The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 36

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36

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

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found. New courage filled our people. Soon the
room in Brother Batiste’s house became taxed to the
utmost. Applications to enter the instruction classes
were received. Everywhere far and near the talk
was, “Hickory Hill will soon have a Lutheran
church.” For certain reasons the plot has not yet
been purchased, but we are praying that the lot may
soon be ours.

Our little mission at Hickory Hill has a mem-
bership of thirty-two. Recently Felix Boyer, Newall
Pickett, Sr., and Newall Pickett, Jr., were received
by confirmation ; the latter was also baptized. Sadie
and Ardel Pickett were baptized. Another adult
class of catechumens is being formed. Services are
held there every first and second Sunday of the
month at 3 P.M.

May the Lord graciously hear the prayers of
these people and give them a church where they can
hear God’s Word in its purity and a school where
their children will be instructed in God’s Word and
Luther’s doctrine pure!

2. Our Mission at Baton Rouge.

_Much ardent labor has been done and many
earnest prayers have been offered for a number of
years for the establishment of a permanent colored
Lutheran church in*Baton Rouge, the capital of the
State. At last our hopes have been realized, and our
prayers have been heard; for on the second Sunday
of last December four adults, after having been
thoroughly instructed in the Lutheran doctrine,
were baptized in the Lutheran faith and received
into full membership. Before this time only a few
children had been received into membership, and it
was not considered advisable to celebrate the Lord’s
Supper in the place we were then using. The acces-
sion of Mannie Thomas, John McKee, Henry Alex-
, ander, and Ada Williams and a change in the place
of worship made it possible to celebrate the Lord’s
Supper for the first time by our Colored Lutheran
mission in Baton Rouge. The gaining of these four
' adults makes the future of our work among the col-

ored of Baton Rouge quite promising. The founda-
tion of a colored Lutheran Zion was laid by the
Holy Spirit, the heavenly Builder, when these con-
verts renounced sin, the devil, and all his pomp, sol-
emnly confessed their faith in the Triune God, and
promised to remain faithful to the teaching and
practise of the Lutheran Church until death.

That the Holy Spirit has not only laid the foun-
dation, but will continue to build His Church at
Baton Rouge is evident from the fact that other

_ classes of adults are being prepared for admission

into the membership of the church in the near
future. =

In spite of the many obstacles and difficulties en-
countered, our mission is growing encouragingly.
At present our membership numbers sixteen souls.
Our services are held at 4 P. M. every second and
third Sunday of the month in the spacious audi-
torium of the Colored City High School. The at-
tendances average from thirty to thirty-five hearers.
A greater publicity is given our mission in Baton
Rouge now that we are worshiping in better quar-
ters. Mr. Moran Laconta, a faithful member of our
little mission and a former member of our Lutheran
congregation of Napoleonville, works with unabated
zeal for his church. To his love for his Savior and
his fellow-men, upon whose salvation he is eagerly
intent, it is largely due that we have confirmed
our first adult class. He is busy getting others to
form other classes. A second class will soon be re-
ceived into membership.

But our mission at Baton Rouge has not only a
communicant membership, but now also has a name.
After some deliberation it was named Calvary Lu-
theran Church. God bless Calvary Lutheran Mis-
sion at Baton Rouge and make it grow in numbers,
but also, and especially, in grace and in the knowl-
edge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Alabama Briefs.

Team-Work Counts.

A few days ago the undersigned, in passing by,
stopped in at our Maplesville building in search of
a member of that congregation. He was directed to
a wooded hill from which came the sound of men’s
voices and axes. Scrambling through brush and
jumping a creek, he came upon five or six members
busily at work for the second day making pine
shingles. The roof of their rough-board one-room
“chapel” and “school” cabin has been s0 little pro-
tection from the elements, that, when it was raining,
to be outside was very nearly better than being in-
side. So these men gained permission from the
owner to fell a pine for shingles. A few days later
these were laid by the same brethren. Team-work
did it! This is the right spirit and carries the
Lord’s blessing with it.

Harvest-Home-Festival Collection.
The harvest-home festivals are an annual

feature of our work. Special services are held at
all stations. Sermons setting forth the praises of,

ra