The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 79

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

Harvest Home and Mission Festival at
Concord, N. C.

On the last Sunday in August Grace Ey. Luth.
congregation celebrated its annual Harvest Home
and Mission [estival. It was largely attended.
Three services were held. In the morning the sa-
cred desk was occupied by the Rev. John McDavid,
of Charlotte, who preached from the Gospel lesson.
In the afternoon the Rey. Lash, of Salisbury, broke
the Bread of Life to a large audience. He had for
his text 1 Pet. 2, 11.12. The evening service was
conducted by the undersigned, who had for the
basis of his discourse Luke 12, 15—21. The col-
lection at each service was good. The exact figures
are unknown to the writer, so suffice it to say that
the congregation gave the morning’s collection to
Immanuel College, the afternoon’s to the Board of
Colored Missions, and the proceeds of the evening
service to the congregation at Salisbury. Mention
may be made of the excellent music rendered by
the choir under the leadership of Prof. Persson,
and many thanks are due to the ladies of the con-
gregation, who looked after our temporal welfare.

Ss. D.

ae

“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”

The Rey. C. G. Lewis, of the China Inland Mis-
sion, writes: ‘‘A little company of missionaries in
Southwest China, during the Boxer outrages of the
summer of 1900, found themselves in circumstances
which led to a fuller and deeper appreciation of
Luther’s noble hymn than they had ever had be-
fore. Situated two thousand miles inland, and
seven days’ journey from our nearest neighbors,
we found ourselves cut off from all communication.
After waiting for light and guidance, we attempted
flight through the Southern provinces, but only to
discover, after journeying several days, that all
roads in that direction were closed. Returning to
our station, we determined to await the uncertain-
ties of the situation rather than attempt further
traveling. Knowing something of the fate of many
of our brethren elsewhere, we realized full well what
might be ours also. To flee seemed to run into cer-
tain danger; to sit still seemed as certain to in-
vite it. What to do was no easy thing to settle. It
was during these days that Luther’s hymn, ‘A
Mighty Fortress is our God,’ took on new meaning
to us, and our hearts received fresh strength and
courage as we recalled, as never before, how the
Lord’s people in other days found in our God ‘a
mighty fortress’ from every danger.”’

79

NOTES AND ITEMS.

Just Concetve. —New York’s ‘‘famous orator,’’
in an address on Romish mission work, recently
said to the students of a Roman Catholic seminary:
*‘Just conceive, gentlemen, what the conversion of
the United States to the Catholic faith would imply.
Conceive of the importance of such a conversion to
the welfare and prosperity of the people.’? That
is a horrible thing to conceive! What that would
mean, Catholic countries like Ireland, Spain, Italy,
and the Philippine Islands can tell us. It would
mean the loss of all liberty, the loss of the Bible,
the reign of superstition and corruption, the return
of the world to the dark and cruel days of the In-
quisition. Just conceive! God in mercy protect
our dear country from such a calamity!

Catnotic Rome. — Dense ignorance and great
wickedness are found in Italy, and especially in
Rome. According to late statistics there are 190,000
grown people in Rome -who can neither read nor
write. That city also has within its limits the
largest number of lawbreakers —83 to 1000 citizens.
A traveler in Italy recently wrote: ‘‘The nearer
Rome, the more of ignorance, poverty, violence,
degradation and impurity of life! This was the
discovery that shocked Martin Luther. This is
what led a distinguished priest of America to say,
a few days ago, to a Protestant. minister: ‘I have
been to Rome, and would to God that I had never
seen it.’”?

It is well known that at Luther’s time corrup-
tion and wickedness in Rome were so great that the
Romans themselves had this proverb: ‘‘If there is
a hell, Rome is right over it.””

Tue Cuurcu or Rome in Rome.—A Japanese
professor, in a public lecture on “‘The Church of
Rome in Rome,” said: ‘‘As we visited some of the
numerous (250) churches in this ‘holy city,’ we had
to ask ourselves whether we had not been suddenly
transported to Japan, because we found ourselves
at home, and not in a far-away country. The so-
called ‘Christian’ churches in Rome look exactly
like the Buddhist temples in our home country.
As it is here, so there: statues without number;
burning candles, smoking incense, and fat, richly-
gowned priests. When, several years ago, I was in
the United States, I was surprised to hear speaking
of the necessity of sending missionaries to Italy,
for I took Italy, the pope’s native country, to be a
Christian land—but now I know that Italy is as
much.in need of Christianity as our Japan is.”’