The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1921, Page 78

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78

The Lutheran Pioneer.

work, they were also days fraught with joy and
happiness, especially when one remembers that the
social life of a missionary in India is very limited.
Vaniyambadi, India.
E. A.. NoFFkeE, Missionary.

Medical Mission-Work in India.

An Official Communication Addressed to the Lutheran
Women and Ladies’ Societies of the Missouri Synod.

Eleven years ago by your generous and general
assistance the beautiful Mountain Retreat (Berg-
heim) at Kodaikanal was procured for the benefit
of our dear missionaries and their families in India,
“who will never forget to thank you for it.

Now the Board of Foreign Missions is again
looking to you Lutheran women of our churches for
liberal support of a most worthy and needy cause.
‘The medical mission-work in India was begun on
a very small scale when Miss Ellerman, our first
mission nurse, was sent to India. All the.means for
her support were pledged and supplied by Lutheran
ladies’ societies. You undoubtedly have heard of
the valuable services she has rendered to our mis-
sionaries and their families in case of sickness and
to thousands of pagan patients to whom she ten-
dered not only the coveted bodily relief, but at the
same time directed them also to Jesus, the great
Physician of their body and soul. When she re-
cently returned to India from her first home fur-
lough, she took with her Miss A. Georgi as her as-
sistant, and she also rejoiced in the fact that at last
a doctor had been found to superintend and to or-
ganize the medical mission-work, Dr. Theo. Doeder-
lein, of Chicago, having consented to suspend his
extended practise and to give his valuable services
to our medical mission in India. He is now on his
way to visit our mission-field in China, whence he
will proceed to India some time in November. Two
nurses also are ready to sail the end of October to
join him in the work. Meanwhile the missionaries
have finished the plans and started building opera-
tions for the erection of a dispensary or small hos-
pital at Ambur.

Thus our medical mission-work will be put on
a proper basis, and we may hope to see much good

accomplished in the way of giving assistance to the-

heathen population suffering from the terrible rav-
ages of various diseases and of removing the ob-
stacles of prejudice and suspicion, thus affording a

greater opportunity to our missionaries to bring ~

more heathen to Christ, their Savior. But remem:
ber, the expenditure of at least $25,000 is necessary
during this year for our medical missions in India.
We cannot draw for this purpose on the general
Foreign Mission Treasury, which at present is bur-
dened with a deficit of over $20,000 and will have
to meet a great increase of expenses in the near
future, for the Lord has answered our prayers and
has given us ten new missionaries and three teachers
for the great harvest-fields in India and China.

May we not, therefore, again look to you, dear
Lutheran women of our Synod, so richly blessed by
the various mercies of God, for special contributions
for our medical mission-work in India? Lend us
once more your generous assistance for the Lord’s
sake, and He will bless you for it!

With fraternal greetings in behalf of the Board

of Foreign Missions,
Ricu. Krerzscumar, Chairman.

Items of General Missionary Interest.

Inpra. — We feel certain that our readers will
be delighted to read the two special letters which
appear in this number of the PionEER from Mis-
sionaries Noffke und Heckel. ‘These letters bring
us first-hand information from the fields of the
Missouri Synod in India. We hope to be able to
bring more letters of the same kind in later issues.
We ask our readers to read the appeal of Pastor
Kretzschmar, the Chairman of the Missouri Synod
Foreign Mission Board, in behalf of Medical
Missions.

For THE BENEFIT oF THE DorMITORY. — Dur-
ing the convention of the Central District of the
Missouri Synod at Fort Wayne in August we were
granted the privilege of attending a sacred concert
given by the Fort Wayne Lutheran Choral Society,
at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, under the auspices
of the Fort Wayne Council of the American Luther
League. The concert organist for the occasion was
Prof. M. Lochner, of Concordia Teachers’ College,
River Forest, Ill., formerly. professor at Immanuel
Lutheran College, Greensboro, N.C. ‘The vocal and
instrumental selections were rendered in a faultless
manner and called forth the unqualified praises of
the 1,800 hearers. The offering upon the occasion
was designated for our dormitory at Greensboro.
We were told that considerably over $200 was
collected.