The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 184

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184

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

“Here are the conditions as we found them:
There are two buildings, a lecture-hall building and
a dormitory. The attic-floor of the lecture-hall is
used for a boys’ dormitory, being divided into rooms
by plaster-board partitions. Plaster-board is paper.
The attic is not heated, and North Carolina re-
quires heat six months in the year. The boys study
wherever they can find a warm corner. Lavatory
arrangements are exceedingly primitive. The lec-
ture-halls are heated by stoves. The other building,
the dormitory, consists of tliree fairly large rooms,
of which two are partitioned off into cubicles, each
* containing five or six beds. These are steel cots,
“army cots,” and in each, two girls sleep. The
bedrooms are not heated, and when we were there,
a girl was down with the mumps, with splendid
prospects that every girl in the dormitory ‘would
catch the disease. In the third room we found all
48 girls huddled around two stoves, preparing their
lessons. All of them wore wraps, and only by
straining one’s eyesight somewhat were the stoves

discoverable; they are of the Jaundry-stove variety.

Each was surrounded by 24 girls. As for the lava-
tory arrangements, will the reader permit us to
. draw the cloak of silence over the conditions found ?
They simply beggar description.”

Our Request.

We should like to acquaint our Lutheran Chris-
tians with these conditions by word of mouth and
request you to lend us your aid. Will you kindly
notify us to send one of our lecturers (white, col-
ored) to address you and the members of your
congregation at a meeting held under your auspices ?
The intention is to give the people an opportunity
to learn more about their. Colored Missions and to
make a free-will offering for the relief of Immanuel.
We have some able missionaries and speakers, both
colored and white, and it will be a real treat to hear
these men fresh from the field.

Will you also kindly get in touch with your
neighboring congregation or congregations, also
such in which the Walther League is not repre-
sented, and endeavor to induce them to invite one
of our lecturers, so that a circuit may be formed in
your part of the country?

You will do us a great favor by taking up this
important matter at your carliest opportunity. As
it takes time to route the: various speakers in such
a way that time and money will be saved, we should
like to have your answer by October $1, if possible.
Building operations on one of the dormitories must
be begun early next spring. Approximately $15,000

is in the Mission Treasury for Immanuel Lutheran
College. We hope and pray that an equal sum may
soon be raised by some of these lectures. The re-
maining $15,000 will probably have to be borrowed.

Give us a chance.

Do not miss this opportunity to get first-hand
missionary information.

Enclosed please find a self-addressed card for
your use.

Wishing you God’s richest blessings for your
work and hoping to receive your hearty cooperation
in this endeavor, we are

Your Misstonary Boarp.
THEODORE GRAEBNER, Chairman.
C. F. Drewes, Director.

A Letter of Thanks.

DEAR FRIENDS : —

The other day we received a letter from a friend
of our Colored Missions in which we were asked
whether we had received a shipment of clothing.
The clothing was sent in September, and the letter:
of inquiry reached us November 11, In answer to
that letter we wrote: —

“You and others may at times think that we
are very ungrateful for not writing at once when
we receive shipments of -clothing for our Mission.
It does seem, indeed, as though we were ungrateful.
But if our kind friends who so nobly help us — and
without their prayers and gifts we could impossibly
make the inroads into the darkness and ignorance
of the Black Belt — could but watch us and see the
tremendous amount of work (traveling long dis-
tances, taking care of a large correspondence, visit-
ing the schools, writing reports as well as articles .
for periodicals, and what not) we are calléd upon
to do in the effort to build the walls of our Lutheran
Zion in the Southland, I am certain they would
fully understand why it is a physical impossibility
to give visible signs of our gratefulness in the form
of letters. Please let me assure you that, though
it does seem otherwise, we are keenly cognizant of
the important part our friends have played in the
unparalleled advance of the Savior’s kingdom down
here, and that we are really deeply thankful to them
for this help. The Savior bless you and all others.
who have helped in the glorious work of furthering
the Master’s work during these last days of sin and —
evil. May we not look for your continued active