# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1944_S172
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

172. i _- Missions

Brazil

Work in Brazil has been carried on under great difficulties.
The “Nationalization Program,” mentioned in the report three years
ago, is still in progress. Fortunately most of our teachers could
meet the requirement of the program, as a result of which our
schools could continue to function. However, the big problem is
to find laborers for the Lord’s harvest throughout the land. Even
now the parishes are much too large. If, to give you an example,
we merely told you that one pastor serves six stations, that would
not sound very impressive. We know others, in North America
and in South America, who have a greater number of stations.
If, however, we add that this one man serves 861 souls, 449 com-
municant members and 150 voting members, you will observe that
he really has enough to occupy his time. But you haven’t really
caught the picture. That number of people weuld require diligent
application on the part of a man if they were in a single congre-
gation. But these are spread in six congregations. And how! Just
to reach all stations once, the man spends fifty-three and a half
hours in the saddle! No misprint here; it really takes fifty-three
and a half hours. And what is worse, the parishes already too large
_ for efficient work become larger as vacancies occur. And they do

' occur, As soon as the war clouds lift, the long-delayed furloughs
will definitely be expected, and rightly so. Some of these men are
so broken down that they will need a long time to recover. And
- what have we to counterbalance those possible losses? Just five
candidates from our seminary at Porto Alegre!. The situation is

very serious. Perhaps the question comes to your mind, Why not

send more men from North America? ‘The answer: Under present

conditions that is utterly impossible. We hope the future will bring
_ a change in this respect. But our report deals with conditions as
they exist. It is impossible to get clearance for our missionaries
from North America. : ‘

And what can we do about it? We can pray — pray that our
Lord cause the adverse conditions to be changed; that He give
complete recovery to our misstonaries who have been subjected to
these ordeals; that when they have had their furloughs, He may
constrain them with His love to return because of the crying need
for their service. .And we can see to it that they have adequate
salaries lest financial worries be added to all their other troubles.

. s
7 Argentina

The situation in Argentina is not quite so grave. Two candi-
dates were sent down there. Candidate Paul Laabs left in August,
1941, However, throat trouble compelled him to return to North