The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 18

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Wonders of Transforming Grace.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
(Conclusion.)
Breakers Ahead!

Though the missionaries found the idols de-
stroyed and their temples leveled to the ground,
they met with many hindrances. Their greatest
obstacle proved to be the unprincipled white traders,

. who did their utmost to poison the minds of king

and people against the missionaries. ‘These con-
scienceless traders told the king that the mission-
aries intended to bring about his dethronement and
led the people to believe that the object of the mis-
sionaries’ coming was their enslavement. Had it
not been for Young and Davis, the missionaries
would not have been permitted to land. After their
landing the unscrupulous traders and their friends
sought by every means to hinder their good work.
Even naval officers and consular agents did not
hesitate to stoop so low as to put obstacles in the
way of God’s messengers. At Honolulu and La-
haina gross outrages were perpetrated against the
persons of the missionaries. But in spite of all
opposition the Gospel prospered, and its teachings
took root.

Dr. Ellis, an English missionary, did a two-
fold service in coming; he assured the king that
the English king was a good friend of the Ameri-
cans and favored the work the American mission-
aries were doing on the islands, facts that had been
denied by the enemies of the American mission;
and with his help the Hawaiian language was re-
duced to writing, and schools were established every-
tvhere. In six years there were four hundred
teachers, teaching no less than 25,000 pupils.

_, Hiram Bingham, one of the pioneer band of mis-

sionaries to Hawaii, and William Richards, together
with Dr. Ellis, gave the Bible to the Hawaiians, and
these two also, assisted by Dr. Ellis, were mainly in-
strumental in establishing mission-schools. r
Royal Converts.
The first convert to the Christian religion in the

_ Hawaiian Islands was the king’s mother, Keopulani.

In order to be able to read the Bible, she learned
_ English before the Scriptures had been translated
into her native tongue. A second wife of Kame-

 hameha also embraced the Christian faith and did
"much for the cause of Christian education in the

‘islands. But the cause of Christianity gained most

* 18 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

minority of King Liholiho. A woman of remark-
able strength of character, great influence, and
wonderful intelligence, she put all her power and
authority into the service of Christ and His Gospel.
Christ’s Gospel made of this proud, passionate, and
savage woman a loving and kind ruler, a humble and
devout Christian. At the advanced age of fifty she
learned to read and write and was not ashamed to
sit with others to be examined in the rudiments of
secular and religious learning.

Another really royal convert was Teraiopu, wife
of the king of Kailua, who had been “as bad as
a full-bred heathen could be,” but embraced Christ
at the age of eighty years and in her extreme old
age became a great power for good.

Kapiolani.

Kapiolani was the ruler of a large part of the
island of Hawaii. When she first came in contact
with Christianity, she was the wife of several hus-
bands, intemperate, an inveterate gambler, repulsive
in person, and filled with darkest superstition. . But
when the Gospel of Jesus came into her heart, she
became a simple and humble child of God, put away
all but. one husband, was meek and mild to her
subjects, gave up drinking and gambling, and
turned her attention with enthusiasm to the im-
provement and elevation of her people. With her
own hands she removed the idols from the sight of
the people, courageously uprooted the heathenish
notions and customs prevalent among them, and at
a great sacrifice fought lust, murder, infanticide,
and other crimes. She always deemed herself a poor
sinner in need of God’s grace and delighted in visit-
ing the sick and suffering among the lowly in
her land.

But one act in this wonderful woman’s life out-
shines all others because of its heroism of faith.
The famous crater of Kilauea was believed by her
people to be the home of the cruel goddess Pele.
She determined to break the hold this superstition
had on her subjects. For this purpose she deter-
mined to make a journey to the awful crater on
foot over the rough lava beds and from the
rim of the crater defy the feared goddess. While
pursuing her journey of a hundred miles, she was
besought by her people to turn back. Even her hus-
band was filled with superstitious fear of what the
awful goddess might do to his wife. But to her
husband and her people her answer was: “There is
but one God, and He will keep me from harm. If
I die, you may all worship Pele, but if not, you
ought all turn to God.” Having arrived at the rim

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