REV. PAUL LEEDS AND THREE 
 OF HIS PARISHIONERS 
 
Is It Worth While? 
 
 by 
 
 Rev. SAMUEL HOLDEN 
 
 ILL it pay? Is it a good in- 
 vestment? Is it worth while? 
 are among the questions asked 
 by business men before they put 
 money into an enterprise. They 
 desire and expect to receive just 
 returns from any investment 
 they may make. 
 
 The missionary organizations of the 
 present day ask the same questions be- 
 fore investing money in fields in need of 
 religious help. It does not seem pos- 
 sible that any funds so placed should 
 fail to make some sort of return, even 
 if it does not come in the form of 
 dollars and cents. And it is the opinion 
 of the author that nowhere in the country 
 has money invested in this way produced 
 such a marvelous change in the people and 
 the conditions under which they live ^s in 
 the Congregational parish at Kinder, 
 
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Is It Worth While 
 
 Louisiana. For over a quarter of a cen- 
 tury this field has been cared for by Rev. 
 Paul Leeds, lovingly known throughout 
 the community as Brother Paul. 
 
 His work extends over an entire county 
 and, in some instances, across the county 
 lines. Among his parishioners are de- 
 scendants of the early French and Spanish 
 explorers and the great-grandchildren of 
 the Acadian exiles referred to by Long- 
 fellow in his story of Evangeline. In the 
 woodlands bordering the prairie live the 
 Indians, a remnant of the once powerful 
 Choctaw tribe. The variety of the pro- 
 gram, the complexity of the people served, 
 and the marked success which has attended 
 Mr. Leeds' efforts, mark this field as a 
 unique and splendid piece of constructive 
 religious work. Let us see if it has been 
 worth while. 
 
 Mr. Leeds came to this section 
 of the country before the first 
 settlers had established homes 
 and when the community was 
 merely a lumber camp. He first 
 preached to the lumberjacks, but 
 when they moved on, he remained 
 
 Jackson Langley, 
 the Indian Chief 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 with the people who had established little 
 homes among the stumps and slashings and 
 were converting the land into farms. He 
 was with these folks through all their early 
 struggles, working with them, helping 
 them, and living upon what they could 
 share. Today the little settlement is a 
 town. It has stores and factories and a 
 Congregational church with the needful 
 equipment for helping along the social 
 and religious life of the community. There 
 is a comfortable parsonage. Its doors are 
 always ajar and visitors are always wel- 
 come. 
 
 The church is not unlike any well-kept 
 Congregational church. Among its mem- 
 bers are many of the oldest and finest 
 families in the county, and so far as the 
 regular services are concerned there is 
 nothing that would impress the 
 casual visitor as being out of the 
 ordinary. The unusual is to be 
 found in the Indian churches and 
 schools, in the mill settlement, the 
 prairie Sunday School and the 
 outlying preaching stations. 
 
 The visitor who is interested in 
 
 L. L. Simmons, 
 In charge of the Indian school 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 missionary problems should make a point 
 of going out to the Indian mission. Here 
 will be found the teacher, L. L. Simmons, 
 who has had charge of the educational 
 work during the last four years. He has 
 shown a real interest in the welfare of 
 his Indian friends and has won their con- 
 fidence to a marked degree. There are 
 upwards of one hundred and fifty Indian 
 families living in these woods. They 
 speak their own language, live their own 
 lives, and are dependent upon Mr. Leeds 
 for all religious help and instruction. 
 Twenty years ago they were without 
 church or school privileges. They lived 
 in miserable shacks, and had no desire for 
 the better things of life. If they earned a 
 dollar it was spent for whiskey, of which 
 there was an abundance. Their drunken 
 orgies often ended in a fight and it was no 
 uncommon thing for one of them to be 
 seriously injured. In justice to the In- 
 dians, however, it should be stated that 
 they were no worse than the white men 
 who lived among them and exploited them 
 for their own gain. 
 
 The conditions under which these peo- 
 
 6 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 pie are living today present a marked con- 
 trast to those of fifteen years ago. The di- 
 lapidated shacks have been replaced by 
 good, substantial farmhouses, and in the 
 majority of the homes are evidences of 
 thrift and prosperity. They are very 
 proud of their two neat, well-cared-for 
 houses of worship, and their Sunday 
 School sessions are well attended. The 
 school, which is under the care of Mr. 
 Simmons, has an enrollment of forty pu- 
 pils. Through the efforts of preacher 
 and teacher the whole physical and re- 
 ligious life of these people has been trans- 
 formed completely. Their devotion to 
 their church and love for their pastor are 
 very evident. It is hard, indeed, to be- 
 lieve that twenty years ago they were liv- 
 ing in ignorance and sin, so hard that the 
 visitor is almost certain to inquire if con- 
 ditions have not been made to appear 
 much darker than they really were. The 
 answer invariably is, "You have no idea 
 of the wonderful change that has been 
 brought about in the lives of these people 
 through the ministry of Mr. Leeds." It 
 should be said also that what is true of 
 the Indians in this respect is true of their 
 
 7 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 white neighbors. The transformation 
 here has been equally great. 
 
 Has this been a profitable work? Has 
 it been worth while? Have the Missionary 
 Society and the missionary made a good 
 investment in this field? Are the returns 
 commensurate with the time, energy and 
 money expended? 
 
 A good mile from Kinder is the lumber 
 settlement known as Emad. Here is a 
 large sawmill which runs day and night 
 and employs three hundred and fifty men 
 and boys. The town has been in exist- 
 ence less than ten years, and it may con- 
 tinue for some three or four years longer. 
 There is no pretence at permanency; the 
 town will last just as long as the mill can 
 secure logs at a profit. 
 
 These people look to Mr. Leeds for 
 preaching services and religious instruc- 
 tion. There is a well-organized Bible 
 class which meets every Sunday morning, 
 a midweek prayer meeting, and a Sunday 
 preaching service every second week. 
 Brother Paul has brought to many lives in 
 the mill settlement, not overburdened with 
 
 8 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 the good things of this life, great help 
 and comfort. 
 
 In addition to the Indian mission and 
 the lumber settlement, the Sunday School 
 and preaching station on the prairie is a 
 unique piece of work. The place is known 
 as Three Pines. Why, it is impossible to 
 say, for there are no pines visible. It is 
 located some ten miles from Kinder, and 
 at times the roads are impassable. With- 
 out question there is an isolation and soli- 
 tude on the prairie that does not exist 
 elsewhere, and where there are so few 
 opportunities for social life, the religious 
 service and Sunday School become a great 
 social event. How the people enjoy these 
 gatherings and how much they appreciate 
 the help that is given them ! 
 
 To the north of Kinder, fully four miles, 
 is the latest development of this fascinat- 
 ing mission field. It lies out in the wood- 
 lands away from the beaten path. It is a 
 settlement of earnest people who have 
 taken possession of the cut-over land and 
 are building homes. They have a neat 
 schoolhouse which is the center of all the 
 social and religious life of the place. Many 
 
 9 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 of these folks come long distances in mule 
 teams, over rough roads, that they may be 
 present at the preaching service and Sun- 
 day School session. While there is little 
 prospect of building up a self-supporting 
 work in this place for a long time to come, 
 surely people who will travel from three 
 to five miles Sunday after Sunday, in order 
 that they and their children may hear the 
 Gospel message, cannot fail to make a 
 strong appeal to the sympathies of the 
 missionary. 
 
 This is but a brief description of our 
 Kinder parish. The results achieved, the 
 splendid, heroic devotion of the pastor 
 who has worked so long, often under great 
 difficulties, is proof positive that the home 
 missionary has not passed. In the light 
 
 THE LUMBER SETTLEMENT 
 
 10 
 
Is It Worth While 
 
 of what has been accomplished in the 
 transformation of character, the uplifting 
 of life to higher ideals, has the work been 
 worth while? Has the Home Missionary 
 Society made a good investment? What 
 is the answer ? 
 
 11 
 
The 
 
 Congregational Home Missionary Society 
 287 Fourth Avenue, New York 
 
 1921