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Now we haven't been able to do it all at once. Perhaps some of
you students having come right from high school may still want to go
along with this world. But you have come to a college that is not
of this world, and is not going to be of this world! We're going to,
as far as possible, enforce God's way in this college. On the other
hand, we're not going to come to the place where you have to get
permission to go to the prayer room and someone keeps tabs on how
many minutes you spend in the prayer room, or where you have to get
permission if you need to go to the toilet. We're not going to
leglislate quite that far, if you know what I mean. But this is
going to be God's college. And we've had to restart it with the one
freshman class only.
The only reason I originally needed a college was that God had
called me into His Work. I was holding evangelistic campaigns up in
Oregon and Washington six nights a week and very often for six whole
weeks in a campaign. Some of them were shorter. But in every case,
God (well, shall I say in Bible language) gave me "fruit" -- there
were converts. And I baptized people. Now perhaps I baptized some
that weren't as thoroughly converted as I thought. Maybe I didn't
understand it as thoroughly then as I do now. Nevertheless, I felt
they were converted and they certainly accepted the truth. So I
tried to form them into little churches, but there was no local
minister to take care of these people. And not one of those churches
ever lasted more than about six weeks. Most of them didn't last that
long. I came to see that we had to have a school to train not only
ministers, but also to have an educated personnel for all of the
administrative jobs that were becoming necessary in a fast-growing
Work that has now grown worldwide -- a great worldwide Work.
Did you know that the sun never sets on the offices of this
Work? Somewhere there are men in our employ at all hours of the day
and night because where it's night here, it's day somewhere else
such as in the Philippines, in South Africa or in some other part of
the world where we have an office. It has grown into a very great
Work.
Now then, you are the "pioneer" students. And a whole lot of
what goes on from here depends on how well you students do this
year. If you still love the world, if you still love Satan's way,
and if you still want to go that way, you would probably get expelled
before the year is out anyway. And I mean business. Don't think I
don't now, because I tell you, I'm not pussyfooting around and kidding
any longer. On the other hand, we're not going to rule with such an
iron fist that we try to legislate character into you. You have to
develop your own character.
Here's what I want and what we will have, unless you students
want to go ahead in the wrong way. This would be just another
college like they have in the world if you won't yield yourself to
God's way. But this college is going to be built God's way unlike
any other college on earth -- totally unique. There is no college
on earth like this college.