Written by Van Yandell
Acts 10: 34-35 NKJV “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
February was recognized as National Career and Technical Education month. To have a special month to recognize the careers in the Vocational-Technical areas is more important in America today than ever. Vocations in the trades seem to be showing as much or more promise for young people entering the world of work than many other educational opportunities.
One of the classes I taught in industrial arts was manufacturing processes. An integral part of all industrial education is to teach the materials, tools and processes used in industry.
There are two principle areas of industry: the construction industry and the manufacturing industry. Manufacturing experienced a phenomenal change when Eli Whitney conceived the system of interchangeable parts in 1798.
Whitney received an order, with a deadline, from the military for 10,000 muskets. There was no way he could have met that deadline if every part was individually produced. The requirement imposed upon him made imperative the innovation of a new production method.
A result of this system was the assembly line method of production used by Henry Ford in 1913. Because of this new manufacturing method called “mass production,” consumers are capable of purchasing items that before, would have been economically impossible.
The old method was to build one item at time (custom produced) which placed many products out of reach of the typical consumer.
As a part of the manufacturing class, the students set up an assembly line to produce a product. We built tables, lamps, clocks and numerous other projects. Each student had a specific job to do on the product and had an active part in production.
I really preferred the students select the project we were going to mass produce. This gave them an “ownership” by their participation. In churches, Christians participate partly for the blessing but being active in the work is beneficial beyond the understanding of non-participating members.
In one class a student suggested we build toys for Christmas presents for community children. Some families did not have the financial resources of others and Christmas, for some children, meant going without a single toy.
The thought had never crossed my mind so I had to put on my thinking cap to make this work. I had purchased several poplar 4” x 4”s for students to use for lathe turning. The idea was to plane them into squared and smooth pieces; then we cut them to length.
The artistically talented students drew silhouettes of cars, vans, trucks, etc., and transferred the silhouettes to the boards. These were cut on a bandsaw, then holes were drilled for axles. Wheels were made of ½” poplar and cut with a 2 ½” diameter hole saw.
Students were visualizing their creations as either Camaros or Mustangs, but I wasn’t so sure.
Assembly began after our “artists” painted racing stripes and other designs on the sanded car bodies. In one 12 week period we made several hundred cars and other vehicles. Some of my more ambitious students made airplanes, tractors and wagons and even a helicopter.
I’m not sure if I ever saw a group of students have more fun while working and learning, and frankly, so did I.
One of the girls in class was in a social studies class in which the teacher subscribed to a weekly, nationally published newspaper for youth named “The Weekly Reader.” The paper was having a contest for community service and my students wanted to enter the contest with our mass production project.
Well, believe it or not, my “kids” won first place in the nation in that contest with the “Cars for Kids” project.
I built a tractor as a demonstration project and kept it for a memory of that class of very special young people. Oh yeah, like I could ever forget them!
This morning I walked through the kitchen on my way to the peanut butter jar, and there was that tractor in the kitchen sink! It would have long ago gone to the dump but Margie never throws anything away.
Considering I had not seen that toy tractor for at least twenty years, I was pleasantly surprised.
Sometimes, things just seem out of place and the tractor in the sink was such a case. Then on the other hand, some things seem out of place but they’re not.
I heard a story of a man walking into one of the fancy, “high-falutin” churches. He was dirty and dressed in old, torn clothing. No one spoke to him and a few even moved when he sat down close to them.
When the service began, the pastor introduced the evangelist that was to begin a revival at that church. Well, guess who stood up and went to the pulpit?
Is there anyone in God’s house that doesn’t belong? Those that need Him most are the ones that are sometimes ignored or even shunned. We think of bullying being on the middle school playground but some “church people” are well into such actions.
Another group needing Him are the ones that moved away from the dirty, ragged evangelist.
It’s upsetting to me to see someone sitting in church wearing a cap. I know, however, he needs to be there as much as anyone and the point would be, I’d rather he be there wearing a cap than not be there at all. My daddy would have “skint me alive” if I had worn a cap in church!
We humans sure have a way of appointing ourselves as judges. There is no greater turn-off than a holier-than-thou attitude. Romans 3: 23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” This places all of us on a level playing field.! God’s glory is in His righteousness and none of us have that except by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1: 9).
Isaiah 64: 6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags.”All are special but none are insignificant. Why do we at times forget the church is all about Jesus and not us, not the building, not the potlucks, or anything other than our Glorious Savior?
In building the toys for the children of the community, I had to constantly be alert and aware of what the project was all about. My kids displayed an enthusiasm that was extraordinary. They became personally involved in the work and my heart was about to “bust” wide open.
My reward was to see them so excited. Can we become so excited about our Jesus and tell the world about Him?
Writers note: Currently there are shortages of skilled workers both in the construction and manufacturing industries. We might consider recommending to the young person we know, a skills trade in a vocational technical school might provide greater job opportunities and security than other pursuits in education.
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky. Previous articles on muckrack.com