The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 115

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

115.

ordained. There are 967 organized churches in
Assam, with a baptized membership of 86,365 and
a communicant membership of 58,645. The 1,147
Sunday-schools have an enrolment of 61,642. The
natives contributed $37,880 in 1923.

Burma.

The Burman people are also of Mongolian ex-
traction. Their complexion is olive-brown, their
faces flat, their eyes almost straight, their noses
flat, and their lips somewhat heavy. ——~
They are a friendly and _ sociable
people, but lazy, self-satisfied, and
very pleasure-loving. ‘The Burmese
women are lovers of ornaments and
load themselves down with jewelry,
while the men often have their bodies
tattooed from the waist down to
the knees.

The mountains of Burma are rich
in gold, silver, and copper. Mines of
jade are numerous, and the most
beautiful rubies in the world are
found here. Very productive oil-
wells are found in considerable num-
ber. The forests of Burma abound
in valuable teak-trees, which furnish
lumber for shipbuilding, for funiture,
and for many other purposes. The
valley of the Irawadi is made up
largely of rice-fields. Rice is the
great crop of the country, and its
annual export amounts to thousands
of millions of pounds. Cotton is also
raised, and the silkworm is cultivated
to some extent.

The up-hill portion of Burma is
inhabited by a number of strange
tribes. Among these are the Chins,
the Kachins, and Shans. Some of
these are quite savage and go almost
naked. Most of them are demon-worshipers. The
Shans are noted for their fine coats and elaborate
tattooing.

The Karens.

The Karens, another large hill tribe, some of
whom are also found in Lower Burma, in their
facial features, plainly show their relationship to
the Chinese, though in the course of time they have
acquired many of the customs of the Burmese.
They are of all the people of Burma the most in-

‘teresting from a missionary viewpoint, for great
numbers of them have embraced Christianity.

From the beginning the labors of Christian mis-
sionaries among them have been singularly suc-
cessful. The Karens had for centuries nourished
a tradition that white teachers would some day
come among them and bring them the Book of God:
and when such a white teacher came in the person
of Adoniram Judson, the American Baptist mis-
sionary, in 1813, they gave ear to his message. For
almost forty years this remarkable man worked
with almost unequaled success among the Karens

Group of Burmese Women.

and Burmans, and when he died in 1850, over
7,000. Christians in 63 churches, in the care of
163 missionaries and helpers, survived to tell what
blessings had come to them through his agency.
But these wonderful results had not been achieved
without much sacrifice and suffering on the part
of Judson and his gifted first wife. The story. of
Adoniram Judson’s terrible experience in Burmese
prisons and the heroic devotion displayed by his
wife in her efforts to effect his release is both heart-
moving and inspiring. It was while in prison that
he uttered those well-known words of his in re-