# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S149
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Missions 149

“of the pastors and faculty members t came to welcome me at
the: airport spelled evil forebodings. : Brazil had entered the war.
‘The use’ of the German language had been forbidden. The lan-
‘guage of the country, Portuguese, was the only language to ‘be
spoken. What this meant for our churches we can well realize.
-I'visited a large number. of pastors and congregations in the cities
‘and. faraway colonies, thanks to the courteous permission of the
' Brazilian authorities. There is a shortage in manpower. ‘Some
of the missionaries are serving too many stations,

The college and seminary. at Porto Alegre, Brazil, are in a
flourishing condition with an enrollment of more than 80 students; .
Pastor S, Beckmann, a citizen of the United States, was chosen
to’ be a foot-loose President, Mission and Stewardship Secretary
in Argentina. Pastor R. Hasse, a native of Brazil, is now President
of the Brazil District, It affords me the greatest pleasure to tell
of the fine constructive work both Presidents are: doing to im-
.prove the work beneath the Southern Cross. Both Presidents are
expected to be present at the convention. They ought to be given
“an opportunity to tell of their work.

Deaf and Blind Missions. — Like Home Missions, so also the
‘. Missions to the Deaf and Blind could go forward unhindered. .
“True, the present world conditions make it impossible for our
literature to the blind to reach as many countries and as many
readers as in the time of peace.

During the past triennium the personnel of Deaf Missions has
undergone a number of changes through death and resignation
and through transfer of pastors to hearing congregations. As in
the past, special efforts are being put forth by the Mission Board
to train a larger number of students of the theologital seminaries
in the sign language. If it were possible to train several hundred
in the sign language, many of the scattered few could also be
. served with greater regularity and at less cost.

Until now it has been ‘the policy that the missionary to the
deaf serve deaf groups only and not hearing congregations also.
Some thought ought to be given the question whether it will not
be in the interest of the missionary. himself, in the interest ofthe
smaller groups of the deaf in given communities, and in the in-
': terest of economy to co-ordinate the ‘work of ‘aimissionary to the.
deaf, wherever this is possible, with the work at a hearing con-
gregation or mission station; so that one pastor’ serve both the
‘deaf and the hearing ‘groups... If the work in a larger center with
a larger number of deaf. requires the work of. a full-time mis-.
sionary, the’ missionary’ ‘ought. to ‘confine his work’ to the deaf.
We believe, however, if the work with smaller groups of the deaf
in: areas: not within a ‘reasonable distance of a foot-loose missionary

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