The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 87

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. 87

unwillingness or incompetence of the parents to
train their offspring. In most instances the delin-
quent child is the child of the city slums. Christian
rescue homes for such juvenile delinquents are most
desirable, since the Church, in the means of grace,
has the only real means of giving these children the
proper correctional care. Secular agencies may suc-
ceed in bringing about an outward reform, but it is
only the Spirit, working through the Word and the
Sacraments, who can regenerate and renew.

Twice in the history of the world has the vice of
immorality been arrested to any considerable extent,
and in both instances the Word of God proved to be
the power to stem the tide. The first instance was
in the early history of the Church and the other was
at the time of the Reformation. That same Word
has not lost its power to this day and should be used
diligently by the Church in the battle against sin in
its most debasing and hideous form. The wrecked
families, diseased bodies, and lost souls which follow
in the train of immorality should indeed arouse the
Church to action, since, as has been said, she alone
has the sole adequate remedy in her possession.
Reports coming from our faithful city missionaries
mention marvelous triumphs of grace also over the
sin of immorality. Our zealous missionary laborers
tell of the rescue of many lost girls from the toils
of lust by means of that divine Word which alone
can change hearts and lives. But these same workers
tell us likewise how desirable it would be to have
Magdalen homes, such as the Catholics have in
almost every larger city, where these rescued girls
could spend some time under proper supervision and
Christian care before a situation is found for them
among other people. Our city mission laborers also
tell us how helpful it would be in their rescue work
if they were able to provide homes for girls who have
been betrayed, give them and their offspring needed
care and protection, and, if possible, prevent a still
deeper fall into sin and shame. F.J.L.

Our Colored Missions To-Day.

Our Colored Missions are privileged to celebrate
their golden anniversary this year. Fifty years ago
the Synodical Conference unanimously resolved to
begin mission-work among the religiously neglected
and forsaken Negroes of the South. In October,
1877, the first missionary, Rev. J. F. Doescher,
started on his tour of exploration. The first station
was opened in Little Rock, Ark. The congregation
at Little Rock is still in existence. :

During the first decades the work was carried on
in a small measure. Towever, in 1891 work was
begun in North Carolina. In this State we now
have twenty-two congregations. Another period of
expansion began about eleven years ago, when the
Lord called our missions to the Black Belt of Ala-
bama. Here the work has been phenomenal. Within
the short period of eleven years, God has given us
twenty-seven congregations and two preaching-
places in this new and most promising field.

All in all, our Colored Missions now have more
than 5,000 baptized members in good standing.
It may be safely estimated that 25,000 colored
people are favorably influenced by our missionaries
in church and school. Our missionaries are working
in fourteen States of the Union. The largest fields
are to be found in Louisiana, Alabama, and North
Carolina. The remarkable growth of our colored
Lutheran Church may be best understood when
compared with the growth of the white Lutheran
Church. Last year the growth of the Missouri
Synod was 1¥% per cent. The growth of our Colored
Lutheran Church was 8 per cent. “This is the
Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Money
invested in this mission is money well invested.
It brings rich returns.

How about the life of our colored Lutherans?
The Bible says: “There is not a just man upon earth
that doeth good and sinneth not.” Our colored
Christians are no exception to this rule. But by the
grace and help of God they endeavor to lead a con-
sistent Christian life. As a result they enjoy the
respect of both white and colored. Said a prominent
white business man in North Carolina: “If all the
Negroes were like your Lutheran Negroes, they
would be all right.” The tax collector of a certain
county in Alabama recently remarked to one of our
missionaries: “The only good Negroes around here
are the Lutheran Negroes. They have less debts,
pay their bills more regularly, and are more thrifty,
and their morality is better that that of any of the
rest around here.” A white pastor of the South, not
a member of the Synodical Conference, wrote in a
Southern church-paper: “Many of our people will
tell you that the Lutheran Negroes, taking them all
round, are the best we have.” God be thanked and
praised for this fine reputation of our Lutheran
colored people!

The complete change of heart and life effected
by the Holy Spirit is manifested by the remarkably
low death-rate. According to the Government census
eighteen colored persons of every thousand died in
a year: In our colored Lutheran Church, however,