The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 126

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126

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

tutions of Adelaide. Pastor A. Zweck’s services at
the mental hospital at Parkside are attended by an
average of forty-five persons. In the other mental
hospital, situated at Northfield, he has not yet made
arrangements for services, but is being urged to do
so by patients whom he visits there. In the Old
Folks’ Home his services are attended on an average
by thirty-one persons. Missionary Zweck also makes
regular visits in the various hospitals of the metro-
politan area and in most of them meets with en-
couraging success.

Missionary Depression. — For some time past
we have been experiencing a keen economic de-
pression. There is danger that we may use this
situation as an excuse for spiritual laziness. Let
us not hold anybody but ourselves responsible for
the religious and missionary depression in the
Church to-day. We have no right to expect God to
do the work He has given us to do. He has said:
“Ye shall be My witnesses.”

A Crisis in Tahiti. — Tahiti is a French colony
with about 7,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom,
due to the labors of French Protestant missionaries,
were converted to Christianity. Under the influence
of the present world crisis a movement has been got
_ under. way among these people to return to the
primitive way of living and abandon Christianity.

Moravian Missionary Martyrs. — During the
two hundred years of Moravian missionary activity
forty-six missionaries and four children of mission-
aries met violent death for Christ’s sake.

Persecution of Congo Christians by Christians.
Roman Catholic priests and workers have been
guilty of serious persecution of Protestant Chris-
tians in the Congo regions of Africa. While there
are still large opportunities offered them in un-
touched pagan fields, Catholics seem to prefer to
persecute their fellow-Christians. Priests are in-
timidating chiefs, cruelly beating Protestant church-
members, and kidnaping women and children in
the Belgian Congo. Appeals have been addressed
to the government for protection by Protestant mis-
sionaries and their members.

Those Who Do Not Read the Missionary
Monthly.

We know of some people that are not on our
subscription lists. Of some of these we made in-
-quiry why they did not keep either the Missions-
-taube (our German missionary monthly) or the

LuTHERAN PIONEER.
stance of their replies.

One said: “I save the money that I may give
it direct to the cause of missions.” Never did a
person make a greater mistake. Were this person
to read one of our missionary papers, her useful-
ness might be so increased that she would be able
to do much more than the money can do when used
alone. God could use one sentence in one issue of
the missionary monthly so as to bring conviction to
that Christian’s heart that she would see her way
clear to give many times the amount of the sub-
scription before the year is over.

Another said: “I take one of the regular church-
papers and get all the missionary news I need
there.” True, our synodical organs are quite lib-
eral in giving space to missionary news; but, after
all, can their overcrowded columns bring enough
missionary news to satisfy the Christian who is
really deeply interested in the progress of God’s
kingdom? Would the wide-awake physician be
satisfied without his medical journal? Would the
live teacher feel content without his school journal?
Would the earnest pastor be happy without his
theological monthly? Does not the business man,
be he a grocer, druggist, shoe dealer, or clothing
merchant, feel the need of a journal that specializes
in his particular branch of business? How, then,
can the really mission-minded Christian expect to
find enough on missions in the crowded pages of
the synodical organs?

Still another told us that he did not believe in
missions. We all know him, for we have all met
him again and again. If he is really honest, the
best cure for him would be if some one of us would
subscribe for a missionary monthly for him and
then exact a promise from him to read it, verify
its statements, and compare the results of the mis-
sion enterprise with any other benevolent enterprise.
To any honest investigator mission-work will prove
that Christian missions have the best possible justi-
fication for being.

We here give you the sub-

Finally, here is one other answer we received:
“I can’t read a missionary monthly because, you
know, it is so very dull.” This answer came from
the lips of a bright young woman. What did we
tell her in reply? Why, nothing. We simply have
no reply for a member of the Church who finds the
thrilling stories of missionary history dull and
dreary. If a person finds the story of Schwartz
and Livingstone dull; if a man can read the story
of Afrikaner and Kayarnak, or Ranavalona and