“The pictures are forbidden by God’s Word.”

An Unexpected Objection

That was the objection some believers raised when Mildred first showed them her teaching methods in Czechoslovakia. Coming out of a tradition heavy with religious imagery, Czechs who had come out of Roman Catholic backgrounds often objected to her colourful visual aids. To them, the pictures looked like images.

She gently explained the difference. “The pictures,” Mildred said, “are only an artist’s impression.” They weren’t objects of worship — they were simply there to help children understand the story. Slowly the worry gave way to wonder. Pastors who watched her teach said her flannelgraph methods were “like magic,” and they began to ask for her help.

A Harvest of Thousands

The fruit came quickly. At one teachers’ conference she gave away a copy of the booklet Child Evangelism — and the response was so strong she gave away a great many. There were 3,000 people at that conference.

Adults were as moved as the children. After one children’s meeting near Prague, the boys and girls asked her, “Couldn’t we have Sunday school?” Permission was granted, and on Sunday she taught a class of around forty children, plus some 300 young people and adults. Two girls said they wanted to lead the group, so the children could go on learning about Jesus.

“It Is Harvest Time”

In a state church on the Polish border, her 1948 meetings drew literally thousands. In one place, more than 2,000 people sat for hours listening to the Gospel across two Sunday services. She held daily meetings for the children and stayed far longer than planned — ten days holding meeting after meeting — because the doors simply kept opening. “It is harvest time,” she wrote home.

*This story is taken from the book Harvest Comes in Spring by Ruth E. Turnwall, a former CEF worker.

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