The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1898, Page 6

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6 The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Pagoda.
|
Our picture represents a pagoda. Pagodas |
are found in the far East, as India, China, |
Burma, etc. They are sacred towers, richly |
carved, painted, or otherwise adorned, and}
of several stories, connected or not with a}
temple. Such towers were originally raised |
over relics of the heathen god Buddha, the!
bones of a ‘‘saint,’’ ete. They are now built
chiefly as a work of merit on the part of some
**pious person,”’ or for the purposejof improv-

how shall we obtain suitable laborers to con-
duct our work in the interests of the colored
people, has been now answered. The large
number of youths under long and patient
training in these Lutheran churches and

schools have made such progress in the de-|

velopment of moral and Christian character,
and have been so completely brought into
the spirit of the teachings and life of the
Church as to make it wise and safe to give
all needed encouragement to aid young men
now in a course of preparation to fully equip

ing the luck of the neighborhood. In
China almost every city has one or
more pagodas. In that country they
are from three to thirteen stories high
(always an odd number). So our
picture represents a pagoda as found

in China.
—_ 2 - oe +

Mission Work among the Colored
People.

Again and again we find the work
of our missionaries among the colored
people appreciated by men not of the
Synodical Conference. This should
move us to greater zeal in this im-
portant work. A Southern writer in
the Lutheran of Philadelphia says:

“Every possible encouragement
should be given by the friends of the
work. After enduring untold self-
denial, etc., the Rey. N. J. Bakke, a
Norwegian, of the Missouri Synod,
aided by Rey. J. C. Schmidt and
others, fitted by especial training for
the field, has succeeded in organizing
quite a number of colored congrega-
tions, parochial and other schools in
different parts of the South, into
which hundreds and thousands of
colored youths have been gathered
and are being instructed in the his-
tory, doctrines and practices of the
Lutheran Church with a painstaking
patience that is most refreshing.
The blessed results attending these
efforts give pleasure to every be- :
holder. The idea that once obtained with not|themselves for the work of the ministry.
a few that because of the ignorance and ex-| Though late to enter and slow to push her
cessive development of the motions in the! work, still with earnest efforts now put forth,
colored race, that a church as staid and as/| it is possible that our Church in America, as in
Conservative in its teachings and methods of| Africa, may yet be first in service to the col-
work as ours, would not be effective in its | ored race. God has wonderfully honored and
efforts, has been proven fallacious. It is a/ blessed her in other fields, and why not in this?

; ‘Revs. N. J. Bakke, J. C. Schmidt and

matter of fact, to which thousands can bear
witness, that these long-neglected sons of the | others, in their slow and difficult fields, have

dark continent, under their faithful Lutheran | proved themselves worthy of all respect and
pastors and teachers in the South, have not|confidence, and they are entitled to all pos-
only become conversant with the history,|sible help and sympathy. Yor God’s glory
teachings and cultus of our Church, but have; and to the praise of our dear Christ, these
imbibed the love and the devout conservative | brave men have laid well and deeply the foun-
‘spirit of our Church to an extent that is really | dation for the massive building that time will
wonderful. z see erected on it. It must not be overlooked
_ We give it as our opinion, that the per-|that these splendid results have been accom-
plexing and important question, whence and {plished among the poorer classes, in commu-

nities where other communions are at work,
richly furnished with money and supplies of
food and clothing.’’

We copy these remarks not to sing our own
praises in the words of others, but to animate
our readers toward renewed zeal in behalf of
the work so richly blessed from on high.

Early Lutheran Missions in India.

Already in 1699 our Lutheran Church be-
gan missionary work in India. In that year
King Frederick IV of Denmark ap-
plied to August Herman Francke of
Halle for men, and the services of
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry
Pliitschau were offered. These young
Germans were ordained in Copen-
hagen in 1705 and started for India.
They said: ‘*We will go in the name
of the Lord, and if God will give us
but one soul out of heathendom our
journey will not be in vain.’? They
arrived at Tranquebar in 1706. The
good work did not flourish as was
hoped. There was not the co-opera-
tion among the Germans and Scandi-
navians in supporting it that should
have been. The Danes thought it
was _ not necessary for their Dr. Lit-
kens to send to Germany for mis-
sionaries. :

Then the Romanists had been mis-
sionating in East India for years,
and judging from appearance the
Lutherans were doing but little com-
pared with the dupes of the pope.
The Romanists did superficial work.
They baptized converts by the hun-
dreds, and without much preliminary
instruction.

However, Ziegenbalg and Plat-
schau were not discouraged. They
set out to bring the gospel of Jesus
Christ in all its fulness and sweet-
ness to the natives. First they pro-
ceeded to learn the language, Ziegen-
balg ‘applying himself to the Tamil,
and Plitschau to the Portuguese, as
both of these languages were used in that
part of India. They prayerfully labored on,
and ere long had a class of eatechumens, and
by and by were attempting to preach.

In 1706 they began the erection of a church.
In 1707 they baptized their first converts, five
slaves of European settlers. By the end of
1707 they had a congregation of 35 souls.
They realized the necessity of instructing the
children in the blessed truths of the gospel,
and soon had three schools in operation.

Other men were sent from time to time to
assist the two pioneers. In 1715 Ziegenbalg
returned to Europe, and his account of India
and the missionary work created profound in-
terest. Crowds thronged to hear him- All
Were favorably impressed, and he returned to
India greatly encouraged. ;