10
THE LUTHERAN PIONEER
are a few congregations of our missions in India that haYe added this festival to their church calendar. Not only the congregations that hold mission-festivals are eager, ready, and happy to do mission-work ; there are some within all our Christian congregations who believe that they must "go" with the Gospel. But, oh, how many at home and in our India congregat ions are weak in fnith and lack the initiative to "go" ! Our Lutheran congregation at Vadakaugulam, South India, has about 200 members. The fathe1·s and mothers of t he congregation were not always Lutherans. The children and young people have been taught in our own schools; for work was started here fi[teen years ago, in 1916. The con-
exceed Inst year's contributions. A program was prepared and printed, with thought-provoking questions added on the Inst page. The object was to put a copy in the hands of all who could read. Missionary G. C. Schroeder was invited to preach. He showed on the basis of the great missionary command who it is that commands us to go and who is to go. 'rhe morning service was well attended. 'rhe collection amounted to twenty rupees (about $6 in U. S. money). In the evening ,10 slides on the life of Paul were shown. Brief expla11a.tions were rendered by the undersigned. Much to our surprise and delight there were a great number of Hindu students and villagers present. T he collection, though small, increased the amount for the day to such an extent that it exceeded that of last year. When one considers that the average Sunday collection is about one-tenth of this mission-festival collection, it seems that the members have laid aside a great deal for the occasion. While there is much cause for rejoicing in this fact, it is our hope, aim, and prayer that our Indian brethren and sisters will contribute more and r egularly, each week, and bring a special offering on the day of the mission-festival. CL~\REYOE RrrTl\C~lNN. Vadakangulam, South India.
Lhasa, the Forbidden City.
Missionary Clarence Rittmann and Wife.
gregation is made up of teachers, masons, farmers, coolies, cooks, and students of the high school living in the boarding establishment. The mission-festival has been an annual affair with us here for a number of years. Usually a missionary from a near-by station bas been invited to preach on the occasion. This year again special efforts were made to acquaint the members with their opportunities and obligations. This congregation has a splendid opportunity to spread the Gospel in the surrounding villages by sending men (its own teachers) and contributing according to its means. Two sermons on "Stewardship" and one on "Personal E,•angelism" were 'given on the Sundays preceding the day of the festival, September 13. The members were told bow much they had given during the past months and bow much they would have to contribute in order to
Lhasa, the . capital of Tibet, up to t his century had never been entered by a foreigner except by an Englisl1man named Manning, who ·resided in the city a few months over a century ago. But in 1904 a British expedition under Colonel Younghusband entered Lhasa to insist by authority of his government that proper treatment be accorded British and Indian travelers in Tibet. This journey of the British envoy to "the Roof of the World" was a s.tirring and bloody march, and what members of this exp,edition saw after they reached the Forbidden City is of more than passing interest to the mission-minded person. The head of all things in Tibet, the person around whom things and events in Tibet seem to revolve, is the Dalai Lama, the Lama "whose power is vast as the ocean"; for that is what his name means. The Dalai Lama is supposed to be the reincarnation of the great and original Buddha·. All Tibetans venerate him as a god. But for all this, his power is limited and is largely dependent upon the good will of the lamas, or high priests, who surround him. Just what this all means may be in-
