EVANGELICAL MENNONITE
SSUE: Conference
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Fisher Branch
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Russia Visit CVIII)
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EDIT COMMUNICATING THE GOSPEL (II) One of the reasons for our failure to communi cate the Gospel effectively is that so many of us, when pressed find it hard to articulate our faith. As someone has so aptly stated that often our trouble is that we know what we don't believe but find it harder to say what we do believe. We grant that it is easier to say what we don't believe in (dancing, smoking, drinking etc.) But Peter tells us to be ready always to give an answer to every person that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you (us) (I Peter 3:15). To keep balance we should when we soy, "I don't believe in (dancing etc.)" also say what we believe in. One High school teacher told us she went and said she could not take part in chaperoning a high school dance. She offered herself for other extra cur riculum duties. This was accepted and it was an opening for witness. As the pretty young thing (maybe age 15?) sit ting beside me on the bus puffed at her cigarette and the smoke drifted over me, my first inclination was to put her in her place. But the Lord gave grace that I did nothing brash. I engaged her in conversa tion and ended up with what I believe was a good contact and was able to leave some Christian litera ture. Had I given her a calling down about her bad habit it probably would have been the end of my witness. Some Christians, when travelling, and others are reading their papers, and magazines, open their Bi ble. This has resulted in more than one opportunity to witness. Much damage can be done to our testimony when we do not live up to it when the going gets hard or when we fear loss of prestige or worldly gain. A A glaring example of this given to me by a yotmg woman whom I visited in jail. She was guilty but felt a Christian who had witnessed to her previously had let her down. Whether we agree with her or not J think we should let our light shine even to the ex tent where we suffer the spoiling of our goods if we
then can win a soul for the kingdom of God. Mott. 5:39-42, Heb. 10:34). "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His right eousness and all these things shall be added unto you" is to the Christian as an uncashed cheque, still good. We may apply this also where we fear loss of prestige or goods as a result of our witness. God will honour His word. Try itl The effective communication of the Gospel is a matter that should concern every Christian. It may be that we will have to discard old patterns that have served their day but no longer are vital and effective and substitute new ways, means and methods to do our work in the age we live in. The mes sage must always remain the same though, but it is possible that we must change the approach.^
Letters To the Editor I am pleased to observe a favourable fact: Accord ing to the 1966 index the greatest number of articles under one heading consisted of Missions. If this is a trend let's keep it up. Thankyou, Mr. Schellenberg and other responsible people. Arnold Brandt Blumenort
Dear Editor: Thank-you for sending me the "Messenger". It keeps me informed of what God is doing in my home church. It is just like summer here in Florida. I am thankful that I can trust God to give me strength in training to be a missionary. I had a good time witnessing while travelling on the bus. All glory belongs to God. He made me willing to talk. He gives me love and a burden.
There are eleven single guys here in boot camp. We all eat together. Each one has a turn to do the cooking and the dishes. In the forenoon we have an hour of sharing our hearts and prayer. Follow ing this there are some Bible classes. Afternoon we spend time in cleaning up the yard. It has al ready been a blessing to fellowship with the differ ent people. Living together in this way helps us as Christians to learn to get along with one another. I picked a couple of oranges today. I believe they were the best tasting oranges I ever ate! 'Bye and thanks for your concern. Onieda, Florida Harold Dueck Cover Photo:
Children of Vietnam,
courtesy M.C.C.
I HE Messenger is the publication of the Evangelical Mennonile Conference. Its purpose is Io inform, instruct and inspire. Inionn as to what is going on in the Conference. Instruct in Godliness and victorious living. Inspire to earnestly contend for the faith. AU correspondence should bo addressed to the Editor, D. K. Schellenberg, The Messenger, Box 1268, Steinbach, Man, Changes of address should be sent to the circulation manager. Abe Hasson, Box 1447, Steinbach, Manitoba. Subscription: Members pay through their church. Non-members $1.00 per year. Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for payment of postage in cash. Printed by Deluxe Printing, Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.
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THE MESSENGER
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THE ANSWER IS NOT SIMPLY QUOTING A VERSE (Plett)
E.M.C. Study Conference on Ministerial Patterns by the Editor
Friday February 10 saw a one day study conference take place in the Steinbach E.M.C. church. Pur pose of the conference was to take a look at church structure and polity especially as concerns the E.M.C. ministry. Invited were all ministers and deacons of the Conference. Four papers were read. New Testament Pattern of the Ministry By Harvey Plett Patterns ol the Ministerial ol the Anabaptists Including our His tory. By Abe Unger
It was evident that a lot of study had gone into the preparation of these papers. A discussion period followed each paper.
Brother Plett the first speaker stat ed that, "When we look in the New Testament for a ministerial pattern it becomes evident that the answer is not simply quoting a verse. It becomes a systematizing and ga thering together what the whole New Testament teaches on this sub ject."
material support is taught in the New Testament but not of the type of the modem supported proffessional ministry. Speaking on the Pattern oi Other Church Groups, brother Koop had investigated primarily five different denominations: Penticostal, Baptist, Evangelical Mission Covenant and United Church. He dealt with the subject under four heads: 1. The Calling of the Minister 2. Oualificotions 3. Examination and Ordination
The speaker mentioned several different factors as having a bearing on any synthesis of a New Testa Ministerial Patterns of other ment pattern. Eirstly, the New Test ament was written in an era when Churches. the church was just emerging. This By John Koop means that the organization is not a The Ministry of the Evangelical tested and tried pattern. Secondly, Mennonite Conference. the New Testament church was By Ben Friesen "Spirit inspired" in a sense that we are not. And lastely the New Test'. ament gives only a piecemeal pic ture of ministerial patterns; various people writing over a considerable span of time.
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Harvey Plett QSteinbach') March 3, 1967
He states though that the New Testament does give definite guide lines in this area. It speaks of Apost les, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and Pastors. In addition to this there vzere the Elder, the deacon and the bishop. Acts 14:23 gives on indi cation how elders were appointed. Elders were the spiritual leaders. Concerning a paid ministry as we know it today brother Plett stat ed, .. the picture one receives is that possibly they did not receive re muneration." He adds though that
John Koop CKamsack') 4. Placement He elaborated on each part. An observation concerning the call of the minister. The speaker found that most churches leave this up to the individual. The one who feels thus led has to approach the church and ask for an application. The examination then is a lengthy procedure. In some churches it cov ers a period of six years.
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Abe Unger (Lorette)
Abe Unger spoke on Patterns of the Ministerial of the Anabaptists. It also included our own history. The Anabaptist section he traced from the Netherlands to Prussia and Dan zig and then on to Russia. The Kleinegemeinde part has two sec tions namely Russia and Canada. In the early Anabaptist church only the well to do were chosen to be ministers. This brought on a ser ious difficulty during migration to Russia. The Prussians granted only passports to the poor, not wanting to lose the more prosperous farmers to Russia. Thus these migrants had no elder to go with them. An elder was selected though, later, and or dained by letter. Some were not con vinced that this was the right way. Finally an elder was dispatched direct from Prussia. He was gladly received. In Canada again our forefathers had to go through another crisis, when Elder Peter Toews joined another denomination (Holdeman) and again the group was without a duly ordained Elder. Later patterns (1907-) were de veloped from the speakers own ex perience. The Call of the Minister: After about two weeks of prayer and searching of the will of Gcxl, election was by ballot. The first ma jority of votes always carried. The first exception to this rule was in the mid-thirties when three candidates were elected. The office was con sidered binding for life. 4
There was no trial period of the minister, but a personal examination by the ministry was conducted. The last speaker, Ben Friesen, dealt with. The Ministry of the Evan gelical Mennonite Conference. He developed this under two heads, I. Evaluation of our Present System, and II. Suggested Patterns for the Future. Considerably more space was given to the latter point. The plural ministry, he felt, had both strong and weak points. Neg atively, one minister will always be preferred above the other. One will receive more preaching assignmients than the other etc. Positively, the leader, if a good administrator will delegate work to the other min isters and thus cover more groimd. The speaker also felt that a Pas toral Committee was long overdue. One of the functions of this com mittee would be to find men to fill pastorates. Concerning the moving of men from one area to another Mr. Friesen felt that as a larger brotherhood this was perfectly permissable. Need in one area, would constitute the possibility of a call. Concerning the call into the min istry, he thought the open election was still a good way of getting peo ple for the ministry. This has proven itself in the Conference. Concerning tenure of ministry, of the leading minister the speaker felt that the life-time approach had had its day. He felt that a vote of con fidence should be carried out, not
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Ben Friesen (Steinbach) less than once in five years. The salary question, always a del icate one, was also reviewed. He thought a church of 100 people or more should have a full-time sal aried man. For smaller churches self-support is most desirable. In a most fitting concluding state ment tne speaker said, "above or ganization we must have the lead ing of the Spirit of God. This study Conference we believe was most timely. We realize that this summary touches only a few of the high points. We do trust that the papers will continue to provoke discussion and dialogue and not merely be filed away somewhere to gather dust.
Delegates also received copies ot the paper THE MESSENGER
BRETHREN PRAY FOR US
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and quite late, we decided to stay in Mexico and rest up over Sunday. Thus we finally reached our destin ation and home on Monday, Oct. 4. The believers in Maskall were very glad to see us and so were we to see them. At one of the homes we stopped we were presented with a welcome cake. The missionaries had moved most of our furniture in to the house we ore living in.
H Klassen
It is hard to believe that we have been back in British Honduras al most four months. Time seems to fly! We are thankful to God for His protection and guidance on our four thousand mile trip to God's appoint ed place of service. Christian fellow ship was enjoyed at the Gospel Mis sionary Union headquarters in Smithville as well as a few other places in the States. With very little difficulty but approximately thirty dollars were requested by officials
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Klassen, Terry, Ladine, and Phillip.
r ip’ MISSW ” March 3, 1967
and inspectors to permit us to enter Mexico. From the border it took two days to get to Mexico City where we spent half a day. With the aid of a guide we were able to see a num ber of points of interest. We left Mex ico City early afternoon and drove seventy-five miles to Puebla which has 300,000 inhabitants. Here we encountered some difficulty in find ing night's lodging on account of language barrier. It seemed that no one in this city could understand English, till we finally located the Tourist Information Bureau, where the manager could speak fluent English. He directed us to a hotel, but upon arrival once more had language difficulty. We managed to rent a room. A restaurant of some sort was located in the hotel, so we decided to have our supper there. The waitress not knowing any Eng lish and we couldn't read the Span ish menu, we ordered "something" which turned out to be raw eggs. With gestures and motions we man aged to convey to the waitress that we would appreciate if the eggs would be scrambled and fried. So we ended up with a supper of scrambled eggs and dry bread. The next two days we travelled through some very beautiful coun try. Travelling along the Gulf of Mexico we had to go on four ferries. Two of these ferries travel quite a distance. A few hours delay was experienced but we managed to get good night's lodging. October 1 we arrived at the B.H. border. This being a Saturday night
The school where brother Klassen teaches.
Since our arrival we have been busy with the work in the Maskall Bible Chapel. Satan has employed various devices in his attempt to disrupt the Lord's work, but the Lord is faithful in keeping His children. There are between twenty-five and thirty young people that come to most of the services. Most of these are not saved. Pray that the Spirit and the Word would convict so that they would respond to God's call unto salvation. Then also much of our time is taken up in the educational field. We are in the preparation process of the combined secondary and Bi ble school known as King's Bible College. Teachers will be needed to instruct in regular high school sub jects as well as in the Bible Depart ment. Our elementary schools are pro gressing satisfactorily. We are look ing to the Lord to supply the teach ers for the school year beginning in September. Brethren pray for us, that we per sonally might gain spiritual ground and live only to please and glori fy God.
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'A A^uca Indians attend r
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Evangelism Congress
Later, Kimo and Komi sat calmly and at ease at a press conference. Despite the glare of television flood lights, flashing cameras, micro phones thrust under their noses and languages they did not understand, they smiled and sat attentively throughout. They had black hair, bronzed faces, high cheek bones and were of medium height. Dressed in dark business suits, they could have passed for members of an Indian tribe in the south-western United States. Miss Saint answered the ques tions, sometimes referring the questinos to Kimo and Komi, sometimes without doing so. They unhesitatingly gave their witness in song and Scripture at the request of the press-corps. They re peated in unison John 3:16 and the monotone, chant-like hymn of their faith, "God Created Every thing." One part of the hymn is of ten repeated 40 times, but Kimo and Komi quit short of that count. Komi had been sick in bed for three days. Miss Saint said. He coughed once or twice during the conference. What do they want to see in the concrete jungle of a modern West ern city? "They want to visit in the zoo and see an elephant," Miss Saint replied.
Berlin — A former savage Auca fleeted a slight fever and touch of Indian sat in the plush Berlin Hilton homesickness. hotel with the sister of one of the The Aucas have leapt from the five missionaries he had helped slay Stone Age into the 20th century, 10 years ago. from the primitive life of not exper Kimo, the Indian, smoothed his iencing teaching and learning to the trouser leg outside his new, special common experience of seeing things, ly ordered boots and smiled. He learning to listen, to read and then didn't want to hurt his visitor's feel to teach. ings, he said, but, no, he would not Kimo has begun to take these like to stay in any of the countries steps. As the shepherd, he teaches that he and a fellow Aucan, Komi, the village children: "God came to are visiting. earth as a person, Jesus, and com It's too dark everyday and too municated with us. He is our chief. coldl The wind blows "wooo-oo-oo" He died for us, but now he is alive." and chills him. He goes on to evangelize in earthy "In our country it is always terms: "Come on, you so-and-so's, warm," he said, "The sun shines believe in Him. If you don't, you everyday and you always know can't go to Heaven." what time it is." The two Aucas, with no previous Kimo and Komi left their Ecuador sense of history, thrill to such Bibli ian jungle to visit the World Con cal stories as Moses and David. gress on Evangelism, meeting in They see themselves as ones for Berlin, with Rachel Saint. Her bro whom Christ died and is coming ther, Nate, and four other mission again. aries were killed by a group of Aucas in 1956. Miss Saint, who is with the Wycliffe Bible Translators, * ./kFjC: -At helped reduce the Auca language to writing and translated the Gospel of Mark into it. In ten years Kimo, who was one of the slayers, and Komi, son of the UBhf. KurfGrstendamm Auca who led the murderous par a ty, have changed from savage kill E ers to respecters of life. They no longer throw away deformed babies or unwanted baby girls. Once im moral, they now are striving for purity. "I don't live sinning now, I don't," says Komi, "not since I came to know Jesus. I live speaking in God." Komi is married to Dayuma, the first Auca convert. "My life was very, very dark, but Rachel Saint of the Wycliffe Translators introduces Kimo (left) and now it is light," he added. With my Komi, Auca Indians to the busy city of Berlin and the Kurferstendamm whole body, soul and spirit, I love Street, at the recent Berlin Congress on Evangelism. God." His face was intense but re-
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THE MESSENGER
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SWIFT CURRENT
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The year 1967 was started with Na tional Prayer Week in our Church. Jan. 2 through 4 prayer services were held. The Swift Current Bible Institute presented a program of singing and the Word of God in message on Jan. 8. This was our regular Sunday evening Young Peoples program. Annual Meeting was held on Jan. 13. Our Pastor was voted in for a three year term. Young peoples leader and various other positions were renewed again. Jan. 24 the Brotherhood had a meeting and the Ladies Aid also had their elections. Jan. 22 was Crusade Sunday in our Church. This service was held in connection vzith the Crusade that is to be held in Spring. Deeper Life Services were held with Rev. Jake Hoeppner from Jan. 25 to 27. The films and messages gave us guidance and direc tion for a closer walk with our Master. Pastor and Mrs. Dueck spent a few days with the Lester Olferts at Weekes. Missionaries Mr. and Mrs. Art Reddekopp v.'ere with us on Sunday, Jan, 29.
BIRTHS To Mr. and Mrs. Abe Leiding, a son, Con rad Laverne, June 13, 1966. To Mr. and Mrs. Bill Neustaeter, a son, Lyndon Abe, on July 20, 1966. To Mr. and Mrs. John L. Friesen, a daughtei, Gwendlyn Faye on Nov. 6, 1966.
RIVERTON
On January 6th. the pastor's home was a hustle and bustle as a group of 16 young people met for an Informal social evening. The evening began with a devotional per iod exciting games and a good lunch, served by Mrs. Wright. The evening proved to bo a good success. At this time we would how ever, like to ask for prayer warriors to pray for the many young people of our area who know not what it means to hove peace with God. They too, need to bo brought into the shepherd's fold. On Januaary 8 the S.B.I. was represented by Bro. Harvey Plett and a quartet. The message in song and word was an inspira tion. May God reward you for this workl
March 3, 1967
On January 25th Brother Peter Wiens from the Shantyman'a mission, showed two films namely, "Of Scrap to Steel" and "The Faith of Yuan Tan." The latter one told the mov ing story of a young man standing firm in the faith, even though it meant persecution and finally a gruesome death "The ques tion arose, "Would my faith hold out under sush severe trials and persecutions?" May God increase our faith.
WEEKES Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset u», and let us run with patience the race that is set be fore us. (Heb. 12:1) Our annual meeting was held on Feb. 1st. Nominated to the various offices were Mr. Al; Salmond as vice-president, Mr. H. Nelson as secretary and also Sunday School super intendent. Mrs. Belzner was re-elected as li brarian.
On Feb. 3rd. the Inter-church fellowship showed the film "Shadow of the Boomerang" which brought a record attendance of an estimated 175 persons. We are sure that many hearts were touched by the message contained in the film. The young people's groups has had a number of activities this winter which in clude choir practise for morning worship service. They will be taking part in the ser vice on Feb. 26th. which will be broadcast over Melfort radio station. Activities also include two socials which were held at the Durgan's and at the Cliff Salmonds and an informal evening of fellowship at the home of the Lester Olferts. The Ladies' Prayer Band has been busy preparing a box of clothing which was sent to La Ronge Indian Bible school. The ladies have also taken up writing to different mis sionaries every two weeks. This should prove to be a blessing to those who write and an encouragement to those who re ceive the letters.
ENDEAVOUR The evening of Feb. 3 was a highlight here, when over a hundred people viewed the stirring film "Shadow of the Boomerang". It was evident that the Holy Spirit was pre sent. Recently, we have had more contact with some of our Ukranian people and have ap preciated their attendance at our Bible Study and Prayer Meeting.
MR. ISAAC F. LOEWEN 1897 — 1967 It has pleased the heavenly Father to lake from my side, my husband, Isaac F. Voewen, to take him home unto Himself. He was born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter W. Loe wen on October 17, 1897 at Steinbach, and passed away at the Bethesda Hospiatl on February 7, 1967. He reached the age of 69 years, 3 months and 21 days. It was in the year of 1918 that he ac knowledge his need of the Saviour and upon confession of his faith was baptized on October of that same year by Elder Peter R. Dueck, and was received into the fellowship of the Evangelical Mennonile Church (then Kleingemeinde) of Steinbach.
During the years of 1918 and 1919 he went to the Rosenort area and helped take care of the sick of the flu epidemic. He saw much suffering and death which left a last ing impression upon him for the rest of his life. He was always deeply concerned lor the welfare of those less fortunate.
In the year of 1921 he took me, Elizabeth Unger, to be his helpmeet. It was on April 17 that we were united in marriage by Elder Jacob Dueck. We have shared our jcys and sorrows for 45 years, 9 months and 21 days. During our wedded life, 38 years have been on the farm. Here he suffered two sep al ate accidents. In 1940 he suffered a blow on his head which rendered him unconscious lor quite some time. In 1941 he suffered through a combine accident where he was severely lacerated. However, the Lord was gracious in bringing him through these se vere trials. In his active years of his life he took a real interest in community and church affairs. Ke served as agent for the Red River Mutual Insurance Company and also served as di rector of the Bethesda Hospital Board for years. He also served for the "Hilfsverein", a church organized program to help those in need. He has given unselfishly of his time and labor for the benefit of others. On July 24, 1966 he was admitted to the Bethesda Hospital suffering from diabetes and other complications. He regained health in a measure, but was readmitted to the hospital six months later on January 24th, 1967. Here he suffered a stroke on February 2nd and passed away on the 71h to be with the Lord.
He leaves to mourn his passing, his be loved wife, four sons, Peter and George of Riverton; John, Giroux; Eddie. Steinbach:
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five daughters: Mary, Mrs. Aaron Friesen, r ; Hiibre; Minna, Steinbach; Wilma, Mrs. John Unger, Landmark; Anna, Mrs. Bill Penner,
ITINERARY
oui hearts. 'This was much appreci ated and may his words stay with us for a continued blessing.
God's River; Vaiida, Mrs. Victor Friesen. i' Levi Reimer, Freies Evongelisches Steinbach. One son, Leonard, predeceased ]Missionswerk Bad Gandersheim, him in 1933 at the age of one year and t Germany. four months due to a drowning accident.
Extension As you will have realized in m'any other extension groups, we also saw the doors open for extension of He is also survived by one brother, Mr. Jacob F. Loewen and one sister, Helena, Mrs. RidgeWOod March 15, 8:00 the gospel, and several adjacent Jacob B. Kroeker of Rosenort. Portage la Prairie March 17, 7:45 areas were served with Vacation Bible School. May the Lord increase We are in sorrow, yet rejoice in the asSteinbach March 19, 11:00 a.m. the sown seed to His Glory. suiance that he is with Christ which is far better. Blumenort March 19, 7:45 A Sunday school was conducted The families wish to express their sin Mennville March 20, 7:30 2.‘/2 months before Christmas by cere thanks for the many expressions of Bro. and sister Elvin Reimers and March 22, 7:45 Miss Bertha Reimer at Poplarfield. sympathy and also Dr. Dueck and the Hospi ’Winnipeg tal nursing staff tor their services rendered. Kleefeld March 24, 7:45 This was attended by some 16 pu pils in three classes. They are most ly of Ukranian background and of a very favourable character. They do not need only the gospel but the application of it. May the Lord help them. By P. B. Dueck In the fall of 1965 the Interlake Mennonite Collegiate was formed The Lord has been good to us in January, 1966 and the dedication and several of our young people at for which we are thankful. followed some time later. tended. Last fall the board pur From a newly organized district The Lord has led so that we had chased t h e abandoned Hayek of 40 members it will interest the an experienced staff from the first school and grounds, which lies some Messenger readers to see a report day, no new elections took place, 8 miles north of Arborg for a peron paper. not even in the S.S. staff. m.anent private high school loca The building of our Church, 2 Bro. P. P. Friesen as minister, Bro. tion, where also several youths miles south of F. Branch was barely Is. P. Reimer as deacon, Bro. John from Fisher Branch attend. Bro. Har ahead of the pressing record break K, Plett and P. B. Dueck as S.S. ry Friesen is the capable teacher ing winter of 1966. The cement foot leader, etc. there. ing was laid in late fall of '65, just For the first series of revival Bro. George Heim of Blumenbefore heavy frost came. The struc meetings in Spring we had Bro. ort, built himself a new dwelling ture was closed up just before the Dave Harms from Roseisle as speak place last fall across the road from winter was at it's strongest. er, and we thank him again for his Thomas Pletts, and sorry to say it We are thankful to God for His sincere work. For the fall meetings burned down before Christmas, be grace and guidance, and also for of a week it was Bro. John P. Loe the determination of the workers. wen of Blumenort who endeavoured fore it was insured. He barely es 'The building was open for service to impress the spiritual truths upon caped since he was in the house sleeping when the fire first started. Restoration plans are underway by the Blumenort and Fisher Branch congregations. George's occupation is mostly carpentry. Before this hap pened he had a chance to go along to Mexico, his former address, to visit relatives, etc. At present Bro. P. B. Dueck is in Mexico, visiting parents, children and relatives. (Is back again. Ed.) Under the leadership of Bro. John K. Plett the choir has, during the Christmas season, presented their program in seven different chapels, v.'’hich we hope and pray will have awakened a true Christmas mean ing and according to Matth. 5-16 Church at Fisher Branch (.Outside unfinished) will praise our Father only.
Beginnings at Fisher Branch
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THE MESSENGER
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RUSSIA VISIT (VIII)
A VUil U kkuUk by Frank C. Peters
Irkutsk, USSR,—We left Moscow on Tuesday morning accompanied by two Baptist representatives from the Council's headquarters. Since v/e were scheduled to leave about 10:30 a.m., and the airport is quite a distance from the city, we took care of our formalities early and left by taxi. At the airport we were greeted with the news that all planes for Irkutsk were grounded and we would have to wait for fur ther instructions. From then on, it was a game of patience as one an nouncement after the other pushed the departure time further into the day and evening. We finally left at 9:15 p.m. for our eastern destina tion. The city of Irkutsk, 3,200 miles east of Moscow, is an important center for Siberian life and com merce. Its population is about 400, 000 and it boasts a very active pro gram of development. We were es pecially surprised by the large number of schools and institutes found in this metropolis. There is a Baptist church in Ir kutsk. The superintendent of the dis trict and the local pastor were our hosts. Of course, being hosted in true Russian style meant much eat ing and we wondered how we would ever live through this test of "consumption level" to which we were being continually put. We liked borscht and all that goes with it but not under such pressure to eat more and more. We were invited to speak to the congregation on the first night of our visit. The congregation is scat tered. Some members come from points about 70 kilometers away. Since this was not a regular meet ing, we marvelled that so many had come to greet us. The choir was there and every effort was made to make us feel very much wanted. March 3, 1967
David P. Neufeld and I spoke in German. Adolf Klaupiks translated into Russian. We had been told that there would be a number of Mennonites present. How were we to find them? Everyone looked like a Men nonite to us from where we sat. D. P. Neufeld preached a sermon on discipleship and encouraged the believers to continue in the faith once received. It was obvious that the Word was received with much eagerness. We must not forget the official greetings by the various church of ficials. All spoke of this as a unique occasion for which they had often prayed. The unity in Christ was stressed by all as they made the welcome come to life. The choir sang two special numbers express ing delight over our being there. The text which the writer used was I Cor. 4:1-5. I spoke concerning the importance of faithfulness as stewards of the Gospel. We did feel somewhat embarrassed to be ad monishing these brethren in what we knew was an impressive feature of their Christian commitment. They had already displayed what we talked about. During the sermon I used an illustration and in it were
Peter Heese, leader of the “Church" Men nonite congre gation in Tokmak.
Rev. D. P. Neufeld preaching at the Baptist church in Irkutsk
a few sentences of Low German. We watched the faces for a re sponse. These must be our people and they were. The meeting ended with a presen tation of gifts. How we wished they would not have done it but it was impossible to control what was not in our power. We just accepted these things as genuine expressions of their affection and appreciation for our coming. We could not help but wonder how we would ever pack these things in our luggage. After the meeting we were sur rounded by our Mennonite friends. Many just had not been able to come because of work responsibities. There are about fifty members in this congregation who are Menrionites. Of these about seven were cont'd. on page 12.
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The
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6 by Margaret Epp
THE STORY THUS FAR Verda and Billy have been tardy on the way to school. Many attrac tions have delayed them. Now they are late lor school. Verda is terribly ashamed, especially oi her unkept appearance. The teacher asks Don na Bay to help Verda straighten hersell up.
CHAPTER HI Now Donna Ray and Verda were second best friends and loved to do things for Teacher together. But to day Verda wished Miss teaman vzould have asked someone else to help. One of the big girls. Donna was chubby as a baby gosling—just as soft and neat look ing. She never' Was mussy. And this morning she was full of bother some questions. Like, "Why did you crawl through the fence, Verda? And why are you friends with that awful Billy Boyd—" "He's not awful. He is just terri bly nice." said Verda in a loud indignant whisper. "Well, why would you want to see an old flicker's nest, anyhow? You can read every bit about it in the library books—all the facts.'’ "It's lots more fun getting it from the birds," muttered Verda.
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"Well I get good marks. But I don't ever tear my dress like this." No, Donna Ray never did. Verda sighed. "Say, what's that yellow stuff all over your face? Hn-hn," she gig gled, "you better scrub your hands and face real hard." This second dearest friend was not much comfort today. But she did pin up the hole with a tiny safety pin, so it didn't show quite as much as before. In a queer upside-down way, maybe the tear in the new tissue gingham was a help. Verda felt so bad about it, she forgot to be nerv ous about the test—even when she and Donna were back in the class room and she got to see the quest ions. Say, they weren't so bad. She knew why you should destroy mil ler moths every chance you got. Their eggs hatch in those nasty cut worms that march right through a garden and mow down all the baby lettuce and peas and things in one single night. She knew the difference between a spruce tree and a pine tree, too. And she could name ten wild flow ers that grew in this area easy as easy. She and Billy had often pick ed more kinds than that. And she could name twelve birds and tell what kind of nests they built, and vzhere, and how many eggs they mostly laid, and how long it took to hatch them. 'Why, this was easy. This was fun.
And then Verda got to the last part of the last question. You wouldn't think that a girl who could tell all about trees and birds and flowers would stumble over a little old grasshopper! But she did. Point C under question seven read, "How many legs does a grass hopper have?" Verda nibbled her ball-point pen. Four? Eight? Six? She closed her eyes, and she tried to imagine a hopper jumping. She thought he had six legs. But just as soon as she was sure, she became unsure again. Maybe he did need eight legs for that. Donna Ray was writing and writ ing, the tip of her tongue showing. Donna Ray knew all the facts. And Verda had had to go and get stuck! She sighed. Billy's bright eyes cut across the aisle to her. Billy wasn't troubled. He knew a lot about outdoor things but he didn't spend much time in writing them down. His paper was only about half full, yet he wasn't working.
THE MESSENGER
He raised his dark eyebrows. That said, "What's the trouble?" And without stopping to think Ver da wrote a big seven and a C in the air. Billy wrinkled his brow. He wasn't sure either how many legs a hopper needed to do his hopping. But he grinned and winked at Verda. And a minute later his hand shot up. "Please, Miss Leaman," he said politely, "May I leave the room?" Finished already?" she said. "All right, then. But hand in your paper before you go." So Billy walked up, and Verda saw him trailing past the black board and slipping a piece of chalk into his pocket. When he had gone outside she had a hard time to keep from giggling. 'Through the window she saw Billy chasing a grasshop per. She could see him whipping a straw hat wildly around on the grass. And now he had caught one! Verda was tinging all over. Now he was counting the legs. Now he'd gone to the long, low barn. And on one of the doors he wrote a big six. So Verda knew. She sighed and wrote it down. "Time is up," said Miss Leaman just that minute. And then it was time for recess, and everyone ran outdoors for a game of prisoner's base. The cap tains began choosing sides. "Say could you answer all the questions, Verda?'' asked Donna anxiously. "Uh-huh. Guess so. Say, you and I are on the same side. Our base is that one, near the barns. Didn't you get all the questions?" "We-ell— How many legs does a grasshopper have? Six? Oh, dear! 1 wrote four!" Billy happened to be on the same side, so he had heard Donna Ray's words. His eyes twinkled at Verda and slid around the big six on the barn door. It was only a few feet from where they stood. "We've got a secret, you and I," his fun-filled look was saying. But Verda felt herself getting awfully pink, and she pretended not to notice. If only Donna Ray hadn't had such sharp eyes! She stared at the six for a minute and when she turned to Verda there March 3, 1967
was a funny look on her cushiony game!" called their captain loudly. "Why do you think I chose you, face. anyway?" "That six wasn't there when school So it wasn't very hard for Verda began, Verda Hill," she said sob erly. "I know, 'cause I was bounc to get away from Donna Ray. She ing my ball apainst the barn when ran out to tempt the enemy, and the second bell rang. And only one she let herself get caught, so they person went out before recess — sent her to their prison. But it was Billy Boyd. I — I didn't think you'd not easy to get away from the tiny restless voice inside her. cheat, Verda HUI!" To be continued "Hey, you kids, get into the
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Snow Angels
By Mrs. John Toews
Looking outside one morning re cently we saw about a foot of soft, pure white, freshly fallen snow. All the shrubbery, everything was cov ered with this soft layer of new snow. The children on looking out side and viewing the beautiful scene squealed with delight and made plans to go out as soon as possible to make "snow angels". I wonder ed what this meant but decided to wait and see. Soon the children bundled up and went outside to fulfill their plans. There were no
tracks to be seen but they soon changed that. What fun to wade through that soft snow! Watching them from the window I wondered when they would make their "snow angels". I didn't have long to won der for soon I saw them just let themselves fall headlong in the snow and contentedly stay there for a while. When they got up I saw they had all left an imprint of them selves in the snow. That was their snow angel! What a good time they had as they romped around in the snow to their hearts' content! When I saw the children letting themselves fall into the snow with out fear of getting hurt I was re minded of the verse in I Peter 5 "Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you." Just as the children cast themselves upon the snow with perfect confidence so we cast ourselves on the Lord toge ther with our problems, trials, temptations, burdens and so on. We know the Lord is able to and will hold us up to continue our walk with Him. As the snow kept a per fect imprint of the children so the Lord will 'present us faultless be fore the presence of His glory." Have we cast ourselvse completely cn the Lord? If so we need but to trust Him. As the children contin ued making tracks in the snow I thought of the Psalm saying "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." "The Lord order (direct) the steps of my children now as they grow up."
Mrs. Toews is the wife of John Toews, newly elected minister in MacGregor.
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RUSSIA VISIT cont'd. present at the meeting. Their first question concerned rel atives in America. Did we know them? Where do they live? What was rather startling was that we knew a number of those mentioned. This made it so much more mean ingful for these people. For the next morning Intourist had arranged a flight to Bratsk, a new development which promises to be come a major power and industrial center. This is a city born in a de cade which pulsates with energy and vigor. The Russian brethren and the guide spoke with great pride of that which the government had pro duced and was planning'for the fu ture. We certainly agreed that it was something worthy of note. This trip and others have con vinced us that the Russian people
are proud of their country. They feel that they are a strong emerging na tion with limitless possibilities. They speak with pride of their achieve ments and social programs. Housing is a problem in this country, but the apartment blocks are mushrooming everywhere. The rule provides for 80 flats per build ing. The rent ranges from 7 to 20 rubles per month with about 3 rubles for light and heat. The wage scale is an interesting one for an Ameri can. A medical doctor could earn less than taxi driver. An average street worker would receive about 100 rubles per month, a medical doc tor would receive up to 150 rubles a month. The driver of our bus re ceived 220 rubles whereas the In tourist guide received 300 rubles. Professors would be paid between 12
400-500 rubles. The technical work ers and specialists seemed to be on top of the financial totem pole, Medi cal services are free to the public and dental care is very reasonable. There are few private automo biles but taxi service is inexpensive when purchased in rubles. Travel in general is very reasonably priced and plane fare covering about 10, 000 kilometers cost $72. We judged it to be about one-third of the cost of American travel. We inquired about savings pro grams for those who are able to put something away. Five percent of the
income is paid in taxes. The rest may be put into a government bank at four percent interest. It seems that here is little incentive to save since all workers receive a pension at 60. What engineers and other profes sional people do is to serve up their holidays and days off and enjoy them at some resort area. This, we were told, was a very common prac tice in Russia. There is almost no possibility to invest money beyond bank arrangement and owning ex cessive property is forbidden. All this makes for a "live now, worry later" philosophy of life.
The Children of Vietnam Akron, Pa. (MCC)—Most affect ed by the present upheaval in Viet nam are the children. More than 47 percent of the population is under 16 years of age. Reports from the field describe the dramatic lack of attention in all areas of service affecting children —schooling, medical programs, vo cational training, family counselling, orphanage core, foster care, etc. The long war is seriously under mining the social structures of the Vietnamese people. The family unit especially is suffering. Millions of Vietnamese children under 21 have never know what it is to liye in peace, and have been, and are, be ing raised without the presence of a father. The fathers of these unfor tunate ones are, of course, dead or fighting the war. This places an enormous responsibility on the mo thers, who must not only raise the average family of five children, but also provide for them. In many instances the children are separated from their parents or abandoned, and they drift into pro vincial towns or Saigon. Here they exist is packs or on their own. The peer group thus takes the place of the family. There are numerous orphanages in Vietnam. Field reports place the
orphanage population at over 15,000 and it is growing rapidly. The care and facilities range from poor to good. One observer has stated that "there are bound to be long range effects upon the future adult population re sulting from this de-familization and de-personalization of the lives of their children." There is already an increase in juvenile deliquency, and the suicide rate among teenagers is also rising. Another problem is the racially mixed child. The number of Ameri can-Asian children in Vietnam is al ready estimated to be very large. These youngsters are generally re jected by the Vietnamese society end frequently abandoned. Both a program of in-country foster care and an American adoption program must be worked out for them. The war is also causing tragic physical suffering and psychologi cal damage among the children. A doctor there says that he treats one soldier to every ten children.
The ^4ennonite Central Committee orovides assistance to the children of Vietnam through Vietnam Christian Service, which emphasizes compre hensive orojects that usually in clude aid to children. THE MESSENGER