The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1923, Page 10

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

cided. Here is what she told me: ‘No, Pastor, it
was not a dream, it was a fact. 1 saw a large bolt
of ribbon unroll from me, and it went direct to the
altar in a straight line. I said to myself: “That's
a sign God wants me to come to the altar and be-
come a Lutheran.” ’ Ter ‘Tommy died, but she was
loyal, loyal till death. Her legacy to the Mission,
given me by the administrator, amounted to eleven
thousand and ninety-six dollars.

“Another member, one of the four charter mem-
bers, was Mrs. Leah Jones. She was a unique char-
acter. ‘Thankful to the uttermost. ‘What’s mine
is yours, pastor,’ she was accustomed to say. She
wanted to will all she had to the writer, but I quoted
the passage of Abram to the King of Sodom: ‘I will
not take a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that
I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou
shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.’ Her
property and money she divided between the white
congregation and Colored mission. It amounted to
several thousand dollars in total.” FJ. 1.

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Alabama Notes.

December 17, 1922, will long be remembered by
the people of 'Tinela, for on that day the faithful
members of Mount Olive Congregation assembled
to bid adieu to their old log hut up on the hill and
to dedicate their new chapel to the service of Al-
mighty God. Although the sky was overcast with
threatening clouds and the earth was wet and
muddy, the hearts of these faithful people were
filled with genuine thanksgiving to God, who has
wrought so wondrously among them. After six
years of hoping, praying, and worshiping in an old
log cabin, God has heard their prayers and given
them a beautiful chapel in which to sing His praise
and hear the sweetest story ever told.

The dedication of the chapel at Tinela is a
crowning victory of unwavering faith and incessant
prayer. Numbered among the first of our mission-
stations here in Alabama, ‘Tinela is the last of the
old stations to be blessed with a chapel. Although
other congregations, established long after the one
at ‘Tinela, were blessed with new chapels and
schools, and the news sifted through to these
people, still, their faith never wavered, and their
courage was undaunted.

Six years ago the writer of these lines preached
the first Lutheran sermon ever heard in that com-
munity to a handful of strangers, none of whom

11

was a Lutheran and most of whom were present out
of mere curiosity. From that day’ until a few
months ago when they received word from the Mis-
sion Board that money had been appropriated for
a chapel, it was an up-hill grind, a severe test of the
faith and sincerity of those members who were won
over from time to time by the power of the Word.
In spite of the inadequacy of their place of worship,
the ridicule of friends and neighbors. and at times
of what seemed a forlorn hope of ever obtaining a
chapel, the members of Mount Olive clung to the
confession of the Lutheran Church with a tenacity

Chapel at Holy Ark, Ala.
Superintendent G. A. Schmidt is “fixing” his Ford.

born of faith and a true love for God and His pure
Word. And now, thanks be to God, their faith has
been rewarded, they have a chapel in which to wor-
ship the Giver of all good gifts.

On the day of dedication the undersigned
preached the dedicatory sermon at the morning ser-
vice, and in the afternoon Superintendent Schmidt
had a catechization, after which he confirmed five
adults, two of whom were baptized. Thus God gave
not only a building on that day, but also members
to help fill that building. May the rich blessings
of God rest upon pastor and congregation in the
future as they have in the past!

After the busy holidays we have settled down
to routine work again. And when we say “busy”