The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Sheet 130

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

Kapiolani, and remain unmoved; if anybody call-
ing himself a Christian can read the marvelous story
of the Pitcairn Islanders or the account of the
almost incredible change the Gospel wrought in the
ferocious cannibals of the Fiji Islands ; — we say if
these and many other annals of the power of God
in the hearts and lives of men are dull reading to
any person, then there is but one thing for us to
do — pray for such a person. F. J.L.

Grateful for the Pure Gospel.

- The following letter, written to Rev. Th. Dauten-
hahn, Stewardson, Illinois, and sent in by him is
an encouragement for all pastors and missionaries.
Here is another living proof for the truth of Is. 55,
10, 11.

The mission near Mode, Illinois, was begun
May 3, 1931, and in May of this year 26 children
were baptized and a little later also six adults, and
more are being instructed. Services are held every
Sunday evening, with an average attendance of
over fifty. On May 3 a grateful mother wrote in
part as follows: —

Dear Pastor: —

It is just one year ago to-day that by the grace
of God and through your kind efforts the Sunday-
school was begun here, which brought us the most
joyous Sunday we have ever known. Never before
did we realize our sins and our duty to our children
as we now do after hearing your preaching and
especially after your sermon of two weeks ago
[sermon on Christian training of children]. I know
that God sent us to hear His Word and to know
the truth, just as we feel that He has sent you to
teach us. How I thanked God that you came out
and talked with [one of the children] and
that now my children were baptized together!
I hope and pray that they will serve their heavenly
Father as long as they live.

I always thought that death would be awful;
for I couldn’t see how we were to obey the com-
mandments and be saved (by our own good works),
as we had heard others preach. I felt we could not
do this, and now I realize it fully, since the mean-
ing of the commandments has been explained to us.
But now I know how we are saved and would not
be afraid of death. The words you quoted [from
Rom. 10, 17] when you first called on us a year ago:
“Waith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God,” has made me see how much we needed to

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127

attend church and hear the story [of salvation in
Christ], which never grows old. We enjoy the ser-
mons, and I am sure we would not want to be with-
out the Catechism. We have worked all our lives,
but now the time has come when we are determined
to find time for going to church and for reading and
studying the Word of God. I also read your article
in the Lutheran Witness with the heading: “Do
You Mean It?” and found the words of that hymn
in an old book; also that other good article: “Does
It Make Any Difference in Which Church We Wor-
ship?” and many other pieces. Those papers [Wit-
ness, PIONEER, The Good News, etc.] which you
give us are surely a blessing to any one who reads
them. They have some real sermons in them, of
which we read some over and over. And that little
tract Llernal Life and Where to Find It is a soul-
saver.

Now I firmly believe that our sins are forgiven
through Jesus Christ and through the words of ab-
solution spoken by the pastor in His name, and
I pray I may never lose faith in Christ. What we
needed long ago was to find the Church that
preaches and teaches the true Word of God, and
I am sorry we did not know it before this. Your
sermons have benefited the whole family and made
us all much happier, and we know that other fam-
ilies feel the same way about it. May we never
forget to thank God for all His blessings! If you
can spare a few of those tracts, I should like to
have some to send to several relatives. Please bring

a few when you come. Sincerely yours.
2

We omitted several touching parts because they
were more of a confidential nature. We changed
the language in places to improve the construction,
but have preserved the true sense and meaning of
the letter. And we thank God for this letter, which
was such a great encouragement for us.

If people who have heard the pure Gospel for
just one year are so appreciative of it, how should
many of our regular church-members be ashamed
of themselves for neglecting and despising the pre-
cious Word of God and going to church only occa-
sionally, but staying at home so many Sundays for
trivial reasons — and for no reasons at all!

Stewardson, Ill. TH. DAUTENHAHN.

“Ture church which is not a missionary church
is not in a healthy condition, if she is a church of
Christ at all.” PEASE,