The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1926, Page 87

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

87

eS euwae a0a0o—oweomyowaeem

that I shall do what I can to induce others to carry
the message to the children of your people which
you wanted to bring them. Men and women, thou-
sands of them, as many as I can reach by word of
mouth and pen, shall hear that thousands upon
thousands of your people do not know of God’s love
to the world, of that love which gave Jesus to die
on Calvary’s cross for them.”

The missionary had expected Pierre to take
comfort for himself, to drink in the words of life
and love once more for his own soul; but the dying
boy’s thoughts were with his people. He deplored
the fact that he would: now not be able to bring the
message of love to them, and this wrung from his
lips the sigh, “So many of my people know nothing
of God’s love!”

Dear reader, will you not help that dying
Pierre’s lament may be made known to our churches
and to our Christian day-schools and to our Sunday-
schools? Do you not think that, if our people knew
that millions of Pierre’s people in the beautiful
Southland, especially in the Black Belt, extending
through Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North and
South Carolina, are still living in darkness and in
the shadow of death because the message of God’s
love has not reached them, such knowledge would
arouse them to action? Though our Church has
sent messengers among them to tell them the sweet
story of salvation, what are the few men and women
working among these millions, among s0 many !
How faint has been our answer to the earnest plead-
ing of the Negro’s plight! How disappointing has
been our response, for example, to the heartrending
cry that has gone out to us for Immanuel College’s
need of new buildings, so that adequate provision
might be made to fit out teachers and pastors for
Pierre’s people!

Pierre’s soul has winged its flight on high and is
now with the Savior in paradise, removed from all
disappointments and all things that may cause dis-
tress;. but what a delight it would be to his heart,
and how his eyes would shine with heavenly bright-
ness on the Last Day, if you and I and all who have
heard his dying words would come before the
Savior’s throne accompanied by a great host of mis-
sionaries and teachers whom we sent among his
people and surrounded by all the members of his
race, great and small, old and young, who accepted
the message of God’s grace in Christ, lifting up their
voices with us and our messengers and singing an
unending paean of praise to Him, our Savior and
our King!

A cry as of pain, again and again,

Comes to us from Southland, from mountain and plain,
It comes from the Black Belt, that in darkness is lying,
It comes from the souls that in darkness are dying,

It comes unto you, it comes unto me, —

What, oh, what will our answer be?

God grant us grace that the challenge may not
come to us in vain! God grant that our answer may
be that of the poet : —

Our Master invites us to labor,

Then let us respond to His call;

For who, then, will dare to be idle?

Our Master has need of us all. ¥B.JI.L.

An Unexpected Loan.

Our readers will remember that the treasurer of
our Mission Board for Negro Missions has called
for non-interest bearing loans, to make it possible
to provide Immanuel Lutheran College with the
necessary dormitory facilities and carry out other
building projects of importance. In response to
this call, Mr. Th. W. Eckhart recently received the
following letter from a pastor who is in the service
of another mission. We mention the fact that the
letter comes from’a pastor who is serving another
mission for the pastor’s sake, since it brings out the
unselfish spirit of this servant of God; we mention
this fact, in the second place, because it will help to
show our readers how very great the need must be
for these loans.

But here is the letter: —

“Having labored under some debts for some
time, my finances have just adjusted themselves so
again that I was on the point of starting a little
savings account.

“But then I read the announcement that the
Board for Colored Missions would be pleased to
accept loans for the extension of our work among

- the Negroes.

“So I am going to start a non-interest bearing
savings account with you. Inclosed you will find
my check in the amount of twenty-five dollars, for
which you may send me your note.

“Phe amount is not large, but it will help
a little. I hope to be able to send you a little more
every month:

“Hoping that many Christians will be moved to
respond to your appeal, I am,” etc.

Dear reader, now that you have read this simple
letter, will you please read it again and then think
of what it all means? Will you not earnestly con-

Te nee etn me