The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 69

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER 69

welcome. Long tables had been erected in front of
the idols, at which the two hundred candidates were
to be initiated. The missionary being a foreigner
and a preacher of the Gospel-religion, he was
frequently engaged in conversation by priests and
candidates. He, moreover, in the very presence
of the idols, whenever possible, broached the sub-
jects of sin and grace through Christ Crucified and
gave all the instruction he could. And the Gospel
also in this case proved its power; for more than
one candidate listened attentively to what the mis-
sionary had to say, though no one was induced to
confess Christ. But, at any rate, the Gospel was
preached as a witness unto them, and that in the
very face of their gilded wooden idols. Perhaps
some of those who listened to the missionary’s
simple testimony on that occasion will on their
death-beds remember what they then heard and, like
the thief on the cross, turn to Him who delivered
them also from sin, death, and the devil.

_ But let us now hear about the ordination
ceremony itself. Before the stated hour of ordina-
tion every candidate had little cones of punk placed
on the fore part of his newly shaved head, the num-
ber of cones being left to the choice of the can-
didates. Some chose four, others as many as twelve.
At twelve o’clock sharp the priest in charge of the
ordaining stationed himself on one side of a long
table that had been placed there, while all the can-
didates, dressed in the gray garb of Buddhist
priests, fell in line and marched slowly to the other
side of the table. Every one of them was chanting
his prayers to Amitabha Buddha as he neared the
officiating priest, who with a stick of lighted incense
set the little pyramids of punk aglow on his head.
The cones of punk gradually burned down to the
skin, branding the men for life. In spite of their
continuous prayer of “O Me To Fu,” 1. e., Amitabha
Buddha (the “Fu” standing for Buddha in Chi-
nese), many of these newly ordained priests could
not restrain the tears from coursing down their
cheeks. But some few never shed a tear nor once
twitched their closed eyelids. After the two hundred

men and*women had been’ made Buddhist priests ©
and “priestesses, they retired to their sleeping- -

apartments for the rest of the night, while the
guests were led to their quarters: ;

In the morning -a most ceremonious breakfast
was partaken of by the new~priests and priestesses.
A certain rich*lady, who had upon: previous oc-
easions contributed::toward the up-keep of the
monastery, had donated the funds for this repast.
Filing “prayerfully” into the large mess-hall, each

priest was seated before a small table, similar to
the desks in our mission-schools, only quite a bit
higher. An older priest sat in front of the assembly
with his portion of food before him. The food was
the same for all: a bowl of rice gruel, a Chinese
biscuit, and a cup of tea. No one dared to touch
his food before the presiding priest had intoned the
“blessing,” in which all joined, chanting the entire
prayer. Then all partook of their frugal meal. The
guests were served with their breakfast in another
room; this consisted of vegetable soup, noodles,
and tea.

After breakfast the missionary and his com-
panions paid cumshaw to the abbot and then de-
parted, sorry in spirit at the thought that the devil
had so many redeemed souls in his power, yet also
happy in spirit because of their knowledge of the
Savior and of the opportunity they had had to bear
witness of Him, the crucified Lord. E. RrepeEt.

Two Monthly Reports from China.

December, 1930.

This month includes many celebrations at all
our stations, it being the month of Christmas. It
was a quiet month for all except for the Shihnan
station. Also at Shihnan, however, no harm came
near our dwellings. None of our schools were inter-
fered with during this month.

Suasi.— More than four hundred people at-
tended the Christmas services at Shasi. A new
mission was begun at the custom-house, with an
attendance of twelve natives, all of them officials
of the government. New bandit-suppression troops
have come to Shasi. On the 27th a Shasi vernacular
paper published a lengthy article on our mission,
denouncing it in scurrilous terms.

Hanxow. — Christmas celebrations took their
normal course, there being the usual children’s cele-
bration, divine services and baptisms. Brother
Zschiegner laments that since 1926—27 baptisms
have been “so rare, so rare.” The building program
is progressing normally.

- IoHanc.—The Christmas celebrations at Ichang
brought three more souls into the fold of the
Church, these ‘being children, who were Hyatt
on Christmas Day.

'SuiHnan.— On the 24th a children’s service
was held, similar to those held in our churches at
home. A number of well-known Christmas-carols
were’ sung, such as “Silent Night,” “Wir bitten
dich, O Jesulein,” and “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”