A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

ndian name meaning "rapidly flowing river." In fact, two rivers bearing this name — the North Saskatchewan and the South Saskatchewan — flow through the province, meet just east of the city of Prince Albert and from there continue as one to Lake Winnipeg. This vast territory in Central Canada, which was to become Canada"s greatest wheat-producing area, entered Confederation as a province in 1905. Even before that date, Mennonite farmers were attracted to this area because of the availability of free homesteads and cheaper land. Mennonite Brethren, together with many other Mennonites, settled in two main areas which became known as the Rosthern Kreis (in North Saskatchewan) and the Herbert Kreis (in South Saskatchewan). Since the Mennonite Brethren of this province were organized for many years as North Saskatchewan and South 158 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH Saskatchewan District Conferences, this division will be observed in describing the founding of churches in these respective areas." North Saskatchewan {Rosthern Kreis) According to J. F. Harms, the first M. B. families to come into the province, mostly from Manitoba, settled around the town of Laird." The Laird congregation was organized in 1898 v/ith approximately sixty members under the leadership of Jacob B. Wiens. Laird has the distinction of being the first organized M. B. church in Saskatchewan. This church, as well as other congregations that were established later, endured the hardships of pioneer life. Periodic droughts, long and severe winters and a widely scattered membership combined to test the faith and perseverance of the early settlers. One pioneer wrote in 1899 "that they could only go the nineteen miles to church every other Sunday as the horses were so thin and poor. . . ."" The church was located originally four and one half miles east of town in the Ebenfeld school district. For this reason the church was also known as the Ebenfeld M.B. Church until 1911, when it was relocated in the town of Laird." During the first two decades of the twentieth century a minor "wave" of immigration from the United States led to a rapid expansion of Mennonite Brethren settlements and congregational activities. Most of these Mennonite Brethren families came from Minnesota and Nebraska, but there were also a few from South Dakota and Kansas. In addition, small groups came directly from Russia just prior to World War I. According to available records 2 ' congregations were established in the Rosthern Kreis as follows, (with number of charter members in parenthesis): Rruderfeld, six miles west of Waldheim, in 1901 (25); Ebenezer (now Dalmeny) in 1901 (39); Hoffnungsfeld (now Borden) in 1904 (72); Aberdeen (now extinct) in 1906(22); Hepburn in 1910 (115); and Waldheim in 1918 (65). 11 A man who gave strong leadership to the young congregations in this area was elder David Dyck who settled in the Borden area in 1906. In 191