The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1915, Page 69

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 69

ferring such sublime benefits on the most abject of
the human race!” .

The love which these former savages showed to
Jansen at the time of his departure was most
touching. Many of them went with him as far as
Freetown, where he was to take the ship, and as
he was about to embark, they cried in their broken
English, “Massa, suppose no water live here — we
go all the way with you — till feet no more.” When
he returned, the news of his arrival was brought
to his people at night while they were at church.
The news so filled them with joy that many went
io Freetown that same night to meet him, -while
others, not able to sleep, sang the night away.

By 1823, the deadly climate had so undermined
Jansen’s health that he was once more obliged to
return to England. But while en roule, it pleased
God to call His laborer home into His eternal rest.
During his last hours Sarah Bickersteth, his first
convert, sat by his berth, read to him the ‘Twenty-
third Psalm, and prayed with him, heard his last
words, and closed his dying eyes. At the early age
of thirty-five, after only seven years’ labor, the
Master called His faithful servant home. But what
remarkable work had he done in this short time!
He had changed what seemed a hopelessly ignorant,
unimpressible, and depraved people into a model
Christian community. He had found there, seven
short years before, the refuse from the holds of
slave-ships, a mass of human beings who lived a
life of unbridled lust, habitual lying, thieving, and
quarreling; paupers and criminals feeding on
government rations.. Yet, by God’s help, out of
such worthless and utterly unpromising material
he formed a community of industrious, intelligent,
virtuous, and pious men and women. And the good
work he did was permanent; since 1862, the church

. of Sierra Leone has been self-supporting and self-

governing. After three generations there are over,
20,000 native Christians, with 3,000 pupils in the
schools, served by .55 ordained pastors and 304
native helpers.

Here we once more learn how the most hopeless
field often turns out to be most fruitful in the end.
Thus God emphasizes His command to preach the

‘Gospel to every creature, and not to pass by any

nation. Let us, then, go and tell men what Christ
has done for the world and its sins and sorrows;
let us assure them that the Son of David even now
rides triumphant and is nearing His temple, that
they may mect Him with their waving palms and
glad hosannas and ery, “Blessed is He that cometh

in the name of the Lord!” And so the final Palm
Sunday of the ages shall be ushered in, when out
of millions of mouths of babes and sucklings, those
new-born into His kingdom, His praise shall be
made perfect. F. J. WL.

7

A Letter from Atlanta, Ga.

Dear friend of our Negro Mission, I had promised
to let you see a picture of our Atlanta station already
last month. ‘The delay was caused by the photog-
rapher. By being a few days late, last month’s
issue of this paper was missed. However, better
late than never. S :

Here you have a picture of our little “shack,”
as I called it last time. You wonder, and well

St. Mark's Chapel, Atlanta, Ga.

you do, for it is hardly possible that this should
be what we call St. Mark’s Chapel, Atlanta, Ga.!
It is not presented for the beauty of its appearance,
but only in order that you might better understand
the description following.

In this little place a colored Lutheran congre-
gation conducts divine service, Sunday-school, and
day-school. Imagine the difficulties! But perhaps
I ask you to tax your imagination too much! So
T’ll explain as best I can. The house has two rooms
on the side facing the street, and the little “bread-
box” that you see in the rear, which extends to
half the front length. We wanted to tear down the
wall separating the two front rooms, but without
that wall the thing would be blown to smithereens
by any near-wind. ° So we removed the wall between
the front room’ and that annex. Thus we have
a space measuring about 10 by 165 feet. Here you
will find eleven desks, the organ, and the pulpit
(which happens to be a foot-square table). In

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