# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1903_S12 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 12 The Lutheran Pioneer. A Spiritual Beggar. Rev. Williams, the ‘‘martyr missionary of the South Seas,”’ tells a most affecting story of a spiritual beggar known as Buteve. On one of the islands there were six or eight stone seats, regarded with much veneration by the people as connected with their grandfathers, or some great chiefs. They were generally formed of two smooth stones, one of which served as a seat and the other as a support|- for the back, and here, in the cool of the day, would be found certain persons ready to chat with any passer-by. As the missionary one day passed near these stone seats, his atten- tion was arrested by seeing a person get off one of these seats and walk upon his knees into the center of the path, shouting, ‘‘Wel- come, servant of God, who brought light into this dark island! To you we are indebted for the Word of heaven.’’ The missionary asked this cripple what he knew about heaven, and from his answers he found that the cripple knew much about Christ and His work for sinners, about the future life and the work of the Holy Spirit, and he said: ‘‘Buteve, where did you get all this knowledge? I do not remember ever to have seen you at the settlements where I have spoken; and, besides this, your hands and feet are eaten off by disease and you have to walk upon your knees.’’ Buteve answered: ‘‘As the people return from the service I sit by the wayside and beg from them a bit of the Word as they pass by; one gives me one piece and another gives me another piece, and I gather the pieces together in my heart, and thinking over what I thus get, and praying to God to make me know, I come to understand.”” This poor cripple, who had never been in a place of worship himself, had thus picked up the crumbs which fell from the Lord’s table, and eagerly devoured them. Would that we in this highly favored land of ours were as eager to hear the Word of God as that poor cripple was! —=» <0 Zealous Missionaries. — The natives of one of the South Sea Islands, among whom missionary Williams labored, be- came, after their conversion, zealous and suc- cessful missionaries. They made tours of the islands, endeavoring to bring others to Christ and to leave no heathen settlement unvisited and noidol remaining. They were also liberal and cheerful givers, so that in proportion to their ability their gifts averaged far beyond the gifts of church members in Christian lands. On one occasion the missionary explained the manner in which English Christians raised money to send the Gospel to the heathen, and the natives expressed great regret at not hav- ‘ing money that they might help in the same good work of causing the Word of God to _ gtow. The missionary replied, ‘‘If you have no money, you have something that takes the place of money; something to buy money with.’’ -He then referred to the pigs which he had brought to the island on his first visit, and which had 80 increased that every family possessed some of them. He suggested that, if every family in the island would set apart a pig for causing the Word of God to grow, and, when the ships came, would sell the pigs for money, a large offering might be raised. The natives were delighted with the idea, and the next morning the squeaking of the pigs, which were receiving the ‘‘mark of the Lord’’ in their ears, was_heard from one end of the settlement to the other. On the missionary’s return to the island, the native treasurer put into his hands about five hundred dollars, the product of these sales. It was the first money the people of that island had ever possessed, and every cent of it was given to the cause of Christ. They proved the truth of Luther’s saying: ‘‘Chris- tians love mission work.”’ Cruelty of Heathenism. A German lady attached to the missionary staff in British East Africa, writes home: ‘‘To- day a young girl came to us, who formerly was a slave at Mombas, an island near the coast. She had been shamefully treated by her cruel master. Finally he had ordered her to be whipped to the very bones, and then dragged to the seashore and drowned. Two other slaves were to carry out the orders, but when they got to the shore they were over- come with compassion and ran away with her. All three are now with us. The poor girl’s body is still covered with sores from the whip- ping, and there is a deep cut in her neck from the rope. The fugitives tell us that it is a common occurrence at Mombas that slaves are buried slive for trivial offenses.’’ An American missionary writes home from the region of French Congo, West Africa: “Daily we hear the pitiful cry of tortured women and slaves. It is something quite common for the cruel Fangwe men to make their knives red hot and to run them into the poor creatures’ bodies.’? The heathen gods are cruel gods. ——s- +0 oo A Noble Hero. On deck of a foundering vessel stood a colored slave. The last man left on board, he was about to step into the life-boat. It was almost laden to the gunwales, and the water’s edge. Bearing in his arms what seemed to be a heavy bundle, the boat’s crew, who with difficulty kept her afloat in the roaring sea, refused to receive him. If he came, it must be alone; on this they insisted. He must either leave that bundle and leap in, or throw if in and stay to perish. Pressing it to his bosom, he opened its folds, and there, warmly wrapped, lay two children, whom their father had committed to his care. He kissed them and bade the sailors carry his affectionate farewell to his master, telling him how faith- fully he had fulfilled his charge. Then, low- ering the children into the boat, which pushed off, the dark man stood alone on the deck to go down with the sinking ship, a noble example of bravery and the ‘‘love that seeketh not its own.’’ — Selected. : A Cent a Week. A poor woman who was known to be very poor came to a missionary meeting in P. and offered to subscribe one cent a week to the mission fund. ‘‘Surely,’’ said a friend, ‘‘you are too poor to afford this.’’ She replied, “T sew so many balls of carpet rags a week for my living, and I’ll sew one ball more, and that will be the cent a week for the society.” Acknowledgment. Received for colored missions of Rev. F. J. Lan- kenau from St. Paul’s Church, New Orleans, La., $25.00; of Rev. K. Kretzschmar from Mt. Zion Church,* New Orleans, La., 25.00; of Rev. J. Koss- mann from Bethlehem Church, New Orleans, La., 25.00; of Rev. P. Engelbert from the congregation in Gold Hill, N.C., 5.00, and from the congregation in Rockwell, N.C., 4.00; of Mr. John McDavid from Holy Trinity Church in Springfield, Ill., 4.55. A.C. Buraporr, Treas. St. Louis, Mo., February 15, 1903. Evangelical Lutheran Colored Churches, New ORLEaNSs, La. EV. LUTH. ST. PAUL’S OHAPEL. 1625 Annette Str., between Olaiborne and Derbigny. Divine services: Sunday morning at 9}4 o'clock. Sunday evening at o'clock. Sundayisehool: Senday morstag at lo i See anda: : Adult Catechumen clans meets Pt 1% o'clock‘ Tuesday evening. Sin, School meets at 734 o'clock Friday evening. aS F. J. LANKENAU, Missionary. EV. LUTH. MOUNT ZION CHUROH. Cor. 8. Franklin and Thalia Stra. Divine services: Sunday morning at 11 o'clock. Sunday evening at 734 o'clock. day School Bunda me oral rat: ios Sunda: ool: Sunday morning a! C) Adult “catechumen clase meets at 1% o'clock Friday evening. Young People’s Consordis aad School eet Wednesday evening at o'clock. =a L Kee TZSCHMAR, Missionary. EV. LUTH. BETHLEHEM OHAPEL. Cor. Washington Avenue and Dryades Str. Divine services: Sunda: syening at o'clock. Thursday evening at 73% o'clock. Sunday School at 54 o'clock. x a Adult catechumen Class every Tuesday at 734 o'clock an after the divine service on Thursday ovening. a Choir practice at 7% o’clock on Tuesday evening an «after divine service on Thursday cven Hy ‘ Cacle for Young Posie meets at the school every Taes- ay eve at 7% o’cloc of J. W. F. KossMAnn, Missionary. Ey. Luth. Holy Trinity Church. Springfield, Ill. Divine services at half pant 10 o’clock Sunday morning sunt fetal i ofeloee Fete a » Me Oatechamen ¢ class meets Monday and Friday evenings. Singing-school Tucsday evening. TERMS: Tax Luraeran Pionxer is published monthly, payable in advance at the following rates, included, to-wit: Ti COpYsecscescdccccccesscccocccccces $ .25 acy Cae 00 ; 50 Clab aioe only allowed if all copies are to be sent to dress. All busin ess communications to be addressed | “Concordia Pobliahis House,” Jefferson Ave. 42 Miami St., St. Louis, Mo. : ‘All communications concerning the editorial ss ent to be addressed to Prof, R. A. BiscHO¥?, Bonecedia College, Fort Wayne, Ind.