# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S672
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

88 MISSIONS

The use of the German language had been forbidden. The I
guage of the country, Portuguese, was the only language to
spoken. What this meant for our churches we can well rea
I visited a large number of pastors and congregations in the citi
and faraway colonies, thanks to the courteous permission: of:
Brazilian authorities, There is a shortage in manpower.
of ‘the. missionaries are serving too many stations. :
The college and seminary at Porto Alegre, Brazil, are’ ir
flourishing condition with an enrollment of more than 80 student
Pastor S. Beckmann, a citizen of the United States, was chosé
to be a foot-loose President, Mission and Stewardship Secretar
in Argentina. Pastor R. Hasse, a native of Brazil, is now Presiden
of the Brazil District. It affords me the greatest pleasure to te
of the fine constructive work both Presidents are doing to ini!
prove the work beneath the Southern Cross. Both Presidents
expected to be present at the convention.. They ought to be giv
an opportunity to tell of their work.

literature to the blind to reach as many countries and as manyj™
readers as in the time of peace. me

During the past triennium the personnel of Deaf Missions h: |
undergone a number of changes through death and resignations
and through transfer of pastors to hearing congregations. As in
the past, special efforts are being put forth by the -Mission
to train a larger number of students of the theological seminaries.
in the sign language. If it were possible to train several hundr
in the sign language, many of the scattered few could also:
served with greater regularity and at less cost.

Until now it has been the policy that the missionary to. the
deaf serve deaf 8roups only and not hearing congregations also*’
Some thought ought to be given the question whether ‘it will not.
be in the interest. of the missionary himself, in the interest of th
smaller groups of the deaf in given communities, and in the in
terest of economy to co-ordinate the work of a missionary to the’
deaf, wherever this is possible, with the work at a hearing con
gregation or mission station, so that one pastor serve both the:
deaf and the hearing groups. If the work in a larger center with:
a larger number of deaf requires the work of a full-time miss:
sionary, the missionary ought to confine his work to the deaf,
We believe, however, if the work with smaller groups of the deaf
in areas not within a reasonable distance of a foot-loose missionary.
to the deaf can be co-ordinated with the work of a hearing con
gregation or mission, it will be less costly than to have a mis: