The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 15

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

15

Playing around a Corpse. — Some years ago, in
an American city, a mother suddenly died with no
one in the house but two small children, who were
found playing around the dead body just as un-
concerned as though nothing had happened. — But
something more tragic and pitiful than this is seen
by the Savior when He sees professing Christians
coming into constant contact with those who are
worse than dead through sin and neglecting to do
anything to turn their hearts to Him.

Sacrifices That Count.

The average salary of the natives in India is
the equivalent of 10 cents a day for a man and four
cents a day for a woman. In other words, a young
woman in our country who works in a business
oflice receives, on the average, more in four or five
days of eight hours than a woman in India receives
for a whole year of ten- and twelve-hour days. And
yet, in spite of poverty which actually passes our
understanding, the Christian natives determinedly
express their gratitude for the Word of Life by
sacrifices which are the product of a real and
dynamic faith. At the annual harvest-festival,
for example, the converted natives, having very
little of their own, bring rice, cocoanuts, eggs,
limes, and other fruits and vegetables as a thank-
offering to the Lord.

When Pastor IF. Brand, Director of our For-
eign Missions, was in India; he attended such
a harvest-festival at one of the small mission-
stations. When the usual offerings were brought
to the table in the chapel, which served as altar,
one woman came forward with a large bowl of rice.
The missionary remonstrated with her and did not
want to accept the offering because of the extreme
poverty of the woman, who was a widow and had
a family to support. But the woman said she had
saved this “for the Lord” and insisted that it be
accepted. When asked how she could save so much
from the meager rice allowance granted her by her
employer, she explained that every evening when
she measured aud cooked the smali portion of rice
for her family, she put aside a little “for the Lord.”
In the course of a year she had saved the amount
she now brought as a thank-offering.

How many Christians are there in our Church
whose gifts to the Lord even approach the spirit
of sacrifice evidenced by that consecrated Hindu

woman? — Good News.

Facts Concerning Chinese Missions.

The 400,000 deaf in China never received any
instruction until the missionaries opened a school
at Chefoo, where they taught modern methods of
lip-reading and also prepared pupils to make a liv-
ing by lace-making, carpentry, and gardening while
teaching them the one thing needful.

The first place in all China where the insane
were given any care and received scientific treat-
ment was established at Canton by a missionary.

The General Synod of the Chung Hua Sheng
Kung Hui, the Chinese Episcopal Church, has its
own missionary program and without any foreign
aid is supporting three missionaries in Shensi.

Chinese graduates of the first school for the
blind, opened by missionaries in Canton, are teach-
ing blind children in nine cities.

BOOK TABLE.

Lutheran Catechism. By Christopher Drewes.
Edition. Rudolph Volkening, St. Louis, Mo.
30 cts.

Those who have examined Pastor Drewes’s exposition
of Luther’s Small Catechism will not be surprised to hear
that the fourth edition has left the press. This explana-
tion has a number of qualities that make it unique among
Lutheran catechisms. Pastor Drewes wrote the book by
request of the Mission Board of the Synodical Conference,
which wanted as simple a catechism as possible to be used
in the Colored Mission schools.

Fourth
Price,

Daily Bread. By Rev. I’. E. Pasche.

- ing House, St. Louis, Mo. Bound in blue morocco-,

grained cloth. 422 pages. Price, $3.00.

Every time a new book of devotion appears on .the
market we rejoice; for to us it is a sure indication that
there are still a number of family altars around which
God’s people gather for worship. This new devotional
book gives the family an opportunity to review the Cate-
chism truths for their instruction and edification in 318
short, interesting lessons, each of which is provided with
a brief prayer and a hymn stanza. Among the lessons are
also some on subjects like the following: “Our Synod
and Its Work,” “Our Colleges and Seminaries,” “Our Mis-
sion- fields,” “Materialism,” “Evolution,” ete. Just be-
cause of these special informal discussions of subjects
that have a particular appeal and value in our day the
book is of more than ordinary value.

Concordia Publish-

The Battle of the Bible with the “Bibles.” By William
Dallmann, D. D. Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, Mo. Bound in dark silk cloth with gilt
stamping. 66 pages. Price, 60 cts.

We thank the English District of the Missouri Synod
for suggesting to the faculty of Concordia Seminary that
it confer on the writer of this little book the degree of
Doctor of Divinity, and we thank the faculty for heeding
the suggestion; for unless this had been done, we would
be without this valuable product of Dr. Dallmann’s pen.
Though the book contains only sixty-six pages, this small
space suffices the author to tell us what are the principal,
outstanding characteristics of the various religions in the
world.