# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1910_S27
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1910. 27

dread. Is that not a dreadful picture of the darkness in which they are sunk?

What are we to do in view of it? Paul says: "God
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Luther remarks on this
passage: "We are to shine and preach how one is to know God's grace
shown to us in Christ." A true Christian is also
an eager missionary, orthodox congregations are also true mission
congregations, and synods faithful to Scripture and the Confessions are at the same time
missionary societies faithful to their calling. Hence it is
quite self-evident that all the synods belonging to the Synodical Conference
are zealous in the work of missions, yes, that they have united in the
Synodical Conference for the mission of bringing to the
Negroes of our country the light of the Word of God, so that
they too may come to the saving knowledge of God — that is, for the work
of the Negro Mission [Negermission]. The Synodical Conference [Synodalkonferenz] has now carried on this work for
33 years.

But does it not labor in vain in this work? Does it not waste
strength and sacrifices on the children of Ham? Are those voices not right
who say: The mission among the Negroes is no
success; the sooner it is given up, the better?

What the Apostle Paul here describes as an effect of God's having
shined in our hearts, namely
that through us the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ should arise, is evident also in
the Negro Mission. At 32 places the Word of God, carried by the messengers of the Synodical Conference, shines among the Negroes
of our country; many hundreds of Negroes rejoice in its radiance,
through which God has delivered them from the power of darkness
and translated them into the kingdom of his dear Son. A new,
glorious day breaks for them; the morning star, Jesus, rises in their hearts;
they recognize the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, namely
his grace; they come thus to the true knowledge of God and
become children of light, as we are. And then they also walk as
children of light. By God's grace many among them
lead their lives in the fear of God, that they may be blameless and pure
and children of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom they in turn shine as lights
in the world. They too are born again to a living hope,
to the inheritance that is kept in heaven, where they too will one day behold God in
perfect knowledge of God. That, by God's grace, is the success of our Negro Mission.

Let us first let our gaze sweep over the field of our Negro
Mission, and then turn our attention to
various important matters of the Negro Mission.