“Before the boys got to his house the man was getting ready for bed.  He had fixed the furnace, and had his bath robe on when the door-bell rang.  He had just said to his wife that he did not think any one would call that night, and it was then about nine-thirty.  When the bell rang his wife snickered,’ as he put it.  He went down stairs, turned the gas on low, and opened the door.  Three older fellows stood on the porch.  He looked at them and they at him and then he asked them in.  They filed in—­fellows 17 and 18 years of age.  He led the way into the library, like a monk in flowing robes, and the three fellows followed.  Seating themselves solemnly they stated the cause of their visit, and he started to remonstrate, etc.  They settled themselves comfortably in their chairs, and said they had come to camp there until he ‘saw it.’  This is the man’s own story.  He said that when he saw they were in earnest he told them he would like to teach a class of fellows such as they, and that he would take the class if they would get on the job.”

=The Teen Age Older Boy as Teacher=

Increasing attention is being given in some places to the training of older boys for the teaching of younger groups in the Sunday school.  On “Decision Day” volunteers are being asked to enter a Training Class, and choice Christian boys are in this way being interested in the teaching work of the school.  In other places older boys are being put in charge of younger boys’ classes, and are meeting, either on Sunday or on a week-night, for training.  This latter plan affords real laboratory work, without which teacher-training courses are pure theory.  We learn by doing.

The teen age boy as teacher will ultimately solve the problem of the teen age teaching force.  As Japan, Corea, India and China must eventually be Christianized by native Christian forces, so the teen age in the Sunday school will, of necessity, in principle and practice, be led by the teen age.  The duty of the missionary in non-christian lands is to train the native forces for the task of Christianizing these lands; likewise, the men of this Sunday school generation must lead and train the older adolescent in the Secondary Division of the school for the leading of the teen age into the service of the church.

PREPARATION FOR TEACHING

The really great task of the Christian adult and older boy in the Sunday school is a real training for service.  Stopping the leak from the teen age in the Sunday school will never be accomplished until workers are willing to prepare and equip themselves to a point where their wisdom, ability and consecration will attract the active minds of the teen boys.  Every teacher should be an International Standard Teacher Training graduate.  Information concerning this course can be obtained from any Sunday School Association.

PATIENCE NECESSARY IN THE TEACHER