The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1919, Page 53

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

r

‘declares a certain slave free.

The Lutheran ‘Pioneer.

operate in putting a stop to cannibalism in his ter-
ritory, and the chief was instructed to go out and
bring in any of his people found guilty of this
abominable practise. Kabongo very gladly re-
sponded to this task, and brought in some thirty
or forty prisoners.

“Now that he had this cannibal labor available,
Kabongo at last made good his long-postponed
promise to build a schoolhouse near his town.

“After the cannibal prisoners had been lined
up in the morning of each day, and had been given
a lecture either by the administrator or Kabongo
himself on. the evils of cannibalism, Kabongo would
dispatch them with overseers to bring in poles,
palm-trees, rattan, and grass. After the school-
house was finished, Kabongo had them work under
the direction of Mr. Guptill in erecting the first
church at Kabongo. So far as we know, this is the
first church anywhere in the world built by cannibal
labor.

“Many of the sections in the southern Belgian
Congo where we are at work are going ahead
rapidly. We are swamped with resquests from vil-
lage chiefs to send at least a native teacher for
his people. The children of these chiefs are our
brightest pupils.

“In this part of Africa there is a most mag-

nificent opportunity for Christianity. The, natives
are eager for what we can give them.
There are slaves
Usually they are not mistreated.
A slave, perhaps, will call his master his father,
if you inquire about the matter.

“Tale slavery, for instance.
in every village.

“Supposing a government official interferes and
The slave in a few
days is either killed in the jungle, or taken over
the border and sold to the slave-traders in Angola.

“The only way to deal with this slavery is
through elevating the whole race. We must grad-
ually give them a new spiritual and moral life.”

es

St. Louis.

It was a happy crowd that left 15th and Mor-
gan Sts. on June 6, bound for Carondelet Park,
to celebrate the annual picnic of our church and
school. For a long time this event had been upper-
most in the minds of both young and old, and day
for day many of the children had counted the hours
which would elapse before this all-important date.

Some time ago a mother told the writer that one
of her children, when it had been taken to one of
the large St. Louis parks, quired, “Mama, what
is all that green stuff on the ground?” The child
was referring to the grass. From this the reader
can judge what a picnic means to many of the
people living in the congested district where our
mission is located.

Thanks to the energetic work of our white Ladies’
Aid and the liberality of several Lutheran friends,
the picnic was a great success. All those in attend-
ance enjoyed themselves immensely. One of our
members afterward expressed her delight in this
wise, “Say, didn’t we have a bustin’ good time last
Friday?” She was right. Sandwiches, cake, ice-
cream, and lemonade were there in abundance. Early
in the afternoon a short program, which consisted
of songs and recitations, was rendered by the chil-
dren. Oh; how they did sing! Later, races and
contests were held, which greatly interested the
children, chiefly because of the prizes which were

given. The customary baseball game was not
omitted. Of course, both young and old amused

themselves in many other ways also.

Karly in the evening the return trip began.
Hardly had we boarded the special car, when ever
so many of the youngsters fell into deep and sound
sleep. And it’s almost safe to say that they dreamed
of the time when the next picnic would be held,
and of great mountains of ice-cream and deep lakes
of lemonade. —

Affairs in general have been progressing very
nicely of late. ‘There have been disappointments,
of course. But we have also experienced some very
happy moments during the past month. The church
attendance has been better than expected. Much
interest has also been shown in the Bible Class.
We believe that the regular study of the Bible has
brought some good results. For one thing, an in-
centive to read the Bible in private was given
thereby. Of four persons visited recently by the
writer within a half hour, three were found with
the Bible in their hands. Of one we know positively
that she was reading the very chapter that had been
studied in the previous Bible Class meeting.

Several additions were recently made to our flock:
On May 25 a boy of eight years was baptized in
our church, and on June 8 two adults were received
into our midst as communicant members, namely,
Mrs. Fannie Beechum and Mrs. Katie Bledsoe.
May the good Lord keep them steadfast in faith
until the end! Hersert C. Cravs.