The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1922, Page 38

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38

7.

The Lutheran Pioneer.

TO CO OmNSNVVT_

all do our part towards making it possible to carry
out these resolutions. Help, help quickly! He that
gives quickly gives doubly. Let us bear in mind the
words of our Savior: “Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done it
unto Me.” F.C. LANKENAv.

Eleventh General Conference of the
India Missionaries

of the Ey. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States,
at Nagercoil, India, February 1—9, 1922.

Conference! Tow that word calls forth memo-
ries, how it stirs the imagination, how it quickens
the pulses! One would like to pause a while in
retrospection, but time carries us irresistibly onward
from one important conference to another, and one
is prone to think that the last is always the most
vital of all conferences. Be that as it may, the
Eleventh General Conference of the India Mission-
aries of the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and
Other States was in many respects unique and
epoch-making.

On the night of January 31, Nature, seemingly
expectant of the birth of a new era in our mission,
was sublimely calm; the majestic cocoanut palms
reared their feathery crowns on high, while under-
neath, along the dusty roads, sped the motors and
busses bearing the missionaries to the appointed
rendezvous, Nagercoil.

Conference was opened with divine service on
Wednesday, February 1, Director F. Brand and Rev.
P. Heckel officiating. The former preached an im-
pressive and instructive sermon, an address calcu-
lated to cheer and comfort the hearers. On the
evening of the 3d, Holy Communion was celebrated,
twenty-seven partaking of the Sacrament.

This was a unique conference, if for no other
reason than that there were present sixteen ordained
missionaries, two Indian pastors, our doctor, one
nurse, one zenana-worker, one lady educational
worker, and our esteemed and beloved Director and
Secretary of Foreign Missions, Rev. F. Brand. Be-
sides, Mrs. Brand and several of the missionaries’
wives were present at most of the sessions. This is
the first conference in the history of our mission
that could count so many and such a variety of
workers in the cause of Christ.

The first hour of every morning séssion, except
the last two, was devoted to the reading and dis-
cussion of Director Brand’s essay. In a lucid man-
-' ner the essayist, basing his remarks on the account

of the Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Luke 5,
1—11), treated the principles, policies, and prob-
lems, the subject and object, the aim and Author of
all true missionary endeavor. Conference thanked’
the Director for his essay, declared itself in absolute
harmony with all therein set forth, and accepted it
as an expression and exposition of its own senti-
ments.

The epoch-making features of this conference
were the decisions made concerning the medical
mission and the training of our future mission-
workers. It is quite true that the former was in-
augurated some years ago, and that the latter has
also received more or less attention; but now, one
has received an entirely new complexion, and a
definite course has been outlined for the other. It
is needless to say that our medical mission was
founded by Miss Ellerman, that it is considered
a valuable aid and asset to our Gospel-work, and
that Dr. Doederlein has arrived on the field and is
bringing this new venture under way; but it will
surely interest our Lutherans to hear that until the
combined hospital and dispensary is completed, our
medical staff is working under conditions that are
decidedly adverse — fighting superstition, ignorance,
and disease in a place which in spite of its size and
because of its primitive appointments is inadequate
for the purpose and is — a tent. However, great
things have been accomplished by our dauntless
staff, and we firmly believe that, in this respect,
a new era has commenced. ‘Though there are now
three American nurses engaged in this work, we are
looking forward to the time when Indian Lutheran
girls, having learned the gentle art of nursing, will
go forth among their own country-folk with sym-
pathetic hearts and skilful hands. In order that
this may the sooner be accomplished, a training-
school for nurses will be inaugurated with all the
dispatch possible. It will indeed be a happy day
when our Indian Lutheran maidens, through the
medium of our own institution, will be engaged in
this work of mercy and love; when they will go
forth to tell their kindred of the great love of Him
who suffered for all.

The same result, though in far greater measure,
we expect from the three training-schools for cat-
echists, or teacher-catechists. Though the work of
training efficient Indian helpers has hitherto not
been neglected, it has been more or Jess sporadic and
could not be depended on for a steady supply of
trained workers. With the establishment of a train-
ing-school in each of our three fields “the old order

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