The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1921, Sheet 52

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

eS a Le Ls

Home Johnnie took his way. But he was un-
usually quiet and thoughtful. He complained about
being sleepy, and asked to be permitted to take
a nap. His mother spread out an old coat on the
porch, and Johnnie went to sleep. For some reason
he got up’and went into the house to lie down on
his mother’s bed. Sam, an eight-year old brother,
came into the room, and, thinking to have some
fun, he took up a gun and poked it into the face
of sleeping Johnnie. With no other idea in his
head but to “scare” his brother, he pulled the trigger
and — nearly blew the little fellow’s head off. The
mother came running from the field, but it was too
late, Johnnie had passed over into the other world.

May we not take it that Johnnie's soul was
carried in the arms of the angels to His Savior?
That morning his prayer had been: “If I should

One of Our Alabama Christian Day-Schools.

die before the day is done, O God, accept me through
Thy Son.” And only about an hour before his soul
left his earthly clay, he had said: “Into Thy hands
I commend myself, my body and soul.... Let
Thy holy angel be with me. . . .” True, poor little
Johnnie had not been baptized. Still, that was not
his fault. Small as he was, he had expressed the
desire to be baptized, and had gone home one day,
saying to his Baptist mother and father: “I’ve
‘jined’ the Church,” meaning thereby that he wanted
to be one of those who were going to be baptized on
Easter Day. Surely, he was one of Christ’s lambs.
Friend, it sometimes scems to you—and, for that
matter, to all of us — as though our Christian day-
schools are a big expense. That they are. . But can
a saved soul like that of Johnnie Ross be estimated
in dollars and cents? Can it? No, especially not
-when you think of what it cost Christ to buy
back souls from sin and hell — the price of His holy
and precious blood. Oh, thank God that through

your gifts schools, dealing out the Bread of Life,
have been erected and are being maintained also in
this Black Belt of Alabama. Through them liitle

“Johnnie Rosses” are learning to love their Savior,

are learning to answer the all-important question :
What must I do to be saved? by saying, Believe in
the Lord Jesus. And that despite home influence,
which says, You must pray, you must lead a good
life, you must see visions and dreams. ‘Thank the
Lord, I say, for our schools — your mission-schools.
And do not grow weary in answering the call for
more and more funds, for more and more such Chris-
tian nurseries. E: A. Westcorr.

A Hint for Others.

We take the following from the Missionary News,
a monthly published in the interest of the missionary
and charity work carried on by the St. Louis Lu-
theran churches of the Missouri Synod. As our
readers read the interesting clipping, others may pos-
sibly receive encouragement to do as these St. Louis
Missionary societies are doing.

“On the afternoon of May 3 the missionary en-
terprise of St. Louis Lutheran ladies was again force-
fully demonstrated. 'The occasion was a ‘coffee’ held
in Holy Cross Hall and sponsored by our dear
Ladies’ Aid for Colored Mission. ‘They were assisted
by eight ladies’ societies from our various churches
in the city. These societies were: Holy Cross Frau-
enverein, Messiah, Redeemer, Pilgrim, Trinity, Im-
manuel, Emmaus, and Holy Cross Ladies’ Aids. We
wish to express our heartfelt thanks to these societies
in general and to their representatives at the ‘coffee’
in particular for the part they. took in making this
affair such a grand success; also to those societies
which sent various donations in lieu of taking
charge of a table. It was the kind cooperation of
the above-named societies that made the ‘coffee’ pos-
sible. In this connection we wish to mention also
our energetic president, Mrs. M. Sommer, to whose
executive ability and zealous interest no small part
of the success of this charity affair was due.

“It was a grand afternoon all the way around.
The attendance exceeded our expectations. From
two o'clock until five the ladies in charge of the
tables were kept busy serving their wares, delicious
cake and piping hot coffee, to a veritable host of
guests. All of the tables were neatly decorated.
A feature of the decorations was a miniature log-
cabin which graced the table of Messiah Ladies’ Aid.