Training
Children
26 May 2002
Our Lord Christ blessed us with a wonderful meeting last
night, with visitors from Starland and elsewhere attending.
Brother Gary brought up the subject of training children.
Herb Waldner shared two points that were discussed in
detail. The first, that we as parents easily overlook what
others see in our children. For that reason we need one
another in the Lord’s church to train them. Like the
Africans said, “It takes the whole village to raise one
child.” The Spirit of Christ within us makes us welcome the
help of others and we do not fear, in Christian fellowship,
to have our children submit to authority other than our
own. We welcome it, in fact, and rejoice that they learn to
work with all the brothers and sisters, and under a variety
of teachers in different classrooms and jobs assigned.
Brother Gary emphasised the fact that even though we
recognise the worth of “home schooling” where no other good
options exist, we hold the education of children in a
Christian community of infinitely greater value.
The second point was that we cannot possibly have a loving
and constructive relationship with our children if we do
not have it with Christ. Out of that comes unity between
husbands and wives, and finally unity in the home, school,
and communal work force.
Somewhere in the discussion Grandpa Jakob Wurtz stood up
and said, “I am not a writer that could put together a book
on how to raise children, but one thing I know—we had
fifteen of them and every one was different. We had to
learn how to deal with them as they come. And one of the
most important things is not to tell them twice. Tell them
what they must do and if they do not listen, take action.
Children learn easier than we think. To have obedient
children is not at all impossible.”
Some of us talking after the meeting agreed that Grandpa
did in fact write a book. Every one of his fifteen children
grew up to love the Lord and serve him. Every one of them
(still living) is friendly and outgoing. He has a vast
number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all in
godly homes. What book could speak more powerfully than
that?
A saying of Grandpa’s father, Joseph Wurtz of the Bon Homme
Colony, was also remembered. When one of his sons became a
school teacher he said, “Sollst niemals vergessen, es gibt
viele Zuchtmeister, aber wenig Lehrmeister.” (There are
many disciplinarians but few real teachers.)
We depend on Jesus to help us train our children.