The Knox Memorial Church was selected as a good location for a model Sunday school for Manila. "Some special money from the Board of Sunday Schools Grant was appropriated to provide additional equipment, such as tables, chairs, blackboards, maps, sand boxes, etc. Classes were graded. Teacher training was stressed. Graded lessons were introduced in the Elementary Department. The results have exceeded expectations. The success has been actually embarrassing. That large church has become too small for the class work. The enrollment is about 850. On a recent Sunday there were more than 600 present. The rooms of the Harris Memorial Training School adjoining the church, are now used every Sunday for class room purposes in connection with this Sunday school. . . . With such zeal as this it is not surprising that the Knox Memorial Church also records 315 additions to the church during the year, most of whom came up through the Sunday school." The present enrollment in the Sunday schools of the Philippines is 63,627. There are 934 organized Sunday schools, with 4,414 teachers. These are shown by communions in the chapter on statistics. That the Sunday school must tremendously enlarge its functions is evidenced by the growing demand for the religious instruction of youth. Everywhere the feeling grows that it would be fatal to leave the young generation without proper religious training. If the demand for religious instruction in public schools is denied, then the only organization which offers promise of meeting that need is the Sunday school. Book Four PART VIII: THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE CHAPTER XXV DORMITORIES Dr. David P. Barrows, when Director of Education in the Philippines, said to the missionaries, "You are missing a great opportunity in not providing more dormitories. The government is not in a position to do this work, but will welcome it on the part of the churches." As the number of high grade students increased each year, pouring into Manila and other provincial centers to complete their education, and seeking for accommodations at reasonable rates, the need of these dormitories 1 became more acute. The first dormitory to be opened by an evangelical mission was Ellinwood, which was built in Manila in 1904 as a training school for ministers. Its spare room was used for students attending other institutions of the city. Hundreds of young men look back upon that dormitory and upon Dr. George William Wright, its director, with gratitude for visions of the Christ life which have clung to them through all succeeding years. The association of the dormitory men with students for the ministry has been beneficial spiritually and has cemented many permanent friendships. Large numbers of these men are now loyal supporters of the evangelical churches in their home communities, and a considerable number of them have decided to enter the Christian ministry. The late W. P. Eveland, Bishop of the Methodist Church in the Philippines from 1912 to 1916, was convinced that dor They are called "hostels" in other lands. |