The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 52

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52 : THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

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tiousness, and disregard for human life, he has since
been free from reproach, chaste in conduct, and
considerate of the people.”

The Fijian Christians.

Similar to the great change wrought in Tha-
kombau was that wrought in his people. In 1835
there was not a single Christian on the islands;
in 1886, fifty-one years later, there was not a native
heathen in the whole group. After only fifty years’
work the Fiji Islands had 1,322 churches and
1,824 schools. Out of a total population of 116,000
there were 104,585 attendants of public worship,
which makes them the “banner churchgoers of the
world.” On the island of Mbau the stone against
which the bodies of the victims for the cannibal
feasts were dashed has been placed in the church
as a baptismal font. Family worship is general.
The Fijians have sent out their own missionaries to
other islands of the Pacific. Concerning these
changes in the Fijis a German scientist and states-
man, Baron Huebner, who had traveled extensively,
remarked, “I must say that the change which has
come over these islands is wonderful, — no candid
man can deny it.” Of these once outcast Fijians
it has been said that they are now “the most law-
abiding community in the world.”

Remarkable liberality has been shown by the
Fijians in large gifts to outside missions. The
churches of the Fiji Islands not only support them-
selves, but forward generous contributions to the
Australasian Missionary Society. There is apparent
an eagerness for good literature. Social betterment
of a high order has with remarkable rapidity sup-
planted a condition of primitive savagery. “It is
difficult to imagine,” writes one who lived among
them, “that this people with their mellifluous speech
and almost Parisian manner were the cannibals of
old times.”

In conclusion we give the account of an inter-
esting incident which shows what Christianity has
done for the Fijians: —

There was a man who went to the Fiji Islands;
he was an English earl and an infidel. He smiled
- in a superior manner when he met the natives.

“You are a great chief,” he said to one of them,

“and it is really a pity that you have been so foolish

as to listen to the missionaries. Nobody believes

any longer in that old book called the Bible or in

the story of Jesus Christ. ‘They have all learned

better. I am sorry that you have been so foolish as
- to take it in.”

The chief’s eyes flashed as he said: “Do you see
that great stone over there? On that stone we
smashed the heads of our victims to death. Do you
see that native oven over yonder? In that oven
we roasted the human bodies for our great feasts.
Now, if it had not been for the good missionaries
and that old Book and the love of Jesus Christ,
which has changed us from savages into God’s chil-
dren, you would never leave this spot. You have
to thank God for the Gospel; for without it here we
should have killed you and roasted you in yonder
oven and feasted upon your body in no time.”

F. J. L.

Church of Our Savior, Buffalo, N. Y.

Baptism and Confirmation.

Under God’s blessing and favor the work of our
latest Lutheran mission enterprise in Buffalo has
progressed in the past year and has not been barren
of visible results. Fourteen people were received
into the membership of the church by baptism and
confirmation, six children and eight adults. These
people, together with two previously baptized and
confirmed, form the charter members of the mission,
which on the occasion of the first confirmation
adopted the name of “The Lutheran Church of Our
Savior.” Since January 1 there have been three
additional baptisms of children, bringing the num-
ber of souls up to nineteen. The ten people con-
firmed also form the body of communicant members.
Voting membership has, of course, not yet been
granted to any of these people, and no church
organization in the usual sense of the term has been
effected. We feel that we are not yet ready for
this step. Those who have joined the church are
all very much in earnest, and we hope and pray that
all will remain faithful.

Sunday-School.

The principal activity of the church, aside from
divine services, is the Sunday-school. The Sunday-
school now has an enrolment of sixty-eight pupils,
fifty-six of whom are children above the age of six
years, while twelve are counted as members of the
Cradle Roll of the school. This represents an
increase of twenty-eight pupils over last year. Six
teachers are active in this school, three white and
three colored people. Both teachers and pupils have
worked very faithfully in the past year, and there
has been a very noticeable growth in knowledge and
understanding among the pupils. The present place