# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1920_S24
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

24 Proceedings of the twenty-seventh convention

LORD God visited our land twice has also claimed many victims among our Lutheran Negroes and has adversely affected attendance at services, schools and Sunday schools, and confirmation instruction. 3. The emigration of the Negroes to the North. In recent years a strong current has set in that has carried hundreds of thousands of blacks to the large cities of the North. This current has also seized some of our colored fellow Christians and led them into regions where we have no Negro congregations.

In spite of these and other evils the work has nevertheless made progress. We have every reason to thank God the LORD with all our hearts for the rich blessing which he has laid upon our mission work.

Numerical Increase.

The number of congregations and preaching places has risen in these four years from 51 to 56, that of souls (all baptized members who are under the pastoral care of our missionaries) from 2456 to 3366 (910 more), that of communicants from 1300 to 1880 (580 more), of voting members from 337 to 452 (115 more), that of schools from 31 to 38, of pupils in the mission schools from 2262 to 3185 (923 more), of pupils in the Sunday schools from 1975 to 2421 (446 more). The contributions of our colored fellow Christians in the year 1915 were $5528, in 1919 they amounted to $14,325 ($8797 more). This must fill us with joyful thanks and encourage us to greater zeal in our work of rescue. The LORD lets us have the joyful experience that his Word does not return void even in the difficult mission among the Blacks.

A Brief Survey of Our Mission Fields.

We are working at present in eleven different states as well as in Washington, the national capital. The states are the following: Missouri (St. Louis), Arkansas (Little Rock), Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia (Atlanta), South Carolina (Spartanburg), North Carolina, Virginia (Meherrin and Richmond), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), New York (Yonkers and Brooklyn) and Illinois (Springfield). The larger fields we find in Alabama, Louisiana and North Carolina.

Louisiana.

In this territory we had four years ago 11 congregations and preaching places. Of these, three hopeless preaching places were given up (Alexandria, Johnson and The Dumps). On the other hand, work was begun in September 1919 in the promising city of Plaquemine. The mission school there had 150 pupils in the last school year, and that despite the indescribably wretched school building, which stands only three blocks from a fine free school. Missionary C. P. Thompson of Napoleonville, who has this new station