The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Sheet 93

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

the man‘who conveyed the body to its last resting-
place. On returning from the cemetery, the letter
was opened in the presence of a witness. A slip of
paper was found on which had been written: ‘In
gratitude, for missions.’ In the enevelope he had
placed forty dollars. He had given all he had that
others might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be
saved.”

Death of a Veteran Missionary. — Rev. E. L.
‘Arndt, the father of our mission in China, passed
away suddenly on April 18. At the time of his
death his wife was in this country, where she had
just undergone an operation in Johns Hopkins Hos-
pital, Baltimore. Pastor Arndt was the founder of
our mission in China, where he began his labors in

+ Missionary E. L. Arndt. f

1913. He remained at his post in Hankow even
during the trying days of the revolution. In
a beautiful obituary published in the Lutheran Wit-
ness, Rev. Lawrence Meyer, who served with Pastor
Arndt in China, speaks of the extraordinary qual-
ities of this man of God- as a missionary, poet,
author, Sinolog, and confessor. His former colleague
tells us that Missionary Arndt made his first sermon
in Chinese only three months after his arrival in
China. He describes him as a man of God whose
indomitable will was rooted in a passion for souls.
He translated many of our beautiful Lutheran
hymns and not a few books into the Chinese tongue.
Among the more important books translated by him
are Walther’s Gospel Postil, Pieper’s Dogmatics,
parts of the Book of Concord, and over 900 sermons
by prominent Lutheran preachers. He was also the

91

author of several volumes of sermons and addresses.
Missionary Arndt’s death is mourned by his widow,
two daughters, and five sons.

Home Mission Work in Northern Nebraska. —
The Northern Nebraska District of the Missouri
Synod has twenty mission-stations on the Burling-
ton Railroad in Nebraska and Wyoming. All ‘the
stations are flourishing and give promise of ‘a
healthy growth.

Tracts in a Texas Penitentiary. — The Board of
Home Missions of the Texas District recently re-
ceived a request from the chaplain of the State
Penitentiary at Huntsville for some tracts.. The
chaplain wrote that he had read some of the tracts,
found them excellent, and would be pleased to re-
ceive a supply for distribution among the inmates
of the institution. Of course, the Board at once
saw the fine opportunity offered here and ordered
five sets of 500 tracts each to be sent to the prison
chaplain.

Our Christian Day-Schools. — Superintendent
Bade writes in the Western District Lutheran: “The
work done in the common-school subjects in our
schools that have been visited by the undersigned up
to this time compares favorably with the work done
in the schools conducted by the state. If we take
the main reason for which we conduct our schools
into consideration, to lead our children to their
Savior, there is no comparison at all. The Western
District has a larger number of Christian day-
schools than any other District of Synod. May the
good Lord bless our schools and our teachers in
their work, make our Christians ever willing to
pray and work for the Christian schools in our
midst, and grant them grace never to tire of bring-
ing sacrifices for them !”

The Three Largest Fields of the American Lu-
theran Church. — In point of numbers of baptized
members the largest field is that of the United Lu-
theran Church in India, with 136,555; the second
largest, the field of the Iowa Synod in New Guinea,
with 23,000; the third largest, the Madagascar mis-
sion of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, with 7,885
baptized members. :

Lutherans in Switzerland. — There are only
a few small Lutheran congregations in Switzerland,
with only about 500 communicant members. None
of the churches possess churches of their own.

Consolidating for Greater Efficiency. — Atlanta
University, Spelman Institute, and Morehouse Col-
lege, all three educational institutions for the
colored race, have decided to coordinate their actiy-