The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 79

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

79

Parish-Schools as Missionary Agencies. — Of
the 7,500 pupils enrolled in the hundred Christian
day-schools of the Michigan District (Missouri
Synod), 400 are non-Lutheran children. Mr. Roth,
the superintendent of schools for the District, calls
attention to the value of the schools as missionary
agencies and makes a strong appeal to so use them.
He asks the pertinent question, “Would not at least
fifty of our schools have room for a half-dozen more
children each?” And then he continues to tell of
a boy in one of our schools in Detroit who was in-
strumental in gaining eight new pupils for his
school. He adds: “For the sake of the school? No,
for the sake of those eight souls. The right word
at the right time, spoken by children, parents, or
teachers, may be of far-reaching consequence.”

Fruit of Home Mission Efforts. — Referring to
the very gratifying growth of the congregation at
London, Ontario, Can., President I’. Malinsky of
the Ontario District (Missouri Synod) writes in the
current Bulletin of the District: “When we think

of our congregation at London, we cannot suppress”

a feeling of joy and of satisfaction. Truly, the good
Lord has blessed the missionary efforts of our Ontario
District in London. Ten years ago we had a mission
there which consisted of 36 souls and 17 confirmed
members. Services were conducted in a rented
chapel in one corner of the city. To-day we have
a lovely, well-equipped little church on one of the
main streets of London and one of the main arteries
of Western Ontario. The congregation that wor-
ships there Sunday for Sunday almost fills the
church, and the life and the interest displayed here
in every way fills our heart with deepest gratitude
to our dear Lord in heaven. The very way the
church is kept in winter and summer, the way it is
furnished in the vestibule, in the auditorium, and
in the basement and Sunday-school room speaks of
love and devotion and deep interest. Every time
we get there we find some outstanding improve-
ment. The way the congregation takes care of its
pastor, lending him a helping hand in sickness and
encouraging him in health, is truly exemplary. And
do not let any one tell you that the congregation
does not meet its obligation to the Synod that
helped it to come into existence and to have a church
to worship in. London’s apportionment for the
budget is in proportion to that of other congrega-
tions. It is cheerfully and-fully met from year to
year. Its obligations to the Church Extension Fund
of the District are promptly discharged from year
to year.

“Foreign Missions” to Lutherans. — A certain
church-body of our country a decade ago made a
special effort to raise $7,000,000 to carry the Gospel
to the “benighted” Lutherans of Europe. Other
bodies, among them Methodists, Presbyterians, Bap-
tists, and others, did something similar. Some of
these possibly have since come to their senses, so
that they are beginning to realize how “nastily”
they have acted, for they are beginning to withdraw
their “missionary” forces. Probably their with-
drawal from this “foreign mission” field is due more
to the present economic depression and the resultant
falling off in receipts than to a real change of heart.

A Centennial.— On March 6, 1831, was born
a child that was to grow up a source of blessing to
many thousands — Frederick von Bodelschwingh,
a member of the Prussian nobility and the son of
a Prussian Minister of Finance. As child he often
played with Crown Prince Frederick, later Em-
peror Frederick III. After completing his studies,
he was pastor in Paris for several years and then in
Delling, Westphalia. In more than one respect
Bodelschwingh was probably the most remarkable
of recent Inner Mission leaders. It was in 1872
that he became the head of a small institution of
epileptics at Bielefeld, Westphalia, which in the-
course of years, under his wise guidance, developed
into a vast “colony of mercy.” The people that find
a home at Bethel number thousands — epilepties,
feeble-minded, idiots. All are grouped into families
occupying separate buildings, and all who can do
something are set to work, for occupation adapted
to the capacity of the afflicted ones is found to be the
best tonic. In fact, almost all the work of the colony
is done by those who constitute it. The trained
workers required are furnished by Nazareth, where
male nurses are trained, and by Sarepta, the train-
ing school for deaconesses. A church with a seating
capacity of 1,500 is a part of the wonderful colony.
Bodelschwingh died in 1910. He was a man of
deep piety, childlike faith, and most tender love,
combined with surprising resourcefulness and a
wonderful ability to organize and lead.

BOOK TABLE.

Proceedings of Fifteenth Convention of Central Illi-
nois District. ;

This report is published as an issue of the Central Illi-
nois District Bulletin. It brings a German paper by Prof.
F. Wenger on Article XVIII of the Augsburg Confession,
“Of Free Will,” and a paper by Pastor Titus Lang, “What
Should a Christian Congregation‘ Consider in Calling a Pas-
tor or Teacher?” Forge ed = :