The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Page 44

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44 The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Friend of Our Negro Missions.

In Evansville, Ind., there is a friend of our
Colored Missions whom the editor would like to
meet face to face and whose hand he would much
wish to give a good, hearty grasp. This friend, to
use the words of James, is a doer of the Word,
and not a hearer only. And, besides, he is so careful
to remain unknown that he sends the gift anony-
mously to his pastor, Rev. W. G. Polack, accom-
panied by a slip of paper on which he prints the
brief direction, “Please send this mite to Rev.
Schmidt, to use for Missions in the name of Jesus.”

And how much is this “mite”? Fifty dollars,
Superintendent G. A. Schmidt informs the editor.
“For three successive years I have received from an
unknown friend in Evansville, Rev. Polack’s con-
gregation, $50.”

In referring to these repeated gifts of this
Evansyille Christian in this manner, we are prob-
ably doing something which is displeasing to him,
but we feel it our duty to do so, even at the risk of
offending his modesty. We desire that his light
be permitted to shine by means of this notice, not
to his glory, but to the praise of his Father in
heaven. 5

And just as Paul boasted of the charity of the
Macedonians to the Christians of Corinth, so that
the latter might be provoked to do likewise, so would
we by these lines of acknowledgment cause the zeal
of our Evansville friend to provoke many to follow
his example. F. J. L.

A Letter from India.

A Jady of the editor’s acquaintance has for years
been supporting a number of native Hindu orphans.
Aside from these orphans, she has also provided the
means to educate several Hindu girls as teachers
in the mission-schools of her Church. It always
affords the writer great pleasure to hear this old
lady tell of her girls and of their progress. When
I some time ago expressed my surprise over the
fact that she seemed to know so much about her
girls and their individual traits and characters, she
told me that she received a general circular letter
concerning the school where her girls were attend-
ing several times a year and: with this general letter
also short reports on the individual girls. Noticing
the editor’s interest, she said that she would give me
samples of these letters, and a few days later the
writer was handed the following missives, which he

feels will be of interest to his readers and possibly
give them some good suggestions.

Here is the general letter from the principal of
the school, which seems to be sent to all patrons of
the school in typewritten form : —

“Drarn PATRON : —

“Tt gives me pleasure to write to you at this time
concerning our girls and their work. We are happy
over the progress they have made during the
past year.

“With the exception of a few, they are such a
healthy looking bunch —so different from a year
ago! Except for malaria fever, which is everywhere
so prevalent in India, we have been unusually free
from sickness. This means much, not only to the
physical, but also to the mental and spiritual tone
of the school.

“Regular attendance means steady development >

and unfolding of the mind, and so I was not sur-
prised when the Third Grade teacher reported that
every girl in her class was ready for promotion at
the end of the year. And there were but few
failures in any grade.

“There has been a terrific spiritual warfare
carried on steadily throughout the year. This was
precipitated by the political upheaval that spread
over the country. ‘India for the Indian! The
white face isn’t welcome, nor do we want anything
from his country!’ I’m sorry to say that not only
did the heathen feel this way, but many Christian
workers and preachers began to feel that the white
man was directing too much the affairs and policies
of the Church. In many places this ‘Home Rule’
was brought to bear upon students till some schools
closed for lack of pupils.
less-than others, but still we had to deal with many
feelings and actions that, if left unchecked, would
have Jed to open rebellion. But God used this
seeming obstacle to further His cause. Twenty-two
of my girls were received into full church member-
ship in the past year, and there are about twenty
smaller girls leading faithful Christian lives who
did not yet formally unite with the Church.
A number of the older girls have renewed their
consecration to Christian life and service. The
general atmosphere of the school is much better
than a year ago. However, we are not resting on
our oars, but are constantly pulling up the stream.
And the dear Lord is blessing our work.

“I want to tell you of three great days for my
girls in every year. There are also other great days,
but I wish just now to speak of only three. ‘They

Mission-schools suffered ~

TY