The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 122

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122

whatever the Lord has done for me since I have
come to this great missionary field.”

We shall not mention the name of the worker
from whose report we have given our readers this
_interesting extract for fear that he might resent
our bringing the above still more. Probably his
name would not mean much to our readers anyway.
But we are sure that every one of our readers is

proud to think that men of such spirit are repre-_

senting us in our Negro Mission field. How thank-
ful we should be to God that He gives us such
missionaries! How earnestly we ought to beseech
our gracious Lord and Savior in their behalf, and
how gladly ought we to take every opportunity
given us to encourage them in the work which they
are doing for us! F. J. L.

Helen’s Death, a Macedonian Call.

The ways of God are wonderful. When death
* closed the eyes of little Helen, then the Lord opened
the door of salvation to others. The parents
lamented and said, “Why hast Thou, O Lord, taken
from us Helen, our little daughter?” But the Lord
answered, “To bring to you and others Christ, the
only Savior.” Not quite ten months have elapsed
[these lines were written in June— Ep.] since the
paper reported the death of little Helen, and to-day
many gather in the very room where Helen departed
this life, there to worship the Savior as the only
Redeemer from sin and death.

August, 1924, Helen’s death was announced in
the paper stating that Helen had been baptized in
the Lutheran faith. The Lutheran pastor, on read-
ing this announcement, at once decided to search for
Helen’s parents, especially since there was no Lu-
theran church in that vicinity. After traveling
about twenty miles and inquiring repeatedly for the
home of Helen’s parents, the place was located. .The
pastor stated his mission, became acquainted, spoke
on sin, salvation, and heaven, and urged them to
come to church and send their boys to our Sunday-
school. However, the distance seemed too great to

attend church and Sunday-school. So the thought.

flashed up in the pastor’s mind: Why not instruct
these boys in their own home, and, undoubtedly,
after they have learned of Christ and salvation, they
will gladly come. The offer was made. The pastor
volunteered to instruct the boys every week in their
home, to drive the distance of twenty miles himself,
and even give the boys a Catechism and a Bible

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

History as a present. The boys were pleased with
the plan, and the parents consented.

Our first day of instruction came; Thursday
after school was the appointed time. The pastor
came at the designated hour, and the three boys
were present. Attentively they listened, showing
deep interest in all that was said; and the Lord
blessed the work. Already at our next instruction
two more joined the class, and within a very short
time our class grew to twelve children, five of con-
firmation age. These, together with the parents,
regularly attended the instructions. But the Lord
continued to bless the work.. The necessity was felt
to have services on Sunday and, if possible, twice
every month, and the hope therefore was expressed
that this could be arranged for. And so six months
after the death of Helen we were permitted to
gather for our first service, in the same room where
Helen had closed her eyes in death. Thirty came
to attend this service. And we continued to wor-
ship every other Sunday, our attendance being from
forty to sixty. Two Sunday-school classes have been
organized.. If the Lord continues tobless our un-
worthy efforts, we hope a congregation can soon be
organized in this new territory.

Thus through the death of little Helen the
Gospel was brought to these people. Seeing the
wondrous ways of God, Helen’s grandmother has
repeatedly said to the pastor: “True, we miss our
little Helen, but if she would not have died, you
would never have found us.”

Goodland, Ind. W.4H.S.

Our Work in South. America.

The Brazil District of our Synod convened
April 22—28, at Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul,
Brazil. As usual, the docket was well filled with
important doctrinal papers and pressing business
affairs. But outside of this the convention was
marked by the celebration of the twenty-fifth anni-
versary of our work in South America. The praise
of God for His manifold blessings during this long
period of time was proclaimed and sung.

One of the most important resolutions adopted
was the one to introduce a college course for future
ministers and also a preparatory course for teachers
next year. To begin with, this college is to be
located in the large parsonage on synodical land at
Guarany. As the Argentinian Pastoral Conference
has begun to build a similar college at Crespo, Entre
Rios, we may look forward to a strong home-trained

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