The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 142

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142

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

the other day, salvaged a copy of the Church at
Work, read about the work in Liberia, and shortly
after gave his employer the sum of fifty dollars, to
be spent for the Church’s work in that country,
merely remarking that he had never done anything
for the Church, and wanted to help his people.”

The earthly calling of the furnaceman is to
furnish heat to keep men’s bodies warm and com-
fortable; this furnaceman by his example carries
fire to the souls of men. To those who habitually
ignore or neglect the cause of missions his simple
words of love are as live coals placed on the heart.
They burn and cause great discomfort. This poor
colored toiler, a neglectful church-member will feel,
on hearing of the need of the Church and of the
starving souls in Liberia joyously brings in the sum
of fifty dollars, perhaps more than we have given for
missions in ten, or even in twenty-five, years, though
the Lord has given us the means to contribute fifty
times as much as he is able to give. What a shame,
what a sin!

To those who already are cheerful givers there
comes from his loving offering a rich, warm glow
that cheers their heart and increases the fervor of
their love for the Lord and of their zeal for His
cause. What a blessed bit of firing up this furnace-
man has done! We tap the pipes, not to complain,
but to encourage you. More heat, Mr. Furnaceman,
we're still too cold!

Two things are necessary, we learn from this
story, to make a man a cheerful giver. The first is
a heart that glows with love for the Savior and with
the love for our fellow-sinners that only Christ can
put into our hearts. Such a heart this furnaceman
clearly had.

But so far he had lacked the second necessary
thing, the knowledge of the actual needs of the

Church. He had known nothing of the condition of

his people in Liberia, nothing of the work the Church
was doing there for their salvation, nothing of the
wants and struggles of the missions conducted there.
So he did not give.
__ A member of our synod who does not follow up
the work of our institutions and our missions may
contribute small amounts perfunctorily, but he will
never be a joyous, liberal giver. ‘To be alive to the
work of our Lord requires that we live in it, and an
uninformed Christian can hardly be said to be living
in the work of the Church. .

It was a: church-paper that brought this furnace-
man the information and the appeal that, as it were,
‘Teleased the love that was in his heart and trans-

lated it into action. This a single copy did at just
about the end of its career down in the basement of
the church. How much good it had already done up-
stairs we do not know, that all depends upon whether
it was read, how many people read it, and how they
read it.— J. B., in the Northwestern Lutheran.

Removing Prejudices.

The Korean Bible was not completed till 1900.
Concerning this MS. the secretary of the Bible
Society was told the following incident. He was
sitting by an open camp-fire in the high mountains
of Luzon one night, when a grizzled Tennessee
mountaineer told of .his embarking on board
a steamer in San Francisco with a companion and,
upon being shown to their cabin, their finding some
more baggage therein — evidently a third passenger.
They were “drinking a farewell” to America as the
ocean steamer swung out from the pier, when their
fellow-passenger entered, a slightly built man,
evidently a missionary. With a wink to his com-
panion, the speaker said, he offered the newcomer his
flask with a “Help yourself,” but it was graciously
declined. His companion, not to be outdone, offered
a box of cigars, with the same result. Thinking to
have some sport at the missionary’s expense, for,
as he frankly stated, he “had never had any use for
preachers or missionaries,” the two cronies placed
the flask of whisky and the box of cigars upon the
shelf, telling their traveling-companion: “Help
yourself whether we are in here or not. We will
keep them filled all the way across the Pacific. They
are as free as the air that we breathe; so don’t be
afraid to help yourself whenever you want.” He said
that they winked at each other, thinking they had
played a rich joke. The little missionary, stooping
down, drew from his pocket a thick roll of manu-
script, saying, “Fellows, would you like to have me
read something to you?” ‘“What’s that?” asked ‘the
cronies. “The just completed manuscript of the
Korean Bible.” “Nothing doing,” they both ex-
claimed. Thereupon he placed the manuscript on
the shelf, alongside of the flask and box of cigars,
and said: “I will leave it there all the way across
the Pacific, and you are at liberty to read it when-
ever you want it, whether I am here or not. It is
as free as the wind that blows. But, men, be care-
ful of it as you would of your own life. It represents
seventeen years of my life’s work.”” The old veteran,
with tears streaming down his cheeks, ended the
recital by saying: “I looked at him; then I jumped.