The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Page 3

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The Iiutheran Pioneer. 3

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missioned by the Freedmen’s Board to take charge
of a little church in one of the tobacco towns of the
South. ‘These towns, with their large brick fac-
tories, offer work for young and old, but their popu-
lation generally includes many vicious elements.
In no towns are there so many examples of im-
morality, and both races, in their lower classes, are
impure and intemperate. With a Pauline resolu-
tion this minister and his wife entered upon this
work and at once sought a house. Only a few
houses were for rent, and these were indescribably
poor and filthy. Selecting one, this man, who-vis
refined and cleanly in appearance and taste, a real
Christian gentleman, cleaned it with shovel and
hoe, removing the dirt and refuse from the rooms,
washed and renovated it with his own hands, and
made it habitable and decent. Later he procured
lumber, and with some help from one carpenter he
built and almost entirely furnished and painted a
pleasant and attractive cottage, where he now lives.
“That simple, pleasant home has become an in-
fluence among his people. Already decent dwellings
are being erected, and one sees less dilapidated sur-
roundings. ‘The people living there are being pro-
voked to good works, and any one who is familiar
with the shiftlessness and dilapidated appearance of
the homes of the poorer whites in the South will
understand how desirable it is for the Colored
people to have some stimulating and illustrative
examples of a real home. In the mean time this
minister has prosecuted the work in his own church
in the town and at another in the country very
earnestly and faithfully and with blessing.

“A church-building has been erected, and last -

year the pastor and one assistant primed the ex-
terior. When this pastor has secured funds for the
paint, he himself will attempt the completion of the
painting.

“In addition to other activities he'and his wife
carry on a very successful parochial school in the
basement of the church. Last summer he procured
some rough boards and divided off this basement
into three rooms, one for his wife’s pupils} one for
his own, and one as a cloak- and anteroom. All this
has been done with the closest economy, and it has
been possible only through the determination, con-
secration, and practical ability of this educated and
intelligent minister and his sympathetic wife. He
has had to meet the usual difficulties of his region
and people, the ignorance and superstition and op-
position of the so-called religious bodies. But what
he is doing by hand and voice, example and life, —

what desires he is kindling for a better material and
spiritual living, —no man can estimate. May God
preserve him and his steadfast, true, devoted wife!

“This pastor is not singular or exceptional,
though he may have some special ability and some
specially useful qualities; but he is one of many
who labor with their own hands and are patiently
teaching their people religion, industry, and a
clean life.”

+ Mary C. Wright. +

When the editor of the PronEER, more than
thirty-five years ago, arrived in New Orleans, the
first Colored person he was privileged to meet was

“ Mary C. Wright.

Mother Mary C. Wright. He met her the morning
after his arrival in the Crescent City at the home
of Pastor N. J. Bakke, whose member she was, and
in whose home she was always a welcome visitor.
The Editor also remembers that, after the greetings
were over, Mother Wright took it upon herself to
criticise the young laborer because he did not wear
a black suit, in her opinion the only kind of clothes
suitable for a minister or a student to wear! Yes,
Mother Wright always was quite outspoken and
never held back with her opinion. But for all her
frankness, or, possibly, just because of it, we all
liked and respected her.