The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1921, Page 75

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

The Lutheran Pioneer.

75

|
————oOoOoO—O——OOOOOOOOOOeeee

The Value of a Lutheran School.

Many people do not know it. One man in Rich-
mond, Va., who is not rich and has but a moderate
income, knows it, for he has voluntarily pledged
himself to pay $100, if a Lutheran school can be
started there with a competent Lutheran teacher, to
whom he may send his child. He has also talked to
others who are not Lutherans and has received the
promise of two men to pay $2.50 each monthly and
to send their children to such a school, if one can
be opened. We have an organ and a suitable place
with some tables and plenty of chairs, too, but no
teacher and not enough money to pay a competent
teacher, if we get one, a suitable salary for eight
months of the year. Are there enough fellow-
Christians among the readers of the P1onEeR who
value a Lutheran school sufficiently to help us pray
for a competent Lutheran teacher and for the re-
mainder of what. will be necessary to pay his or her
salary for the year? ‘The value of a truly Lutheran
school is manifold, but the main value lies in bring-
ing the children to their Savior and on the way to
everlasting life, and that is worth all the efforts we
can make. Amen! L. G. Dorrar.

News Items from India.

Nagercoil Field.

Since coming down from Kodaikanal, our beau-
tiful hill station, June 3, Rev. Goerss, missionary
in charge at Nagercoil, has been extremely busy
with work in the village congregations and schools.
Of the former we have 26 in the Nagercoil area.
And the distances from our compounds to these
churches varies from a mile or two to fifty miles.
With only one missionary able to speak the lan-
guage, it is easily seen what long and fatiguing
rides, over roads none too good, Brother Goerss has
to,make on his’ motor cycle. (Good news just re-
ceived! An order from the Mission Board author-
izing the purchase of a Ford,for the Nagercoil
station.) &, ze

Rev. G. Jesudason, our first ordained native

pastor, reports that seventeen or eighteen senior-

and junior catechists, as well as a few school-
teachers, met Saturday morning, June 18, for the
first weekly catechists’ meeting of the season. The
sermon topic for next day formed the subject for
discussion. :

. We have eight junior catechists, who completed

. their course last year. They will receive additional

training in catechetical work Saturday mornings
from Brother Goerss. Some of them are at present
teaching in our village schools. It is hoped that
all will be regular catechists by the.end of the year,
since the need for workers is so very pressing. The
fields are indeed “white to harvest”; we have many
requests that new work be taken up, but “the
laborers are few,” so that most requests have to be
refused.

The preceding refers not to native Indian
workers only, but to foreign missionaries from the
home base as well. These are needed for the great
work of training Indian leaders to carry the mes-
sage of salvation on to their brethren. Come over
into India and help us!

Missionary’s Residence, Nagercoil.

At the morning service of June 19, the Vada-
sery congregation, served by Rev. G. Jesudason,
practically filled the church. Rev. Jesudason com-
muned thirty-eight. In the evening he adminis-
tered emergency baptism to a young wife who is
dying of quick consumption.

ScHoo. Notes.

All village schools, thirteen in number, opened
on May 16. Our higher grade vernacular schools,
with boarding establishment attached, situated at
Nagercoil, opened a week later. One of these is for
boys and the other for girls. Their combined en-
rolment at present is 160. In all, sixty-eight new
children sought admission when classes were started
last month. But many were refused since they
came from villages where they can attend’ our lower
schools for a year or two longer.

To run our boarding establishments costs about
$1.50 per child per month. We have many orphan
children in the boarding-schools.