The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 165

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

165

of the Gospel; the Moslem Moros and the pagan
Negritos, comprising a population of almost a mil-
lion, have been scarcely touched, and their condi-
tion is loudly crying for spiritual help.

AUSTRALIA.

This island-continent is larger than the United
States, though its population is only about one-
tenth that of our country. There are still about
50,000 of the original race living in Australia.
They occupy a very low social and intellectual
level; in fact, they are generally regarded as the
lowest in civilization of any people on earth. They
believe in witches, demons, and ghosts, have charms
to ward off evil spirits, and carefully avoid caves
and thickets, which they suppose to be haunted by

Rev. Hamuera Te Punga, New Zealand.

them. Their clothing is most primitive, and their
food is scarcely, human. They pick the larvae of
beetles out of rotten trees and cook them in red-hot
ashes. They eat lizards, grasshoppers, and locusts
and do not despise ants, worms, and snakes. For
years the evangelization of these poor people was
‘greatly neglected, the white settlers thinking in
many instances that they were mentally too low
to grasp the simplest truths of the Gospel; but in
recent’ years the various churches are taking upon
‘themselves the burden of responsibility for their
spiritual welfare. So also.our brethren in Australia
are. carrying on a very successful mission among
_ the natives at Koonibba, on Denial Bay, in South

Australia, and about 300 miles northwest of Ade-

laide, on -the so-called West Coast. The station °
includes about 12,000 acres, and on it are a church,

school, workrooms, and all the necessary buildings

for the housing of the mission staff and of those

for whom the mission is conducted. The boys and

girls get a Christian education and are instructed

in various useful occupations.

NEW ZEALAND.

In New Zealand the evangelization of the native
Maoris, numbering possibly 50,000, has not yet
been completed. A large portion of them has em-

An Old Maori, New Zealand.

braced Christianity and is united with various
New Zealand churches; but there are still some of
them that hold back. Among the Lutheran pastors
of New Zealand is also a native Maori, Rev. Ha-
muera Te Punga,-who, after working among his
racial brethren for a number of years, has now
taken over the care of a white Lutheran church.
F.J.L.

Dedication of Alabama Luther College.

On September 20 the hearts of the colored Lu-
theran Christians of Alabama and elsewhere were
made joyful, for on that day their fondest hopes