A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

arms * Significant was Krestyaninov's observation that the vibrant church of the Mennonite Brethren consisted mainly of mem- bers from middle and younger generations, people who had grown up in the era of communism. He also recognized that their central concern was salvation-the new birth so central for Mennonite Brethren.41 The church continued to grow following its legal recogni- tion in 1967. By 1980 there were sixteen registered Menno- 152 IN THE SHADOW OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION nite Brethren churches in Asiatic Russia,42 Mass emigration to Germany in recent years, following the relaxing of restrictions through perestroika, resulted, however, in a considerable de- crease. The influence of the Russian Mennonite Brethren Church stands out clearly in a statement by the General Secretary of the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists to a group of North American Mennonite Brethren visitors in Moscow in 1987: The Mennonite Brethren are an important influence in the development of the churches in Russia. They distin- guish themselves from our native Russian believers in three areas; 1. They have a broad knowledge of the Scriptures (more so than our Russian people) rooted in their family life. 2. They are known for greater consistency in relation to faith and life. They seek to live by what they profess. 3* They are a people with a missionary vision, evange- lizing their neighbors and reaching out to people who do not know the gospel.43 Mennonite Brethren, as others, stood the test of seventy years under communist rule. Their restoration after forty years (1927-1967) of extinct congregational life stands as a tes- timony of divine mercy and grace. 153 CHAPTER 13 Mennonite Immigration from Russia to Canada during the 1920s IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MENNONTTE BRETHREN CHURCH The Russian Revolution, with its political and econom- ic upheaval and social instability following the First World War (1914-1918), provides the backdrop for the Mennonite exodus from Russia to Canada, Some twenty thousand Mennonites came to Canada in the years 1923- 1930. 1 In the almost 150 years (1778-1920) preceding the Revolution, the Mennonites in Russia had become an ethno- religious people with their own culture, self-government and a strong capitalistic economic system. Their survival as a peo- ple was incompatible with many features of the new Soviet experiment, including Maoist philosophy*2 Phillipp Comies and Benjamin B, Janz, leaders of the Mennonite Association for Economic and Social Development, gave further reasons for the need to "leave" Russ