The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 46

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

46

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

. Standing idle in the “market-place,” earnestly wish-
ing to be put to work.

So, then, the fields are white, the laborers are at
hand and willing: all that is needed is that we send
them to gather the ripening crops.

May we as never before see our marvelous mis-
-Slonary opportunities in the homeland; and may we
also as never before realize our tremendous mission-
ary obligations to the unchurched of our own neigh-
borhood, our own village, town, and city!

May God succeed in greater measure than ever
before to eradicate from our minds and hearts that
old sentiment of Cain’s which he expressed so heart-
lessly with the words, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” !
This selfish sentiment was first put into words by
one who was an actual murderer; for at the moment
he said them the blood of his brother Abel was upon
his hands. But shall we be less than murderers if
this selfish thought that we have no responsibility as
to the spiritual welfare of our neighbor induces us
to neglect our missionary opportunities and permit
our neighbor to hasten heedlessly on the way to
eternal destruction? “To him that knoweth to do
good and doeth it not, to him it is sin,” Jas. 4, 17.

‘BF. J.L.

Some Things Missions Have Done.

Christian missions have made the name of Christ
the best-known name in the world. They are pro-
claiming the Gospel in over ten thousand different
places. They have planted in the leading foreign
lands the Church of Christ, with a Protestant mem-
bership of over 2,644,170.

They have created a great system of Christian
schools and colleges, with a present enrolment of
over a million’ and a half pupils.

They have stimulated the governments of the
leading nations of the East to establish educational
systems of their own.

They have introduced modern medicine, surgery,
and sanitation into the darkest quarters of the globe
by means of 675 hospitals and 963 dispensaries.

They have been the principal agents of relief in
famines and shave made scientific investigation of
the causes which lie at their root.

_ Whey have taught people habits of cleanliness
_ and the Jaws of health, thus lessening the spread of
_ plague and pestilence.
_. They have upheld the idea of the dignity of
Jabor among those who regard toil as menial.
_ They have established a multitude of trade-

schools, in which development of Christian character
keeps pace with growth in manual skill.

They have helped to abolish human slavery and
shown the Christian way of caring for the aged,
orphans, blind, deaf-mutes, insane, and lepers.

They have lifted women from a condition of un-
speakable degradation and trained a new generation
of Christian mothers, wives, and daughters, who
are making homes and introducing new ideals of
social life.

They have translated the entire Bible or portions
of the Scriptures into 500 languages and dialects,
distributing last year alone 9,272,221 copies.

They have reduced many strange tongues to
writing and have created a literature for whole races,
producing annually a vast amount of good reading
in the shape of books, hymnals, and papers for
all ages.

They have transformed the people of the Fiji
Islands, Melanesia, and other island groups from
cannibals to civilized beings. — Onward.

A Lesson in Giving.

Two wealthy Christians were traveling around
the world, and in Korea they saw a boy in a field
pulling a plow, while an old man held the handles
and guided the instrument. The visitors were rather
amused and took a picture of the pair. They showed
it to the resident missionary and asked him if these
two people were poor. The missionary declared
that they were very poor, but when the little Chris-
tian church was being built, they were very anxious.
to contribute their mite. They had no money, and
so they sold their only ox and gave the money to
the church and were glad that they were able to
give their share. They did not feel like complain-
ing, but rather thought that they were very fortu-
nate to have an ox to sell. This was the reason why
these two did their own plowing.

The wealthy lawyer, when he reached home, went
to his minister and said: “I want to double my
subscription to the Church, and please give me some
plow-work to do. I have never known what sacri-
fice for the Church meant. A converted heathen
taught me. I am ashamed to say that I never yet
have given to the Church that which has cost me
anything.”

It is really a, privilege to give to the cause in
which we, with all our hearts, belieye. Sacrifice
becomes a joy when we are: anxious to see a beloved
cause prosper. — Onward.