As a librarian at MST I have responsibility to care for the School’s considerable archival material – records of those 99 years, as well as memorabilia relating to missional organisations with close association with us.
And what a treasure it is! Having trained as an archivist, I am passionate about caring for this material well. It is my job to store documents and photos, magazines and programmes, newspaper cuttings and other memorabilia in such a way that they are preserved in good condition and catalogued for ready access when needed. And from time to time there will be opportunities to display some of our treasures.
As I begin this considerable task, I find myself reading through some of the written material and gazing at old photographs. Already I have encountered many challenging and inspiring stories from our past
students, faculty and staff. The first students began at the then MBI in 1920 and I try to picture the scene. I wonder what it must have been like to be a student then. What was it like sitting in those lecture rooms listening to C. H. Nash passionately speak about our Lord? What things are basically the same now as then?
The first graduates were dispersing to the mission field as early as 1922 and 1923. C. H. Nash began to send to each a duplicated letter every few months – the News Circular. It included news and prayer requests from them, as well as a message of encouragement from the Principal himself.
In the first one, dated June 1923, this is some of what he said, as he described the beginnings of what we now know as MST,
“A tiny seed of love planted in responsive hearts by the Holy Spirit manifested itself in the upbringing of a tender blade. This little plant rapidly developed on May 19th at a gathering of the members; we named it M.B.I.”
C. H. Nash (A Tiny Seed).
We can no longer call MST “a tender blade”. We can only be amazed that such a large plant has been grown from such a tiny seed and, through the faithfulness of God and his servants, has been sustained and been abundantly fruitful.
So many memories must be hidden away in all those boxes in the archive room, yet to be discovered. With our centenary year fast approaching, we are also keen to learn of any other material which any of our readers may have which could be of interest.
If you have any treasures which you could loan or donate to the college to help tell the story please contact us!
Please Contact: Reception
Email: mst@mst.edu.au
Phone: 03 9881 7800
