For the more than 40 years that I have been involved in correspondence Bible school work, most of the appeals I have heard (and probably most that I have made) have been directed toward the elderly women of the church. The philosophy probably was something like this: Since the elderly women of the church have been relegated to the background and not been given much of anything to do in the church that is important, why not get them involved in this kind of work, whether it be local, national or worldwide?
There may be little wrong with that kind of philosophy except that it probably leaves the impression that this sort of work is of secondary importance, and is not really worthwhile except for those who cannot do anything else. If that impression is left on anyone, it is a tragic mistake and needs correction for three reasons. First, this work is not secondary. It is one of the ways of carrying out the primary task of the church. Second, elderly women can do many other kinds of things of value to the church. Third, this sort of work should receive the interest and participation of every segment of the church.
Can you imagine the fantastic results that would be achieved in carrying out the commission of our Lord if the young people of our congregations were challenged with the wonder, joy and value of getting involved in mission work through correspondence Bible school work in China, Africa, India, South America or anywhere in the world? There are many of them who may be tired of hay rides, hot dog roasts, outings of one sort or another that do very little for their spiritual hunger to do something valuable for the Lord and for the world (even if a “devotional” is tacked on somewhere). They could be challenged with this kind of project and could learn much about the Bible, and be highly motivated to do other kinds of “mission” work in the process.
When Caleb said, “Give me this mountain” in Joshua 14:12, he was not interested in some molehill. We have tried to challenge our young people too long with molehills, but I believe many of them would respond to the challenge of the mountains.
I took my first correspondence Bible course about 1945, while I was flying in B-17’s over Europe. I have been trying to encourage others to participate ever since. You do not have to use John Hurt’s, Monroe Hawley’s, Ivan Stewart’s, World Bible School’s or any particular one. If you have anything better, use it, but for heaven’s sake (and I mean that in a literal way), if you are not involved in personal evangelism in a personal way, you could at least get involved in impersonal evangelism, or personal evangelism in a less direct way. I especially urge you to try to harness the tremendous talent, ability and desire of our young people in the effort to evangelize by correspondence courses.
