The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 6

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6 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

SS TE

had impressed on the minds of these young people
of the propriety and necessity of returning thanks
to the Almighty for the many blessings which they
enjoy. They never omit saying grace before and
after meals and never think of touching food with-
out asking a blessing from Him who gave it. They
repeat the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed morning
and evening.”

It was almost another ten years that nothing
was heard of the people of the island; but in Octo-
ber, 1823, the whaler Cyrus stopped there. This
visit added two young men to the number of people
on the island. A young man, John Buffet, con-
sented to remain on the island to help Adams in
the instruction of the children. John Evans, a
friend of Buffet, deserted the ship at the same time.
It soon became apparent why he had deserted the
whaler, for not long after his arrival he asked for
the hand of Adams’s daughter. Buffet also married,
choosing for his wife Dorothy, the daughter of

Edward Young. F.J.L.
(To be concluded.)

Archie.

Archie is an eight-year-old Negro boy, a bap-
tized member of our Lutheran mission at Old
Kingston (Joffre), Ala. So far as circumstances are
concerned, he might as well be an orphan. His
mother, at the time of her removal to the Searcy
‘Hospital for Insane Negroes, was in a state of
raving madness and had to be strapped to the back
seat of the writer’s Ford before the 200-mile trip
was begun. And a short while after the committal
of the mother to the insane ward Archie’s father
became disheartened and departed for parts as yet
unknown. Before leaving, he gave away his three
boys, Archie, William, and Cleveland. His crops
of corn and cotton remained unharvested, doctor
bills devoured the small equity held in the mort-
gaged farm, and the few hogs and the cow and the
mule were cared for by friendly neighbors. Thus
Archie came to live with a family which ‘has con-
sistently opposed and bitterly fought our Lutheran
mission at Old Kingston (Joffre), Ala.

With unflagging zeal the enemies soon began
to attempt the. undermining of Archie’s faith as
learned in our St. John’s School and Mission.
Various falsehoods were told him about the Lu-
theran Church; he was forbidden to attend the
Lntheran school under penalty of a severe whipping
_ and withholding of his food. But the little fellow’s

faith was of such quality that he dared brave the
wrath of his caretakers (for more than this they
have never been, showing him no love whatever,
rather using him as a tool for selfish ends and
abusing him when he failed to function according
to their demands). The lad invited himself to
stay with the teacher of our mission-school until
the storm of hatred should dissipate itself. Hear
his own words: “Ah prayed to de Lawd to come to
dis heah Luthe’an school, an’ heah Ah is! An?
when Ah’s with mah teachah, Ah gits enough to
eat an’ kin git mah lessons too.”

The missionary soon visited the boy’s caretakers
and explained to them in yery pointed language
their obligation to the boy under existing condi-
tions. And a change for the better came about for
Archie. He was permitted to attend the school
regularly. And again he is enrolled this term at
St. John’s School. Though obliged to walk more
than two miles in all kinds of weather, through
backwoods trails, and though he has to ford two
creeks, Archie is a regular attendant at school and
a very diligent pupil, as his school reports show.
And the reason he can state for himself: “Ah is
goin’ to be a teacher in our Luthe’an school when
Ah gets growed up!”

Last Sunday Archie had no shoes, which in his
opinion excused him from appearing at church and
Sunday-school. But this is what he did: THe
waited on the county road for the pastor’s car to
appear. And when the automobile hove in sight,
it was flagged to make a stop, and a penny was
handed to the missionary with the following ex-
planation: “Got no shoes to go to church, but you
give dis cent to my teacher so she can put it in
de collection. W.J. gave me that penny for car-
rying wood for him yesterday.” (W. J. happens to
be a close neighbor of Archie’s benefactors [?].)

What an illustrious example of faithfulness and
love of our Lutheran Church! What an example
of sacrifice for the Lord! Thank God for Archie!
And may God grant us many more such boys
and girls!

Fellow-Christians, your offerings to missions
produce such results. Here you have a concrete
example of what our work is accomplishing under
God; and it should be a source of joyful satisfac-
tion to know that your money is saving such chil-
dren from physical and spiritual depravity. But
remember that the greater your offerings to mis-
sions, the greater, under God, will be the results,
and, consequently, the greater will be your joy in
having been a partner in this noble work of saving