The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 50

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

50 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

St. Paul’s Ev. Luth. Colored Mission
of Los Angeles, Cal.

The Lord has heard His children’s cry,
Who prayed in their distress;

His heart was touched, His hand was nigh
-To help and save and bless. -

They pleaded for a shepherd’s care,
For pastures green they cried.

God saw their needs and their despair
And all their wants supplied.

He sent His servant to His sheep
With Gospel-message choice

That they might feed in pastures deep
And hear their shepherd’s voice,

By him led to the waters still
Onward from day to day;

For it is not the Father’s will
That any go astray.

A house of worship He supplied,
Where Gospel-truths abound,

Where Christ is preached, who for us died,
And where His grace is found.

So glory be to God on high,
And to His name be praise,
Who did our every want supply

In mercy and in grace! J. W. TneIss.

Reclaiming Christ’s Heritage.

XVI.
THE WEST INDIES.
The total area of the West Indies is somewhat

over 90,000 square miles, or about equal to the com-~

bined area of New York and Pennsylvania. The
total population of the whole group of islands is
about 10,000,000. The West Indies consist of
four larger islands, Cuba, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and
Haiti-Santo Domingo, and several groups of smaller
islands, the Bahamas and Lesser Antilles. ‘These
islands are of special interest to us people. of, the
United States because of their nearness to our own
shores. Since the Spanish-American War this in-
terest has been greatly quickened. The United
States owns Porto Rico for more than a quarter-
century and a few years ago also. gained possession

of the Virgin Islands by purchase from Denmark. . and bonds from his own people, and they whom he-

_ The scenic beauties of these islands are thus
described by a resident: “Taken as a whole, the
islands appear to form a great mountain chain,
similar to the Andes, but deeply submerged. Rush-

ing mountain torrents are common in all the.

islands; their gullies, at one time nothing more

than beds of sand and pebbles, are at another full
and overflowing. Rising from the deep blue sea,
covered with rich, green forests, and bathed in the:
splendor of tropical sunlight, the rocky islands are
exceedingly beautiful. In sailing or steaming along
from one to another they look like ocean gems;
here a mountain enwrapped in clouds, there a field
of yellow-green canes, again a little town embosomed
in precipices.”

For many years the West Indies were the battle-
ground of European nations. Piracy was prevalent
everywhere, and marauding buccaneers inflicted
great damage on the commerce of Europe. The sea
islands were the home of the wicked slave-trade, in
fact, it was in the West Indies that the slave-trade
had its origin. As the cupidity of the whites early
exterminated the Indians, Negroes were imported

Interior of Lutheran Church at St. Thomas,
Virgin Islands.

from Africa to take their place. Harmless savages

were put to death in the name of Christ. The refuse-

of Europe came here. Hundreds of Hindus and
Chinese were lured to the islands by promises that
were never kept.

Though the Gospel .was planted here in early:

days, the forces. of good and evil had a particularly
fierce and bitter conflict at all times. The white
man’s prejudices and the black man’s superstitions

made the work most difficult. The faithful preacher:

of Christ was never free from persecution. Like his
Master, he was obliged to’endure insults, beatings,

came to help betrayed him.

Jamaica.

Only about two per cent. of the 850,000 people
of Jamaica are pure white.

Less than half of the-
people can read and write, and much less than half*

Pr