The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 94

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94

tension Board. We hope we shall be able to con-
tinue to be self-supporting, thus relieving the mis-
sion treasury, and to do unto others as has been
done unto us.”

Missionary Enterprise. — Pastor Dautenhahn

of Stewardson, Ill., found a rural community about
eight miles from the village with an abandoned
church. He visited the farmers of the neighbor-
hood and found them eager to send their children
to a Sunday-school if one would be opened. On
May 3 a beginning was made with twenty-three
children. Needless to say, this fine beginning en-
couraged Pastor Dautenhahn and his volunteer
teachers. He intends to arrange for biweekly ser-
vices also. Here we see again that also our rural
communities present fine missionary opportuni-
ties. — Let us not forget to mention that Pastor
Dautenhahn’s Sunday-school pupils receive the
LuTHERAN PIONEER. The copies are paid for by
the Sunday-school.
, A Mission-District.— The California and Ne-
vada District has fifty pastors, and thirty of these
are engaged in mission-work. The District has
many cities and country districts which challenge
the Church to enter them with the pure Gospel.
The Director of Missions writes that the Lutheran
Hour is an excellent assistant for the pastors and
missionaries of the District, providing contacts for
the workers everywhere. The entire District has
become highly mission-conscious, mission-minded,
and mission-active. The Director of Missions at-
tributes this to the Mission Board, the Lutheran
Hour, and the Home Mission Expansion Movement
among us.

A Successful Institutional Mission. — During
the past three years Pastor Wachholz of Los Angeles
has visited the County Farm. In this period he
has been privileged to gather 249 old people into
the kingdom of God. Of this number 148 had once
upon a time in their lives been communicant mem-
bers of our Church, while eighty-four were con-
firmed and seventeen were baptized. One of the
regained Lutherans was over ninety-three years old
_ at the time of his death, one of the catechumens was
eighty-one years old when he entered the cate-
chumen class, and one of the candidates for Bap-
tism was within two months of the age of ninety
when he was baptized.

The Western Frontier. — Beyond Cheyenne,
“Wyo., for a distance of five hundred miles, not a
single Imtheran church is to be found in that
‘State! The next Western Lutheran congregation
ij beyond ‘Cheyenne is in‘Salt Lake City, Utah. Of

buts

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

course, the country is sparsely settled, but there are
Lutheran families to be found in a number of
growing cities in this wide area, and efforts should
be made to take possession of the field, so that
Cheyenne no. longer may remain our Western
outpost.

The Lutheran Hour. — The National Broad-
casting System gives nine half-hours every week to
antichristian preaching free of all charges. In
1930, 38,000 letters were received by these preachers
or the stations from which they sent their messages
relative to their broadcasts. The promoters of the
Lutheran Hour have received more communications
than this within the past half-year.

Results of a Canvass. — When the students
and Walther Leaguers of Winfield, Kans., recently
canvassed about one-half of Arkansas City under
the leadership of the local pastor, Rev. Paul Mehl,
they found no less than 250 unchurched families,
and among these five that laid claim to being
Lutheran. About 125 were not at home or declined
to give any information. Such canvasses should
be made in most of our towns and cities.

A Flourishing Deaf-Mute Mission. — At Dela-
van, Wis.,:the State conducts a school for the deaf.
The school has an enrolment of 180 children. Half
of these children have voluntarily placed themselves
under the-spiritual care of our Pastor F. C. Gade
and are regularly attending the services and Sun-
day-school conducted by him. Thirty of these
children are from our own congregations. Twenty
children are attending instruction preparatory to
confirmation. Recently our hearing congregation
at Delavan built a new church and, while doing this,
provided also for the needs of these deaf children
as well as for such other deaf-mutes in and about
the town as wish to attend our services.

Pastoral Letters. — We had the pleasure of
reading a number of letters sent to congregations
by the superintendent of a certain mission-field after
he had visited the congregations. We could not
but feel highly pleased with the pastoral spirit of
these letters and the kind tone of language in which
they were couched. Such letters cannot but be of
benefit to pastors and their flocks. —We wonder
whether it would not be a fine thing for the official
visitors throughout Synod to do such letter-writing
after their visits. 5:

‘South America.— Henry Ford bought a large
tract of land in South America for rubber-planting.
On this land are many Indians. It is proposed to
begin missionary work among these Indians.