The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1920, Page 94

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94 The Lutheran Pioneer. .
eee 0S ———————

The next preacher, Pastor G. A. Schmidt, ex-
horted the members to greater thankfulness unto
God for all the blessings of this life: health, home,
crops; but especially for that unspeakable Gift, the
Father’s beloved Son Jesus Christ. He based his
remarks on Eph. 5, 20.

And the children beautified the service by ren-

dering in chorus that old mission-hymn: “From
Greenland’s Icy Mountains.”
- The collection! ‘There were two of them. ‘Lhe
first was in envelopes and brought in the bulk of
the day’s offerings. ‘The second was the result of
a special effort on the part of the members in an-
swer to the exhortation: Christ loved you; how
much do you love Him?

Now, before I tell you the amount this gathering
of 48 adults and 11 children contributed — out of
love for Christ —to the Lord’s cause, I want you
to take into consideration these facts. First of all,
this has been a poor cotton year, for the boll-weevil,
a cotton-pest, ruined. the best part of the crop.
Secondly, our people depend solely on cotton to give
them a little money; in other words, no cotton, no
money. ‘Thirdly, what little cotton has been picked
cannot be turned into cash because of the inability
of the farmer to have it ginned and sold — the mar-
ket combine to force higher prices is against him.
So there he is, after all the toil of planting and

harrowing and picking, in possession of a bale or
two as a blessing from the Lord, and yet unable
to use this blessing because of man-made conditions.

How much was their offering? A glorious one:
- $53.29! You should have seen how happy the mem-

bers were when the result was announced. “Thanks
be to God,” was the sentiment of thankful hearts
.and praising lips. Shining eyes revealed the nature
of the heart-beat in their bosom. Why, I heard
several men say that they gave all they had in the
second offering —they simply emptied out their
pockets!
a zeal and Joye for Christ’s kingdom; that they are
anxious to use this power every Christian has to do
greater works than Christ; that they really are
thankful for the blessings of the year?

Another thing. The schoolteacher, a faithful

Christian, donated the proceeds ,of an entire field
of cotton. Out of her own pocket she paid for the
planting and harrowing and picking of the crop.
But her expenses — on account of the poor year —
were greater than the returns. Still she cheerfully
and joyfully turned over the toil of months unto
the Lord. Why? Out of love for Christ!

Doesn’t that show that these people have .

What can you and I learn from this? Methinks
the injunction of the Lord: “Go thou and do like-
wise” is in place here. Let us keep in mind two
pictures: that of your Colored brethren of the
Southland going to the altar for the second time
and returning with pockets turned inside out —
empty !—and that of a girl, a schoolteacher, rais-
ing cotton and giving the entire proceeds to God.
Then there would be no need of our mission-treas-
ury’s going thousands of dollars into debt.

i.- A. Wrsrcorr.

>

Items of Missionary Interest.

A New Missionary 1n ALABAmaA.— God has
given us a new missionary for our ever-expanding
mission-field in the Black Belt of Alabama in the
person of Pastor I. A. Westcott, who graduated last
summer from our theological seminary at Spring-
field, Tl]. He was installed by Superintendent G.
A. Schmidt at Midway October 14, and at Nyland
October 24. Pastor Schmidt based his sermon of
installation on the words: “As the Lord liveth, what
the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.” 1 Kings
22,14. Brother Westcott is not altogether new at
mission-work among the colored people, having
served our Salisbury, N. C., charge and also taken
an active interest in the work of Holy Trinity in
Springfield. May the Lord. abundantly bless his
labors in the Black Belt!

Cost oF AN AFRICAN Wire. — In Eastern
Africa a king’s daughter may be bought for the
price of six goats, and if the bride should die within
a certain period of time, the father will replace her
by giving the bereaved bridegroom another wife
from among his numerous daughters. What an
ordinary man’s daughter may be bought for, if a
king’s daughter is so cheap, may easily be imagined.

A SHAMEFUL Practise. — By means of all sorts
of dishonest promises the natives of Central Africa
are induced to work in the mines of South Africa.
The life they are there obliged to live is so different
from what they are used to in their native forests
that many of them die an early death in conse-
quence. Debauchery and immoral living kills thou-
sands. While 90 per cent. of the natives of Africa
are reached by the commerce of the white man, only
9 per cent. are reached by the white man’s mission-
ary efforts.

An Unrair Excnance.—'The native beer of
Africa did much harm, but not as much as the white

guerre ee on

TPT