The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1915, Page 20

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

20 The Lutheran Pioneer.

God and her Church. As usual with Negroes born
in slavery days, Mrs. Jones knew neither her birth-
day nor her birthplace. She was born in North
Carolina, and remembered having been in Helena,
Ark., at the age of twelve years. On a plantation
near that town she was baptized by an Episcopa-
lian clergyman, who, she thought, must have been
a Lutheran. When I asked her why she thought
so, she said, “He looked like one. Pastor, I can
tell every Lutheran pastor by his looks.”

When organizing his little flock, Pastor Berg

LEAH JONES.

came to the little house where Mrs. Jones lived,
and invited her to attend the services. Curious
to learn what our Lutheran Church was, she came
and with Caesar of old could say, “I came, I saw,
I conquered,” or, rather, in this case, “was con-
quered,” to wit, by “the power of God unto salva-
tion,” the Gospel. A truer Colored Lutheran prob-

‘ably never lived than old Aunt Leah. All she

cared for in the world was to do mission work:
Many times did people scorn her for her faith,
but that mattered not. She learned to read in our
school, although already an adult- when she joined
the church, and every once in a while she would
carry her Bible to me to show me a particularly

fine passage, or ask for an explanation of one she
did not understand. After I had explained it so
she could see the point, she would say, “Pastor, '
of course that’s the right explanation. Now, ain’t
that the truth?” That was her standing phrase.
She was not a shouting “Nigger,” but when matters
were laid before her so clearly that she was able
to grasp it well, she would invariably wind up
with, “Now, ain’t that the truth?”

She took ill with pneumonia, and though she
received the best. of nursing, she died on the above-
named date, falling asleep in Jesus, and was laid
to rest February 6.

Aunt Leah saved her money, and she saved it
for the Lord. She left a will, in which she be-
queathed one-half of her money to the Lutheran
congregation (white) in Little Rock, to show her
gratitude for the spiritual blessings received. ‘The
other half (the whole is estimated at about $1,600)
is to be put out on interest, and to be used for
the salary of the minister in charge of the Colored
Mission in Little Rock. If after ten years the
Mission Board should see fit to use the money in
some other way, they will be at liberty to col-
lect the entire amount willed to the Mission for
such purpose.

May Aunt Leah rest in peace! May she be an
example of faithfulness to many! Her works do
follow her. —“Ain’t it the truth?”

A. H. Porrr.

_To the Catechumens of the Synodical

Conference.

Dear Friends : —

“You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Thank God, you know it! You know the ever-
lasting love wherewith God loved you. Before the
mountains were brought forth, before the earth
and the world were framed, your Savior thought
of you. He foresaw your sins. He saw you “en-
slaved by sin, and bound in chains, and doomed to
everlasting pains”; but He had compassion upon
you, and decreed to save you with His holy and
precious blood and with His innocent suffering and
death. You know that in the fulness of time “He
left His radiant throne on high, and came to earth
to bleed and die,” to make you the purchase of
His blood and agony. You know this precious
Gospel. You know that when you were yet infants
in your mothers’ arms, your Savior came to you,
and by the washing of water in Holy Baptism for-