The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 78

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78 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Christian Teachers Needed.

Two chiefs at one time came to James Chalmers,
the missionary, and said: “We want Christian
teachers; will you send them ?”

Chalmers had no one to send, and he said:
“T have no one. I cannot send any one.” Two
years passed, and those two chiefs came to him
again. Chalmers himself happened to be at liberty,
and he traveled over the intervening country and
arrived on a Sunday morning. To his surprise he
saw the whole tribe on their knees in perfect silence.

Chalmers said to one of the chiefs, “What are
you doing ?” -

He said, “We are praying.”

“But,” Chalmers said, “you are not saying any-
thing.”

“White man,” the chief answered, “we do not
know what to say! For two years every Sunday
morning we have met here, and for four hours we
have been on our knees, and we have been praying
like that, but we do not know what to say.”

A Dead Idol.

It was evening in Benares. The sun was setting
in all its splendor of crimson and gold, as only an
Eastern sun can set, throwing over everything a veil
ofrose. The fields stretched green and fair as far as
eye could see, and the breeze stirring the tops of the
palms was heavy with the scent of honeysuckle.
A sense of peace and well-being pervaded every-
thing, and I sent up a prayer of thanks and praise
to God for His infinite love and boundless mercies
to us. .

Suddenly the harmony and beauty were rudely
broken. Loud shouts, voices raised in anger and
foul oaths, rent the air. When I went to see what
was the matter, quick tears came to my eyes at the
pity of it. This is what had happened. A Brahman
had fashioned an idol, that of their elephant god
Ganesh, out of the mud of the roadside. He had
left it under a tree to dry and some distance away
had started to eat his bread. Another Brahman
passing, seeing this idol, went down in worship be-
fore it. The maker of the god, seeing this, was
exceedingly angry. He sprang up and rudely

pushed the worshiper away, saying in a loud, angry
_ tone, “How dare you worship at my idol, you lazy
_ dog? Why do you not make your own? Do you
_ think that I spent labor and time in order that you

might worship?” Angry words followed, the first
man’s friends standing for him, and the poor wor-
shiper appealing to the fast gathering crowd that
he only wanted to worship and ask for deliverance
for his baby son. Blows were struck, and very soon
there would have been a terrible fight but for timely
police intervention.

When afterwards curiosity led me to the spot
again to see the cause of this terrible fight, there

it lay, a piece of dead mud, clumsy, ugly, and re- ©

pulsive.— The Pilgrims’ Progress.

Items of Missionary Interest.
By the Eprtor.

Lenten Services. — Our five congregations in
New Orleans again observed Holy Week by holding
special services. Last year services were held during
Holy Week in a large local hall. This year, however,
the Lenten services during Holy Week were held in
the various churches. Prof. Paul Lehman of our
Alabama Luther College in Selma was invited to
help the local pastors. A correspondent writes:
“There were no overflow crowds, but I-think all in
all we reached more people than last year with the
noonday services. The weather was fine so far,
but to-day, Good Friday, it is pouring.” This was
written just before the excessive rainfall, exceeding
14.01 inches, deluged the city. We have not heard
whether this deluge did any damage to our mission
property. C.F. D.

Superintendent Schmidt. — We are happy to
report that God in His goodness and wisdom has
restored Superintendent Geo. A. Schmidt of our
Alabama field to perfect health. He arrived in the
Black Belt April 7. During his enforced absence
his work was kindly and satisfactorily done by
Rey. E. A. Westcott. C.F. D.

. Plenary Meeting of the Mission Board. — The
Board for Colored Missions has two plenary meet-
ings annually, one after Easter, another after Labor
Day. These plenary meetings are attended not only
by the members living in St. Louis, but also by those
living in other cities. A plenary meeting was held in
St. Louis April 27. This meeting was attended by
the superintendents of Colored Missions: Rey. G. A.
Schmidt, of Selma, Ala.; his assistant, Rev. E.
Westcott (Superintendent Kramer was unable to be
present) ; and Rey. Frank D. Alston of Charlotte,
N.C. Business of great importance was before the
meeting. Cc. F. D.