The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Sheet 121

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

his life on earth is, his prospects after this life are
unspeakably sadder.

And yet, this ghastly darkness would not need to
cover the earth; over half of mankind living on this
beautiful earth would not need to be held in a spiri-
tual darkness blacker than night! A knowledge of
Christ and His work of redemption would turn the
gloom-and sorrow of these millions into joy, turn
their black night into brightest day, and put them
on the sure road that ends in endless salvation. The
remedy for the fearful plight of these millions is at
hand; but they know nothing of it, because the
Church has not fully carried out the Great Com-
mission of the ascending Savior: “Go ye into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

And that is the pity of tt all!

Here, then, is a most wonderful opportunity for
us Christians to bring happiness to our fellow-men
and save their souls from endless misery. To be
sure, it is an immense task; but should we quail
before a huge and difficult undertaking when im-
mortal souls are at stake and the command of Christ:
bids us to go on? The very immensity of the task,
its very impossibility of performance by man, gives
the task its greatest fascination in the eyes of those
who trust in Him who bade the Church perform it,
relying on His help.

No great work is ever accomplished without
much thought, much labor, and much travail of
spirit; and least of all can we expect to dispel the
darkness that now covers the heathen world without
these attending conditions. But the trials and diffi-
culties should not dismay us in view of the promise
of God’s almighty help in the performance of the
task and in view of the blessed result promised us —
millions of souls delivered out the power of sin and
Satan and given the glorious liberty of the children
of God. Surely there is no sacrifice, no labor, no
effort, too great for that.

Should we not all wish to have a part in this
glorious work? The help of all is needed. Would
to God that every Christian would realize it! Would
to God that the whole Church would arise in its
God-given might and say: “These millions of souls
must not perish in-their misery, the prey of super-
stition, dread, and despair, without peace in this life
and without hope in the life to come”!

Oh, that all believers would awake and realize
the awfulness of it all; that they would look beyond
the seas and behold the mighty procession going
down to its destruction; that they would take pity
upon this host and bid it wait and receive the bless-

119

ing and the hope and the life which Christ alone
can give!
But we must first be trained to pity misfortune
for Christ’s sake, even more than to bear it.
F.J.L.

—_—..

Wonders of Transforming Grace.

MADAGASCAR.
Madagascar is the third-largest island in the
world. It is more than 1,000 miles long and from
225 to 250 miles wide. In area it is almost as large

- as the State of Texas, or as large as the States of

Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin
combined. It has a population of about 3,600,000.
Since 1885 Madagascar has been a French protec-
torate, and in 1896 it was declared 4 French colony.
A low range of mountains runs through the center
from north to south, but for the most part the
island is low and level.

The People.

The inhabitants of Madagascar are called Mal-
agasy and are divided into three groups. The Hovas
are the dominant race; they are of a light-olive
color. The Betsileos are much mixed in blood and
are quite dark, but they are not very numerous. The
Sakalavas are lighter than the Betsileos and much
larger in stature. Upon the whole, the Malagasy
are a cheerful and kind people. Their civilization is
quite superior to that of the Central Africans. Their
houses are also more substantial. Though their dress
is simple, it is far more elaborate than that of most

_Africans of the mainland.

Religious Ideas.

The Malagasy believe in a Supreme Being, whom
they called Andriamahitra, that is, “Prince of
Heaven,” and in a spirit of evil. But they did not
worship the Prince of Heaven. They had no priest-
hood and disclaimed worshiping idols, but admitted
that they paid reverence to fifteen objects located in
the neighborhood of Tananarivo, the capital. Their
two principal objects of “reverence” were Rakelumal-
aza and Ramahavaly. The former brought victory
to the king and protected him against witches, fire,
and wild animals; the latter was casually called
“god,” and it was claimed that he was almighty and
that nothing could be kept hidden from him. These
idols—for such they were in spite of their denials —
the Malagasy carried in processions on all occasions
of a public nature; they consisted of a bit of wood
as large as a thumb, with a piece of red silk, three
inches wide and three feet long, tied to each side.