The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1920, Page 76

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76

The Lutheran Pioneer.

welcome news than that contributed from Napoleon-
ville in some of the earlier issues of the PIONEER.
We are sorry to say that the sad state. of affairs
which still exists among us, fills us with depression
and perplexity, rather than cheerfulness and joy.
We feel like the Jews during their Babylonian cap-
tivity, who found themselves unable to sing their
songs of Zion in a strange land. Our hearts give
response only to sad feelings, and we are able to
relate nought but a sad story.
Do you ask why we are so sad and despondent?
It is true, you have sent us the pure and unadul-
terated Gospel of salvation, that sweet message of
peace which cheers the affrighted heart, gives abid-
ing peace to the sin-wearied soul, affords courage
and support against the assaults of Satan, and as-
sures of victory in the hour of death. These price-
less treasures you have made ours by your Christian
‘giving. Words cannot express our heartfelt grati-
tude to you that you have sent us the Gospel, and
we praise God for His grace. Surely, when we con-
“template our favored lot, that we have a Lutheran
church in our midst, we feel indeed blessed. But
do you also remember, dear reader, how, some time
ago, we published a sad account of the great damage
our chapel sustained during a storm? The building
still stands unrepaired, at the mercy of wind and
rain. In spite of the dangerous condition of the

chapel, zeal for the Lord’s house urges pastor and ~

members to assemble in their house of worship,
though it is not unusual to have the rain come
streaming down on altar, pulpit, and pews through
the sieve-like roof during services. Love for the
Word of God keeps our little flock regularly wend-
ing its way to the house of God, though no public
thoroughfare leads to the church, a passage being
gained through the neighbors’ yards which give
admission to a dark, muddy, and lightless alley,
amidst the haunts of prostitution. A sad state of
affairs, is it not, dear reader? But in spite of these
obstacles, we say with David, “I was glad when
_ they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the
Lord.” ; :
But these are not the only reasons for our sad-
ness. Our apprehension is great that at any time
death may invade our little flock. How unfortunate
it should be, since we have no cemetery where we
may deposit our dear departed in their last resting-
place. And with what feelings of apprehension and
depression are we not sometimes seized when one
of our members is cast upon a sick-bed! Are you

‘not..seized with feelings of sympathy as you read

this article, and as your thoughts wander away and
you are seemingly placed in our position? But the
sad -experience of losing a member without having
a cemetery to bury him has already occurred. And
with what measure of depressed feeling we were
seized, and what happened we will leave for you
to imagine. But God be thanked that He has
spared us from further experiences of this kind.

A fund to the amount of $1,538 has already
been raised by our Christian friends, but the sum
raised is inadequate to meet the expenses of buying
a new site and erecting a new chapel. <A new site
has not as yet been secured, owing to the fact that
the chapel fund for Napoleonville was not sufficient
to purchase a lot at the price of $2,000, the cheapest
price at which it could be bought on account of
the severe housing problem and the great demand
for lots in our town. And while we were still
hoping that many of our Christian friends would
soon come to our assistance with donations for our
site and chapel-fund, the lot we had in view was
sold. What a great disappointment! Dear reader,
we urgently beg you, and earnestly solicit your
donations. May the Lord grant that our appeal for
help will find many willing hearts, ready to respond
to the Lord’s call, and that it will not be long till
Napoleonville will be provided with a commodious .
chapel and also a cemetery. —

Northwest from Napoleonville, on the main line
of the Texas and Pacific R. R., lies Plaquemine.
Plaquemine, a typical southern town with many
sawmills, surrounded by rice and sugar-cane plan-

-tations, situated on the great Mississippi River, has

a population of about 8,000 or 9,000. Plaquemine
is a French word and means in English persimmon
(no doubt, so named because of the many persimmon
trees which are found in town and round about).
Because of its great agricultural and lumbering in-
dustries, which give employment chiefly to the
colored people, Plaquemine’s-colored population ‘is
double that of the whites. And it is a splendid
field for our Lutheran mission-work.:

About a year-ago the door was opened to us.’
The Lord blessed our work, and a promising —
Lutheran mission was established in Plaquemine.
Though but recently established, our little mission
numbers 19 souls; 10 communicant members. “Last
school-year, more than 150 children attended ‘our

-mission school, and the prospects are’ that this year

the enrolment will surpass that of last year. The.
great hindrance to the more rapid growth of our
mission at Plaquemine is the great need of a school