The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Sheet 64

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

Our Missions in China.

From official monthly news reports we cull the
following highly interesting items: —

The war in North China virtually came to an
end last October. No serious danger visited any of
our stations during October, but the situation was
quite tense at Shasi. However, this tense situation
was relieved when Szechwan soldiers pushed back
the Reds a distance of twenty-five miles. The sup-
pression of the bandits and Reds is well under way
by this time. In spite of the chaos in China the
Mission is making every effort to carry forward its
sacred trust of preaching the Gospel.

Rey. Riedel of Hankow had a baptism in October
and one in November. Rey. Klein reports that the
Reformation services at Hankow were well attended.
Conditions at the Seminary at Hankow are normal.
A special class in Greek has been begun by Rev.
McLaughlin, thus giving a special opportunity to
those students who are deficient in that study and
to such as desire extra work in that subject. Rev.
Werling and Rev. Buuck, both of Hankow, report
progress in their language study. The Bible school
for girls at Hankow has not, as was reported,
twenty-six, but rather six regular and two special
pupils.

At Shihnan several preparatory sermons were
preached on Reformation subjects in October, and
on Reformation day the four-hundredth anniversary
of the Augsburg Confession was commeniorated in
a special service. — Two adult members died in
Shihnan at an advanced age during last October;
unfortunately both were given heathen funerals by
their relatives. — The wife of a member in Shihnan
was baptized on October 31, in her home. Two chil-
’ dren were baptized there in November, one of whom
died after baptism. — At a regular communion ser-
vice at Shihnan held on the first Sunday in Oc-
tober, fourteen men and eleven women partook of
the Holy Supper. — Medical work was begun at
Shihnan last October by the local nurse, and the
dispensary has been open daily for two hours. There
were from twelve to twenty patients a day during
the first month. This number has grown till it has
reached forty to ninety-six a day. Besides regular
patients many soldiers have been taken care of.
Most of them were sick with itch, and ten of them
were wounded. The nurse made a number of sick-
calls also.

__ A confirmation class begun in Shast by Rev.
_ Zimmermann last October had grown from twelve
santo thirty members by the end of November. His

Bible class is attended by forty persons, and his
services are attended by over a hundred. The Shasi
chapel has recently been enlarged by the removal of
a wall. — English services have been begun at Shasi
for a number of foreigners and English-speaking
Chinese. — While the work in the schools had not
been interrupted by the authorities, Rev. Zimmer-
mann reports that at Shasi the authorities threaten
to take action against non-registered mission-
schools, and by this time the government may have
closed them. — At Shasi a small school for the En-
glish has been opened. The instruction is given
free of charge. This school is no expense to our
mission. Much interest is shown in this school, the
missionary reports.

Rey. Thode of Ichang reports having solemnized
a wedding on November 16. F. J. L.

Items of Missionary Interest.
(By the Eprror.)

Golden Jubilee at Bronxville Institute. — On
Sunday, April 19, an anniversary service commemo-
rating the founding of this institution will be held
in St. Luke’s Church, New York. This school is
the alma mater of many of our pastors and profes-
sors and of not a few laymen among us. Let us
thank God for all the good this Concordia has done
in the past fifty years and pray Him that it may
continue its good work for many years to come.

Home Missions in Kansas. — At the end of last
year this energetic District had thirty-six full-time
Home Mission workers employed in serving forty-
eight places. These laborers were serving a bap-
tized membership of over 4,000. Six mission day-
schools had a total enrolment of 233 pupils, and in
the Sunday-schools under Home Mission supervi-
sion were 1,079 children. The Church Extension
Fund helped these mission-places to build churches,
schools, and parsonages with loans to the amount of
more than $69,000. The mission-congregations
showed their appreciation for God’s Word by con-
tributing over $20,000 for salaries, $29,000 for
other home expenses, and more than $8,000 ° for
synodical treasuries. ‘The Kansas District sub-
sidized the forty-eight stations with $26,105. Two
new places were opened in 19380, and the increase in
membership was gratifying.

The Effect of the “Depression” on Lutheran
Church-Work. — While the “depression” has left
its mark among us also, the falling-off in the re-
ceipts of the synodical treasuries within the bounds