# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S966
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS 385

on his circuit. Far up:in the Yukon on the Alaskan Highway, Mis-
sionary L. Jones tells of the joy and gratitude with which a group
of construction workers isolated from the rest of the world re-
ceived a Lutheran sermon, and with what gratitude members of
our Church are filled because of an opportunity to attend Holy
Communion far away from home. It is the conviction of our
Council that the method of Trailer Mission work in the Church
is an efficient, modern, successful, and economical way of reach-
ing the most people in the shortest possible time with the least
expenditure of money and manpower.

N

“In Prison and Ye Visited Me”

It has sometimes been said that the pastors of the Missouri
Synod are not as aggressive and alert to mission opportunities
as they might be. We believe this to be a false and unwarranted
characterization. A case in point. Not long after the first pris-
oners of war arrived in this country and were assigned to various

prison camps, our Council began to receive letters
Prisoners from pastors in the vicinity of these camps for re-
of War ligious literature and other materials which would

be helpful in bringing the Gospel to these prisoners
of war. Our pastors were among the very first to seek opportuni-
ties to enter P.O. W. camps and preach to the German prisoners.
As the number of prisoners increased, the call for literature in-
creased. Soon it became necessary for the Emergency Planning:
Council to create a separate committee. A call for German
literature was broadcast through our papers to our people.
140,000 books came in from all sections of our Synod. Probably
never before in the history of the Church had such ‘a large.
volume of orthodox Christian literature for the laity been as-
sembled at one place. For years this literature had helped to
make and build the Missouri Synod into one of the great
churches of the world. These books are now in the hands of
prisoners of war, bringing Christ and heavenly healing to tens
of thousands in their hour of need.

As the number of prisoners of war increased from a few
thousand to more than 150,000 in not many months, the work
grew apace. Again upon the initiative of a pastor in the Mis-
souri Synod we secured the right of way from the United States
Goverriment to work among the Lutheran prisoners of war.
According to Army statistics, 45 per cent of all German prisoners

Reports and Memorials 25