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
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