A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

s. In 1956 the total population was 2,162; ten years later it numbered only 1,700 and, in spite of a high birth rate, is still on the decrease. Membership in the M.B. Church has also de- clined. The Mennonite Brethren of Fernheim give spiritual assistance, since most of the M.B. ministers have also left the colony. Volendam The M.B. Church in Volendam was at first affiliated with the Fries- land M.B. Church. In November, 1949, it was formally organized as an independent congregation under the leadership of Franz Janzen with a membership of 138. A new brick church with a seating capacity of 400 was built in the village of Mariental in 1950. The aspirations and hopes expressed in this building program did not materialize. Although MCC and North American Mennonite confer- ences provided material aid as well as personnel, Volendam's economic progress was very slow. A considerable number of families migrated to Germany and Canada. From a population of 1,800 in 1950 the number had dwindled to 650 by 1966. By that time the Mennonite Brethren church had a membership of forty-five and was largely dependent on the church in Friesland for nurture and spiritual supervision.™ Asuncion Although the Mennonites settled in more or less isolated colonies, there were a few families who took up residence in Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay. Over the years more German speaking Mennonites moved to the city for reasons of employment or education. The Menno- nite Brethren group remained rather small, and for years worshipped with the people of the Mennonite Church. But in May of 1963 a Menno- nite Brethren church was formally organized in Asuncion with 31 mem- bers. This number has steadily increased and baptized membership in MENNONITE BRETHREN AROUND THE WORLD 425 1975 was at 80. Most of these have come from the colonies and so the wor- ship services are in the German language. 40 The National MB. Church More encouraging and even exciting has been the growth and de- velopment of M.B. Paraguayan churches and Indian Mennonite churches. Soon after their arrival in the Chaco several Mennonite lead- ers in Fernheim felt a burden for the moral and spiritual welfare of the nomadic tribes of Indians who surrounded the colony. When they discov- ered that the Indians were practicing infanticide and suffering from dis- eases and malnourishment, they did what they could to save the small remnant of some 600 Lenguas from almost certain extinction. In September, 1935, forty-eight members of the various Mennonite groups in Fernheim organized a missionary association under the name, Licht den Indianern (Light to the Indians). Though this was never an exclusively M.B. work, it was supported financially and some of the mis- sionaries were provided by the Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America through the Hillsboro missions office. 41 The association im- mediately began to work among the Lengua Indians with Gerh