The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 138

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138

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

Work in the Adirondacks.

Nestling in the very heart of the Adirondack
Mountains of New York State is the village of
Saranac Lake, “the Little City in the Adirondacks,”
with a population of over 8,000 and situated at an
altitude of 1,610 feet. Not only is Saranac a center
for tourists in the summer season and the Mecca for
winter sports, but it is preeminently a health resort.
It is here that thousands come from far and near
to combat the ravages of the “great white plague.”
In and around the village are several large sanatoria
and some 135 private institutions. It is estimated
that there are between 3,500 and 4,000 sick-beds in
Saranac alone. These figures show its attraction
as a health resort.

Some twenty-five miles south of Saranac, at
Sunmount, N. Y., is a Veterans’ Hospital with
875 tuberculosis patients, 80 attendants, 40 nurses
and a personnel of 14 resident doctors. Here the
United States Government has an investment of
$5,500,000.

During the past six years the writer has been
making regular trips to Saranac Lake and the
Veterans’ Hospital in order to bring comfort and
strength to our sick Lutherans and the sweet mes-
sage of the Lutheran Church to others who have
never heard it. These trips were made because this
entire region is without a Lutheran church. Our
nearest church is 150 miles away.

Last spring the Board of Directors of the Atlan-
tic District extended a call to the Rev. Otto Sieker
of Bronxville, N. Y., to minister to the sick in the
Adirondacks, and this call has been accepted. The
Rey. Sieker will begin his work in September. The
work will start as an institutional mission, and it
is hoped that in time a church will be established in
Saranac Lake. In the mean time there are two or
three beautiful chapels connected with the sana-
toria, just waiting for some one who will proclaim
the Word of God on Sunday mornings.

And incidentally, on a trip up north a yisit
was made to another Adirondack village to look
up one of our Lutherans from the West. He was
found to be the superintendent of a Sunday-school
which has fifty-four pupils. The church, a com-
munity church, is the only Protestant church in
town and is served twice a month by a Methodist
student. We are convinced that the Sunday-school

section is pretty well Lutheran and that there is
_ @ possibility that the “adult department” will be-

come Lutheran when our missionary is located
near by.

Again our Church extends her borders. This
time she is called upon to bring her healing min-
istry of cheer and comfort to the afflicted. The
Atlantic District has made a special plea to the
church organizations for contributions “for the
work in the Adirondacks.” Our people will answer .
that plea; for there is no other place where the
message of the Lutheran Church is more needed.
L. Henze.

Items of Missionary Interest.
(By the Eprror.)

Home Missions in the Central District. — The
Central District is the only one of the four original
Districts into which the Missouri Synod was di-
vided not many years after its organization which
has remained intact. Its territory is therefore quite
old. And yet there is much Home Mission -work
still to be done within its bounds. For a number of
years this important work was not carried on with
that zeal which conditions demanded; but in recent
years great activity has been shown. Especially
under the direction of its efficient Superintendent
of Home Missions, Pastor W. C. Birkner, has the
Central District made fine progress in its Home
Mission work. During the past year one mission-
station has become self-supporting; twenty-three-
stations are receiving less subsidy than before, the
reduction amounting to more than $5,000 per
annum; and four ‘stations, previously served by
students, have been given permanent pastors. The
District is supporting no less than fifty-six Home
Mission projects within its territory at a total cost
of more than $50,000. One missionary preaches
regularly to 1,200 inmates of the Ohio State Home
for Feeble-minded at Columbus, where he also in-
structs five classes (500 persons) ; two missionaries
in Cincinnati made 642 trips to institutions last
year, conducted 236 services, delivered 513 ad-
dresses, made 4,339 bedside visits, and preached to
14,279 hearers.

A New Jewish Mission. — Pastor Isadore
Schwartz, who made a survey of the Jewish situa-
tion in Chicago, has now been regularly called as
missionary among the Jews in that city. Pastor
Schwartz will have a very difficult field, as experi-
ence has proved. We hope that our Christians in
Chicago will encourage the missionary in his work
and that God will abundantly bless his labors.