# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1923_S17 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) The Lutheran Pioneer. A MISSIONARY MONTHLY. ———__ PuBLISUED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTILERAN SyNopICAL CONFERENCE oF Nortit AMERICA. Rev. F. J. LANKENAU, Epiror. Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price, Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1105, 50 ets. per annum, payable strictly In adyance, Ma 5. 79. under the Act of October 3, , 1918. ‘ST. LOUIS, ‘MO, MARCH, 1923. Vol. XLV. No. 3. OUR MONTHLY MISSIONARY MOTTO. ‘“‘The prospects of missions are as bright as the promises of God.’’ Some Difficulties in Our Mission-Work Among the Colored Race. The lack of suflicient and adequate buildings has repeatedly been emphasized. Yet, without see- ing and feeling the difficulties caused thereby, one can hardly realize what this lack means to our mis- sion. And still there are many other difficulties greatly aggravating the difficulties caused by the lack of proper housing. Bad roads— many a one would call them im- passable — hinder not only the missionary in reach- ing his stations at the appointed time, but the churchgoers and the schoolchildren as well. ‘The result is frequent tardiness at divine services and at sthool, which always means loss or waste of time. Lack of proper clothing —as among the whites —keeps many a one from attending church and school regularly. In good weather some are ashamed to appear in rags. In bad weather many of our Colored people have insufficient clothing and shoes to protect them from cold and rain. When the missionary puts on winter clothing, some of the people, especially children, if they.dare to come at all, come in the flimsiest of summer clothing and barefoot. ‘This has repeatedly happened around Christmas. ‘Then, if there is no room that can be heated well, the poor shivering bodies, crowding around the stove or fireplace, make it well-nigh impossible for any one to listen attentively to what the missionary or teacher is trying to say to them. How can children read well under such cireum- stances, or write well with their cold, numb little fingers? Think of those poor old shacks, giving free access to storm and rain, which must be used, because nothing better can be obtained! - Lack of books and writing-material ‘is another source of trouble. Think of singing without hymn- hooks, reading without readers, writing without pen- cil, slate, or paper! Sometimes there issone book or one slate to four or five children, and their parents or guardians, though they allow the chil- dren to attend our school, will not give them a penny for equipment. Nor do things last long under such conditions. The peculiar dialect of the uneducated, illiterate Colored people will puzzle the missionary who is not yet familiar with it. To give an example: A boy says, “Magomahan?” and after long questioning and guessing the missionary finally understands that the boy means to ask, “May I go to Meherrin ?” The verb forms “is,” “am,” “are,” “was,” “were,” are used with apparently no regard for their proper meaning. Some words and ‘phrases are used in a ~ sense unknown in the North, as, “Carry the mule to the pasture and tote the bridle to the barn,” for, “Take the mule to the pasture and carry the bridle to the barn.” ‘The final “s” is frequently omitted or sounded in a wrong place. Big words are con- torted or used monstrously! In reading or writing, quoting a text or learning it by heart, there is always the tendency to “correct” it according to the “rules” of the common dialect. ’ The actual wildness of some of the newcomers, who have not learned to clean their feet of mud and to take off their hats on entering a room, or to: