The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 75

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

DN

men and other people have been so besieged by
these beggars that they finally turn a deaf ear to
them. That means that many persons must starve
to death; in the city of Shasi dozens daily die of
starvation.

Though there has been untold suffering among
these poor people, yet there have also been blessings.
Last December we had freezing weather only once.
After that the thermometer hovered between 43 and
46 degrees for weeks, with a south wind blowing
almost constantly. Not only did the poor and
famine-stricken people appreciate this, since they
did not need many clothes and did not have to buy
much coal, but we, too, appreciated and enjoyed it.
During January we worked in the garden in our
shirt-sleeves, preparing the soil for spring planting.
You cannot do that in January around St. Louis.

However, on Chinese New Year, which started
on February 6, the weather changed. It got cold;
a strong north wind was blowing, making it feel
much colder than it really was; for the ther-
mometer did not fall below 30 degrees. This strong
north gale brought with it several inches of snow,
which made everything look beautiful. But this
cold wind and snow also brought untold suffering.
On the 7th of February, on our way to and from
the chapel, we saw a man frozen to death. He had
been sleeping in some corner, perhaps became too
cold to care to move, and simply died right there.
Others told me of similar cases that morning, four
in all. It would not be overstating it to say that
perhaps fifty to a hundred persons froze to death
here that night, with the thermometer only several
degrees below the freezing point. Our American
friends must remember that the weather with the
thermometer at 25 degrees feels as cold in China as
8 degrees above zero in America. To-day, the 9th,
the sun shone again, and it is an Oriental sun, for
the snow simply vanished at once. We hope for
warm weather for the sake of these poor sufferers.

No doubt we have said enough about gruesome
conditions in our city, but it cannot be avoided.
One is simply surrounded by them and cannot help
but speak of them. Corpses are so numerous now
at Hankow that they cannot all be buried. News-
papers complain about permitting dogs to tear the
corpses to pieces before they are buried. The
corpses are piled up, waiting for men to carry them
away to a place of burial. At the Black Hill Rescue
Camp, where our Church has been doing some good
work by teaching the Word of God to some 1,600
children, large trenches were dug and dozens were

‘

put into one grave, men into one trench and women
into another. Terrible!

Our work in Shasi is going forward slowly, but
steadily. On February 29 our schools will reopen,
this time also with an upper primary department
in Zion School and in Eternal Life School. This
means that we have been teaching four grades thus
far; but from now on we shall also have the fifth
grade and next year the sixth grade, as you in
America may call it. Last year we had, all told,
about 130 pupils enrolled, and this year we shall
have quite a few more, no doubt. The thing that
is stressed, of course, as in all Christian day-schools,
is one hour of religious instruction a day. The
Chinese government wants us to have schools, but
is opposed to our teaching religion. In the whole
city of Shasi the government conducts only one
school. There are many other schools, taught by
any one who feels himself called upon to do so.
Our school and the government school use modern
methods, somewhat like those used in America. But
in the other schools the teacher merely teaches the
old Chinese classics, which the pupil memorizes.
Any person of any learning whatever is able to
repeat these old books from cover to cover. Would
that our pupils knew their Bible thus!

During the month of December we were all
saddened by the fact that Brother Diers had to take
his wife to Hankow (280 miles, two to seven days’
travel by river), as we thought, for an operation.
But we were gladdened by the news that she did
not need to undergo the operation. Both have re-
turned to Shasi and are vigorously pursuing their
study of the country’s vernacular. During the past
week we have given Brother Diers his first test,
which is for the first half-year’s course, and he
passed with flying colors. He recognizes about 500
characters and out of 225 characters missed only
two. We regard his progress in the language as
nothing short of marvelous. May God bless both
him and his wife to the end that they may soon
know, and be able to use, this most difficult lan-
guage for the propagation of the Word! Mrs. Diers
is also doing very well with the language, though
her sickness threw her back.

And now this letter must come to a close. It has
been written expressly for the friends of both mis-
sionaries stationed at Shasi. _

With greetings to. you all and with a wish
that God may bless you in your work and prosper

your calling, Yours sincerely,

E. C. ZIMMERMANN.