Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

come only from our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.Christian education then must impart a knowledgeof the nature and character of God as revealed in HisWord, and of man's essential relationship to God asa being created in His image and to that extent apartaker of divine nature, thus man is related toGod in a father and son relationship; that man byhis disobedience severed that relationship and set upself as an independent being. It still fails to be Christian education unless it imparts a knowledge of thePerson of Christ and of. His atoning death for thesins of the world, etc.The question now arises can Mission Schoolsthat have been established to give a general androunded education be genuine Christian schools?They receive pupils from varied religious backgrounds or of no religion at all. Are such schools freeto follow through with a system of genuine Christian education? They are free to teach the Bible inall classes. At least they were free previous to theworld revolution which has brought with it a rebellion against Colonialism and a resurgence of Nationalism. This has brought a limitation in Syria.But where there is such freedom there is no reasonwhy the Mission school cannot be a Bible-centeredschool in the meaning outlined above. Of course thatwill depend in large measure whether teachers canbe secured who are at the same time qualified toteach the subjects assigned and are genuine believers in the Bible revelation. Whether a Mission schooloffering a program of general education is equippedto teach properly concerning the problem of evil inthe world and of sin in the human heart and of theBible remedy for sin, is another question. It can ifall of its teachers are genuine evangelical Christians.If it is not possible to have all its teachers evangelicalChristians, what then ? Well, then it is an imperfectinstrument, but still an instrument that the HolySpirit can use so long as the total witness of theschool is a witness for Christ. So long as the Schoolkeeps the ideal before it and is constantly seeking forconsecrated teachers it is a school that the HolySpirit can use. There is always the temptation tocompromise, and the pressure to lower the standardfor the sake of a larger school or for more income,but that is true not only of a Mission school but ofall of us wherever we are.It must be remembered too that the Missionschool is an instrument for creating opportunities forthe Gospel. The itinerant evangelist is regarded withsuspicion, and doors are closed to him more quicklythan to others. The school opens a door not onlyto the mind and heart of the pupil but also to thehome from which he comes, and to the village inwhich his home is. Both would be completely closedto the itinerant evangelist if the school has not firstopened the door. Even where the school is not free toteach the Bible to all students it is still free for personal workers to present Christ in a winsome way.The Mission school is a place of opportunities. An advertisement of Westmont College has the question,"What make a College Christian?" The answer givenis, "It is the presence of Christ on a campus thatmakes a college genuinely Christian." What makesa Mission school Christian? It is the presence ofChrist in the school. If our schools in Syria and Cyprus have Christ in their midst then that is ampleauthority for their existence in the fulfilment of Hispurpose.294Greetings and Appreciation FromLatakiaBy Marjorie Allen SandersonDear Covenanter Friends,Greetings again from Latakia. After an absenceof about fourteen-and-a-half months we are glad tobe back in our second home in Syria and among thosewhom we love here. We see some changes here butnot as many as I had expected. I suppose that was bycontrast to the many changes we saw in the UnitedStates after an absence of six years, such as, children grown up, older friends snowing signs of ageor having passed away, etc.It was a real privilege and spiritual blessing tous to be home for the past year. We gained a betterperspective on our work here. We saw the manyproblems that confront the individual congregationsat home, thus realizing that not all the problemswere ours to solve ; as well as seeing many encouraging signs, such as interest in personal evangelism inour church at home. We gained new appreciation ofour church principles from our classes in our Seminary as well as helpful ideas and thoughts to passalong in our work here. It was fine to see old friendsagain and make new friendships. For all these thingswe are thankful to God, as well as His care over usin our travels to and from the United States andwithin it.We would like to express our thanks to the Synodical for the fine going away gift that was delivered to us on the boat before we sailed on September 9. It was pleasant to have the fellowship of MissMcElroy and to be able to join in family worship together each day. On the whole the passengers in ourclass on the "Andria Doria" were rather uninteresting, many of them being Italians who were returningfrom Canada to Italy either to visit or remain permanently. The lady in the cabin next to us told meshe hadn't seen her mother for twenty-six years. Atthat time she had left Italy for the U. S. as a bride.Another younger woman told me that her motherhad gone back to visit her former home, Italy, in1950 after an absence offorty years. She was greatlysurprised to find her young nieces smoking anddoing other things of which she did not approve, andfinally after two months there when her sisters became quite disgusted with her because she hadlowered herself (?) by helping the servant make thebed she decided to cut her year's visit short andwrote home to her children asking them to send herthe money to come home and writing, "I no likkaItaly."This girl said she was now going over to visither relatives and see for herself what it was like.We do "likka Syria" and are glad to be back.It was a realjoy to see Miss McClurkin on the dockin Beirut waving to us as we landed in Beirut onSeptember 23. We got our things through customswithout much trouble and up to the garage fromwhich cars leave for Latakia. Then we really knewwe were back in Syria, for we spent the better partof two hours arguing off and on about the price of acar to bring us and our luggage up to Latakia. Thegarage people did not want to keep their originalpromise as to amount charged and since there wasCOVENANTER WITNESS