A Youth Group Leader's Discussion Guide about the Rev. William P. Alexander's Early LIfe

 

By Lesley Barker

Each week, we post about a famous Kentucky Christian whose life can be used as an aspirational example for today’s Kentucky children and youth. Each blog gives a small glimpse of the life of the featured Kentuckian along with a suggested approach that a children’s ministry or youth group leader can use in a two-minute presentation or, as this post suggests, for a more in-depth discussion. This week’s famous Kentucky Christian is William P. Alexander, an early missionary to the South Pacific islands of Hawaii and the Marquesas.

He was born in Paris, Kentucky in 1805. As a boy, he watched his father model a Christian life-style. He attempted to emulate this, but even praying three times a day, he felt no change. Perhaps some of your students have been trying to copy what they see adult Christians do, thinking that the behaviors will make them close to God. By showing that this famous missionary was frustrated by an inability to connect with God when he was a young boy, you may be able to expose the hearts of some of your students who may be in a similar dilemma.

By the time William was 15 when his father died, he gave himself “up to the power of sin restrained only by the pride of character”[1]. Members of your youth group may be able to relate to this decision. This was a teen boy’s decision in 1820 but it is one that many teens resort to today. What do the youth in your group think led him to give up on God? What do they think will happen to him next? Tell them that by the time William was 22, just seven years later; he had dedicated himself to serve Jesus Christ as Lord, been called to foreign missions, attended theology school and been ordained. What do the youth in your group think may have happened to shift his attitude?

William was an enthusiastic student. He kept a journal since he was a young boy in which he recorded his thoughts about math. He studied Latin and Greek at the Bourbon Academy in Paris, Kentucky. When he was just 19, he was hired by Centre College in Danville to “take charge of the mathematical department”[2]. Obviously William was very intelligent and gifted in math. Yet, he became a missionary to the islands of the South Pacific. Do your students think this makes sense?

William’s brother, Samuel, gave his life to Jesus Christ about this time which had a serious effect on William. He “tried to get [out] from under the power of sin, in order that [he] might with more face apply to the Saviour for help; for still my proud heart was unwilling to renounce everything and to receive salvation without price”[3]. Ask your students if they have experienced frustration in trying to approach God. Discuss how the Bible frames the exchange between God and people. Have they encountered anyone who tried to reach God on their own terms? What could William mean by linking his salvation to a commitment to renounce everything? How do the students understand William’s assessment that there is no price that we must pay for salvation? Can your students clearly explain the Christian message of salvation?

Back in Paris, William heard a series of sermons about the Holy Spirit which changed his approach to God. He “abhorred [himself] on account of sin, and the truth that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin’ was very precious to me. I recognized God as my Father, reconciled through His dear Son”[4]. Here William shows that he understands that the Christian doctrine of salvation begins with the recognition that, apart from the blood of Jesus Christ, there is no remedy for sin. With a confession of sin, he realized, there is a way to both approach and become reconciled and accepted by God. The Christian understanding is that this way is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On New Year’s Day 1825, when William was 20, he wrote a personal dedication to God in His journal. He said, “Now Jehovah, I give myself to Thee, body and soul, and all that Thou hast given me. I place all in the hands of a Faithful Creator. Help me ever to act for Thee, not for myself”[5]. Have any of the students in your youth group made this kind of commitment to God? What led them to do it? How did they specifically dedicate themselves to God? Do any of them keep a spiritual journal that their children and grandchildren may read in years to come? William signed this dedication prayerfully: “Give me humility, whilst I subscribe my worthless name, Wm. P. Alexander”[6].

No one would have predicted that this gifted math student who studied Latin and Greek and was teaching college math by the time he was 19 years old would be one of the early missionaries to the South Pacific, avoiding cannibals and riding on whaling ships. But, once he gave his life to Jesus Christ, he relinquished the rights to predetermine his own path. The path he followed according to his faith in God led him on adventures that no one could have imagined. Are your students ready to trust the adventures that may ensue if they make a similar personal commitment and full dedication to God?

 

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[1] James M. Alexander. Mission Life in Hawaii: Memoirs of Rev. William P. Alexander. 1888. Pacific Press Publishing Co. KINDLE Edition.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

Kentucky's Cloud of Witnesses & Emma C. Clement's Story

By Lesley Barker

Each week we introduce another famous Kentucky Christian as an aspirational example for today’s Kentucky children. These men and women make up what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews calls the “great cloud of witnesses”. They are people who were born in Kentucky, lived here and worked here. Some were enslaved. Others were privileged. All of the Kentuckians we feature gave public affirmation that they had believed and accepted the Christian message and were living, as much as they could, in an active relationship and submission to Jesus Christ. All of them have since died but, their faith and their own words attest to the fact that they believed that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they could lay claim to an eternal life. The writer to the Hebrews envisioned the believers who had preceded him in death as a cloud of witnesses who are actively watching what the ones on earth are doing, deciding, enduring, suffering and expecting.

If we were to imagine a Kentucky cloud of such witnesses, one grand-daughter of slaves, Emma C. Clement, would be there. She came to Kentucky with her pastor husband after they both graduated from Livingstone College in North Carolina. This school was run by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) church. Credentialed for the ministry, the Clement’s became the pastors of an AME Zion church in Louisville. They had seven children, all of whom graduated from Livingstone College and became successful in their professions. After her husband died, Emma Clement continued living in Louisville, serving the church and her community. People who knew her called her “the most church-going and charitable woman ever”[1]. People noticed that her life matched her faith. She had a good reputation with her friends and at her church. Other people found out about her. She became known throughout the country. What made her famous? She did not discover the cure for cancer or build an amazing tower or go to the moon. Her fame came from her faithfulness to be a good mother to her children and a good example in her church and community.

On May 1, 1946, Emma Clement became the first African American woman to be named the American Mother-of-the-Year. The citation read: “A mother of children who are devotedly serving their country and their people, a partner in her husband’s ministry in his lifetime, a social and community worker in her own right.”[2]She did not receive this honor in her own right. Instead, she accepted it “in the name of millions of Negroes in the United States and in the name of all mothers”[3]. After she died, an elementary school in Atlanta, Georgia, was named the Emma C. Clement Elementary School.

Emma Clement was a famous Kentucky Christian. Now, according to her faith in God, she is in heaven where she can watch what today’s Kentucky Christians are doing. Her story shows that faithfulness and integrity, friendship and humility are rewarded. People notice these virtues on earth and, if you believe what the Bible indicates, God rewards them in heaven. How do the students in your Sunday School class or youth group want to be remembered? Does this simple story of a famous Kentucky woman who was honored for being a good mother inspire your students to set goals for faith, faithfulness and humility?

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[1] Mildred Europa Taylor. “Emma C. Clement Became the First Black American Mother of the Year Award Winner on This Day in 1946.” Face2Face Africa. 2019. ONLINE at https://face2faceafrica.com/article/emma-c-clement-became-the-first-black-woman-to-win-american-mother-of-the-year-award-on-this-day-in-1946. ACCESSED 10/21/2020

[2] Ibid.

[3] A.A. Dunnigan. “News From Our File: 50 Years Ago”. The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians. ONLINE at African American Registry. https://aaregistry.org. ACCESSED 12/5/2019

A President, a Praying Wife and a Plague

 By Lesley Barker

Perhaps your youth group would be interested in drawing a comparison between the cholera epidemic of 1849 and the current COVID-19 pandemic. This may prompt a conversation about the role of prayer and fasting as spiritual strategies to shift adverse circumstances on the earth. It may motivate the students to take more public stands rooted in their personal faith towards God or for an evaluation of how influential their own devotional lives could be.

For the past eight months the COVID-19 virus has ravaged the world, interrupting everything. People have compared this plague to the Spanish Flu from a century ago. In 1849, the world was touched by a different illness, cholera. About 150,000 Americans died that year from cholera. It was such a serious problem that Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, who is not known for his personal prayer life, sponsored a joint resolution in Congress to ask the president to declare a “Day of Public Humiliation, Prayer and Fasting to be observed by the people of the United States with religious solemnity”[1]. The president, who was not very religious either, agreed. On July 3, 1849 President Taylor made a proclamation setting the first Friday of August, a month later, for the whole country to put aside time for prayer. It may be fitting to contrast the humility of this petition with our nation’s attitude towards our current pandemic. This is the proclamation that President Taylor made:

“At a season when the providence of God has manifested itself in the visitation of a fearful pestilence which is spreading itself throughout the land, it is fitting that a people whose reliance has ever been in His protection should humble themselves before His throne, and, while acknowledging past transgressions, ask a continuance of the Divine mercy. It is therefore earnestly recommended that the first Friday in August be observed throughout the United States as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer… It is recommended to all persons of all religious denominations to abstain as far as practical from secular occupations and to assemble in their respective places of public worship, to acknowledge the Infinite Goodness which has watched over our existence as a nation, and so long crowned us with manifold blessings, and to implore the Almighty in His own good time to stay the destroying hand which is now lifted up against us.”[2]

 Zachary Taylor, from Louisville, Kentucky, was the twelfth president of the United States. President Taylor did not belong to any church. He was not known to be particularly religious. However, he did fear God enough to refuse to take the presidential oath of office on a Sunday. His wife, Peggy, though, was a devout Christian. She spent her days in prayer beginning each morning at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House.  Mrs. Taylor neither hosted nor attended galas at the White House. Her daughter, Betty, took that role. Mrs. Taylor did involve herself in more intimate meetings and dinners with dignitaries and politicians but she has been judged to have been one of the least effective first ladies in history. When a Baptist Sunday School group visited the White House on July 4, 1849, Peggy Taylor was there to receive them. Later that year she was honored with a lifetime membership in the American Sunday School Union. [3]

Could it be that Mrs. Taylor was the influence behind president’s decision to call for a national day of humiliation? According to author, Tim O’Neil, this was effective to turn the tide. He wrote: “The number of deaths [from cholera] dropped suddenly in August.”

Do your students think this example from history has any relevance for today?

 

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[1] Federer, Bill. “President Zachary Taylor- Man of Faith”. A Minute with Bill Federer.July 9, 2015.

[2] Ibid.

[3] First Lady Biography: Margaret Taylor. ONLINE. www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=13. Accessed 4/27/2020.

Carl Brashear's Superpower Was Faith in Jesus Christ

 

By Lesley Barker PhD

Children are infatuated with superheroes. They talk about their special powers. They watch cartoons where superhero characters depend on their super powers. They play video games where they take on the personae of superheroes who can gain power and even additional lives to use after they have “died”. These imaginary adventures can seem to be more compelling than what happens in real life unless the children can be introduced to people whose lives prove that it is possible to be an overcomer. For the Christian, the superpower that works against all odds is faith in Jesus Christ. One way to introduce the idea of overcoming by faith is to share the stories of famous Kentucky Christians who had to face obstacles and still achieved amazing things. Carl Brashear is one such person. This is the story of his life.

Carl Brashear was born on January 19, 1931. He was one of eight children. The family lived in Larue County in a small house without running water or electricity. He attended a small segregated school and, when he was 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy where he became a diver. When Brashear reflected on his childhood he said “My father was my inspiration”. He remembered that “we had a lot of love in our family”. He thought “our faith is what kept us going”. However, his life was not always easy. As an African American diver in the Navy, Brashear faced a lot of prejudice. He wanted to be a Master Diver but no African Americans had ever qualified for that rank. Some people tried to keep him from advancing. Then, he went on a dive to disable a bomb but it exploded under water and he lost one of his legs. Did this disaster stop Carl Brashear from his goal of becoming a Master Diver with the Navy? He did not need two legs to dive or swim. He could still do a good job. He never quit. He kept working and retired as the first African American Master Diver. He said, “It’s not a sin to get knocked down. It’s a sin to stay down.” Talking about Carl Brashear, his brother Philip said, “With God’s help no dream is impossible”.

These broad strokes of Carl Brashear’s life paint a picture of a man who overcame many difficulties. He grew up poor. He faced persecution because of his race. His goal was to be the first African American to do something that many people did not want him to accomplish but he kept going. He suffered pain and became disabled but even that did not stop him from doing what he had set out to do.  He honored his father and he did not turn away from the faith his parents instilled in him when he was a child.

The children in your Sunday School classes and youth groups may have faced similar adversities including poverty, prejudice and pain. They may feel that God has abandoned them or that their parents do not understand what they are going through. By combining what the Bible has to say about overcoming by faith with the true story of this famous Kentucky Christian, your students may be challenged to pattern themselves after Carl Brashear’s testimony. Hold up his example as a famous Kentucky Christian and set it as a goal. How will you become a famous Kentucky Christian? How will you use your superpower of faith in Jesus Christ to inspire others to know and follow Him?

Follow this blog to learn more stories of famous Kentucky Christians that you can use with your children’s church, Sunday School or youth group. Post about how the children you minister to respond to these simple stories. Send us suggestions for famous Kentucky Christians that we may not know about.