Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

orn. A. Wiens, Secretary of the Volost Committee; Heinrich B. Janz, Chairman; D. M. Hofer, American Representative ; D. A. Dyck, Treasurer of the Cominittee. A STREET SCENE : In a typical Russian village in the Orenburg District. A KOSAK FAMILY Such furnished the Czar’s best soldiers. They were renowned for their skill as horsemen. 4 MENNONITE FAMILY A representative Mennonite family in the Famine District. YM. R. KITCHE Bro. C. E. Krehbiel at the right watehing the eight hundred fortunate ones who had admittance cards that entitled them to a meal once a day. Y AT HINLAGH ‘punorZe10y sy} JO JajUed OY} Ul ODUOPTAd Ul dafoFT Ad sIG puB AoqpOlg TITAr ‘BUYOSJO[O] ay} Ul SoZBy[IA 9Y} JO OUO UL Woy} Jolpoy ayTuouUsTY UeoMeuty UW VNHOSLOTIOWN GHL NI NAHOLIN “Wt IV V UNSEALING THE CLOSED DOOR 201 boiled, drinking the broth to get the fat from the leather. So the gruesome incidents could be multiplied many times, even to recounting the cases of parents, however not Mennonites, devouring their own children. Seldom was there a note of hope and courage, but one such will ever remain stamped indelibly on my memory. On Sunday in the large Church in Chortitza, Bishop Jacob A. Rempel from Gruenfeld preached a sermon of power— calling on the people to trust in God, to share with each other to the last, and if it came to the worst, if they should have to starve, to meet their fate bound together in Christian love; but feeling assured that if they kept the faith, God would not forsake them. The arrival of Arthur Slagel from Constantinople and Odessa more than divided the burden in two. His efficient work in organizing the Alexandrowsk district cen- ter, which became our headquarters for all of the Ukraine, proceeded rapidly. As our food had not been delivered from Charkow by the A.R.A., a special courier was sent from Alexandrowsk to convoy the cars of supplies. As the snow had melted sufficiently, we set out in our Ford ton truck to organize the work in the Molotchna, two counties lying further south,—accompanied by Froese, Rev. Classen and Jantz, both from Schoenwiese. Our capable chauffeur plowed the Ford through the slush and sticky black mud until we came to a swollen brook with no bridge. The crossings were at various places and we tried the one recommended. Suddenly the front wheels dropped into a ditch immersing almost the entire hood in the muddy water, and the motor stopped dead. One of the party sang mournfully “Du, du liegst mir am Herzen” while some one went to a nearby Russian village for help. Soon a crowd of farmers came and the Ford was rescued from the flood. For their help they accepted only our thanks. 202 FEEDING THE HUNGRY It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at Halbstadt at the home of Bishop Abraham Klassen, where a small group of very capable men had assembled— preachers, and others who had formerly been teachers, bankers, farmers, manufacturers, and