The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 45

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

45

ferent languages, in 115 countries, having an ap-
proximate population of one and a half billion. In
the last twenty-three years they sent out 2,292 mis-
sionaries. They have no less than 224 institutions
connected with their missionary movement. In
1922 the average contribution of cach member of
this denomination was practically $40. In the last
ten years this denomination of about 200,000 mem-
bers contributed about $18,000,000 for foreign mis-
sions! What a pity that this enterprising and
zealous body is not spreading the pure Gospel of
Jesus, but rather a doctrine in which legalism
largely predominates! Their zeal does not redound
to the glory of Jesus the Savior.

Concorp, N. C. — Grace Church raised $230
last year for church improvements. The people
are now busy getting ready for the large general
conference which meets in Concord next August.
Two adults have joined the congregation since
Christmas. — The little flock of Immanuel, Shan-
kletown, recently purchased an aisle carpet and,
with the assistance of the Ladies’ Aid, a rug for
the altar space. A school is much needed here,
since there is a goodly number of children in the
congregation of school age.

Missionaries Sorety Neepep.— Utah has a
population of 490,000. In less than 150 of the 500
cities, towns, and villages any Protestant church-
body is at work; twenty towns with a population
of 1,000 have no established church or Sunday-
school. In three northern counties of the State two
have no churches at all and the third only one.
In the southern part there are five counties, the size
of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and
Delaware together, with a population of 35,000, and
in this vast field there are only two small Sunday-
schools and one small church. Utah, you see, is
indeed a needy field.

Srupent WELFARE Worx. — The Student Wel-
fare Committee of the Missouri Synod is putting
out a quarterly, the Lutheran Student, for the pur-
pose of furthering its important work. The first
number of this publication will appeal to all its
readers because of its rich contents as well as its
fine mechanical make-up. On its twenty pages it
brings much that will be of greatest interest to all
Lutheran students attending non-Lutheran institu-
tions of higher education, provided the student has
any affection for his Church. The American Luther
League and the Walther League have promised to
give financial aid to the enterprise. —In the past

five years, student pastors have been placed at the

State universities of Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, and Iowa; Michigan will probably soon
call a man; and at many other institutions syste-
matic work among the students is being done. At
several institutions it has been possible to provide
Lutheran students with their own community
houses. The importance of the work of student
pastors can hardly be exaggerated, and for this
reason our Church should not neglect to expand
this work as rapidly as it can. If we are able to
hold our educated youth for their Church, they will
be the more useful church-members because of their
education; but if we do not use every endeavor to
hold them during their college and university days,
they are in very great danger of augmenting the
forces of the enemy. F.J.L.

From Cannibal to Proof-Reader.

Thirty years ago a missionary and his wife
landed at Ikoko, on the shores of Lake Mantumba,
in the Congo Region of Central Africa, to begin
a mission among the cannibals surrounding the lake.
For thousands of them the missionary and his wife
were the first white people they had ever seen, and
none of them had ever heard the story of Jesus, nor
had they the least conception of a heavenly Father
who loved them and cared for them.

The first great difficulty that confronted the
missionary was the language of the people, not a
word of which had ever been put in writing. He
could not understand the people, and they, of
course, could not understand him. Then, too, there
was no accommodation for the missionaries except
the miserable and very unsanitary huts of the na-
tives.. These huts were about four to five feet high
and ten feet wide, while their length depended upon
the number of wives the owner of the hut might
have, since each wife was given a division.

For a while the missionaries lived in the row-
boat in which they had come to Ikoko. Their cook-
ing and eating they had to do publicly on the beach.
Sometimes while they were eating, several hundred
natives would gather around to see 2 woman actually
eating with her husband, a thing that had seemed
impossible to their savage mind till then. The use
of knife and fork and other habits of the white man
were loudly and freely criticized.

Before going there, the missionaries had been
warned that all the natives were cannibals; but
they met with only one instance which indicated
that the gruesome vice was prevalent among those