The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 23

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 23

Items of Interest from Our Colored
Mission Field.

New Orveans, La.— We regret to learn that
Teacher John Thompson of St. Paul’s School was
obliged by ill health to tender his resignation to the
Mission Board in January. He wrote to our Board
January 20: “In this my action I sincerely beg the
sympathy of my dear Mission Board.” Mr. 'Thomp-
son has found outdoor work in the U. S. Post Office
service. May it please the Lord to restore him to
health soon!

Asuevitin, N. C. — Missionary Henry Daehnke
has, with God’s help, recovered his health to such
an extent that his physician has given his consent
to his returning into the service of the Mission,
“provided he preaches but once a Sunday and can
be kept out of the schoolroom.

—___—_~>->——

They Want to Die Smiling.

“We have never seen any one die like that. Why,
he died with a smile on his face!”

The speaker was one of an awe-struck: group of
friends and relatives gathered around the body of
an old Hindu priest who had just died of fever.

Eight months before that a missionary in
Khandwa, India, had received at his home a dele-
gation of men who had walked twenty miles to
tell him that they wanted a preacher in their village.
Climbing into his little ox-cart, the missionary
sstarted out under their, guidance, and after a jour-
‘ney of eleven hours reached the village, where there

_, were at that time only two Christian families.

The next morning, under a big tree, hard by
one of the village shrines, the missionary preached
simply and. earnestly to the villagers, most of whom
listened with eager interest. But all through his
talk he was conscious of the presence of ah old
Hindu priest who sat beside the heathen shrine,
his head between his knees, meditating, motionless.

When the service was over and the people had

~teturned to their work in the fields, the old man

still sat there in the shade. The missionary was
wondering how he might diplomatically break in
upon his meditations, when, to his astonishment,
the priest raised his head and said:
“Do you know I have not been worshiping idols
for a year? I have been praying to Jesus Christ.”
The missionary asked him if he would like to

be baptized. The old man shook his head hesitantly.
Generations of Hindu teaching and the habits of
a lifetime made it difficult to abandon the silent,
hideous gods of his nation.

The next night, when the missionary preached
again to the people, the old priest was again present,
sitting in the same place, with his head between his
knees. After the service was over, the old man arose
slowly and said, “Now I am ready to be baptized.”

He turned his back to the shrine and the god
of mud, the missionary baptized him, and he went
away with his face shining.

Hight months later, the missionary, sitting in
his study, looked up to find the old priest, wan
and shaking and hollow-eyed, standing in the door.

“T am dying,” he said simply. “I have the fever.
All my family wanted me to go back to the gods
of India and ask them to save me. But I would
not. For I know that Christ will save me.”

With shaking hands he drew out a worn copy
of the Bible and read the story of the birth of
Christ and of the glorification.

“Ts it not wonderful that He died for me?”
he said, and not long after that he passed away.
And the friends and relatives who had followed him
from his home and had seen him die went away
with wonder and desire in their hearts, saying,
“THe died with a smile on his face. We must learn
to die that way.”

To-day almost all the people of that village are
Christians.

> o>

Take Hold and Hold Fast!

A tourist was climbing a high mountain in
Switzerland in the company of a guide in whom
he had the greatest confidence. Without fear he
followed the guide up the steep ascent of the moun-
tain, passing one dangerous place after the other,
climbing higher and higher. Such was his con-
fidence in the guide that he followed him without
hesitation step after step, hour after hour. Sud-
denly, however, he held back, and drew taut the
rope that tied him to his guide. The guide had
stepped over a narrow, but very deep, dark chasm,
and as the tourist looked down into its hidden
depths, he was so overwhelmed with fear that he
began to tremble in every limb. The guide stepped
back to the brink of the deep opening and held out
his hand for the other to take. The tourist still
hesitated. Once more he looked down into the