The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 53

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

53

has in his parish paper already called your attention
to the needs of our mission and appealed to you to
build a chapel for a little homeless fiock of negro
Lutherans. They are one with you in faith and
confession. They study their Sunday-school lessons
from the same books that you have, pray the same
prayers, sing the same songs, kneel at the same altar,
and worship the same God. Remember these fellow-
Lutherans at High Point in your prayers and with
your generous free-will offerings. May God abun-
dantly bless you, prosper the work of your hands,
and graciously reward you for your labor of love.
g N. J. BAKKE.

_ aoe

Items from the Colored Mission Field.

CoLoreD PopuLatrion. — About 2,000,000 ne-
groes live in the cities of the South. In addition
to these there are probably 7,000,000 colored people,
including 2,500,000 children, usually unprovided
with any schools, living in the country and villages
of less than 1,000 inhabitants. Do you grasp the
full meaning of these figures? And do you fully
comprehend the task af wrestling with these con-
ditions? “There remaineth yet very much land to
be possessed.” ‘here are millions of children for
whom there are no schools and teachers.

Tire ADVANCE or Firry YEArs. — Fifty years
ago probably ninety per cent: of the negroes in the
United States were illiterate. At the present time
the proportion of illiteracy among them is thirty
per cent. Fifty years ago few of them were fitted
for anything but farm labor. ‘To-day 50,000 are
serving their own race as teachers, preachers, law-
yers, doctors, ete., 30,000 are engaged in almost in-
numerable lines of business, 300,000 are working
at trades and other occupations requiring skill, and
.19,000 are serving the national, state, and municipal
governments.

Lax Communities. — The graduate of a colored
seminary writes thus to his former teacher: “I amr
teaching in a Methodist church a four months’ term,
and then will teach in a Baptist church two and
a half miles from here. The churches and school-
houses are very uncomfortable for winter schools.
I had a special program on Thanksgiving and
Christmas. None of the children knew the sig-
nificance of Thanksgiving, a few older ones the
significance of Christmas. Men and women,
churchgoers and non-churchgoers, celebrate Christ-
mas by getting drunk. Whisky has the day. Im-

‘

morality and strong drink are ruining the people.”
— This is a sad commentary on the religion of
many colored people, whose church laws are so lax
and disregarded by people and preacher at pleasure.
In such a community the life of a true Christian
teacher counts for much.

PRESBYTERIAN WORK AMONG THE COLORED. —
The Board of Missions for the Freedmen of the
Presbyterian Church has worked among the colored
people of the South since 1864. Its work is along
industrial, educational, and evangelical lines. In
1913, it maintained 136 schools in 13 different
states. ‘These schools are of four classes, parochial,
coeducational high schools, schools for boys, and
seminaries. In all the schools the Bible and Shorter
Westminster Catechism are taught daily. These
schools were attended last year by 16,427 pupils.
There are 16 colored presbyteries constituting four
different synods. The total number of churches
is 405, having ,2 communicant membership of
26,132. The congregations are served by 2-43 pas-
tors. These colored churches contributed $149,-
677.05 for their own support and to the benevolent
agencies of the church. The average amount of
aid given is $20 per month. The colored women
teachers are secured for $25 per month, and the
salary of colored male teachers averages from $25
to $50 per month. The few that receive $50 a
month are men who manage large boarding-schools
and preach in two or three churches besides.
The Board conducts 373 Sunday-schools, in which
22,596 scholars are enrolled. The whole number
of workers of the church is 583.

INFLUENCE OF Mission Scroous. — “In a sec-
tion of the State of North Carolina where a mission
school has been carried on for fourteen years there
has not been a single conviction of a negro in the
criminal courts nor one case of murder. The re-
moval of the school would be a death-blow to the
development of the people in that locality.” Such
is the testimony of a Southern white man. — A cer-
tain town in Kentucky has a purely colored popu-
lation of 600: A visitor to the town asked where
the jail could be found. - The answer was, “We have
no jail.” He then asked where the policeman could
be found. The answer was, “We have no police-
man.” He then asked where the mayor was. The
answer came, “Weihave no mayor.” He then asked
what protection they had for the men, women, and
children, and the answer was, “The church and the
school.” —In a certain county of Arkansas the
sheriff was asked what proportion of criminals in