The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1924, Sheet 75

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SPECIAL NUMBER.

Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NortH AMERICA.
REv. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo.

entered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo.,

Subscription price, 50 cts, per annum, payable a ecey in advance,
under the Act of March 3,

Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, sathoreaai on oSuly 5, 1918.

Vol. XLVI.

ST. LOUIS, MO., OCTOBER, 1924,

No. 10.

OUR MONTHLY MISSIONARY MOTTO.
“Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.’’ Ps. 68, 31.

Twenty-Second Report of the Board
for Colored Missions.
From July, 1922, to July, 1924.

“Praise ye the Lord! O give thanks unto the
Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth
forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the
Lord? Who can show forth all His praise?”
These words of the psalmist (Ps. 106, 1.2) come to
mind as we make ready to present to the Synodical
Conference the customary biennial report on the
divinely blessed work of Colored Missions. God
has done “mighty acts” through your missionaries
among the sons of Ham. Were we to tell but the
hundredth part of what God has wrought, this re-
port would be a most voluminous document. May
the little that we are able to lay before you induce
you to exclaim: “Praise ye the Lord. O give
thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His
mercy endureth forever.”

New Mission-Stations.

During the past two years the following new
Places have been opened: Pine Hill, Ala.; Selma,
Ala. (college mission) ; Kings Landing, Ala.; Chi-
cago, Ill.; Alexandria, La.; Pailets Land, La.;
Cincinnati, O.; Greer, S.C. Circumstances com-
pelled the temporary suspension of mission-work at
Plaquemine, La., and Richmond, Va. The total
number of stations at present is 61. This does not
include the missions at Free Soil, Mich. (15 bap-
tized members; Rev. H.J.Storm), Santa Monica,

Cal. (17 baptized members; Rev. Walter Troeger),
and Los Angeles, Cal. (10 baptized members; Rev.
J. W. Theiss). Only lack of men and money pre-
vented the opening of missions in Detroit, Cleve-
land, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and other cities.

Growth.

During the past two years the number of bap-
tized members has increased from 3,725 to 4,110;
a net gain of 385 persons. Two years ago the con-
firmed, or communicant, members numbered 2,079,
while to-day the number is 2,344; a net gain of
265. Considering the fact that many Negroes left
the South during the past two years, and that our
congregations, too, were the losers by this wholesale
migration, we may say that the increase in mem-
bership has been quite satisfactory. The principal
growth during the past two years has been in the
Black Belt of Alabama.

Our Negro Christians Grow in the Grace
of Giving.

Though our Colored Christians are no prosper-
ous farmers, rich business men, or well-paid me-
chanics; though in most cases they are poorly paid
servants and tenants, they nevertheless contributed
the large sum of $25,256.72 for church purposes
in 1923. Statistics show that, while the average
church contribution of the white members of the
Synodical Conference is $12.70, the average con-
tribution of our Negro Christians is $16.30. Is
not this worthy of note? And should this not
encourage us to carry on the work among the freed-
men with increased vigor and enthusiasm?