The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1899, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 27

The Sod Church.

A young minister was on his way to his
first field of labor.
finished his course at the Seminary and had
received his first call to a mission field far out
His heart was restless and full
of anxiety as he stepped from the train at the
little station which was to be hishome. As far
as the eye could reach, a dead level stretched
away across the country. What a change
from the hilly land of his other days! How
lonely it made him feel! The houses were
few and far between. At the place where the
train had left him, only a few small buildings
came to view.

‘Can you tell me where the church is?’’ he
asked a lad standing near.

“The church?
this lane right out till you come there. It’s

Well, he could walk. It would
rest his mind to do something; and with his
traveling-bag in hand he courageously set out.
* Again he stopped to inquire, for no sign of
aspire pointing skyward met his gaze. He
wanted to be sure he was on the right road.
- Yes; he would soon come to it, they said.
The road was so straight that he could not be
lost; so on he went.

A small structure came into view, but how
strange it looked! Gray and sorough! What

As he drew nearer, the sound of voices fell
on his ears from within the queer building.
He would look in.
peered into the half-darkness. Two boys
down on their knees were pounding the naked
ground floor with heavy mallets, making it
smooth and firm to stand upon. A young girl
was pinning papers on a table in place of a

“Can you tell me where I may find the
church?’ the minister asked. ‘‘I have walked
out here, thinking all the time I would come
to it, but I fear I am on the wrong road.’’

“This is the church, sir,’’ one of the boys
said, coming toward him. ‘‘We’re getting
ready for the services to-morrow. We expect
the minister to-night.’”’

‘‘Well,’’ he said, stepping inside, ‘‘I’m the
minister; and this—this is the church?’’

“Yes, sir; don’t you think it’s a nice one?””

His eyes wandered around the dry sods,
piled one above another to make the sides of

“Its the very nicest one anywhere in this
country. And you’re the minister?’’

The boy shyly looked up at him. He put
his satchel down and reached out his hand.
Something in the boy’s tone gave him a needed
Since this was to be his field of
labor, he would begin bravely. He remem-
bered the words of his professor, who told
him and his fellow-students that they must
lay aside all pride and become humble and
Selfdenying laborers\in the Lord’s vineyard,

joyfully working even in the greatest poverty
and amid the most humble circumstances, and
thanking God for the high honor of being co-
laborers with Him in the salvation of souls.

“Yes, I’m the minister,’’ he said, ‘‘and I
want to help you, if you’ll tell me how.’” And
soon he was holding the corners of the paper,
while they were pinned neatly on the rough
table. When this was done, he took one of
the heavy mallets and began pounding on the
floor. It was hard work, and in a little while
the perspiration stood out all over his face.

Chattering like birds, the children told him
all about the people of that new country.

There were not many people, they said, but
they would all be there on Sunday. Every-
body was anxious to go to church again. It
had been so long since they had heard the
preaching of God’s Word, they would all ‘be
glad that they had a pastor.

As the young'minister worked away on the
floor, his heart went up in prayer that God
would forgive him for being so sorely dis-
appointed when he learned that this poor little
sod-house was the only church here, and that
this was to be his field of work. It was all so
different from what he had expected.

When the work was done and the little room
was all ready for the service on the morrow,
they all walked home in the twilight, the young
minister still crying in spirit for the Master’s
help in this far prairie field; and when on
Sunday the people, who had come from far
and near, sat before him on chairs and on
benches they had brought themselves, and
earnestly listened to the preaching of God’s
Word, the young minister’s heart was filled
with joy and he thanked God for calling him
to that very place. The rough sides of the
sod-house took on a new appearance. It was
a very house of God, since therein was pro-
claimed the Gospel of Jesus for the salvation
of sinners.

Not many months afterward the little room
became too small, so that at last they built a
new church of mud. But when the minister
bade farewell to the humble house of sods,
his heart clung affectionately to that scene of
his first real battle with pride. It was here
that he, through the Master’s strength, had
won the day for Christ.

worship Him only. He did not know His
name, so addressed Him as the Greatest of
All. Four years ago, during our first tour to
this side, he received several portions of the
Bible— Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, John,
Luke, and the Acts. These he not only read,
but committed large portions to memory. In
his own words, ‘‘The Holy Spirit planted the
Word in my heart.’’ He committed Paul’s
sermon to the Athenians, because, he said,
“It just suited my case.’’ He had been
ignorantly worshiping the unknown God.
Through this wonderful sermon he learned
about Him, and since then has put his whole
trust in Him. He has been bold in declaring
this faith to others. Some, he says, have be-
lieved, but many have cursed him and called
him ‘‘a crazy old man.’”’ His wife joined him
in believing, and they put away all forms of
heathen worship from their home. The old
man is very familiar with the history of God’s
people, as recorded in Genesis and Exodus.
He grows eloquent over portions of the
Acts, particularly the martyrdom of Stephen,
the conversion of Paul, and the sermon at
Athens. He has compiled from the Scriptures
his own confession of faith. He read it to me
and I could offer no criticism. Surely this
aged man has been taught by the Spirit of
God. It was my joy to baptize him and his
wife. He is seventy-seven and his wife sixty
years of age. He has been a government
official during three reigns. We were sorry
to say good-bye to these aged disciples, but
we go with greater confidence in the willing-
ness of the Holy Spirit to accompany the dis-
tribution of God’s Word and to make it power-
ful to salvation.

A Child’s Faith.

Some years ago there was a very hot and
dry summer. In a neighborhood in England
some Christian farmers were asked by their
pastor to meet him at a certain time and they
would pray for rain. ‘The pastor was among
the first present, and stood in the yard talk-
ing over the poor prospects of having a crop.
While thus engaged he was surprised to see
one of the Sunday school girls lugging into
the church a huge family umbrella. ‘‘Why,
Mary, my child,”’ he said, ‘what made you
bring that great umbrella on such a beautiful
morning as this?”? The dear child looked up
in his face, seemingly much surprised that he
should ask such a question, and said: ‘‘Why,
sir, as we are going to pray to God for rain,
and God has promised to hear and answer His
people when they pray, I thought I’d be sure
to want the umbrella.””

The minister felt reproved by the child’s
simple faith. The meeting was then opened
and earnest prayers were offered. Before
the meeting was over the wind arose, and a
thunderstorm soon burst upon ;the country.
There was a heavy rain, and little Mary’s
umbrella came in quite handy. :

A few weeks ago he had

Oh, yes, sir. You follow

Stepping to the door, he

——- oo

Light found in the Bible.

The value of the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments to an earnest seeker after
truth is strikingly illustrated by a story told
by Dr. E. P. Dunlap, of Siam, in Zhe Church
at Home and Abroad. He says:

Having heard of an ‘‘aged man who wor-
ships Jehovah,” I visited his home, and there
held several services. The old man gave us
a cordial welcome, and told us that many
years ago he became convinced that the world
had a Creator, and that He is the true God.
He then resolved to give up all other gods and