The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 125

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

125

sighted enough to reach these far-distant, little-
known Papuans. The salvation, physical as well as
spiritual, of these out-of-the-way natives rests with
the Church; for Christians alone will go to the very
ends of the earth to discover, and minister to, those
in need. It is to us that the command comes as
we have opportunity to “do good unto all men, es-
pecially unto those who are of the household of
faith.” No merely material help can meet a case
like this. It would be a waste of money and a
waste of effort to attempt to set the savage man
upon his feet merely by educational methods. The
regeneration of his heart must precede the recon-
struction of his life. Only the power of the cruci-
fied and risen Christ working through the Holy
Spirit can accomplish this. When we deal with the
renewed man, “old things have passed away,” all
things become new, and the most difficult problem
is simplified. But these babes in Christ become the
care of the Church. C. W. A.

Triumphs Among Sumatra Cannibals.

A tour in the territory of the Rhenish (German)
Mission among the Battaks in the Salendang Valley
of Sumatra has made a profound impression upon
me, writes one who has visited it. The triumphs
of the grace of God among these people are mar-
velous. These Christian Battaks have been wholly
transformed and differ amazingly from their kins-
men. For one thing, they are clean. For another,
they are prosperous. They truly worship God and
try to adorn the religion of Christ.

We were cheered by the number of good
churches. After we reached this territory, there
was scarcely a time when we could not see three or
four churches from the road along which we were
traveling. Some of them were fine edifices, seating
from a thousand to fifteen hundred persons. They
‘were surmounted by tall, sharp-pointed spires, and
in the steeples of several churches we saw clocks.
There were signs of better times than are now en-
joyed, for the German missionaries were almost
compelled to close up during the war, when money
stopped coming from Germany.

Before the Gospel of Christ was brought to
them, these people spent so much of their time in
feuds and quarrels that they made little headway in
agriculture. Now that they have become Chris-
tians, they enjoy peace, have a well-ordered govern-
ment, and are making rapid progress in such civil
‘pursuits as farming and simple home industries.

They are a worshiping people; they go to
church. At one Sunday morning service we counted
one thousand people in the congregation. At that
hour the women who had children under ten years
of age were in another service held near by. The
form of the service was Lutheran and the language
Battak. First a song leader lined the words, two
lines at a time. Then the congregation followed,
the tune being played on an organ. After that the
teacher read the ritual. One of the pillars of the
church, an old man, barefooted, read a passage of
Scripture and made comments thereon for about
five minutes. Other songs were sung; then the of-
fering was taken, and every one present seemed to
give something.

The seating was peculiar. A number of elderly
men sat on the front seats in one section. Nine of
the female missionary helpers headed another sec-
tion. Back of the “elders” and the missionaries
came the Battak women. The younger men were
in the rear. Up in the galleries, which extend the
whole length of the church on both sides, were the
children over ten years of age under the care of
monitors, who circulated freely among them to keep
them quiet. It was the most orderly service with
an Asiatic congregation I have ever attended.

The preacher, a middle-aged man, trained in
their own school, came forth, mounted the high
pedestal reaching almost to the roof, and delivered
a sermon, which lasted about thirty minutes. He
held the attention of his audience and made a very
favorable impression upon us.

What I saw and heard in this large church was,
we were told, taking place at the same time in every
church throughout that region. The churches were
not all so large or so well arranged, but nearly all
the people were within reach of a house of worship,
and the fields were deserted and shops closed on the
Lord’s Day. It seems that all the people are Chris-
tians. I asked the caretaker of the rest-house where

‘we stayed whether he was a Christian, and he

seemed startled that I should ask him — what else
could he be in this community !

It was not always so in this region. Some ninety
years ago two young American missionaries, named
Munson and Lymann, who were working on the
west coast of Sumatra, heard of beautiful Lake
Toba and proposed to reach it afoot. They were
escorted through the territories of the ruling chiefs,
or rajas, by the rajas themselves until they came
near the lake. There they entered a territory where