Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

morrow,"auditorium."chaplain,"about?"say."prayer."experience,"youth."Christ, The Need of Our School LeadershipAlice F. BlackwoodWith the nation's war crop of children bulgingour schools today beyond capacity of space, equipment and teachers, what answer has the school forthe headlong speed of today's youth into delinquencyand crime?Most criminals began their training in crime inschool days, and often in school, according to thetestimony of hundreds of prisoners in penitentiariesacross the nation, to Roy Hall, National Prison Chaplain of the last decade. But it was while addressinga high school assembly in a Pennsylvania city duringhis national chaplaincy he found an answer for decreasing juvenile crime. That answer is a strongChristian leadership in our schools."Won't you please speak to our high school students in assembly?"a woman implored after an evening service that the chaplain held in a city missionduring his visit to the city's penitentiary.Mr. Hall thought it over. Then with his usualdispatch, he called the high school superintendentthat night, asking permission to address his assemblythe next day. "As a prison Hall explained,"I would like the opportunity to tell your young folkhow to stay out of prison. Of course, in talking to ourprisoners, I tell them how to get out.""No, it will be impossible to have assembly tooame the reply. "I'm expecting painters tobe working in the"Well, why don't you let me come. Then, if yourpainters don't show up, we will have an assembly.0. K. ?"It was Mr. Hall, not the painters who showed upat the school the next morning. Just before he wentonto the platform to speak, the superintendent askedHall, "What are you going to talk"My Lord.""None of that stuff! If you start preaching, Iwill stop you. Tell them about your prison work. Say,I hear you are a former prize fighter; tell themabout that."As the superintendent joined his faculty at therear of the auditorium, Hall felt he was standingbefore a firing squad. Momentarily hampered inspirit, he began talking about his prison experiences.Finally, he switched to the story of two men inprison, Paul and "Si." He told the students that Pauland "Si," though chained in prison, were singing andpraying. Eight hundred students hung on everyword as Hall revealed the manner in which God answered the prayers of these men of olden times ;how the prison shook, the windows rattled, doors felloff their hinges, and the chains dropped from theprisoners, setting them free.When he began making application of the story,telling the students that they are bound with chainsof sin until set free by Jesus Christ, Hall saw thesuperintendent coming toward him. Immediatelyhe switched back to his own experiences. But bygrasping every opportunity, he injected doses of thegood news of the gospel into his talk. Several timesthe superintendent got up, started for the front ofthe room, but for some reason always stopped in histracks.August 25, 1954Meantime, however, the prison chaplain hadgiven his students the story of the Christ who diedfor their sins, was buried, rose again, and is nowin heaven to intercede for them.Could he pray with the students ? He could seerage mountingon the flushed faces of some ofthe'teachers, but he felt the Spirit leading. In a voice so'calm that it surprised himself, he asked the assemblyto bow their heads in prayer. While it is faith alone'that can save, he said simply, prayer often opens theheart to receive faith. He wondered if the superintendent were waiting until the "preacher" reachedthe climax of his service to crack down upon himwith Satanic fury and ridicule?But outwardly calm, Mr. Hall continued. "Howmany of you young men and women want to knowthe Lord personally? As many as do, please standand follow me in There was a slight shuffling of feet. Were they still with him, he wondered,or was this the turning-back point?Mr. Hall continued to speak quietly but directlyto the students ; "You will talk to the Lord silentlywhile I pray audibly, but you must mean every wordyouBy some strange compulsion, the entire studentbody rose to its feet.After the prayer, Hall dared to play one morehand for his Lord. He said to the future citizens ofAmerica standing there before him, "While yourheads are still bowed, how many of you can say,me?""Thank you, God, for savingThen, from the length and breadth of that largeauditorium there arose countless muffled and someexplosive expressions of thanksgiving to God. Thesewere voices of new-born babes in Christ minglingwith the praises of those being spiritually revived.Although Mr. Hall said he made as quick a getaway from the school as courtesy would allow, numbers of students insisted upon learning when theycould speak with him further about their spiritualneeds."It was thissaid Mr. Hall, "thateyes to the desperate need of Christ inopened mythe school rooms of ourSchooling itself, he would have us remember, isan impersonal thing, offering little guidance in rightliving, and no safeguards for our children againstsin and crime. If we would stop our schools fromfeeding our penitentiaries, we must have men andwomen of Christian character and courage teachingour children and superintending our teachers.(Peter Tanis, real name of the above mentionedformer national prison chaplain) .CURRENT EVENTS Continued from page 114than five per cent of the automobile business. ChryslerMotors has also slipped badly this year. Ford and GeneralMotors now have more than 80 per cent of the domestic carmarketa situation which seems quite unhealthy if oneaccepts the virtues of competition.115