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Items of i\:Iissionary Interest
another town, where a paternal uncle lived. This paternal uncle was about to make war on Zamelcga, but was dissuaded from doing th.is hy his nephew, who probably took a simpler cour e and stole the canoe, which was the cause of the palaver. The case was still pending when we left Gaboon."
Items of Missionary Interest.
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(By the Eo1Ton.)
Buffalo, N. Y. - The Lutheran Cliurch of Our Savior, our colored church in Buffalo, is now under construction ancl rapidly ncal'il1g completion. The new buHcling is to cost about $16,000 and will be of brick-veneer construction. It will have a seating capacity of approximately 150 persons.
Cincinnati. - Our missionary among the colored of this city is preparing eight adults for confirmatio11. He w1·ites that four of these he found as patients in the hospital, two were gained as the result of a funeral service, and two were brought to his class through the personal efforts of members. Two o.f these candidates were Masons, one even a thirty- econd-degrce Mason.
Piney Woods, Miss. - The Rev. H. Nitz has been called to Piney Woods as the successor of Pastor George A. Schmidt.
Rockwell, N. C. - Pastor Foard has had his Wl'ist fractured recently. Several weeks prior to this painful accident a baby boy was born to Rev. and Mrs. Foard.
Indian Mission at Red Springs, Wis. - President H. Daib writes in a recent number of the Messenger, the North Wisconsin District's paper: "While traveling from one laymen's meeting to another, my time permitted me to visit our Indian ~ission in Red Springs. On October 20, 1931,
Indian Ladies' Society, Red Springs, Wis.
I drove wiih Pastor Boettcher to Keshena to visit his catechetical class. About forty children assemble there of their own accord every Tuesday for religious instruction. On the following day I visited our
Indian Mission station, particularly the three-room parochial school, which is attended by 130 children.
How fortunate are our Indian children, in spite of material disadvantages, that they are instructed in the Word of God, which makes them wise unto salvation I - During the past summer our Indian congregation built an altar niche into its church, thus increasing the seating capacity to 160. Before this the church had been too small. - In September
Pastor Boettcher confirmed five adults, one of whom was also baptized." · Work Among Indians. - At Lovelock, Nev., there is an Indian reservation, and our State missionary for Nevada, Pastor H. L. Maahs of Reno,
Nev., works among the Indians of this reservation.
Just recently we read this report of his success : "Thirty-two Pahute children have been baptized in the com·sc of this year [1931]. Our Sunday-school enrolment includes twenty-two children and several adults, who all take a very active interest in the - school, where they, too, learn of the Gift of gifts and joyously sing songs of praise unto their Lord and Savior."
United States Military Academy.-By request of the Atlantic District of the Missouri Synod,
Pastor Karl Schleede, who served as army chaplain during the World War, makes regular visits to our
National Military Academy at West Point, N. Y. we· were greatly surprised to hear that there are no fewer than forty-eight Lutheran young men attending this officers' school. The Atlantic District is
doing a fine and noble thing in trying to establish, and keep up, a religious contact with these young men and should be encouraged in its endeavors. Pastors having boys from their congregations attending the academy would greatly help Pastor Schleede by informing him, of these cadets. Write to Rev. Karl Schleede, 11 Furman St., Schenectady, N. Y.
A Promising Missionary Agency. - St. Paul's, Austin-Chicago, has a :flourishing parish-school. But besides this it has opened a vacation Bible-school. The enrolment of this school has risen from twentyone in 1929 to 135 in 1931. The curriculum of the school inclu,4ed one and a half hours of daily religious. instruction. Of the 135 children enrolledlast summer a hundred were non-Lutheran and many of them were not connected with any church. Six of these summer-school pupils have enrolled in the parish-school, and more are expected to enroll. Quite a large number attend St. Paul's Sunday-school.. Here is also an example of missionary enterprise worthy of emulation.
Inner Mission Work. -The Lutheran Institutional Missions of Buffalo, N. Y., before Christmas had a depository for clothing gathered by the Walther League societies and local congregations and from there distributed wearing apparel to about 2,500 needy persons.
Serving the Deaf. - Pastor Theodore Walz of Cincinnati is doing this in a unique way. Through a retired minister, who is a member of his congregation, he became acquainted with two deaf daughters of the retired pastor. Through them be came in contact with other deaf-mutes. This led Pastor Walz to think of the spiritual need of these people. Next he aroused the· interest of his congregation in that need. The outcome is that a certain part of the Rev. Theo. W alz's church has been reserved for the use of attending deaf-mutes and an expert interpreter translates the sermon to them into the sign-language. Pastor Walz has here pointed out a way in which many of our congregations in larger cities can bring the everlasting Gospel to those who cannot hear or speak. Who will emulate the example of Pastor Walz ? "The Call of the Ages." - Under the supervision of Dr. Theo. Graebner of our Theological Seminary at St. Louis and the Rev. L. Meyer, our Publicity Director, a six-reel motion-picture setting forth the activities of the Missouri Synod has been put out. Ten sets of reels and ten projectors are available for the congregations of Synod. Standardgage :film has been used. In putting out this :film, the Missouri Synod is the :first to give a motionpicture view of the entire work of a larger churchbody. "The Call of the Ages" cannot but increase the interest of the ''Missourians" in the work of their Synod and awaken, as a natural result, the desire to assist in carrying on this good work. Those responsible for putting out this picture deserve the gratitude of their entire church-body.
Anniversaries. - Two of the PIONEER'S esteemed contemporaries are celebrating anniversaries, the Luthera1i Witness and Svedok. The former looks back upon :fifty years of faithful work in the service of the Lord, while Svedok (Witness) has just celebrated its quarter centennial. The Lutheran Witness is the English official organ of the Missouri Synod; Svedok is the official organ of our Slovak brethren in this country. God grant both periodicals many years of successful labor in the service of the truth ! ·
Bequests for Missions. - A wealthy Lutheran who recently died in York, ;pa., in his last will bequeathed $4,000 to Home and Foreign Missions. In doing this, he set an example which others might well follow. We know of no other monument that could be erected in memory of a departed Christian that would be more lasting. He that makes such ·a bequest continues to live and bless though he be dead.
Foreign Mission Contributions in 1929.-These were about a quarter million dollars more in 1929 than in 1928. In the United States the Foreign Mission contributions for 1929 exceeded those of the preceding year by more than a million dollars. In continental Europe the contributions were less, though Germany and a number of other countries increased their contributions. We give the Protestant For~ign Mission contributions of a few of the countries: United States and.Canad~., $28,523,939; Great Britain,· $1i,172,525; Gerinapy, $1,448,517;
Be Evangelistic.-''It is not enough to be evangelical;. we must be evangelistic. The church that is simply evangelical is a reservoir of pure water., but without a pipe running anywhere. If you will take the trouble to go to it and climb the emba.nltment, you will get a good drink. The evangelistic church is· a reservoir of pure water with a pipe to every heart of the world." - Good News.
