# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1902_S100
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

100 Proceedings of the 25th General, or

"Concerning the number of his congregations and preaching stations, as
well as his overall activity during the past three years, a report of
the missionary, submitted to and approved by your commission, gives the
best information.* We therefore attach it as a part of our report. The
Reverend Synod will recognize from this report what an immense
territory this mission covers, and will find it justified that the
commission gladly seized the opportunity that presented itself to it a
year ago, namely, to call a second missionary as well — Mr. Pastor J.
Sillak, who had been called by the Reverend commission for the mission
among the Germans in Minnesota and Dakota, and who is fluent in the
language of the Estonians and Latvians — and thus to divide into two
parts the overly large territory in which our missionary had until then
been working alone.

"The final settlement of the relationship of the German-Latvian pastor
Sillak to our mission will presumably take place during the sessions of
our Synod, where personal discussion among representatives of all
interested parties can take place. But whatever kind of arrangement is
reached, it is to be assumed that the treasury for the mission to the
Estonians and Latvians will in future be drawn upon more heavily than
before, as a consequence of the necessity of assigning part of the
territory and the work to a second missionary. We therefore ask the
Reverend Synod to continue to extend its goodwill and support to the
mission to the Latvians and Estonians in the future as well. We repeat
that the Synod has so far provided for us in such a way that we have
been able to give our missionary what is due him from month to month.
For a second missionary the funds would not so far have sufficed, and we
are under great obligation to the mission commission for the Minnesota
and Dakota District for having so far granted our mission the services
of its missionary without compensation. We are, however, confident that
the Reverend Synod, having recognized the necessity of the step taken
in calling a second missionary, will also provide the means for his
support.

"Finally, we take the liberty of drawing the Reverend Synod's attention
to one further point in the missionary's report and of expressing our
opinion on it. The missionary reports, among other things, on the two
papers he publishes in the interest of the mission, the Estonian one and
the Latvian one. In your commission's view, their publication is not
only generally useful to the mission to the Estonians and Latvians but
downright necessary, and the work would suffer if publication of the
papers had to be discontinued. Unfortunately both papers have so far

* Regrettably, this report had to be omitted from publication at this
point, because it is too long and too detailed.
                                                        The Secretary.