The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1916, Page 38

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38

The Lutheran Pioneer.

the joyful hope with which she looks forward to her
eternal home, has led us parents back to the faith of
our childhood. Here our hearts have been quieted,
here we arm ourselves against the temptations of
life and all its battles!” Once again I had learned
that man does not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Items of General Missionary Interest.

Prorestant ForeigN Muissronaries. — There
was an increase of five hundred and twenty-eight
Protestant foreign missionaries in 1915. ‘The total
number of missionaries in the foreign field to-day
is estimated to be ten thousand five hundred. These
missionaries serve more than a million native church-
members. The native Christians contributed for
mission-work in 1915 the sum of $4,541,982.

A PRINTERY IN AN AsyLuM For LrepErs. — In
South China there is a printery conducted in con-
nection with an asylum for lepers, where Bibles for
the use of lepers are printed. So great is the de-
mand for Bibles among these unfortunates that
recently ,the stock of the printery was completely
exhausted. The proof-reader of the establishment
has lost both limbs by leprosy. ‘The lepers have
themselves made a careful revision of the whole
Bible.

‘Te MowaMMrDaN MEnAcE. — Dr. S. M. Zwe-
mer, a missionary of the Reformed Church working
among the Mohammedans of Egypt, says that about
forty-two million of the world’s two hundred mil-
lion Mohammedans are living in Africa. This is
probably more than one-third of the total popula-
tion of Africa. Mohammedanism is rapidly grow-
ing in Africa, and every year thousands are gained
for Islam among the heathen tribes.

Korra.— Two steps have been taken by the
Japanese government of. Korea which will affect

* missionary work in that country. In March, 1915,
the government published new regulations which
may seriously hamper the progress of the mission-
schools. All private schools must closely follow the
government course of study, and all the teachers will
have to know Japanese and hold government certifi-
cates. This order also prohibits all religious teach-
ing and religious ceremonies in schools. Schools
already established are given ten years time to con-
form to these regulations. It is to be hoped that

_ the representations which are being made to the
government may induce it to reconsider that part

of the order forbidding the teaching of religion in
the schools, since the enforcement of this part of
the regulation would be a serious infringement of
religious liberty, which Japan guarantees to all its
subjects. — Another order which will hamper mis-
sionary activities more or less seriously requires full
information concerning the number of converts and
adherents. This same order also declares that no
church may be begun without full reasons being
given for establishing it. Likewise the plan of the
buildings, the qualifications of the workers to be em-
ployed, the financial arrangements, and the methods
of superintendence and maintenance must be fully
reported to the authorities. Both these regulations,
undoubtedly, seriously threaten the future of mis-
sions in Korea. — 'The statistics of the Methodist
and Presbyterian missions show almost 275,000 ad-
herents, of whom 24,000 were added during one
year. The mission of the Church of England re-
ports 5,500 baptized Koreans and 350 baptized
Japanese. The various Bible societies report record
sales, the number of Scriptures circulated by the
American Bible Society alone totaling 458,694 in
1914. In this connection it may be of interest to
learn that before the advent of Christianity the
Koreans were a pocketless nation, but since the
coming of Christianity pockets are becoming quite
common. They were introduced there by converts
to Christianity, so that they might carry their
Bibles in them. They call them “Bible-holders.”

Formosa. — The English Presbyterian Mission
celebrated the jubilee of its work in Formosa last
year, its first missionary having landed on the island
in 1865. They report 11,425 baptized Christians in
Formosa.

Missionary Spirit rn tue Souri Seas. —'The © -

generation of a keen missionary spirit on the part
of its converts should be one of the chief aims of
every missionary enterprise. Christian life can only
grow by spending itself. From the days of the
apostles to the present day experience has shown
that a Church with missionary zeal is a live Church,
but the Church where missionary spirit is lacking
is dead. As the child gathers his strength by in-

cessantly spending his energy; as the athlete de- »

velops his powers by constant exercise, even so the
infant Church gathers strength by doing something
for those outside the Church, — in other words, by

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engaging in some form of missionary work. Wher-

ever the native Christians evince this, missionary
spirit, there we have a living and a growing native
Chureh. For this reason we find such a remarkable

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