The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 105

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

105

Stories from an Inner Mission Field.

Experiences Related by Workers in the New York
Metropolitan Area.

Harold.

Harold came to us, brought by friends, because
his mother no longer wanted to take care of him.
She had deserted him. Harold was an exceptionally
bright and attractive little heathen. We placed
him in one of our Christian boarding-homes.
Harold had never attended Sunday-school. When
our worker visited him, she told him that she would
bring him a Bible with his name on it for his
birthday. He immediately asked, “What is a
Bible?” The worker told him it was a book which
tells all about God. He then asked, “Is Jesus God?
I often hear children say they love Jesus and God.”

Harold now goes to Sunday-school and attends
church service every Sunday. He has his own
Bible, and every evening he says his prayers. He
now knows his Savior Jesus.

The Gospel Alone Can Help.

The missionary had just closed his short address
to the patients in the ward, a prayer had been
spoken, and another hymn sung. And now the
workers and he were going from bed to bed, dis-
tributing tracts and speaking to the patients pri-
vately. The missionary came to a sweet old lady
who has been patiently lying in bed for a long, long
time, afflicted with some incurable disease. To-day
she made a confession: “Pastor, I want to tell you
something I have wanted to tell you for a long
time. Every one is so kind to me and tries to
help me. The nurses, the doctors, and the other
patients do so much for me. But they cannot help
me, because I am beyond help. But you do help me.
You are the only one who does help me. The won-
derful message of the Savior who died for me means
everything in the world to me, and it is all I live
for. I just wanted you to know how much it means
to me to have you come out to sing and speak to us.”

A Prison Experience.

Your missionary was asked to visit a man in
prison who had been a Lutheran. His relatives in
the West had written us and appealed to us to try
to snatch a “brand from the burning.” He had not
attended church for many years, had gotten into
bad company, and ended in prison. The missionary
called repeatedly. The Lord worked on the man’s
heart through the words of the missionary and espe-
cially through the Testament which the missionary

had given him, so that he asked to be given the
Lord’s Supper.

It surely would have gladdened the hearts of
our people to have seen that scene, the administer-
ing of the Sacrament in the hospital ward of the
prison. <A screen was placed about the little space
occupied by the prisoner and the missionary. And
there, after making confession of his sins, another
lost sheep received the assurance of the forgive-
ness of his guilt and the comfort of our Lord’s
Sacrament.

Praying for Us.

The missionary had had a bad cold at the time
of his last visit. He was almost cured of it two
weeks later, when he again held service at this in-
stitution. Said one old lady to him, “TI see your
cold is almost gone. I knew it would be; I prayed
for you.”

“Come unto Me.”

Mrs. X. is hopelessly incurable. She has lock-
jaw, cannot move her back or arms, and her knees
are permanently bent. The only movement she has
been able to make for the past twelve years is to
raise her head. For ten years she has been in this
institution. Two years after she came, her husband
died. If you visit her and ask, she will tell you her
story; however, you will also hear, “But I am well
able to bear it all because I know my Savior, know
that He died for me, and know that He has pre-
pared a place for me, where I shall not suffer.”

Is It Worth While?

John, a little boy of eight years, came into our
keeping. His playground had been the street. He
heard the name of our Savior only from lips which
desecrated His name. One of our pastors took him
to his home over the Easter vacation to keep him
until a home could be found for him. He thought
to amuse him by playing a game with him. Almost
the first statement John made was, “I can shoot
‘craps’ fine; do you know how?” John is now in
a Christian home, attending a Lutheran Sunday-
school. — Is it worth while?

A Lutheran Friend Found.

Mrs. J. was confirmed in a Lutheran church in
St. Thomas, Bahama Islands. One of our workers
found her in an institution which we visit regularly.
Soon after the present missionary came, he spoke
to her. She very timidly asked whether she could
receive the Lord’s Supper “some time.” You could
see by the expression on her face that she longed
for “yes” as an answer, but dared not hope for such