# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1923_S45 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) The Lutheran Pioneer. 45 upon whom will rest in great measure the future training of their race. If we were always to realize that we of this generation should not only think of the present, but also of the future, it would give us a larger vision and lead us to think more of the future value of the work that we are doing in-the present. It would also mean better equipment. for the present: demands of the work. More buildings would be erected, enlarged, and repaired; teachers would be added where schools have outgrown the present teaching force; benches would take the place of boxes, and blackboards the place of be- chalked walls. Organs, too, would find a warn welcome in churches and schools, which need such thelp to beautify the services in the former and to aid the work of the teachers in the latter. And thus the list of possibilities could be continued indefinitely. What say you, dear reader, will you help the Board build for the future? FJ. 1. Where There Is a Will, There Is a Way. When we received a letter which, among other good things, also contained the following para- graphs, we at once decided that the information would be too valuable to keep to ourselves, and we so informed the writer, Pastor W. I. Lichtsinn, of Hammond, Ind. These few lines once more show that it often requires only a few words of encour- agement on the part of the pastor or teacher to interest the pupils of our day-schools and Sunday- schools in the blessed work of spreading the mes- sage of salvation. Then, too, let us notice that this handsome sum was gathered by boys and girls, who have less to give than any one else among us. If they can do so much, how much more could the wage carners among us do if they but carnestly desired to do so! May many other classes of cat- echumens and also many grown-ups follow the example of these boys and girls in Hammond! But, ‘here is the story: — ‘ “After reading the first article in the current number of the Pronren, T decided to write, to you about a pleasant surprise T had a short while ago. I know it will interest you also. “At the close of the last confirmation lesson before Palm Sunday, a boy and a girl of my class “approached my desk, and each placed an amount of money on it. Asked what it meant, they said: “The class has collected this for missions. ‘The girls collected $7.10 and the boys $11.40. “Asked what induced them to collect this money among themselves, they said: ‘Pastor, last fall, just before our mission-festival, you talked to us about missions and told us what even schoolboys and -girls could do for missions. We then agreed to collect among ourselves eath week, and this is the result. “Now, the remarkable thing about this is that we always take up an offering each Friday morning. With the money collected on Fridays the class usually buys some needed article for the church as a remembrance of the class, and the balance is given to missions. ‘Thus the class this year supplied the funds for the violet altar- and pulpit-hangings. You may imagine how pleased I was when they handed me this extra amount for mission purposes, collected without my knowledge. We have desig- nated one half for the Negro Missions Chapel Fund and one half for the Foreign Missions Chapel Fund. May the Lord’s blessings accompany the gifts!” F.J.1. An Echo from Slavery Days. While looking over my old letters the other day, I came’ across one that was received by me over twenty years ago. At the time when I received the letter, it touched me deeply, and when I. saw it Ge S . >) - again the other day, it brought tears to my eyes; for it brought back to me the sad truth that I had not been able to give the letter-writer the informa- tion she so much desired. The envelope bore the address : — SANT PALL Church minester I charge NEW Orlans City . Here follows the letter: “Norfolk va October the 5 1902. to the mister of this church My sister . Was sold at speculater sale buy betsey griffern at perry carter tawer [éavern] my Mother Was Name pattsy Griffenn My sister Was Name famine Grif- fen My Name is sophia C Griffen sister famine Was My twin sister sam Winnborne bogh Me. We all Was sold in Muffbrro N C° i Would like to heare frome her if she is alive i trust God Will help Me to inquire and to heare frome her please ancer this at once Mrs james ferguson 72 salter’ st norfolk Va” ese As stated above, I was not able to locate the inquirer’s twin sister and was obliged so to in- form her. — E if hin wl