The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1930, Page 43

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

43

DN ss

asked, so that no congregational or synodical money
may be diverted to Lutherland.

Every Lutheran who loves his Church and her
young people will be interested in this undertaking
to safeguard and cultivate our young people.

Protestant Missionary Movement
in Japan.

Seventy years have elapsed since the beginning
of the Protestant missionary endeavor in Japan.
The Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, and the
Reformed churches were the first Protestant soci-
eties to enter that country. Protestant missionary
work is now conducted by fifty-six organizations,
two of which are Lutheran: the United Lutheran
Church of America and the Lutheran Gospel Asso-
ciation of Finland. .

At one time our Missouri Synod earnestly
planned to open up work in “the Land of the
Rising Sun.” In fact, resolutions to that effect
were passed. Later events, however, clearly directed
us to go to British India instead.

The total staff of foreign missionaries in Japan,
according to latest reports, numbers 1,170, which is
considerably less than in the preceding years. The
United Lutheran Church had forty missionaries
in the field, of whom fourteen were ordained men
and nineteen were women. Statistics for the whole
number of professed Christians of all Protestant
churches are not obtainable. There were reported
172,627 communicants and 29,704 baptized non-
communicant members for all Protestant churches.
The whole number of organized congregations was
1,897; of preaching-places, 959.

In the preceding year but one 15,367 communi-
cants were added to the various churches. The en-
rolment of teachers and pupils in 3,135 Sunday-
schools amounted to 214,312.

The Roman Catholic Church, according to latest
reports, claims 89,390 souls. The number of
foreign priests was 172; of Chinese priests, 49.

Much ‘educational work is done by the Protes-
tant missions. But there are “practically no Chris-
tian primary schools” for pupils from six to twelve
years of age. ‘This is caused by the educational
code of Japan, which makes attendance at public —
or state — schools compulsory. The number of mis-
sion-kindergartens, however, and of secondary
schools is very large. “The secondary school is
handicaped from the start by being given a place

of lower public esteem than the government
schools.”

One especially distressing feature of the public-
school system is “the determination of the author-
ities to buttress the deep loyalty and devotion of
the people towards their emperor by means of folk-
lore, myths, and medieval legends taught as history
and to identify their ruler with the Deity.” In
other words, rank idolatry is being taught in the
Japanese public school. “Beginning with the sun-
goddess myth story in the First Reader of the
primary schools, . . . what with the veneration for
heroes, the reverence for ancestors, and the worship
of the ruler, state Shinto both in teaching and in
ceremony is already enshrined in the entire system.
And state Shintoism is a religion deep enough and
powerful enough to command the allegiance of
every child who has been taught day in and day out
for the six years of his compulsory schooling.”

FREDERICK BRAND.

Cholera in Travancore, India, Abating.

Recent reports from India inform the Board for
Foreign Missions that the cholera epidemic in the
neighborhood of Nagercoil is abating. None of our
missionaries have been affected, nor have many of
our Christians been stricken. For this good news
let us offer sincere thanks to God. May He in His
mercy continue to watch over our fellow-Christians
and over India generally! FREDERICK BRAND.

Items of Missionary Interest.
(By the Eprror.)

A New Missionary Enters the Field. —Rev.
Omar Rau, of Gravelton, Mo., has accepted the call
of the Board for Colored Missions to Immanuel,
Cincinnati. God willing, he will be installed on
the first or second Sunday in March. God grant
abundant success to this new worker!

Iliness of Rosa Young.— Though Miss Rosa
Young was seriously ill in January, she has so far
recovered that she is busy devising plans for the
betterment of her people. Just lately the secretary
of the writer’s mission-society received a letter from
her in which she divulged some of her plans to be
helpful to her people. What a pity —so we near-
sighted humans judge — that this indefatigable
worker does not enjoy continued good health!