The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 47

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 47

to define our attitude. Those accusations are false.
We are not opposed to religion. Sad, indeed, would
be the fate of any country without religion. We
are no less Catholic now than we were before the
revolution. But let it be known and understood
by all that what we are opposed to, and what we
will fight against, and even shed our blood, if
necessary, to prevent, is that the Roman. Catholic

Chureh should return to Mexico as a_ political

power F.J.L.

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Christian Education in China.

We take the following from the Foreign Mis-
sions Year-book of North America, 1919: —

“Christian education has been a growing power
in China. There is now a strong Christian Hduca-
tion Association with two foreign secretaries and
a good periodical. Affiliated with it are nine dis-
trict associations, which cover the whole of China.
‘These associations have promoted curricula, uniform
examinations, and proper supervision of primary
schools. They have done much to adapt Western
education to the Chinese. In 1916 there were in
Christian schools in China 181,166 pupils of all
grades, and the Chinese contributed $600,000 to-
ward Christian education. . . .

“The large illiteracy of the church-membership
has been a matter of deep concern to church-leaders.

_Although the literacy of the church-members is

higher than that of the same class of people outside
of the Church, it has been estimated that as high
as fifty to seventy per cent. of the church-members
in certain sections cannot read. Romanized sys-
tems were developed in certain areas, but they have
not been taken up enthusiastically by the Chinese
nor by the missionaries. ‘The Chinese government
has now devised a system of phonetic writing. It
is written the same way as the old characters, but
is much simpler. ‘The ordinary farmer or laborer
can learn it in a month. <A student can pick it
up in a few hours. ‘The government schools are
teaching it, and missionaries in the Mandarin-
speaking areas have taken it up. A Christian
literature, including Seripture-portions, is being
produced in it. This puts a new tool into the
hands of the Christian. What better can he do
than teach his non-Christian neighbor to read?
It gives the Christian leaders direct access to mil-
lions of people whom heretofore they were unable
to reach by the simplest literature,” F. J. L.

God’s Call Is a World Call.

This is truly the day of the Lord, in which the
King’s business is imperative, and puts every man
under tribute for instant service to Jesus Christ.
God’s call to the men of America is evidenced by
world nationalities in our midst.

THE Buack MAN.

‘The black man is here in greater numbers than
in any other country save Africa. His American
level is that of a tableland high above the one
hundred and thirty millions of his people in Africa
and elsewhere. The American Negro tends to world
leadership for his race. Whatever we, through pa-
tience and tireless, brotherly helpfulness, encourage
this man to make of himself here, we thereby set
up a standard and set in motion a dynamic which
will lift the African continent. Does this man’s
white brother sense the prison-house of the son
of Ham? Socially, industrially, politically, he is
walled in. Other men may freely exercise their every
power in a field of unfenced possibility.

Pause for the moment and note what-the Negro
in America cannot do and may not become save
among his own people. His imposed limitations
are enough to paralyze ordinary endeavor. Yet so
many of the race ignore handicap and barrier, and
doggedly climb hand over hand to success that they
command respect and commendation. How may we
help? Whenever he asks the privilege of growing
to Christian manhood, give him a man’s chance.
Give it to him by helping him to sustain the church-
schools which stand for training in industrial com-
petency, professional skill, and race leadership. This
means evolution from within or black leadership.
This means a chance for growth and training which
may fit for this divine opportunity. It is up to the
man of America to see that the Negro has this
chance. To deny it is to cut the tap-root of the
whole missionary propaganda. If the Negro cannot
find his chance in Christian America, what about
Christian America in Africa?

* This black man holds the key to the awakening
agricultural possibilities of the new South. These
possibilities unfold in amazing profusion. The
average black laborer in skill and habit falls short
of present-day requirement. He must measure up
or give way to others. The European immigrant
may be his competitor. The immigrant fare from
Europe through the Panama Canal to California
will not much exceed the rate to New York.