The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 140

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140 ae THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

tion. You will realize that this was a most stu-
pendous undertaking for a congregation of twenty
or twenty-five poor Christian Indians. It was esti-
mated that a church such as they intended to build

' would cost thousands of pesos (a peso is valued at
about fifty cents), and the daily income of an In-
dian in that part of Mexico is figured in centavos
(a centavo is half a cent). And, mark you, they
had no one to help them. Not even the mission
board was asked to help.

It is now six years ago that this little band of
faithful Christians laid the corner-stone of their
new church. That was a day of rejoicing, but also
a day of trembling, because they feared they might
not be able to complete what they were beginning.
To-day, however, the church stands on the hillside
as a glorious monument of God’s help and the faith
of a people who had childlike trust in God. The
building is not altogether completed, but 8,000
pesos, or $4,000, has already been spent by these
poor Indians in the erection of their church, and
they did all the labor themselves. It is constructed
of brick and stone, and when completed, the only
wood in the building will be the shutters and the
furniture. The dimensions are about 75 by 40 feet,
and it has a white-roofed steeple. Near the top of
the steeple are some small windows, where at night
bright lights will shine out upon the surrounding
country. }

When hearing of such instances of self-help on
the part of those who only a few years ago were
heathen, we all must feel encouraged not only to
continue in the work of missions as we have been
doing in the past, but rather to enlarge upon it.
Surely, an instance such as this must stop the
mouths ofall those who are inclined to think that
mission-work does not pay and that not much real
good comes of it. When a people that has been
brought to Christ will bring such-sacrifices to have
the preaching of the Gospel to be continued among
them, it is certainly out of place to doubt the value
of missions. F. J. L.

The Negro’s Chance.

A report recently published by the Ohio State

Registrar of Vital Statistics, Mr. I. C. Plummer,

_ brings these interesting statistics concerning the
excessive mortality of the Negro: —

_ The estimated Negro population of Ohio is

281,151.. While the Negro population increased

‘ only eight per cent. during the past three years, the

Increase in the death-rate was thirty per cent.

A colored man in Ohio has thirty-four chances to
be murdered to the white man’s one.
times more liable to die of tuberculosis than is the
white man. In fact, he has only one half the white
man’s chance to live at all. A colored baby has
only one-third as good a chance as a white baby to
live through infancy.

The estimated Negro population of 231,151 in
Ohio shows'4,786 ‘deaths reported in one year.. This
would make the Negro death-rate 23.3 per 1,000,
compared with the white death-rate of only 11.8.
Out of each 100,000 Negroes, 350 died from tuber-
culosis, compared with 76 among an equal number
of whites. Victims of murder were 85 per 100,000
among the Negroes and only 214 among the whites.
Among each 100,000 Negroes 163 died in infancy,
compared with 61 infant deaths among the same
number of whites. Tuberculosis was the cause of
the greatest proportion of Negro deaths for the
period of one year. -

In connection with these alarming revelations
of the Negroes’ great mortality, it is interesting to
hear that the death-rate among our Lutheran
Negroes is far below these figures. The death-rate
among our colored people is only 9 per 1,000.
While the death-rate for Ohio Negroes is extra-
ordinarily high, 23.3 per 1,000, the average death-
rate for Negroes’ in the whole country being only
18 per 1,000, it yet remains true that among Lu-
theran Negroes the death-rate is only one half that
of the colored race as a whole. This remarkably
low mortality speaks well for our Lutheran colored
people and bears eloquent witness to the fact that
godliness has the promise not only of spiritual, but
also of physical blessings. 1 Tim.4,8. F.J.L.

Items of Missionary Interest.
By the Eprror. .

Church Extension.— The Atlantic District of
the Missouri Synod realizes the great importance
of a Church Extension Fund as any one may plainly
see who reads the “Special Mission and Church
Extension Issue” of the Atlantic Bulletin. We wish
that every member of all our Home Mission boards-
would read this interesting number. The: business:
manager is Rev. L. Henze, 813 Hamilton St., Utica,
N.Y. Send him 10 cents for a copy.

“Make Disciples.” — This is a pamphlet put out
by Concordia ‘Publishing House in-the interest of

the various mission enterprises conducted by the:

Missouri Synod. It is a publication that will bring

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