The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1907, Page 94

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

94

appearance of the church. We hardly knew the
place. During the summer the members raised the
church some eight or nine feet and made a neat base-
ment beneath, which is now being used as school-
rooms. The old schoolroom has been converted into
a parsonage, and now the whole place has a different
appearance. 75 per cent. has been added in ap-
pearance and usefulness to the property. May
God’s richest blessing rest upon pastor and congre-
gation ! : 4
Conference closed Sunday night. Prof. Ed.
Buntrock made the closing address, and Hon. H.
Jackson of the-local church responded.

“God be with us till we meet again!”

S. DosweEtt.

ns

Napoleonville, La.

’ At the time of the report in the last PIoNEER
our school in Napoleonville was- still .an orphan;
our former teacher had accepted a call elsewhere,
and the new teacher assigned to Napoleonville had
not yet arrived. Thanks to God this situation has
changed. Teacher Eberhard has arrived, and with
him a new and healthy stir came into the school
and people at this mission station.

On the 25th of October Mr. Eberhard reached
New Orleans, and during his stay of a few days
among the local teachers and missionaries his fellow-
laborers did all they could to encourage this our
youngest worker in our Colored Mission.

October 27, Prof. J.’ Mueller accompanied
Mr. Eberhard to Napoleonville, and installed him
in his office there the following evening, the 20th
Sunday after Trinity.

On the following morning Teacher Eberhard
‘found himself for the first time in the midst of the
little lambs that henceforth were to be intrusted to
his care, and whom he is to direct to their Savior.
As it is impossible for Prof. Mueller to do the work
at Napoleonville in addition to all his other work,

the undersigned was asked by the other missionaries

to take charge of that mission station.

On the first Sunday in November the under-
signed made his first visit to Napoleonville without
having any great expectations. But, contrary to
his expectations, the Mission is making good prog-
ress. ‘Teacher Eberhard is proud of his school, and
is happy and contented. He has an enrollment of
42 pupils, and they are attending school very regu-
larly. “ Napoleonville with its surroundings is now
in the “grind,” that is, in the sugar-cane harvest.

The Lutheran Pioneer.

As soon as this harvest is over, we may expect from
90 to 100 and more pupils to fill our school, and,
sad to say, must then begin to turn others away for
want of room and another teacher. Representatives
from surrounding plantations came to Teacher
Eberhard, asking him to come to them and open
a school in their midst. What shall we do? What
are we to answer these people who are eager to have
Christian instruction for their children? Oh, if we
only had laborers in this vineyard, what a promis-
ing field Napoleonville and its surroundings would
prove to be!

On the evening of the 21st Sunday after Trinity,
the undersigned held his first service in Napoleon-
ville, in the hall rented for our school. ‘The hall
was crowded, every seat being taken. About 115
people attended the service, and almost all remained
after the service to inquire about the new school
and to ask the pastor to remain with them, so that
they might have a service every Sunday. What
should he answer? He assured them that he would
be glad to remain with them if his work would per-
mit him to do so, but that two other mission sta-
tions were requiring all his time and attention. He
promised to come again in about five weeks and to
send some one else in the mean time.

And as to the new school building? The writer
looks to all friends of the mission for an answer to
this question. Have they no answer for these
anxiously inquiring people? Certainly they have.
Here it is: “Yes, Napoleonville shall have a school
building of its own! God’s boundless goodness and
mercy has given unto us, undeserving sinners though
we be, the treasures of His precious Gospel; ever
since our childhood we learned these ‘glad tidings;’
on our mother’s lap we already heard this ‘good
news,’ that ‘unto ws a Child is born, unto us a Son
is given,’ a Savior for us and for all mankind, and
therefore we will cheerfully open our earthly treas-
ures and help towards having these ‘glad tidings,’
this ‘good news’ proclaimed also to the people at Na-
poleonville.” — Napoleonville shall have its school !

Dear Christian, should you not gladly, as a
good and faithful steward, give back to the Lord
a small portion of the earthly goods and riches God
has intrusted to your care? Here God has given
you an opportunity to prove yourself a faithful
steward. Make good use of this opportunity! ‘Let
us work while it is yet day: the night cometh when
no man can work. May God’s kingdom come also

to our new mission field at Napoleonville!
G. M. K.