The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 109

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

109

them never pray at any other time. They prac-
tise all their old heathen magic and witchcraft,
apparently with a clear conscience. But the one
thing that seems to be implanted in them is that
they must never be called Christians.

A Happy Surprise.— Some time ago a mis-
sionary came into a village in the interior of Africa.
He was surprised to find there a queer little build-
ing with a cross upon it and asked what it was.
“Oh, that is the church where we gather to pray,”
was the ready answer. They had no pastor, no
teacher, no Bible, no hymn-books, no prayer-books,
no organ, no altar, no baptismal font. All out of
love for the Savior, who had been made known to
them by one among them who had spend a year
or so on the coast, they did the best they could for
the Savior whom they loved, singing what songs
they had been taught and uttering such prayers
as they knew.

Africa. — Within the past ten or twenty years
we have been drawn nearer to Africa and its people
by reason of an increase in industrial and other
contacts. Thus the fact that the Firestone Plan-
tation Company will give employment to about
26,000 natives on its rubber plantations in Liberia,
and the further fact that private capital in our
country has given the Liberian Government a loan
of five million dollars to pay off its whole indebted-
ness and make many improvements, has turned

* many eyes to the so-called Dark Continent. But,
after all, Africa, in the knowledge of most of us,
is a blank. For this reason it cannot surprise us
that the topic for missionary study selected by the
missionary study classes of the Missionary Educa-
tion Movement for the coming year is “Africa,
Her People and Her Problems.” A number of the
text-books are admirable. We mention only a few:
The New Africa, by Donald Fraser; Africa and
Her Peoples, by F. D. Walker; The Greden School,
by Edwin W. Smith; and Thinking with Africa, by
various authors.

A Miracle of Modern Safenes 1a missionary
who is stationed at Fort Yukon, Alaska, but is now
in the States on furlough, thus vividly brings to
us the miracle of the radio and, incidentally, im-
presses upon us the almost boundless missionary
possibilities of this modern invention: “On a
Saturday night, about seven o’clock, my wife and
I were enjoying a moose-meat dinner in our cabin.
Outside the temperature was fifty-two degrees
below zero. A most splendid borealis was visible
in the heayens. After supper I watched the extra-

ordinary aurora for a while and then turned on our
radio to see what I could pick up. Soon I had
a church at Sydney, Australia, on Sunday evening.
The sermon came over just as clear as if it were
preached in San Francisco or Portland. My wife
and children also heard it. It certainly was a very
strange sensation to sit there on a Saturday night
and hear a sermon preached on the next night, so
to speak!”

Southern Presbyterians. — At their recent as-
sembly in Atlanta, Ga., the Southern Presbyterians
recommended a budget of $3,000,000 for the next
church-year. This is an increase of $171,600 over
the previous fiscal year. The budgeted sum has
been apportioned as follows: Foreign Missions,
$1,590,000; Home Missions, $840,000; Christian
Education and Ministerial Relief, $405,000; Re-
ligious Education, $105,000; Training-schools,
$30,000; Bible Class, $30,000. The salaries of the
executive secretaries of the various boards was fixed
at $6,000 per annum.— The Southern Presby-
terians are seriously considering the possibility of
centralizing all the executive and promotional
agencies of their Church in one or more cities with
a common treasury. The communicant member-
ship of the Southern Presbyterian body is 439,621.

Death of a Negro Leader.— When Bishop
Delaney died in Raleigh, N.C., on April 14, the
Negro race lost one of its outstanding members.
Rey. Delaney was the suffragan bishop for Negro
work of the Episcopal Church in the Carolinas.
Bishop Delaney enjoyed the respect of those of both
races with whom he came in contact.

Philippines. — When a certain Dr. Wood re-
cently visited the Philippines, he was touched
when he saw the people of a certain village gather-
ing stones for a church. They told him, “The
stones are here; we will collect them into a church.”

What Others Say Regarding KFUO.

By “others” we mean non-Lutherans. It is
self-evident that our fellow-Lutherans appreciate
the Gospel-messages which are broadcast by KFUO.
This is as it should be, and their letters of appre-
ciation are an encouragement to us in our work.
But it is even more refreshing and inspiring to
receive letters from listeners-in outside of our own
circles with fayorable comment on our radio pro-
grams in general, particularly on our religious
messages.