THE LUTHERAN PIONEER Items of Missionary Interest. ( By the EDITOR.)
Buffalo, N. Y. - On November 29, 1931, the corner-stone was laid for our colored mission-chapel in Buffalo. Conditions are getting very crowded at the mission's present home, and they loudly cry for more room and bet ter accommodations. We hope to be able to bring an account o-f the dedication of the new chapel in one of our next numbers. Omaha, Nebr. - Our colored mission in Omaha has bad its :first service, and while it was not an extraordinarily well-attended service, - some of the promoters of the new mission even may have been disappointed that not more hearers were present, it is well to remember that the beginning is generally hard and that the greatest things in the world began quite small. The :first trouble the Omaha colored missionary endeavor had was in getting a suitable place to hold the services. After several vain attempts a vacant store was finally secured. Five colored and fifteen white persons attended the first service. Several colored people looked in, but did not stay. These will probably come back and · then possibly come in. Many of our missions have begun· in the same small way. The daily papers of Omaha kindly give our colored mission enterprise some very :fine •publicity, and this is bound to help the work greatly. We hope to ~ring further news from Omaha in the near future. Canvasses. -A number of our colored congregations have completed canvasses of the neighborhoods in which they are located; others are engaged in the important enterprise at this time; and still others are seriously contemplating such neighborhood canvasses. High Point has just completed such a canvass; St. Philip's, Chicago, put one on the :first Sunday of last month ; Buffalo will have its canvass as soon as the new chapel is completed; St. Louis looks back upon a successful canvass, and in Springfield the seminary students are hard at work. As the result of one recent canvass between 200 and 300 prospects were discovered. Washington, D. C. - Student William Schiebel of our Springfield Seminary is serving as supply in Washington, D. C. The nature of the work to be done in Washington among the colored people demanded a resident worker. God bless the young worker! Gleanings. from the Eastern Field. - Superintendent Gehrke reports quite a number of accessions on the Eastern Field. Atlanta is reaping the hen-
13
efit of a recent neighborhood canvass in an increased church attendance and a number of prospects. S t. Philip's, Ohicago, received eleven new adult members on the day of its fif th anniversary. Among the new members are t wo grandfathers. On t his day of rejoicing 102 partook of Holy Communion. The members at High Pofot recently made 250 visits in an attempt to increase their membership. The catechetical class is attended by seven pupils of the public schools. - On its recent annual :Mission Sunday, (},-ace-Lut her 11:lemorial at Greensboro, N . 0., gathered $134.50. The Baltimore mission last year at this t ime had only seven Sunday-school pupils ; to-day it has an enrolment of over forty. At Spartanburg a live parent-teachers' association is doing much to increase the interest of the members in their school, as it is encouraging the teachers to put forth their best efforts. - Born to the Rev. and Mrs. Fred Foard, November 14, 1931, a baby boy. A Successful Canvass. -Not long ago twelve pastors of a local conference canvassed a new suburb of about 3,500 population. They found more than :fifty Lutheran families there. A new mission has been opened as a result of the canvass. No doubt many more such promising mission-fields could be found. Let us do more canvassing I Such canvassing costs no money. We often hear people say that we spend too much money for missions. Let these people get busy canvassing neighborhoods like this. We are sure that, if they go out to canvass and find such :fine prospects for our missionary endeavors, they will no longer complain. of the cost of missions, but will gladly help to bring those whom they found in their canvass into the fold. Try it I Mission-Minded Lutherans. - The small congregations of the Nevada Circuit of the California and Nevada District, Missouri Synod, are given weekly broadcasts over a Reno station. This missionary and publicity ventur~ speaks well for the mission-mindedness of these brethren. God bestow His blessing upon the undertaking! Missions in Labor Camps. - Our brethren of the Ontario District, Missouri Synod, are making all possible efforts to give the young men in the Northern labor camps all the spiritual care they possibly can. The Canadian government is giving. employment to a specially large number of young men this winter in these camps, and the Home Mission Board of the District wants to do all it can to keep these laborers in contact with the Gospel
