8
THE LUTHERAN PIONEER
Morgan Siding Indian Mission Church.
New Dormitory at Vadakangulam, India.
November 6, 1932, was a day of joy and thanksgiving for our recently organized Indian congregation at Morgan Siding, Wisconsin. On this day it was permitted by God's grace to dedicate its excellent little chapel to the glory and service of the Triune God. The members of this small flock had hoped and prayed that the Lord would soon bless them with a church home, and the Lord answered their prayer beyond their fondest hopes. The size of the building is 26X40, with a seating capacity of about 150. A large basement gives ample room for the Sunday-school and for the meetings of our organizations. The cost of the building, everything included, was about $1,200. The dedicatory service was conducted by the undersigned, pastor of the mission. Three services were held during the day, at which President H. Daib and Pastor W. Speckhard and N. Uhlig spoke appropriate and inspiring words. Each service was attended by about 200 pers<;>ns. The first Lutheran service at Morgan Siding was conducted in a private home by the Rev. R. Kretzmann in 1902. From that time until 1930 our Morgan Siding Lutherans were served by the missionaries from our Red Springs mission. In 1930 the undersigned was called to serve Morgan Siding and Neopit. In 193i the schoolhouse, in·which services had been conducted since 1907, was, closed for religious purposes by a resolution of the publicschool board. For some time, services were held in the home of one of our members; but when the plac~ proved too sm!J.ll, it was necessary to move into an open-air dance pavilion. · Thel1, in July of this year, when the. officers of our ~orth Wisconsin District had looked over the field, they immediately took steps to erect a much-needed chapel. The sum: of $1,000 was loaned to our congregation by the District Board, which, together with funds in our ladies' aid's treasuries and liberal donations of l'a nd and furnishings by friends of our mission, made possible our present building. The congregation at the present tinie numbers 9 voting and 35 communicant members, with a Sunday-school enrolment of 42. In the offing is a good-sized confirmation class. May the Lord, our God, without whose blessing nothing can prosper, bless this mission in :M:organ Siding, so that by the proclamation of His Word in this newly erected Bethel many may come to the saving knowledge of His love in Christ Jesus. L. J. DAu, in the Messenger.
Our church-papers are carrying few dedication stories these days. The reason is so obvious that I need not mention it at all. It is not quite so obvious, however, that the Lord is prompting many a Christian man and woman to step into the breach to avert serious injury to some phases of missionary endeavor, thus acting according to the word of God, "Bear ye one another's burdens." A case in point is the new dormitory erected at Vadakangulam, fifteen miles from the tip of South India. Vadakangulam is a station where, since 1916, we have been carrying on our work not among the outcastes, but almost exclusively among the middle and lower-middle castes of the Tinnevelly District. The first missionary was A. J. Lutz; but hardly bad be built himself a bungalow in 1924 when he was transferred to Nagercoil, where he is now at the head of the theological seminary, the new buildings of which were dedicated a few months ago. The next missionary was the undersigned. When I went on furlough in 1930, the station was taken over .by C. L. Ilittmann, who during my furlough erected the second bungalow here. Since my return from America th~ two of us are sharing the work and the responsibility. And the progress we can record of the station is sufficient justification for the addition of the second man. For we have an important system of educational institutions here which, if we wanted to make the most of them, could no longer be handled by one man, even though he bad quite a staff of Indian brethren as assistants. The high school at V adakangulam is the paramount consideration. Several hundred boys and about a dozen girls, Hindus and Christians, are learning to know, or to know better, the Savior of the world and also of the people of India. But that is a topic for itself. No,v, a high school is an expensive institution; true, not nearly as expensive as a high school operated in America, but expensive nevertheless. We cannot operate a high school at every place where we have a considerable number of Christians and where the missionary prospects may be called bright. On the other hand, we cannot restrict the benefits. of such an education to those who live within walking distance of the place where a high school does exist. The solution of this problem is the boarding-house, which is a complex of buildings enabling so and so many Christian boys from distant places to enjoy higher education. It is a. pity that these boys ( or girls) cannot be at home during their
