The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1921, Page 52

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52

The Lutheran Pioneer.

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to say: Without schools and higher education the
conversion of the Negro to Christ and the Lutheran
Church must be postponed indefinitely. In other
words, we cannot as Lutherans afford to neglect
both the elementary and higher education of the
Negro. ‘The schools we already have must be prop-
erly equipped so that we shall satisfy both our own
requirements and those of the respective States.
Thus we shall bring many Negroes under the sound
of the Gospel and through it win them for Christ.

Eet us, then, heed the advice contained in the
voice of this Catholic missionary. Let us not in
any way consider the educational feature of our
missionary endeavors among the Negroes: lightly,
but rather make it a most important part in our
endeavor to preach the Word to the lost souls among
the Negro folk. W. G. ScHWEHN.

‘
Isle of Pines Mission.

Isla de Pinos, as the natives call it, has also been
, called the “Gem of the Caribbean.” It is one of the
many of those sunny, charming, inviting isles of the
crystal-clear Caribbean Sea. It has an ideal tropical
climate, more healthful, it is even claimed by some
Pineros, than of any other isle in the world. For
the Northerner who first gets there, it has a peculiar
charm, like all tropical lands, though some parts of
Isla de Pinos lack much of the luxuriant tropical
vegetation and are barren, affording sufficient natural
nourishment and strength only to the ever-present
pine tree, whence Isle of Pines has received its name.
However, some claim it is known as the Isle of Pines
because of the fine pineapples grown there. And they

are good. In fact, all kinds of tropical fruit thrive |

well there, — lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, etc.,
— but a constant use of fertilizer is generally needed
to nourish the soil. Years ago Isla de Pinos was
inhabited by Indians, but then came the Spaniard,
and the red man vanished just as mysteriously as he
did from the face of the American mainland.

On this charming tropical isle we have several
missions. At my time, in Santa Fe, Santa ‘Barbara,
Nueva Gerona, and on the South Coast of the isle.
It was my pleasure and privilege to serve this last
mentioned mission, so I shall take the privilege of
reporting more particularly regarding our South
Coast Mission. ;

The Rey. R. C. Oertel, who has since gone to his
reward, is the founder of our Isle of Pines Mission.
After having worked successfully in the Texas Dis-

trict for a number of years under the grace of God,
he went to the Isle of Pines for a much-needed rest,
As a true pastor who yearns for the salvation of im-
mortal, blood-bought souls, it grieved him to sce
many people spend Sunday as other days, without
hearing the Word of God. And so he invited
a number to a service which was held in a private
place, and the following Sundays again held services.
Upon returning to the States and reporting to the
President of our Synod, a call was extended to the
Rev. Oertel to carry the Gospel into benighted Cath-
olic Cuba. He had always been interested in a collec-
tion of butterflies and insects. of all kinds, and so he
came to the Isle of Pines well prepared with nets for
this purpose. Whether he secured many good speci-
mens, I do not know, but it so happened that with

. the net of the Gospel he won immortal souls for

Christ.

Fortunately, in Santa Barbara we have had a
small parochial school from the beginning, where the
Rey. O. C. Mueller first taught school.

It was he who opened the way for our mission on
the South Coast. The South Coast is the most in-
teresting of our mission-stations on the Isle of Pines.
It’s a wonderful place for tourists, — excellent fish-
ing, turtling, hunting, bathing. The Rey. Mueller
visited here and happened to speak to some of the
inhabitants of the South Coast regarding the spir-
itual needs of the settlement. And the Lord so
guided it that it was the man and his wife who had
the interest of a mission most at heart, and Mr.
and Mrs. Jackson are to-day the mainstays of the
mission.

This devout man and his wife soon told him their
trouble; told him that they had no school for the
children and no church services. ‘They had had
a school and church services long ago, but now the
children were growing up without an education and
proper Christian training. That same day the Rev.
Mueller preached under the shade of those beautiful
cocoanut palms, which since then, due to a blight,
have disappeared, and with them one of the princi-
pal sources of a meager income. Soon a subscription
list of contributions for the purpose of maintaining
& mission was signed, and a call was extended for
a missionary to teach and preach.

Well do I remember the day when I left New
Orleans bound first for South Coast, Isle*of Pines.
“Tsla de Pinos” —the name alone called forth all
kinds of missionary: scenes. I saw myself among
some kind of dark natives, surrounded by tropical
vegetation, teaching and preaching to them. And

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