The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 14

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

14

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

join in and chant it after him; and whenever a
pause occurs, the interval will be filled with pro-
longed wailings of “I-go-o-o.” The funerals nearly
all have two biers, just alike; this is in order to
deceive the evil spirits when they come for the body.

The burial usually takes place at night. Torches
and lanterns of weird and gruesome appearance are
much in evidence. The graves are always on a hill-
side and are perfectly round mounds. The mourn-
ing clothes of the men and women are made from
the coarsest hemp. With the latter the usual long
silver hairpin is often omitted, and the bottom of
their skirts will not even be hemmed.

But a glimpse of the happier and brighter side
of life— the marriage customs. All the marriages
I have witnessed have been among the Christian
Koreans and performed according to our customs;
but I have had the experience of hearing a “middle-
man” propose for a girl. One evening Mrs. Camp-
bell, Miss Nichols, and I were comfortably reading
' in our sitting-room after dinner, when a Korean,

who previously had been in our employ, came in.
After much hesitation he said that he wanted to
speak to the “pooin” (lady), but was somewhat
ashamed; that he wanted to talk about marrying.
At last, after many haltings and blushings, he said
that our boy who works here in the house wanted
to marry one of the schoolgirls. He said, too, that
he had tried to talk to the boy and get him to go
outside of the school, but the boy said, “No, if there
were a hundred outside, this is the only one I want.”
With much discussion and many questions Mrs.
Campbell gave lier consent, provided the girl should
be willing. Quite contrary to Korean custom, our
schoolgirls are always allowed the privilege of hay-
ing a voice in such decisions, but even that must
all be done through the “middleman.” ‘The ad-
miration proved mutual, and they both seemed quite
happy in their newly found love.

From these mere glimpses at the customs of this
strange people you realize that there is much of real
interest in the “Hermit Nation.” The Koreans are
an affectionate and lovable people. They are wait-
ing, aye, calling for the Gospel, and through it
Christ is showing forth Himself in transforming

power. E. D. D. (in a tract).

“There Is No Prospect for Growth.’’

These words appéared on page 83 of the last’
volume of the P1oNEER with reference to St. Mat-
_ thew’s Congregation at Meherrin, Va. We do not

object to them, but a friend of the congregation
writes : —

“Why is there no prospect for growth? Have
all souls, bought with that great price, the precious
blood of Jesus, been.cared for and brought into His
fold? Are all being fed and strengthened with the
pure Word and Sacrament as surely this mission
offers them? Are all the members of this little
mission who are so richly blessed by God, our
Savior, letting their light shine, so that all may
see their good works and glorify our Father in
heaven, who gave His beloved Son to be our Savior
and His Holy Spirit to lead and keep us in His
blessed truth unto everlasting life? Have all the
many gainsayers been exhorted and convinced that
the Lutheran teaching is perfectly according to
God?s Word and therefore the pure Gospel, a power
of God unto salvation to every one that believes it?”

It may be well to say a few words in explanation.

It is a matter of common experience that after
a field has once been well worked over and a good
harvest brought in from it, there comes a time of
—vwell, say rest. You may glean a bit here and
there, but the real harvest is over, and you must
plow and sow for another and new crop and harvest
and meanwhile wait until the time when that new
harvest will be ripe. ‘It is largely so also in mission-
work.

This work is not hopeless and should by no
means be given up; but there is no immediate
result in sight, that is, result of numerical growth.
As fast as new members are gathered in, others
move away, and we feel glad if we can keep our
numbers from dwindling down.

We are not in a big city with a large floating
population. We are in a rural district. People
know us. They have been invited time and again.
They come occasionally. They like to have us talk
to them kindly.. They send some of their children
to our school. But they will: not leave the church
to which they belong, or they will not take the
trouble to be instructed so that they may join our
church. . In short, the surrounding population
maintains a negative attitude towards all our in-

vitations; there are only a few exceptions and but

a few newcomers who do not take such an attitude.
Meanwhile we keep on with our work and are
always alert, watching for the opening of some door
by the Lord. We know we labor not in vain, and
if it pleases the Lord, there will be another time of
happy harvest after the time of sowing and waiting.
Tia p L. G. Dorpat.