The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 119

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

119

a ——————— OO ——————O—OETE_

a Lutheran church-paper published in Poland,
which shows how simple Christians may be mission-
aries in their surroundings.

A young man of a Lutheran congregation of
Lodz was conscripted by the Poles for military ser-
vice and was drafted into a small garrison town.
Here he felt it keenly that there was no opportunity
to attend Lutheran worship, for there was only a
Roman Catholic church in the place. The next
evangelical church was some four miles distant, and
in it only one or two services a year were held.
Otherwise the little church was closed. The entire
garrison, no matter what religion the individual
professed, was on Sundays marched to the Catholic
service. Our young friend had at home loved the
house of God, although the church in which he wor-
shiped was only a low-roofed building. It was hard
enough to spend the Sunday without worship, but
to be compelled to attend a worship conducted by

priests of the Pope was something his conscience .

would not permit him to do. THe therefore appealed
to the authorities to allow the Protestants of the
garrison to conduct their own worship on Sundays.
The request was granted. Commencing on New
Year’s Day, 1931, the Lutheran soldiers were no
longer compelled to go to the Catholie church, but
were allowed to have a service of their own. They
gladly made use of this concession. Our friend had
his fellow-Lutherans meet for services either in the
barracks or in the little church four miles out. They
joined in singing Lutheran chorales, and the Epistle
and Gospel-lessons for the day were read. In this
way as well as by prayer and the reading of such
devotional literature as was available they were
built up in the faith.

When our friend, the young man, had finished
his term of military training, he was able to obtain
permission for the continuance of the Protestant
worship, and one of his friends, who had been his
assistant, was willing to act as leader in his place.
Having arrived at home, he enlisted the sympathy
of his pastor, who, though not able to help in any
other way, wrote a sermonet for each Sunday, which
was duplicated on the typewriter and sent to the
various barracks for the use of such as were excused
from attendance at the Catholic worship.

The idea was in due time taken up by other gar-
isons, and in this way many now hear the glad
tidings of God’s grace in Christ Jesus to whom it
would otherwise not have been proclaimed. This
example shows us what may be accomplished when
young men or women are ardent workers for the
Church. — Australian Lutheran.

Chinese Street-Chapel Service.

We bring the following from a letter written by
Missionary KE. C. Zimmermann, Shasi, Hupeh,
China: —

“The street-chapel service is peculiar. Perhaps
you would be interested to read about it. Our chapel
is right on a narrow street. The doors are thrown
open. We also have a school there, and the teacher
stands at the door and invites the passers-by to come
in if they like. I play on the miniature organ, some-
thing on the order of the kind organ-grinders use in
America. The teacher’s inviting, the lights and the
‘music’ (to them merely noise — not much more,
I think) arouse their curiosity, and soon about a
hundred men, women, and children are seated, all
talking and making noise at once, a regular Juden-
schule. I quit playing and start sizing up my
audience. We try to keep men without anything on

Missionary’s Residence in Shasi.

over the waists out, but usually some sneak in any-
way. Women are not much better. Soon I get
them quiet, but how it is done only God, I think,
knows. Formerly our student found it well-nigh
impossible to make them be quiet.

“T open up the service by saying, ‘Our beginning
be made in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost.’ I give a short résumé of what has been
preached before and then continue with a catechism
sermon lasting about fifty minutes, if I can stand it.
All during this time more people come, and others
go out. The teacher tries to stop them from smok-
ing and also from talking, if possible, and fre-
quently it would be more quiet if he were more
quiet.

“The chapel is the first section of a five-section
house, and. the many families living in the rear
must all pass right through the pews. There are
always some coming and going. Soon I am getting
near the end of the catechism sermon, having made
an application about every seven minutes in order