom was perverted when he turned from God to obtain wisdom from other sources interesting that wisdom can be perverted true wisdom comes from God but if we turned from God to obtain wisdom from other sources we're perverting wisdom so as the book education tells us instead of confining their study to that which men have said or written let students be directed to the sources of truth where are the sources of truth God's Word very simple and yet we spend the majority of our time studying what other men have said a written in college and school and education conventionally today do we not let us go to the source the Bible should be made at the foundation of education we want to lay that good foundation that I mentioned earlier by some education is placed next to religion do we consider that education has its place and religion has its place that's not correct true education is religion the power and soul of true education is a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent the science of true education is the truth which is to be so deeply impressed on the soul that it cannot be obliterated by the error that everywhere abounds true education is the inculcation of those ideas that will impress the mind and heart with a knowledge of God the Creator and Jesus Christ the Redeemer such an education will renew the mind and transform the character do we want renewed Minds and transform characters what will do this true education it will strengthen and fortify the mind against the deceptive whisperings of the adversary of souls and enable us to understand the voice of God do we want strengthened and fortified Minds do we want to be able to understand the voice of God what will do this true education it will fit the learned to become a co-worker with Christ we want to work with God what will do this true education so we ask now we ask everyone to take hold of this matter interestedly so that we saw soon have a place where our children can study the Bible which is the foundation of all true education the fear of the Lord the very first lesson to be taught is the beginning of wisdom do your children have a place where they can study the Bible the home or the school either one that should be the foundation our second main point under true education is the harmonious development of the physical the mental and the spiritual we're gonna spend a bit more time on this because it is a very large topic what does it mean for something to develop harmoniously let's say we have a quartet that is singing and the tenor decides to sing louder than the rest of them is that now harmonious no very in harmonious probably doesn't sound very good at all let's say we plant three trees and two of the trees grow this tall while the other one grows as tall as this building is that harmonious growth no it is not so if a person studies is viable for 30 minutes get some exercise for 20 minutes and spends the rest of his day in class do you think that's harmonious development of the physical mental and spiritual it's not and yet conventional education if we do it every day tim says conventional education tends to focus on the mental we read earlier no we didn't sorry this is this comes from Christ object lessons true education is the preparation of the physical mental and moral powers why because we want performance of every duty it's the training of body mind and soul why for divine service this is the education that will endure into eternal life notice she says it twice their physical mental and moral body mind and soul as if we needed to just have that point very clear true education means more than taking the certain course of study it is broad and it includes the harmonious development of all the physical powers and mental faculties it teaches the love and fear of God and is a preparation for the faithful discharge of life's duties we find in child guidance that in childhood and youth practical and literary training should be combined now I found this very interesting what does it mean to combine something so you're making a recipe and it calls for rice and beans and so you take your measurement of rice and you dump it into the bowl you take your measurement of beans and you dump that into the bowl and you mix it up have you just combine two rice and beans you have yeah that's what it means to combine something so then after you've done the combining is it now very easy to take the beans out of the mixture it's not they've blended together they're combined so combining practical and literary training this to me says that we shouldn't just have our academic class and our practical class but we should blend the two and be teaching the two together which we don't have time to really explain how that works but this is something I think we should really push forward in our schools it's something I've done at the school I've worked with in Africa we're teaching the teachers how to take the lessons they have in the classroom the academic studies and teach them through the gardening and the vocational skills and the various things that they're training this is how it really should be done but when it comes to physical activity there's incredible research that shows how powerful this is I mentioned the cerebellum a couple of days ago we've already seen that but there's more the hippocampus is another area very impacted by physical activity one study found that higher fit children showed greater bilateral hippocampal volumes and superior relational memory task performance compared to lower fit children that's a fancy scientific way of simply saying that children who got more activity and were more fit had larger hippocampus ah's and better memories another study found that physical activity can improve the overall mental health and quality of life can enhance brain function and cognition improved behavior improved concentration increased blood and oxygen flow to the brain increase the levels of norepinephrine and endorphins resulting in a reduction of stress and an improvement of mood increased growth factors that help create synaptic sorry help create new nerve cells and support synaptic plasticity physical activity is a powerful learning tool in fact we know that in early childhood we literally have to have physical activity combined with academic training for the academic training to even progress and that's because of something known as the proprioceptive system exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus creating an environment in which the brain is ready willing and able to learn we read in child guidance that both mental and spiritual vigor are in a great degree dependent upon physical strength and activity mental and spiritual vigor two very important things in education what are they dependent on physical strength and activity whatever promotes physical health promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character we value character right that's our goal in true education is a well-developed character and what promotes the strong light and well-balanced character physical activity the whole body is designed for action and unless the physical powers are kept in health by active exercise the mental powers cannot long be used to their highest capacity students should not even be permitted it says to take so many studies that they will have no time for physical training the health cannot be preserved unless some portion of each day is given to muscular exertion in the open air stated hours should be devoted to manual labour of some kind we should not even allow students to take more studies then will you know then that would prevent them from taking time for physical training and this is a major change that needs to occur in education I believe that we need to recognize the value of manual labour not for its monetary value but for its character and educational value there is a difference I'm sure you're aware that great majority of our academies and universities have removed the agriculture component and often the practical training component - why so what's the number one reason given no money not making any money exactly I was talking with a friend of mine he was an educator and has worked with many schools and he says or maybe not many he's worked with a few and he said you know we're always saying that agriculture isn't making us money and so we removed that from the program he says nobody ever asked if history class made us money nobody ever asked if math class made us why do we not ask if these glasses make us money because we view them as fundamental aspects of Education making money or not we better keep them so what's that say about our value of agriculture or practical labour maybe we don't see it as a fundamental part of education and besides agriculture can make us money and I have yet to see a history class that made anyone any money the time of study must be divided we're told between the gaining of book knowledge and a securing of a knowledge of practical work this is speaking of the work at Avondale in Australia and says part of each day was spent in useful work the students learning how to clear the land how to cultivate the soil and how to build houses and the Lord bless the students who thus to vote at their time to learning lessons of usefulness physical training if we want to focus we have the physical the mental and the spiritual and I just want to narrow in a bit on physical training for a moment there's three categories that I find in the spirit of prophecy generalized here there's useful work and that is just the everyday activities that we find where children young people need to know how to be useful take care of their homes and such there's manual training where we're actually training a skill or a trade that least you can take and there's also the teaching of how to keep our bodies healthy and the treatment of disease we're told that every man woman and child should be educated to practical useful work and also that the greatest benefit is not gained from exercise that is taken as play or exercise merely you see we take away the manual arts training programs and what do we replace them with gyms and sports and please don't think I'm being critical here but I'm just helping us understand that that is really not where we gain the most benefit there is some benefit in being in the fresh air and also from the exercise of the muscles but let the same amount of energy be given to the performance of useful work and the benefit will be greater students who have gained book knowledge without gaining a knowledge of practical work cannot really claim to a symmetrical education a student who is graduated with this great degree and yet they don't have a knowledge of practical work they cannot even claim that they have a complete and symmetrical education physical employment is part of the training essential for every youth an important phase of education is lacking if the student is not taught how to engage in useful labour there's useful work but there's also manual training this is very interesting useful manual labor is part of the gospel plan pretty important isn't it part of the gospel plan the great teacher gave directions to Israel that every youth should be taught some line of useful employment they might be instructed in literary lines but they must also be trained to some craft this was deemed an indispensable part of their education this is speaking of the nation of Israel you were a bad parent if you didn't give your child a manual training so that they left your home with a trade that it was just considered poor education if you didn't do that this should be started in the home of course but then when the child is old enough to be sent to school the teacher should cooperate with the parents and manual training should be continued as part of the school studies manual training is of deserving a far more attention that it has received and there are many different lines of manual training we find in the spirit of prophecy how to cook well sewing carpentry but most important is agriculture according to the book Child Guidance no line of manual training is of more value than agriculture a greater effort should be made to create and encourage an interest in agricultural pursuits let the teacher call attention to what the Bible says about agriculture that it was God's plan for man to till the earth that the first man the ruler of the whole world was given a garden to cultivate and that many of the world's greatest men it's real nobility have been the tillers of the soil show the opportunities in such a life but why agriculture why is this so important to us I mean isn't this old-fashioned like who really in the modern world is growing a garden and involved in agriculture well let's find out from science it was Thomas Jefferson third president of the United States who said no nation will long survived the decay of its agriculture now superficially this would be true the nation must be able to grow food to support itself but I wonder if there's more than just growing food going on here question for you who was the first gardener you sure it was Adam who planted the Garden of Eden it was God God was the first gardener Adam was the first human gardener but God planted a garden eastward in Eden this comes from the incredible book by EA Sutherland living fountains or broken cisterns God planted a garden eastward in Eden and from the beauties of the earth chose the most beautiful spa for the home of the new pair from the beauties of the earth that says now I think I'm safe saying this here in New Zealand I certainly believe that New Zealand may be one of the most beautiful countries on earth especially the South Island now God could have chosen I'm sorry are there any Australians here oops there are many beautiful places in the world but New Zealand is really close to the best either way though God could have chosen any where to put them he could have put them in New Zealand he could have put them in the Swiss Alps wherever it may be but where did he put them in a garden in the midst of the gardens to the Tree of Life the fruit of which afforded man a perfect physical food beneath it spreading branches God himself visited them and talking with them face to face revealed to them the way of immortality as they ate of the fruit of the tree of life and found every physical want supplied they were constantly reminded of the need of the spiritual meat which was gained by open converse with the light of heaven according notice according to the divine system of teaching they were here to study the laws of God and learn of his character a divine system of teaching surely there's more here than just growing food and eating it and in fact research has found that children involved in gardening had better self-confidence and self-esteem now again let me clarify self-esteem in the research is referring to a good thing this is not an unhealthy prideful self-esteem this is a sense of self-worth which every child needs to have they were more patient more persevering they had improved science understanding and better test scores and overall better learners simply from spending more time in the garden in fact one study found an experimental group of non of gardening students outperformed a control group of non gardening students in all areas general information reading recognition reading comprehension total reading mathematics spelling and written language what do any of those things have to do with gardening I don't know multiplication yeah you could include some of that for sure the point here is that something about gardening was making these students better learners and was improving test scores and things that really didn't have a whole lot to do with gardening another study found substantial data suggesting that outdoor activities have positive effects on self-esteem and mental health now there are various reasons for this some common sense you know if we look back at this list how my children become more patient with gardening well there's no app that produces tomatoes when you push a button you actually have to plant the seed and water and cultivate it and eventually harvest if you're careful teaching them perseverance again that's obvious science understanding there's so much science you can learn in the garden there are many things but when it comes to just making them better learners and smarter overall scientists really aren't quite exactly sure except they think they may have found some very small clues known as Mycobacterium vaak' this is a certain bacteria that we find that will actually reduce depression improve lung health boost the immune system fight cancer strengthen the digestive system treat arthritis improve emotional and mental health lower stress and anxiety reduce allergies and to top it off make you smarter the world's wonder drug right everyone's looking for a pill that will give them this well you won't find it in your health food store any ideas where you'll get this bacterium dirt dirt it is the dirt in which our Gardens grow one study found that the M by K the Mycobacterium bouquet had the exact same effect as antidepressant drugs and notice the title of this article dirt is the new Prozac literally the same physiological changes in the brain from gaining this bacteria another study found that compared to those who did not ingest the bacterium the mice that did ingest it navigated a maze twice as fast and exhibited half of the anxiety behaviors so they were not only smarter and faster but were less stressed throughout the process so where do you get this it comes from dirt we find that walking barefoot in the garden we can help absorb it in our feet under our toenails putting your hands in the dirt they've done treatment programs with patients who are depressed where they literally just have them soak their hands in the dirt and find that it cures the depression often and we also know that the skin of the vegetables that we grow will absorb some of this bacteria and so you know if you're growing organically and you don't have a lot of dirt on the vegetables you can just brush them off don't bother really washing them really well you know please make sure they're clean and organic but don't scrub them if you don't have to and you'll get more of this bacteria so evidently getting dirty actually makes you smarter so next time your kid comes in and he's covered with mud stop thinking about all the washing you have to do and think about how much smarter they're getting they've also found that exposure to this naturally occurring bacteria can boost our immune systems did you have a question aha healthy soil healthy food healthy people absolutely that's that's very good but they've also found this is very interesting that exposure to this bacteria can boost our immune systems one study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that these data support the idea that the greater diversity of microbial exposure among children who live on farms is associated with protection from the development of asthma fascinating because isn't asthma doesn't that asthma and allergies also sorry this quote isn't saying it but they they find that children who live on farms typically have less than half the incidence of allergies and asthma compared to those who live in the city allergies and asthma aren't allergies from the pollen that you're getting outdoors they actually find that as we're exposed to it in early childhood the body will build up an immune response to what we're being exposed to and so it actually begins to reduce the incidence of allergies and asthma so these studies according to dr. Chris Lowry at the University of Bristol these studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health they also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt from a scientist and besides there are many things just think about how many concepts you can learn in the garden take math how about counting seeds or plants measuring the rows and figuring out how many seeds to plant measuring how far apart to plant the seeds measuring the height of a seedling counting how many vegetables are harvested do you have to do any of those things as part of gardening no obviously they're not essential but you can I'm just giving these as illustrations of how much you can teach if you're intentional and creative about it in the garden science think about how much science you can learn you could observe and predict the growth of plants learn about the parts of the plan and the purpose of each learn about photosynthesis meteorology the solar system bugs and other critters not through pictures but through real-life observation the cycle of plant life through composting many things that can be learned in the garden and this is one of the incredible benefits of country living we have been counseled to move our families to the country teaches us an awareness of the world and the environment helps develop the power of attention in children teaches responsibility caused to affect reasoning industry economy diligence I'm naming all these things in quick bullet point lists but there is science to back up every one of them country living is a powerful learning environment that God has designed for our children the Garden of Eden according to a pamphlet and spirit of prophecy the Garden of Eden was not only adam's dwelling but his schoolroom God didn't place Adam there just I just needed a house to put Adam in know this was his school room and of course we're told that study in agricultural lines should be the a B and C evidently we shouldn't just start with it with the a we should start with it and another starting with B and another with C the a B and C the beginning of the educational work of our school this is the very first work that must be entered upon then as we shall advance and add to our facilities Advanced Studies an object lesson should come in we are not to subtract from that which has already been taken hold of as a branch of education and our third area of physical training is that of health and body children should be early taught in simple easy lessons the rudiments of physiology and hygiene the work should be begun by the mother in the home and carefully carried forward in the school they should understand the importance of guarding against disease by preserving the vigor of every organ and should also be taught how to deal with common diseases and accidents every school should give instruction in both physiology and hygiene and so far as possible should be provided with facilities for illustrating the structure use and care of the body that is something that I think we could spend more time on in education now teaching children how to care for themselves and how to treat sickness in others training them to be medical missionaries secondly we have physical mental and spiritual now we spend a lot of time on mental training in schools I don't think we have to convince ourselves of the importance of mental training it absolutely is important but I think it's very interesting what the focus of our mental training should be according to Christian education speaking of teachers it says that while teachers need no less of piety they also need a thorough knowledge of the sciences this will make them not only good practical Christians but will enable them to educate the youth and at the same time they will have heavenly wisdom to lead them to the fountain of living waters he is a Christian who aims to reach the highest attainments for the purpose of doing others good this is the reason we gained physical mental or spiritual training the purpose of doing others good knowledge harmoniously blended with a christ-like character will make a person truly a light to the world education balanced by a solid religious experience fits the child of God to do his appointed work steadily firmly understandingly if one is learning of Jesus the greatest educator the world ever knew he will not only have a symmetrical Christian character but a mind trained to effectual labor again there's our purpose effectual labor for the master minds that are quick to discern will go deep beneath the surface and thirdly spiritual development we cannot leave this out this is you know we started with that as a major aspect of true education restoring the image of God in the soul redemption education being the same thing but we mustn't leave this out of our threefold purpose of Education spiritual development the great object of education sorry the great object to be secured should be the proper development of character that the individual may be fitted wryly to discharge the duties of the present life and have success in the world is that what that says no and to enter at last upon the future immortal life we need to be preparing our children for heaven true education is a failure if it doesn't prepare children for heaven any effort that exalts intellectual culture above moral training is misdirected the first great lesson in all education is to know and understand the will of God and there are three ways which we can do that go to the book education page 267 and you'll find them there I don't have time to get into it three ways in which we can know and understand the will of God there should be part of Education we should bring into every day of life the effort to gain this knowledge a character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next there's not much we can take to heaven but we can take our characters how important then is the development of character in this life character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings and never before was its diligent study so important as now our third main and final point of true education is that true education is preparation for service here on this earth and throughout eternity the book ministry of healing page 395 tells us true education is now when I read something like that I get excited aha a definition of Education what do you think it says true education is are you ready definition missionary training missionary training every son and daughter of God are you a son and daughter of God every one of us is called to be a missionary we are called to the service of God and our fellow men and to fit us for this service should be the object of our education it is necessary in councils to parents teachers and students it is necessary to their complete education that students be given time to do missionary work in other words they won't have a complete education if they don't have time to do missionary work time to become acquainted with the spiritual needs of the families in the community around them you don't have to go to some remote land across the ocean somewhere no focus on spiritual needs of the families in the communities around you they should not be so loaded down with studies that they have no time to use the knowledge they have acquired they excuse me they should be encouraged to make earnest missionary effort for those in error becoming acquainted with them and taking to them the truth now notice something about this it says they should not be so loaded down with studies that they have no time to use the knowledge they have acquired and this is in the context of missionary effort what sort of knowledge do you think they must be needing to acquire here if they need the time to apply what they've acquired in the light of missionary effort there must be missionary training involved here right by deduction we can say that the purpose of this giving them the knowledge and the time to use it must be that the knowledge is how to engage in missionary effort wherever possible students should during the school year when during the school year not after they graduate or during summer break on a two-week mission trip when they're not in school no it says during the school year they should engage in mission work they should do missionary work in the surrounding towns and villages they are not to look forward to a time after the school term closes when they will do some large work for God but they should study how during their student life to yoke up with Christ in selfish service for others right now they can start putting it into practice from our colleges and training schools missionaries are to be sent forth to distant lands while at school let the students improve every opportunity to prepare for this work when the youth give their hearts to God your care for them should not cease notice what the first step here is helping the youth to give their hearts to God that should be the focus remember we saw earlier education and redemption are the same we need to focus on helping our youth give their hearts to God but after that happens do we just say all right mission accomplished no our efforts should not cease what should we do then after they give their hearts to God lay some special responsibility upon them make them feel they are expected to do something let different branches of the missionary work be laid out systematically and let instruction and help be given so that the young may learn to act a part we should do what lay responsibility upon them and make them feel they are expected to do something we expect far too little out of our young people we should be engaging them in active missionary labors and this will actually prove to be very instrumental in their own salvation and the salvation of others as I'll talk about tomorrow afternoon let them explain we should expect them to do something now as never before we saw earlier we need to understand the true science of Education did we understand now a bit more of why this is so important to us that this is more than just study of academics in school and why if we fail to understand the true science of Education we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God this is really serious I want to tell you a story now and I'm going to preface it by a quotation we have in the book fundamentals of Education the necessity of establishing Christian schools is urged upon me very strongly in the schools of today many things are taught that are a hindrance rather than a blessing schools are needed where the Word of God is made the basis of Education Satan's object is effectually gained when by perverting their ideas of Education he succeeds in enlisting parents on his side for a wrong education often starts the mind on the road to infidelity that's a solemn thought the necessity of establishing Christian schools is urged upon me very strongly she says schools are needed where the Word of God is made the basis of Education sadly there are not very many schools we can tell this story about but there is one that is shy and I'm sure there are others and don't take that as like this is the only one but there is one that I'm very familiar with that is shining as a bright light with incredible results I'd like to tell you their story a story I wish I could tell you about schools all over the world but it is a story rarely heard a story that almost doesn't exist it's a story of a school that's following God's plan a school that because it is following God's plan has a reason to exist remember what the leader of Education told the adven the leader of Japanese education in the government told the Japan mission seventh-day Adventist men about their school if you follow your plan you have no reason to worry but if you do not follow your plan you have no reason to exist this school has a reason to exist in 2001 the Tanzanian Nina that's in Africa government established the primary education program which made primary school attendance for children ages seven to fifteen compulsory according to the statistics of 2008 through 2012 released by the United Nations Tanzania has made a big impact in education with about 92 to 96 percent attendance recorded for both boys and girls however this figure drops drastically for secondary education with an average of only 30 32 percent of boys and 24% of girls attending when you realize that Tanzania is one of the youngest countries on the planet with 71 percent of the population age 30 in below that 32 percent in 24% becomes rather staggering however many do not finish even primary school for various reasons there are many factors contributing to a major education crisis in the country of Tanzania but one in particular is very strong and that is the plight of the vulnerable girl Tanzania has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world according to the United Nations Population Fund an average of one in every six girls aged 15 to 19 end up pregnant annually most schools have mandatory pregnancy testing and pregnant students are promptly expelled no questions asked so between five and eight thousand girls dropped out of school every single year between 2008 and 2011 due to pregnancy but this figure is potentially misleading due to unknown factors like abortion suicide and girls dropping out of school before they can be caught and publicly shamed another outflow of the circumstances is the deplorable existence of approximately 1 million child of domestic workers in the country of Tanzania 1 million child workers the short of it all is that there are large populations of both boys and girls who have been expelled from school or have simply just failed school because supposedly they were dumb and couldn't learn they start school very early which we've seen the research of how that can be negative for school success what is the future for these young people well typically more often than not the future means a life on the street involved in crime drugs may be not respected by their communities because of the failure they have experienced in education no hope essentially for these youth what can be done well in 2004 the kibbeh dual emission in partnership with reach Switzerland decided to do something about this enormous problem they started what is officially recognized as a vocational training centre but it is way more than that it is unique agriculture is a major need in the country of Tanzania it is a major industry and if you can grow food for yourself you can subsist pretty well so Cuba doula began with an agriculture school an agriculture training center specifically for primary school failures in secondary school dropouts giving them a chance to learn a skill they can support themselves with these young people live on three separate farm units right now there's about 60 students at this school they function in three separate units there are two for boys and one for girls of about 20 students each and there they put into practice practical life what they learn in the classroom about how to grow food they go and do it every student has their own garden every student has their own orchard every student has their own field area they literally grow everything they eat and I mean everything they if they need oil they grow sunflowers and press it into oil completely self-sufficient whatever they can't grow they'll grow extra food sell it and purchase those things in the market they grow their own food keep their own livestock have their own beehives press their own oil grow their own avocado orchards they sell the extra crops they're completely self-sufficient here's one of the little farm units their housing units school units whatever you want to call it most of the students are living here right along with their teachers just as we've been counseled to do right school homes where the teachers are mingling with the students as a family school here's a storage area these are crops they have grown corn and beans and such this young man was making me some delicious chapatis well he wasn't making it for me but he was kind enough to let me have one which I was very thankful for they were quite delicious but he grew the wheat that he made for the flour he grew the sunflowers for the oil he didn't grow salt but he grew a little extra of his crops and bought some salt they're learning to be completely self-sufficient and then how to utilize their crops how to function as a meaningful member of society but remember these three areas physical mental and spiritual they have the physical down quite well and it's not just agriculture they have carpentry and and sewing and various other skills that they learn but it's not just physical right and keep me duly realize this as the school was now successful doing well for a couple of years focusing just on physical training they said hey we need to add the other two areas the mental and the spiritual but there's a problem with that mental area because supposedly these students were dumb and couldn't learn many of them had failed primary school the youngest grades not respected by their communities because they were so dumb but they said well we'll do what we can they didn't have much time because of all the need time needed for agriculture and so they did about two hours a week in general academic study for the the national exams these students can then go and take the national exams the ones that they originally failed they score very high now with only two hours a week spent on academic study does the Lord's plan work of balanced education but what about the spiritual training they had physical the mental was going well how about spiritual well that's a little hard to implement because these students are coming off of the street I mean they are not Christian let alone seventh-day Adventists they have very bad backgrounds many of them well they said let's give it a try they worked with their teachers the ones who were there with the students and so they started teaching the students about the Bible started teaching them how to study the Bible started teaching them how to have devotions how to have a relationship with the Lord it was an ongoing process but now to date since 2004 when the school was started ninety nine percent of these students have left baptized seventh-day Adventist Christians does God's plan work please don't misunderstand this as critical but let's compare that to many of our modern educational systems where students go into these systems as seventh-day Adventist and not seventh-day Adventist I'll leave you to ponder that do God's methods work where are these young people going now they're now respected by their communities because they have a diploma behind their name they can now support themselves because they've learned a trade but most importantly they're going out as missionaries because they understand the truths that we have been entrusted with as a seventh-day Adventist Church they're going back to their villages transforming their villages because of the truths they have learned why do we not have a thousand such schools in every country on this earth we have a work to do we have been given a plan a plan of in many areas but a special plan in education a plan that will prepare a generation to finish the work on this earth to bring in the kingdom of God can we do it in one generation absolutely can did you know Martin Luther and melanchthon started a system of Christian schools in the nation of Germany and transformed the nation of Germany in one generation we have way more light than Luther ever had can we do it in one generation if we follow God's plan we have no reason to fear but if we do not follow the plan we have no reason to exist let us embrace the plan and let us have a reason for existence because in the presence of such a teacher of Jesus of such opportunity for divine education what worse than folly is it to seek an education apart from him to seek to be wise apart from wisdom to be true while rejecting truth to seek illumination apart from light and existence without the life to turn from the fountain of living waters and hewed out broken cisterns that can hold no water let us follow the plan let's close with prayer father in heaven thank you so much for the plan you have given us a plan which we know will work a plan which will set us apart forgive us lord please for not following your plan I pray that you'll inspire every one of us to follow that plan in our homes wherever possible in our schools because Lord we want to go home help us to raise that generation to finish the work you've given us to do thank you for the time we've had and we continue it to ask for your blessing as Sabbath draws near we are expecting anticipating a rich blessing this Sabbath and we ask in Jesus name Amen [Music] you

Channel: Autumn Leaves NZ

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Keywords: Joshua White - True Education - A Foundation, Joshua White, True Education - A Foundation, Autumn Leaves Bible Camp 2018, Autumn Leaves, Bible Camp 2018

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Length: 54min 14sec (3254 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 18 2018