The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1891, Page 38

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EE a DR aT BE

mearaee ses

aecrmy

_ one sad feature about it. His efforts to procure|#0und and a clearer tone—the sound of the

_ “the gate of heaven.’”’ This is an outline of yet kindly aspect, came walking down the

‘thus making, whenever you please, out of the| and assist her.—Exchange.

88 The Lutheran Pioneer.
Se ———— ——————

two one large, convenient and beautiful audi- A Grim Performance.
ence-room.

The whole inside is covered with wainscoting,
and panneled. The ceilings are square arches,

Sunday, the 6th of September, was a red-| that of the church bending one way, and that
letter day for the colored mission at Meherrin,|0f the school, another, making a most agree-
Va.; both for pastor and people. The pastor, | able impression on the eye and lending ease to
Rey. D. H. Schooff, under whose faithful labor | the voice.
of nearly a year buildings for church and school The altar and pulpit are in good old Lutheran
purposes had been erected, could now rejoice at | style.
the completion of this kind of work, and the} The whole, outside and inside, is of wood;
people could rejoice in the benefits thus assured|#nd all the wood is so-called old-field pine
to them. Their church and school were dedi-| Which only began its growth since the war,
cated to the service of God, which means their] and which less than a year ago was humming
spiritual and eternal salvation. to the breezes of the woods. Now the spot is

For the pastor especially there was, however, | Cleared and its lumber is used to serve a higher

(For the ‘‘ Lutheran Pioneer.’’)

Church and School Dedication at
Meherrin, Va.

Indian papers describe a recent performance
by which the leading Europeans of the station,
one of them being the Governor of Madras,

to amuse themselves.

A local paper thus describes the affair:

“The great feature of a ball given at Ootaca-
mund the other evening by Sir James Dormer,
the Madras Commander-in-Chief, was a set of
Lancers, danced by eight men attired as devils
in black coats, knee breeches, black stockings,
shoes, and black gauze wings, with long black
tailsand horns. When the first discordant crash
of fiendish music was heard (the introduction
to the ‘Bogie Man Lancers’) each devil seized
a reluctant angel and dragged her to a place
in the set. The angels were most becomingly
attired in loose flowing robes of white, with
silver girdles, and stars in their hair, flowing
wing sleeves, and a big spray of lilies in their
hands. ... The devils danced with the most
wonderful fiendish grace ‘and agility, dragging
their partners, whirling them round and pirou-
etting round them. They finished up with a
wild, rapid waltz, ended by giving yells of
triumph and truly unearthly shrieks.’’

Is it any wonder that the Christian people
of the Madras presidency are indignant that
those in authority should take part in a per-
formance equally derogatory to their own of-
ficial dignity and dishonoring to the name ‘of
Christian?

Is it any wonder that missionaries find their
work hampered at every step by the examples
set by nominal Christians?

Satan may well have sneered as he saw his
servants boldly mocking him. ‘That his chil-
dren should make light of his claims, might
well cause the Father of lies to feel that they
were safe, that they would make no attempt to
escape from his rule. Alas, that there should
be a day coming when Satan will laugh, and
the ‘smiles of his dupes will be turned into
wailing.

an assistant in the dedication service proved in| Gospel and the tone of truth.
vain. At the dedication proper he was alone.| In the angle of the cross, between the church
After working so hard with the rude aid of |and school, a steeple 8XS rises to the height
the colored members, to build the church and | of 42 feet and is mounted with a wooden cross.
school, he alone must preach the dedication| It holds a bell weighing 900 lbs., a gift from
sermon. No wonder the wearied heart sought| Pastor Felton’s church of Sheboygan, Wis.
the solitude of the surrounding forest, there to| Entrance to both church and school is made
find relief in prayer and tears, before he as-| through this steeple which also forms a vesti-
cended the pulpit to dedicate the buildings, to} bule to both. The whole cost the mission the
the completion of which he even on that morn-| modest sum of $600.00, the work of the faithful
ing had put the finishing stroke.- But he was| missionary and members, of course, not counted.
gratified with the sweetest gratification of a| God make them a blessing unto many.
missionary—a good audience. Richmond, Va. C. J. OEHLSCHLAEGER.
The undersigned would gladly have been ==
with him. But duties in his own church in She Trusted Him.
Richmond would not permit. As soon as they
did, he took the afternoon train and arrived} One wet, foggy, muddy day a little girl was
in time to preach in the evening at 8 o'clock. standing on one side of the street, in London,
Again a good audience of colored people, and waiting for an opportunity to cross over.. Those
some white, was present to hear the word| who have seen London streets on auch a day,
of God. with their wet and mud, and have watched
‘The sermon was on the text: Gen. 28, 16.17.|the rush of cabs, hansoms, omnibuses and
The Church, the house of God. What makes] carriages, will not wonder that a little girl
it such? God’s presence; not in general, as|should be afraid to try to make her way
He is everywhere present, but in especial, as/ through such a Babel as that. So she walked
with the operations of His grace by His Spirit up and down, and looked into the faces of
in the Word and Sacraments—in the Gospel—| those who passed by. Some looked careless,
Jacob’s Ladder. And what the church is as} some harsh, some were in haste; and she did
such, namely, as the house of God: a ‘‘dread-| not find the one she sought until at length an
ful’’—holy place; a delightful, blessed place—| aged man, rather tall and spare, and of grave

Security of the Sheep.

the sermon in the evening, to which the audi-| street. Looking in his face, she seemed to see
ence listened with joyous attention. in him the one for whom she had been waiting,
And indeed they had and still have reason] and she went up to him and whispered timidly
to be full of joy. The church and school are| ‘Please, sir, will you help me over?”’
not only in every respect adequate, but an} ‘The old man saw the little girl safely across
ornament to that Virginia village and the sur-| the street; and when he afterward told the
rounding country. The two buildings are built] story he said: ‘That little girl’s trust was one
together in the form of across. The top-piece| of the greatest compliments I ever had in my
of the cross, 1216, forms the altar-niche.|life.”? _
The broad cross-piece, 2638, formsthechurch-| ‘That man was the great Lord Shaftabury.
room. ‘The lower, long end of the cross, the} He received honors at the hands of a mighty
school-room, 2632, is built against the side| nation; he was complimented with the freedom
of the church, leaving the latter to project|of the greatest city on the globe; he received
6 feet on either side, thus completing the cross.|the honors conferred by royalty; but the
_ The school-room is separated from the church-| greatest compliment he ever had in his life
room by sliding doors, in pannels of six feet, | was when that little girl singled him out in the
which can all be rolled to one side into the six| jostling crowd of a London street, and dared
feet of offset between the school and the church; | to trust him, stranger though he was, to protect

Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye be-
lieved not: the works that I do in My Father's
name, they bear witness of Me. But ye believe
not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said
unto you. My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me: and I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of My hand. My Father, which gave them
Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to
pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and
My Father are one, John 10, 25—380.

2 ~~ ona oe

Ir is a great comfort to people of common-
place gifts and talents to know that the measure
of success, in the Master’s sight at the last,
will not be the largeness of result, but faithful-
ness in the use of what the Master has entrusted
to us.

and another the Commander-in-Chief, sought .

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