The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 77

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THE LUTHERAN ‘PIONEER

77

and hilly roads, arriving at dusk, when supper was
over, we sat down to an informal meeting. I staid
till eleven o’clock, and then fatigue drove me to bed.
When I woke up the next morning, I heard the
preachers’ voices at it again. On inquiry I found
that they had continued their efforts till one o’clock
the previous night. They preach to every chance
wayfarer and seem to be untiring in their efforts.

On this particular trip we baptized six candi-
dates, all men. Very few children are accepted
because of their heathen surroundings, and strange
to say, it seems hard to get the women. I had three
evangelists with me, only one of whom was ordained.
When the ordained preacher took ill with a fever,
I baptized the last two candidates. The baptisms
were administered in a pond of stagnant water,
about a mile from the village, the sole source of
water supply for that village. We would call it
a mud-hole in America. My feet sank ankle-deep
into the mud of this pond. I found the people
inclined to laugh during the administration of bap-
tism; but that, I discovered, was not due to lack
of earnestness; it simply revealed their childish
nature. The jungle Burmans are children in all
but bodies. Will Christianity ever be able to accom-
plish much for them? That cannot be doubted.
With the little effort that has been made wonderful
things have already been accomplished. The second
century of Christian effort upon which we are en-
tering is sure to see a marvelous spread of the
Kingdom among the villages of Burma.

L. W. Harrerstey, in Jissions.

“One Way to Earn His Money.’’

Wonzo Deramus, a blind and weak-minded
youngster, is a nephew of the undersigned. He is
twenty years of age. Wonzo was baptized at the
age of ten by the late Pastor Bakke and was con-
firmed in our mission by former Missionary Weeke
at the age of thirteen.

Wonzo has but one way to earn his money, and
that is by singing. He is a good singer. He has
talents for singing: He rejoices in singing plan-
tation songs and Lutheran Christian hymns, which
he has memorized by hearing the children recite
and sing at school.

He sings for any one who will give him a chance,

white or colored, and whenever he receives a gift
for his singing, the first thing he tells his mother is:
“Mama, give my church some of that money.” His

chief aim is to secure something for the support of
the church. No matter how much he has or earns,
he never thinks about doing anything with it but
give it to “my church.”

In my humble judgment, Wonzo, being blind
and weak-minded, puts a number of Christians who
possess all their senses, have strong minds, are hold-
ing good positions, good jobs, and are receiving fair
incomes, to shame when it comes to giving of one’s
earthly means to support the Cross. Christ has
need of our talent. He has need of our earthly
goods, whatever they are. Rosa J. Youne.

Items of Missionary Interest.
(By the Eprror.)

Colored Ministerial Candidates. — At Im-
manuel College three ministerial candidates are
graduating this year. At the recent plenary meet-
ing of the Board it was found that more men could
be used in the field; and for this reason it is
probable that our white seminaries will have to be
asked to come to the assistance of the Colored Mis-
sions with some men.

A Successor to Rev. C. F. Drewes. — The Board
has not yet chosen a successor to Pastor Drewes,
though a number of men have been thought of for
the office. We are sure that the Board would gladly
receive suggestions in this respect from those in-
terested in our Colored Missions.

Resignation of Dr. Theo. Graebner. — We are
grieved to hear that great pressure of work has com-
pelled Dr. Graebner, for many years a most valuable
member of the Board, to resign. We know that
Dr. Graebner is burdened with much work, but we
wish he could have seen his way clear to unload
some of his other duties and to retain his position
on the Board.‘ We hope to report the name of
a worthy successor to Dr. Graebner next month.

Piney Woods, Miss. — Pastor Geo. A. Schmidt
reports that he’ spends five days of every week at
Piney Woods. On four days he gives religious in-
struction to the students, teaching on those days
from 7 A.M. till 3 p.xt. The students are showing
great interest in the instruction of Pastor Schmidt.
The Sunday-school on Sunday morning has an
attendance of 275 students, while the Sunday eve-
ning services have an average attendance of 250
to 300. Sometimes the attendance has’ reached
even 400. Pastor Schmidt is of the opinion that
the interest of teachers and students in his work is
increasing. Hf oS PORES