The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 134

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134

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

gether different people from their racial brethren
and sisters and live a life altogether different from
theirs. Surely our work in the Lord has not been
in vain!
FREQUENT PARTAKERS OF THE Lorp’s Surrer.

Luther says in his introduction to the Small
Catechism: “If a person does not seek or desire the
Lord’s Supper at least some four times a year, it is
to be feared that he despises the Sacrament and is
not a Christian, just as he is not a Christian who
refuses to believe or hear the Gospel.” What pastors
of our white congregations would not rejoice if their
communicant members reached this goal? Now,
however, it is a fact that our white Christians, on
an average, approach the Lord’s Table only twice
ayear. Here one of our readers may think and say:
“The ancestors of our Negroes were no Lutherans,
but sectarians or else churchless. Our colored people
have not been members of the Lutheran Church as
long as we have. Because of this fact we can hardly
expect them to be more diligent in communion than
we are.” However, this conclusion is not in accor-
dance with the facts. Our colored Christians com-
mune, on an average, three times a year, and in
some of our congregations the average often is five
and six times a year. There are even cases where
they partake of Holy Communion every time it is
administered. This reminds us of the first days of
the Christian Church. — We originally intended to
call attention to only two remarkable records. How-
ever, we feel compelled to mention a third: —

TuE ContTriBuTIONS oF Our Cotorep CuRrIsTIANs.

The report of the treasurer for Colored Missions
does not give a record of all the gifts contributed by
our Lutheran colored members. Thousands of dol-
lars are contributed for repairs, light, fuel, support
of the sick, and the like, of which no record is given.

In the first four decades of our mission the con-
tributions were comparatively small. In the last
decade, however, a very satisfactory progress has
been made in this respect. Eleven years ago the
total sum contributed was $5,600; but last year the
contributions reached a total of $39,600, an increase
of $34,000. Despite their great poverty our Lu-
theran Negroes meet one-sixth of the annual ex-
pense of conducting our mission-work among them.
The average contribution of every confirmed mem-
ber, old and young, is more than $11 a year. This
is surprising when we consider that our Lutheran
colored Christians are not rich farmers, well-to-do
business men, or mechanics drawing high wages.

Missionary G. M. Kramer, in New Orleans, who

on August 18 of this year will have completed
twenty-one years of service in the mission, says with
regard to the willingness of our colored brethren to
contribute to their Church: “Our Negroes, upon the
whole, are quite poor. The contributions for con-
gregational expenses are for this reason, as cannot
be otherwise expected, quite small. And yet we
have many happy experiences in this respect. In
one of our congregations the members were asked
to subscribe a sum of money for a certain purpose,
which they were to pay in the course of the year.
At first there seemed to be no one ready to subscribe,
since this was a new matter to them and all of them
apparently feared that they would not be able to
live up to their promise. Finally, a few subscrip-
tions, among them that ofa widow who earns her
daily bread by washing, were given. She sub-
scribed $25.

“Some days after she came to the pastor in
great excitement and handed him an envelope
with $5. This was a Christmas-gift which she had
received quite unexpectedly from the family for
which she was working, and she had now brought
this sum to the pastor as part payment of her sub-
scription in order that she might not be tempted to
spend it in some other way. Regularly every month
she brought her two dollars.

“One Sunday evening she again came to the
missionary, this time with tears of joy in her eyes,
and handed him, with trembling hands, an envelope
cantaining $7, in full payment of her subscription.
In giving this sum, she told the missionary that
God has blessed her beyond all her expectations and
that she could not find words to express her grati-
tude to Him for His goodness. This last sum, she
said, she had earned quite unexpectedly and she felt
that she must give it to God at once. Here the mis-
sionary had a concrete example that giving is
more blessed than receiving.”

When the late Prof. J. Ph. Smith began his ‘work
at Kannapolis, N. C., in 1902, services were held in
the home of a member by the name of Russell. Con-
cerning the grandchild of this man Russell our
colored Superintendent F. D. Alston relates the fol-
lowing: “Little Frances Russell, who is approaching
the age of nine, is counting the years that must still
pass before she can be confirmed and approach the
Lord’s Table. Since the confirmation of her two
older sisters she is longing for the time when she
may be confirmed. Almost daily she is worrying
her mother with questions concerning this future
event. On the third Sunday in September, 1926,
we lifted an extra collection for our building fund.