The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 26

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urgent invitation of a friendly Mongol official,
whose life has twice been saved by the medical skill
of Dr. Eriksson and the faithful nursing of Miss
Wiklund. A Mongol evangelist is already in
charge, and in a few weeks our two single lady
missionaries, Miss Berg and Miss Wiklund, will
move over there. In this robber-infested country
this calls for real- heroism.

“The boldness of the mission’s policy is still
further evidenced by the establishment of work in
Urga, the very stronghold of Lamaism. A Red
Cross nurse and her associate have been doing in-
conspicuous, but effective work for a year and more,
which has broken down prejudice so that now the
door is open for a larger effort. Consequently five
missionaries were sent there this spring [1924],
‘and five Mongol Christians are now on their way
to join that enterprise.

“The distinct encouragement we have received
from observing this fine work has not made us feel
that we were exaggerating the dctual conditions
when we spoke of Mongolia as a practically un-
occupied mission-field. One small encampment
with two newly established branches, with twenty-
four converts, is a small beginning in a country as
vast in extent as China proper.”

A Mongol Devil Dance.

This is what the missionary explorers have to
say about a Mongol devil dance which they at-
tended : —

“Our attendance at a Mongol devil dance was
a never-to-be-forgotten experience. It was staged
at a large Lama temple. There were seven hundred
priests in residence. My heart went out especially
to the hundreds of boys in their teens who were
here being steeped in the grossest superstitions.

“The high priest and his retainers marched in
first. He was escorted to a throne seat commanding
a full view of the proceedings. The performers en-
tered in pairs. They were grotesquely dressed and
had huge false faces, representing fearsome birds,
pigs, cattle, and deer. Alice in Wonderland saw
no stranger sights. This ceremony is given an-
nually, especially for the aged, to prepare them for
the awful scenes in purgatory.

“The closing scene was to us by far the most
significant. The high priest led his train through
the central gate ‘without the camp’ to a near-by hill:
Along the route men and women kneeled in one
long line, and over their bowed heads was carried
the demon bearer, a red paper of triangular struc-

ture, which was supposed to take up their sins.

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

This was cast into the flames by the high priest,
while the people fled in terror. Thus was dramat-
ically pictured again human nature’s recognition of
sin and the need for atonement. How long will it
be before these Mongols have the opportunity to
learn the real way of salvation? But ‘how shall
they shear without a preacher, and how shall they
preach except they be sent?’ We left Mongolia with
a fresh realization of the dire need of these people.”
F.J.L.

> ____

Luther Conference.

The Louisiana Luther Conference convened at
our Carrollton Mission December 29 and 30, 1924.
Despite very inclement weather, cold and rainy,
nearly all members of the conference were present.
The absentees were the Revs. W. Tervalon, of Man-’
sura, and I. Berger, of Alexandria.

Carrollton Mission is “’way up-town,” as we.
Orleanians say. It has two teachers, Mr. P. Robin-
son and Miss Eldria Taylor. ‘The Rev. G. M.
Kramer, of Bethlehem Chapel, supervises it. This
was our first meeting in Carrollton, and we had
hoped to make it a rousing one. Bad weather,
however, and defective chapel lights forced us to
eliminate our night service and to restrict our meet-
ings to conference members.

In the morning sessions of Monday and Tuesday
Prof. A. Wiley, of Bethlehem School and chairman
of the conference, read a very interesting essay on
“School Management.” After giving a brief out-
line touching upon the many phases of this broad
subject, the essayist restricted his remarks prin-
cipally to class-room management and corporal
punishment.

Good discipline in the classroom was shown to
be a prerequisite for successful school-work.

It was furthermore shown that the many edu-
cational agencies, States, school-boards, etc., which
oppose corporal punishment, base their opposition
upon the theory of Evolution, which attempts to
eliminate the Word of God from every phase of
school-work in every school.

Among the educators who favor corporal punish-
ment the essayist quoted that great educator, our
own beloved Dr. Martin Luther. He cited passages
from his works in which his approval of corporal |
punishment, inspired by, and tempered with, Chris-
tianity, is frankly expressed. ‘The final Arbitrator,
the Word of God, not only approves the use of cor-
poral punishment, but even urges'and commands it;