# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1923_S47 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) The Lutheran Pioneer. 47 that are used for churches and schools by this de- nomination in their work in Alabama. In the _ Black Belt, where the Church at the present time is concentrating ils efforts, the number of blacks far exceeds that of the white people, and the lec- turer declared that thousands of these poor people on the larger plantations have never had the oppor- tunity of hearing the Gospel or the privilege of attending school. ‘lo remedy this condition, the Lutheran Church is making a heroic effort to supply schools and churches to these needy people through their Missionary Board... . “Rev. Drewes stated that the Colored people are very eager to have the advantages offered by the schools and churches, and that he is receiving letters for additional missionaries to be sent to this locality. Views were shown of a number of the preachers and teachers who are engaged in this work. “The lecture Sunday evening created a great deal of interest-among the members of this congre- gation, as the needs of the field were vividly and carefully pointed out, thereby awakening the Church to a greater sense of its responsibility for those who are less favored than our own people. ‘here is per- haps no more direct and forcible way of presenting the missionary cause than by illustrating the needs of the people in the sections that have been deprived of the Gospel, and the uplifting influence of the Gospel. : ; “At the conclusion of the lecture a generous offering was taken for the speaker to’ use in the noble work in which he is engaged.” IT*. J. L. Items of Missionary Interest. Wuere tHe FreepMen Live. — Three-fourths of all the Negroes in the United States live in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. ‘There is one Negro to every eight _ whites in the United States. In’ some of the Southern States there is one Negro to each white man. In Mississippi and South Carolina the Negro population is in excess of the white. Our Conorep Missions. — Our Board for Colored Missions has thirty pastors preaching at fifty-seven places. These churehes have almost 4,000 members, 2,684 day-school and 2,729 Sunday- school pupils. ‘The Board has thirty-eight day- schools under its supervision and supports three higher schools and one theological seminary. ‘These. churches and schools are in cleven States and in the District of Columbia. he greater number of our schools and churches are in Alabama, North Carolina, and Louisiana. ‘The members of our Colored Missions lead all other Lutherans of the Synodical Conference in their «contributions, the average contribution of our Colored Lutherans being $16.30 per member. Sotomon Istanps. — These islands of the Pacific are rapidly being Christianized. Men who three years ago were naked savages, with absolutely no knowledge of God, are to-day able to read the English Bible and are bringing its blessed truths to their own people in darkness. ‘Che head-hunters of yesterday have become the soul-winners of to-day. What great wonders God can do! All the Peoples of the Earth Shall Serve the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are more than a billion heathen bow- ing in worship before the images or depictions of human artifice. But what is the significance of a billion souls — one hundred thousand millions of people? ‘The significance is this: — If they should be caused to march before the door of your home, marching four abreast, six years and a half would pass by before you would sce the end of the procession. Do you fully grasp the stupendousness of this figure? A billion people with immortal souls, with souls that were redeemed by the blood of the same Savior as was your soul, are hastening to the grave without Christ, without hope! Oh, the awfulness of the thought! What will you do to change this sad state of affairs? Missionary Education in the Sunday-School. Dr. George H. ‘Trull, who wrote a good little book on Alissionary Melhods for Sunday-school Workers, says: “In the hands of Sunday-school superintendents and teachers lies the real solution of the missionary problem, and if they improve their opportunity, within a gencration there will be a Church whose intelligence about missions and zeal for them has never been equaled in the world’s history.” Missionary education in the Sunday-school should be regular and systematic. It is not suffi-