Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 92

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92 Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Convention

eagerly grasped at this opportunity given them by their govern-
ment because it meant that those children whose parents previously.
were too poor to send them to school, could now receive an edu-
cation. The government promised to build schools in areas where
they were definitely needed and also to take over the full support
of the payment of teachers’ salaries, as well as a large amount given
for the equipping of the school. The government agreed to pay for. .4
all expendable equipment, meaning those things that are bought
and used up quickly and ordinarily in the conduct of the school. .
The supporters of the school, the villages and congregations, were
expected to furnish the buildings as well as the permanent equip= aig
ment, such as blackboards, desks, tables, chairs, and things of that
nature.

The people of Nigeria are extremely interested in education. :
It seems that it is the goal of practically every young man (this «
is true also in the case of many of the young women) to become 4
a teacher. As a result of this desire, all teachers’ training colleges, .3
whether they are operated by voluntary agencies or by the gov-
ernment, have their classes filled. a

The very day in which my family left Ibakachi to begin our 4
homeward journey, we had an entrance examination at our Normal *
School for the lower elementary department. A very large number
of candidates had indicated their desire to sit in for that exam- 3
ination. This was the largest group of students that we had ever
had in the history of our school.

Being a member of the Lutheran Church is not a required con-
dition for entrance into our Lutheran Normal School. We tried to
get as many Lutherans as possible into the school, but the govern-
ment requires us to accept any student regardless of his religion,
or lack of religion, if there is a place for him in the school. In other
words, we are unable to bar anyone from this school for the sake
of religion. The reason the government has placed this restriction
upon us is that also in the case of our Normal School we do
receive sizable financial grants yearly to help in the support, the
maintenance, and the operation of the school.

The Normal School has in this way also served as an agency
of the church in another way, namely, in bringing outsiders (mem-
bers or people of other religions or of no religion) into our Lu-
theran Church.

The education and training that the students receive in our
Normal School comply with the requirements set up for the school
by the government. Our prayer for the Normal School is that the
students and the graduates of this school may learn to know,
realize, and accept the great responsibility that the Lord has placed
upon them-—to be true teachers of the one and only way of
salvation to children who will be placed under their charge in the
elementary schools, as well as the people who will be in their keep-
ing in the congregations in which they will be placed after their
graduation.

As to the over-all work of the mission in general, there is not
too much that I have to say. A report about that has already been
given by the superintendent, Dr. W. H. Schweppe, who is at the
present time also on furlough. About the only thing I might add is
that we are making good and definite progress toward an indigenous