The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 44

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44

School in China. — In China the school-day
starts at six o’clock, rain or shine. The learners
come every day of ‘the week, even on Saturdays and
Sundays. The little pupils study their lessons
aloud. They make much noise in doing so, but
they may not talk to one another. For that reason
their desks are placed far apart. They read the
last page of their books first, because their books
begin there. They read down and from right to
left, whereas we read from left to right. The
teacher has long finger-nails on his left hand to
show that he is wise. He cannot have them on his
right hand, for that would keep him from writing.
Chinese ways are not like ours. We say “northeast”
and “southwest,” but these queer people call these
directions “eastnorth” and “westsouth.”

China Inland Mission in 1930.— Despite all
hindrances and persecutions 197 stations out of a
total of 263 report 3,571 baptisms for last year.
This particular missionary society is doing much to
disseminate the Bible in China. Members.of this
mission are volunteering as colporteurs to spread
the Scriptures, and they are working with marked
success.

Koonibba, Australia. — This is where the mis-
sion of our Australian brethren among natives is
located. On November 9, last, a class of sixteen
native adults was added to the number of commu-
nicants of the mission after having received a thor-
ough course of instruction. In the class was a man
about sixty years of age.

“Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly.” —
The January number of this publication (order
from Mr. Theo. Eckhart, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave.,
St. Louis, Mo., $2.00 a year, with membership) is of
interest from a Home Mission standpoint. Among
the contents are the following: “Beginnings of
Permanent English Lutheran Work in Missouri”;
“arly Lutherans and Lutheran Churches in Amer-

ica”; “Brief History of the Slovak Lutheran

Synod” (Part II). Other titles are: “Important

_ Events”; “Concordia Seminary’s First Graduate.”

We thank the editors for printing the exquisite

drawings by H. Ruhland of prominent members of
the Synodical Conference in bygone days.

The Need of Children. — Due to ignorance and

hs ‘superstition in certain parts of the world 500 out

of every 1,000 children die. Thousands of them

e: _ grow up in ignorance of their Savior because of

ther people’s neglect of duty. Famine left a mil-
ion or more new orphans in China last year. Over
00,000 children in our country have no home life

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

and very little school opportunity. More than one
half of the children on earth are not only unable to
read, but they have no school opportunities of any
kind. What a change in the drab and tragic lives
of these children would a little practical sympathy
on our part mean!

Children with Defective Speech in Our
Country. — We were astounded to read that one
million schoolchildren in our land are so defective
in speech that they are in need of treatment and
training and that fewer than 60,000 of them are re-
ceiving the treatment their condition calls for. Of
the million about 250,000 are stutterers. Most of
these could be made fluent speakers if they were
given the proper attention.

Papua Mission of the American Lutheran
Church. — This mission claims to be in touch with
150,000 natives. The native church numbers 20,000
members. At this time 6,000 applicants are being
prepared for baptism. In 200 village schools 5,000
pupils are receiving Christian training. The whole
work is directed from 16 main stations, which are
manned by 100 adult foreign workers. By means of
its hospitals this mission comes in contact with over
50,000 annually. A wonderful missionary oppor-
tunity! Over 500 native workers are entirely sup-
ported by the native church-members. A fine
example of missionary zeal! The native church
supports several seminaries, where 200 men are en-
rolled at this time in preparation for their future
work as evangelists.

Jews in Chicago.— The Jewish population of
Chicago is said to be about 400,000. The thought
of starting mission-work among these thousands is
under earnest consideration by our brethren in
Chicago. May God lead and guide them aright!

An Incident with Applications.

The New York Christian Advocate, a Methodist
religious weekly, related the experiences of a cul-
tured Christian Hindu in a well-known city of one
of our Eastern States. We want our readers not to
forget that this city is not in the South, but in the
East. Well, this Christian Oriental was to speak at
some missionary convention of this particular city,
and some minister was to meet him upon his ar-
rival. However, as the minister did not materialize,
the Hindu had a taxi take him to a hotel, where he
asked to be given a room for the night. The Hindu
was very dark, and for this reason there was “no

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