Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

the table was filled. Each of the hundreds that brought bouquets delivered them with the words, ‘You have saved my life.” At such scenes, your representatives, who were receiving all the recognition for you, our dear contributors, were entirely overcome by their emotions and wept as children. Tears of joy for what it had been possible to do, and tears of sadness for all those who got nothing of all the fine American food, because there was not enough to go around. THE CHORTITZA-ROSENTAL MEDAL A method somewhat out of the ordinary was resorted to by the inhabitants of the above named villages, in that they indicated their love and their appreciation in the form of an originally engraved and cast medal, which they delivered to the American representative early in July, 1922. It was at the time when the famine was most general and grievous. Our feeding kitchens had just been organized in all the Mennonite settlements and feeding was at the highest, for we had at that time about 38,600 for dinner every day to partake of the American food. I was at Alexandrowsk, ready to depart for America to report on the work done in Russia, in an endeavor to increase the interest in the relief work, and if possible stimulate the brethren in the homeland to continue in their well-doing and not to faint. A delegation from among the leading men from the villages of Chortitza and Rosental called on me. After a few preliminary words relative to the effectiveness of the American relief work, they presented to me as representative of the Amer- ican Mennonites, the medal here shown as a token of their appreciation of the food that they were receiving through our ministration. The first picture shows hungry children stretching out RESPONSES FROM RUSSIA 405 their eager hands to receive good things to eat from the American representative, who is shown as a large man with a full basket under his left arm, and an outstretched right hand delivering a loaf of American bread in the name of Christ and the American benefactors. The second picture shows the ocean and the steam- ship indicating that the food came from far-away America. The inscription over the picture says, ‘“Thanks to the Brethren beyond the Ocean;” that beneath is an adapta- a rire DTI tion of Matthew 25:35, ‘“We were hungry and ye have given us food.” While presenting the medal, the brethren expressed their regret that it was not cast in one of the rarer metals instead of common lead. But after they informed me that the engraving and the casting was done by one of their own young men, and that the material was obtained by melting lead bullets which they had dug from the walls of their homes, and some of which had at one time or other done deadly service during the fighting in the vil- lages, then I began to prize the lead in the medal as much as if it had been gold or silver; and above all this, the value of the medal consists chiefly in what i