The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 10

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10

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

are a few congregations of our missions in India
that have added this festival to their church
calendar. Not only the congregations that hold
mission-festivals are eager, ready, and happy to do
mission-work; there are some within all our Chris-
tian congregations who believe that they must “go”
with the Gospel. But, oh, how many at home and
in our India congregations are weak in faith and
lack the initiative to “go”!

Our Lutheran congregation at Vadakangulam,
South India, has about 200 members. The fathers
and mothers of the congregation were not always
Lutherans. The children and young people have
been taught in our own schools; for work was
started here fifteen years ago, in 1916. The con-

Missionary Clarence Rittmann
and Wife.

gregation is made up of teachers, masons, farmers,
coolies, cooks, and students of the high school living
in the boarding establishment.

The mission-festival has been an annual affair
with us here for a number of years. Usually a mis-
sionary from a near-by station has been invited to
preach on the occasion. This year again special
efforts were made to acquaint the members with
their opportunities and obligations.

This congregation has a splendid opportunity
to spread the Gospel in the surrounding villages by
sending men (its own teachers) and contributing
according to its means. Two sermons on “Steward-
ship” and one on “Personal Evangelism” were given
on the Sundays preceding the day of the festival,
September 18. The members were told how much
_ they had given during the past months and how
' much they would have to contribute in order to

exceed last year’s contributions. A program was
prepared and printed, with thought-provoking
questions added on the last page. The object was
to put a copy in the hands of all who could read.
Missionary G. C. Schroeder was invited to preach.
He showed on the basis of the great missionary
command who it is that commands us to go and
who is to go.

The morning service was well attended. The
collection amounted to twenty rupees (about $6 in
U.S. money). In the evening 40 slides on the life
of Paul were shown. Brief explanations were ren-
dered by the undersigned. Much to our surprise
and delight there were a great number of Hindu
students and villagers present. The collection,
though small, increased the amount for the day to
such an extent that it exceeded that of last year.

When one considers that the average Sunday
collection is about one-tenth of this mission-festival
collection, it seems that the members have laid aside
a great deal for the occasion. While there is much
cause for rejoicing in this fact, it is our hope, aim,
and prayer that our Indian brethren and sisters will
contribute more and regularly, each week, and bring
a special offering on the day of the mission-festival.

CLARENCE RITTMANN.

Vadakangulam, South India.

Lhasa, the Forbidden City.

Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, up to this century
had never been entered by a foreigner except by an
Englishman named Manning, who resided in the
city a few months over a century ago. But in 1904
a British expedition under Colonel Younghusband
entered Lhasa to insist by authority of his government
that proper treatment be accorded British and In-
dian travelers in Tibet. This journey of the British
envoy to “the Roof of the World” was a stirring and
bloody march, and what members of this expedition
saw after they reached the Forbidden City is of more
than passing interest to the mission-minded person.

The head of all things in Tibet, the person
around whom things and events in Tibet seem to
revolve, is the Dalai Lama, the Lama “whose power
is vast as the ocean”; for that is what his name
means. The Dalai Lama is supposed to be the re-
incarnation of the great and original Buddha. All
Tibetans venerate him as a god. But for all this,
his power is limited and is largely dependent upon
the good will of the lamas, or high priests, who sur-
round him. Just what this all means may be in-