Prairie
Faith, Pioneering People
A history of the Lutheran church in South Dakota, edited
by Donald Sneen 1981. In Chapter
1: "Life in the New Land - 1859 -
1880: The Scandinavian Experience",
Doris Stensland wrote about the Norwegian Lutherans who first settled
into the new Dakota Territory.
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A TRIBUTE TO THE
PIONEERS
Though
they are gone,
these
churches pointing
heavenward
speak
on.
They
testify of men
who
had a love for God
and
put Him first.
As
Viking Abrahams
they
came
across
the prairie-land
with
Sarahs by their sides.
They
left the fjords
and
mountain scenes behind.
Sodhouses
sprouted on the plains
and
from their meager stores
they
sacrificed to build
a
house
for Him.
Their
dearest treasure
was
His Word.
Though
life was rough
and
hardships fell,
they
knelt and praised the Lord
they
knew so well.
Today
we still can hear their voice:
"We made
our choice.
For
us and for our house,
we
served the Lord."
And
then we stop and wonder.....
a
hundred years yonder
will
history say the same
for
us?
Doris
Stensland
Moe
Parish Pioneers
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Compiled by a committee of the Moe Lutheran Parish,
edited by Doris Stensland. This
booklet reflects a history of the Pioneers of the Lands, Romsdal and Trinity
Lutheran Churches, rural Hudson, South Dakota. Published in 1982.
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Excerpt:
DEDICATION
Pioneers,
how can we forget you?
We live
in houses that you built
We plow where
you broke sod
We
benefit from trees you planted long ago
And we
know Christ because you taught your children God.
We lovingly dedicate this book to the pioneer people of
Moe Parish who through their lives - with their dreams, their pains, their
perseverance, their faith in God and their accomplishments - encourage and
inspire us.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely,
and let us run with perserverance the race that is set before us, looking to
Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." Hebrews
12:1,2
