The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1923, Page 17

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

———__

PuBLISUED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTILERAN SyNopICAL CONFERENCE oF Nortit AMERICA.

Rev. F. J. LANKENAU, Epiror.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Subscription price,
Entered as second-class matter at Post Office at St. Louis, Mo.,
Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1105,

50 ets. per annum, payable strictly In adyance,
Ma 5. 79.

under the
Act of October 3, , 1918.

‘ST. LOUIS, ‘MO, MARCH, 1923.

Vol. XLV.

No. 3.

OUR MONTHLY MISSIONARY MOTTO.
‘“‘The prospects of missions are as bright as the promises of God.’’

Some Difficulties in Our Mission-Work
Among the Colored Race.

The lack of suflicient and adequate buildings
has repeatedly been emphasized. Yet, without see-
ing and feeling the difficulties caused thereby, one
can hardly realize what this lack means to our mis-
sion. And still there are many other difficulties
greatly aggravating the difficulties caused by the
lack of proper housing.

Bad roads— many a one would call them im-
passable — hinder not only the missionary in reach-
ing his stations at the appointed time, but the
churchgoers and the schoolchildren as well. ‘The
result is frequent tardiness at divine services and
at sthool, which always means loss or waste of time.

Lack of proper clothing —as among the whites
—keeps many a one from attending church and
school regularly. In good weather some are
ashamed to appear in rags. In bad weather many
of our Colored people have insufficient clothing and
shoes to protect them from cold and rain. When
the missionary puts on winter clothing, some of the
people, especially children, if they.dare to come at
all, come in the flimsiest of summer clothing and
barefoot. ‘This has repeatedly happened around
Christmas. ‘Then, if there is no room that can be
heated well, the poor shivering bodies, crowding
around the stove or fireplace, make it well-nigh
impossible for any one to listen attentively to what
the missionary or teacher is trying to say to them.
How can children read well under such cireum-
stances, or write well with their cold, numb little

fingers? Think of those poor old shacks, giving
free access to storm and rain, which must be used,
because nothing better can be obtained! -

Lack of books and writing-material ‘is another
source of trouble. Think of singing without hymn-
hooks, reading without readers, writing without pen-
cil, slate, or paper! Sometimes there issone book
or one slate to four or five children, and their
parents or guardians, though they allow the chil-
dren to attend our school, will not give them a
penny for equipment. Nor do things last long
under such conditions.

The peculiar dialect of the uneducated, illiterate
Colored people will puzzle the missionary who is not
yet familiar with it. To give an example: A boy
says, “Magomahan?” and after long questioning
and guessing the missionary finally understands
that the boy means to ask, “May I go to Meherrin ?”
The verb forms “is,” “am,” “are,” “was,” “were,”
are used with apparently no regard for their proper
meaning. Some words and ‘phrases are used in a ~
sense unknown in the North, as, “Carry the mule
to the pasture and tote the bridle to the barn,” for,
“Take the mule to the pasture and carry the bridle
to the barn.” ‘The final “s” is frequently omitted
or sounded in a wrong place. Big words are con-
torted or used monstrously! In reading or writing,
quoting a text or learning it by heart, there is
always the tendency to “correct” it according to the
“rules” of the common dialect. ’

The actual wildness of some of the newcomers,
who have not learned to clean their feet of mud and
to take off their hats on entering a room, or to: