The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1931, Page 154

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154

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

way human are interested in babies. We looked for
the newcomer, which was not so easy because the
house had no windows. Coming in from the glaring
Indian sun outside, we could see nothing for a few
minutes. Then the first object I noticed was a
woman sitting on the floor holding the tiny three-
day-old infant on her lap. Behind her in a corner
was the mother lying on a heap of straw and rags.
After talking to her for a few minutes and asking
about hers and the child’s welfare, we left the room
and sat down on the veranda floor. We noticed a hole
in the outside wall of the house; so we asked about
it by way of starting a conversation. They told us
that one night, when the master of the house was
sleeping on the veranda, he felt something crawl
over his chest. He soon discovered that it was
a cobra, a very venomous snake, which is considered

Street in Ambur.

holy and even worshiped as a god by some Hindus.
On that account it was allowed to enter the hole un-
disturbed, where it remained for several days. If the
thing had bitten somebody, nobody would have
dared to harm it. Poor, blind, superstitious people !
Here was a good opportunity to tell about the true

God, ete.
, Working Under Difficulties.

We had just time to go to one more house: How-
ever, we could not accomplish anything there be-
cause the man of the house became angry when we
started to talk to the women. The women became
frightened, and so we thought it best to go, hoping
to find more willing hearers next time.

The above account is a fair example of what we
encounter day after day. Sometimes we find willing
hearers, but just as often we speak to deaf ears. But
even though that happens at times, we should not
Jose courage; for some day we shall reap without
end. So much remains to be done yet.

A Wedding Among the Iravars.

One of our Lutheran teachers in our Alleppey
mission-school, Devidas by name, came to me re-
cently and informed me of his intention to marry
and at the same time requested me to preach a ser-
mon and perform the ceremony. Devidas is a young
man from Shertallay. He is one of the few converts
to our mission in that city. He comes from a real
Hindu family. His father and brother were only
recently baptized into our Chureh.

On his father’s property our mission has a small
pandal, a hut made of the leaves of the palm-tree,
where the members of his family are weekly in-
structed in the ways of the Lord. Besides one other
youth no one except strangers and stragglers come
to hear the Word of God proclaimed. In fact, the
entire neighborhood is very much opposed to our
teaching there, and that family has occasionally been
subjected to milder forms of persecution. Even
Devidas’s own mother is opposed to our Chureh.
When this man was teaching in our school, he would
regularly ask the missionary whether his mother was
coming to the services. One time he was told that
she had been present, whereupon he told us that he
had informed her he would not come again until she
should attend instruction. This young man himself
was baptized and confirmed by Rev. Zorn.

After Devidas had received further religious
training, it was thought he would make a good can-
didate for our Bible class in Trivandrum, and it was
decided to send him there to study to be a catechist.
Since Trivandrum was so far away from home, the
young man thought it best to get married before he
left for his training. Upon asking several questions
concerning his bride, I was told that he was marry-
ing a heathen girl, and in reply to my inquiry he
explained : “Love had begun before conversion.” He
further informed me that his bride-to-be was
a teacher in a government school, and though she
was a heathen, she was not opposed to Christianity ;
in fact, she desired to study to become a Christian.
Since her father was opposed to Christianity, she
could not study at home; but as she would be going
to Trivandrum, she would find many opportunities
there to hear and study the Word.

The wedding was to take place at Devidas’s
house at two o’clock in the afternoon. It was ten
minutes before the hour when we came upon the
procession, making its way toward his house, five
miles away. As usual, the groom was garlanded and
was accompanied by a group of friends who formed