Eastern Mennonite School - Shenandoah Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

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Y. P. C. A. Activities The aim of the Y. P.C. A. is “to enlist the co-operation of all Christian students in order to strengthen the spiritual life of the school; to promote growth in Christian character, fellowship, and aggressive Christian work, especially by and for the students; to train its members for Christian service; and to lead them to devote their lives to Jesus Christ and the extension of His church.” However, without consecrated students who wholeheartedly serve their Master these objectives would have little effect. Various committees are appointed which provide for the different functions of the Association. The cabinet is composed of the chairmen of these committees, the officers of the Association, and three faculty advisers. Each week is begun with the Mission Prayer Meeting held at six o'clock on Sunday morning. The Missions Committee has charge of these inspirational, inter- cessory meetings. This committee provides for the gospel teams which are sent out and the misison study classes which are conducted during the last semester of each year. At two o'clock each Sunday afternoon many students meet in their respective groups to receive “power” before taking the Gospel to the prisoners at the Harrison- burg jail, to the poor in the City Alms House, to the shut-ins at the County Alms House, and to conduct cottage meetings in the homes of needy souls. Once a month “The Way” is distributed to all the homes in Harrisonburg and in the hospital. On Saturday evenings street meetings are held at Grottoes and Elkton, alternately, to those who are loitering on the streets. All this work is carried on by the Prison Workers’ Committee, City Workers’ Committee, Rural Workers’ Committee, and the Tract Committee, respectively. We know that those who receive Christ through the efforts of our organization are made happy and we are just as sure that those who tell the Gospel message receive many blessings in doing so. The Young People’s Bible Meeting held each Sunday evening is devoted to the consideration of Christian topics and especially upon the distinctive doctrines of our Church. The quiet devotional hours are among the things which are most appreciated and the longest remembered of the days spent at E. M.S. The Devotions Committee provides for an hour of devotion every Friday morning. Each day is begun with songs, Scripture reading, and prayer in the dining hall and it is closed with vital discussions and prayer in the prayer circles. Realizing that Christian fellowship is essential to Christian growth, the Y. P. C. A., through the Social Committees, provides for the social functions of the School. Get-acquainted socials, trips to scenic points, and those memorable Thanks- gi ving and Christmas socials all give variety to the steady routine of school life and help us to know each other better. The students appreciate the assistance which the Employment Committee gives them in securing work. The Finance Committee gives valuable service in raising and distributing funds needed to carry on the work of the organization. With work of such constructive and uplifting characteristics the Y. P. C. A. has proven itself a valuable asset to student life in the E. M. S. God has blessed its work in the past and our prayer is that in the future its good work may continue. —Margaret Shenk. Page Thirty

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Cabinet e A i] C @ P eo N'G Skating Studious Students e Twenty-nine Pag

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An Appreciation “Esteem them highly for their work’s sake” Many and varied are the influences that mold our lives; godly parents, ministers, Sunday-school teachers, and so on. In many of us the influence of our alma mater is stamped deeply; time and eternity will never erase it. Though we are scattered to many states of the union and to foreign shores, memory still serves us and we ap- preciate the sincere efforts put forth by “our school” to provide Christian education and teaching for us. Our school has been in existence for a little over two decades. She has grown in influence in many ways. Through her hundreds of lives have been touched by the Christ whom she serves. The great standards of Christ and His Gospel have been defended within her walls. We rejoice to see her continue. We wish for more in- stitutions like her because modern education has lost the Christian ideals for which E. M.S. stands. A school spirit of worldliness and pleasure pervades in our modern schools but the Spirit of Christ is the school-spirit of our alma mater. The Word of God is her sure foundation; its principles of Christian living are her guide. Her alumni have implicit faith and confidence in E. M. S. Just so long as she rests on her present foundation, the Word of God, just so long shall we pledge our allegiance to her. Her motto, “Thy Word is truth,” indicates at once where she stands. The foundation is durable. We live in a world where we can expect most anything. The things of yesterday are gone. Government policies and boundary lines of nations may be changed tomorrow, but the Word of God shall not change. Our beloved school shall remain in face of the hell fire of modern criticism. Long before she existed her foundations stood and they shall continue to stand, for it is easier for Heaven and earth to pass away than for the Word of God to pass away. We also think of the contribution she has made to us. It is primarily spiritual. The world’s need is not met by intellectual giants, but by spiritual leaders. “To know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, this is life eternal.” No man or woman is ready to meet life’s responsibility without a spiritual experience with Jesus Christ. The graduate who receives a diploma and has not learned to know Him has an education that is incomplete. As alumni many of us rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory for the Christ we found at our beloved church school. Should time continue, may there be representatives of this humble institution scattered to other shores and to the utmost boundaries of mankind to tell what they have found. —Moses Slabaugh. Page Thirty-one