If it be further asked, What then is the best way to train men for usefulness in the Church? I know of no better answer, at least for the first stage of preparation, than to repeat the Scripture injunction, “Let every man abide in the calling wherein he was called.” Nothing else can supply the place of God’s providential training in the school of ordinary life and practical experience. If God, who has called a man to the fellowship of His Church, has also called him to the work of the ministry, He will manifest His purpose in His own time and way. Meanwhile, we should give the young converts all the instruction, advice, and help which Christian sympathy and prudence suggest.

John L. Nevius, The Planting and Developing of Missionary Churches, 28.