The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1886, Page 4

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4 The Lutheran Pioneer.

The Outlook from the Editor’s Window.

—THE present issue begins the eighth
volume of the Pioneer. It is a cause for
gratitude to the Master to Jearn from volun-
tary. testimonies that the work has not been
done in vain, and ‘we trust that He in His
mercy will own it also in the future. We
tender our thanks to all friends who have
helped by their prayers and contributions, and
aided in the circulation of the PIONEER, and
earnestly ask their. continued and hearty co-
operation.

—Txe Lutherans in the United States built
in 1884, it is said, 255 churches. The number
for 1885, it is thought, will exceed 300. The
new churches are of English, German, Nor-
wegian, Danish, Swedish, Slavoc, Servian, Finn
and Icelandic congregations.

—Tuis year Easter Sunday will fall on the
25th of April, the latest possible date. It has
not been on this date since 1734, and this will
mot again happen until 1943. The earliest
possible date is the 22nd of March. On this
date it fell in 1818 and will not again until
2285. Owing to the late Easter, the present

. church year will have six Epiphany Sundays,
but only twenty-two Trinity Sundays.

—TueE New York Bible Society, whose sole
work is to distribute the Bible in the city of
New York, circulated last year 78,606 copies
of the Holy Scriptures, of which 16,057 were
in public institutions, churches, Sunday-schools
and families, 49,979 among emigrants arriving,
and 12,570 were placed in 2,750 vessels at the
port of New York.

*—Dorrine the last twelve months Mr. G.
Miller has received for his orphan homes at
Ashley Down, Bristol, England, ‘‘in answer to
prayer,’’ nearly $208,000.

—Dorine the past fourteen years about
seven hundred Protestant churches have been
built in Madagascar, the large African island,
and all free from debt. There are twelve
hundred churches and eighty thousand Protest-
ant communicants. These churches are self-
supporting, and last year gave $20,000 for
missions. The missionary churches and schools
of the Norwegian Lutherans are in a prosper-
ous condition.

—WsEN the late Admiral Foote was in
Siam, he invited the royal dignitaries to a
dinner on his vessel. As they sat down to the
meal, the Admiral, as was his custom, asked a
blessing. The King, in surprise, said that he

‘thought that only missionaries did that.
‘True,’ replied the Admiral, ‘but every
Christian is a missionary.”? ~
—A NorweciAn ship on its way to South
frica and Madagascar, recently landed in
gland, having on board fifteen Lutheran
lonaries and five children, among them the
ew of the Zulu chief Cetewayo, who has
for six years been studying in Stockholm, and
“now returns a missionary to his people.

—A miIssionaRY writes thus about the
Congo Africans: They believe in the existence
of good and bad spirits, which they believe are
all the time hovering around, and when one
of them dies they believe that his spirit or soul
is seized by either the good or the bad spirits,
and carried away to become one of them.
Hence, when a native is dying, his friends
come around, fire off guns and make horrible
noises, for the purpose of frightening off the
evil spirits. What effect this may have on the
good spirits is not stated.

— G. Ror; the German traveler, writes
concerning the Swedish Lutheran Mission at
McKullu, in Abyssinia: “It isa model of its
kind. Without protection from any worldly
power; patiently enduring annoyances on re-
ligious matters from the Egyptian government,
. . . this institution is one among all the insti-
tutes of this country that deserves the most
admiration and respect. It is sustained wholly
by private contributions from Sweden.”

—Losses will be best borne in the spirit of
the late Rev. L. Harms of Hermannsburg,
Germany. This eminent German pastor built a
large missionary college at Hermannsburg,
organized his church into a missionary society,
and supported missionaries at home and in
Africa, Asia, America and Australia, at an
expense of $40,000 a year. To facilitate his
work of foreign missions on the four continents,
he built a missionary ship. Report came at
one time that his ship was wrecked. One of
his parishioners, hearing this, came to Pastor
Harms, expressing great concern for the disas-
ter, and asked, ‘‘ What shall we now do?’”’
‘‘Repent,” at once responded the man of
faith; ‘‘confess our sins unto God and built
another ship.’’

—WE could now let our little Pioneer say
his New Year wishes for all our readers. We
fear, however, that he cannot do so without’
expressing his desire for the names of new sub-
scribers for our new volume. He is somewhat
like the little children who went to their grand-
father on New Year's Day and said: ‘‘Grandpa
dear, we have come to wish you a happy new
year; and mamma says if you give us each
twenty-five cents we are not to lose it on our
way home.”’ And so our little PronreEr better
keep quiet. We close our window.

Fifty Years Ago and Now.

A. few missionaries were along the West coast
of Africa, 2nd two or three in the South;
Madagascar had scarcely been entered; the
Church Missionary Society was rejoicing over
its first converts in New Zealand; and only the
first fruits were being gathered in the South
Seas. There are now two thousand five hun-
dred missionary stations in India, and nearly
two thousand of them manned by native
laborers, while the Christians are increasing
by thousands yearly. For every convert there

was then in Burmah there are now a thousand.
There are now three hundred and _ fifty
churches, and nine-tenths of the work is done
by native missionaries. ‘

In China there are ten thousand Christian
converts, and the yearly increase is quite large.
Japan is open, and there are already more than
a thousand converts in that empire. Gambia,
Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gold Coast
have large Christian communities, and from
Sierra Leone especially go forth laborers to
Yoruba and the regions of the Niger.

There are forty thousand communicants in
the churches of South Africa, and forty-five
thousand children in the schools. There are
eighty thousand Christians gathered into the
churches of Madagascar. There are compara-
tively few of the islands of the South Seas
which have not been Christianized, more than
three hundred of them having been won from
idolatry during the last fifty years.

Surely this contrast between fifty years ago
and the present time is full of encouragement
to those who are laboring to have every idol
abolished and the Lord alone worshipped.

BOOK-TABLE.

BIBEL-LESEZETTEL auf das Kirchenjahr 1885—1886.
2. Jahrgang des Bibelzettel. Zusammengestellt
von Pastor A. O. Engel. Address L. Volkening,
823 N. 4th Str., St. Louis, Mo.

These pamphlets cannot but prove useful and
valuable to all Bible readers. They point out a
suitable passage of the Bible for every day in the
year. By following the plan laid down in the
pamphlet the reading of the Old Testament is
finished in three years whilst the New Testament is
read through every year.—Price, 6 cts. per copy;
60 cts. per dozen; $4.20 per hundred.

Evangelical Lutheran Colored Churches,
NEw ORLEANS, La.

EV. LUTH. ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL.
118 Annette Str,, between Claiborne and Dirbigny.
Divine services at 10 o’clock Sunday morning and at 734

o’clock Wednesday evening.
Sunday School from 2 to 4.

EV. LUTH. MT. ZION CHURCH.
Cor. Franklin and Thalia Strs.
Divine senrices at 714 Sunday evening and at 714 Thursday
evening.

Sunday School meets at 9 o’clock.
Adult catechumen class meets at 7144 Tuesday evening.

_N. J. Baxxe, Missionary.

St. Paul’s Colored Lutheran Church,
Cor. Rock § 12th Strs., Little Rock, Ark.

Divine service pander evening at 74 o’clock.
Sunday School from 10—12.
Catechumen class meets from 7—8 Wednesday evening.
Singing-school from 8—9 Wednesday evening.

3 G. ALLENBACH, Missionary.

TERMS:

THE LuTHERAN PionEER is published monthly,
payable in advance at the following rates, postage
included, to-wit: :

1 Copy ...
: 10 Copies a
py WG

ore 9.00
Club rates only allowed if all copies are to be sent

to one address.

All business communications to be addressed to
“Luth. Concordia Publishing House,” M. C. Bar-
THEL, Agt., St. Louis, Mo. _

All communications concerning the editorial de-

ent to be addressed to Pror. R. A. Biscuorr,
mcordia College, Fort Wayne, Ind. ;