THE MENNONITE BROTHERHOOD IN RUSSIA (1789 - 1910), P. M. Friesen, 1911

as Wiens and also copied this farewell address which he, according to his own notes, delivered on June 22, 1847, in the Margenau Church when Wiens was not permitted to do it himself. After five-years’ service as elder, Wiens had not only been forcefully removed from his office but also condemned to life-long exile from Russia for the same reasons and by the same authorities that had forced Jakob Warkentin to step down. He went to the Mennonites in Prussia. The following is an unabridged copy of the address. b) “Farewell Address of our beloved Elder Heinrich Wiens of Gnadenheim. Sent to his dear congregation which he left behind.” [Thus on the cover of our copy.] 63 “The farewell of Heinrich Wiensz of Gnadenheim. To the two elders of the congregations in Lichtenau and Pordenau, all of the honorable ministers, and my dearly beloved church in Christ. “Only a few more days and we shall depart from here for a beautiful land, leaving behind plague and fear. It is well that our plague-filled path ends so abruptly. 144 IN RUSSIA 1789-1860 “Be on your guard, brethren, continue in prayer lest the last day suddenly come upon us to our grief and dismay, as a snare descending and a thief by night, for the good and the wicked to eternal woe [sic]. April 26, 1847.” “In conclusion, I, your loving elder, wish you eternal life and raise my hands up to God over you. “My dearly beloved colleagues and fellow servants, united in the name of Jesus and the cause of truth, which is and must remain in us to eternity, the salvation, grace, mercy and peace of God the Father and of the Son Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father in truth and in love, be and remain with you and us all! Amen. [sic]. “My beloved, since the Lord Inspector has informed me through a written order of my impending exile from this our Russian Empire, and since I shall, as earlier, not be allowed personally to meet with my fellow-believers again and must therefore take my leave of you in this life, which I now see as a call of God to me even as it once happened to Abraham, and having the desire to be edified with you in love, I have no alternative but to write you. Even though all of this has come over me as a result of hate, the desire for revenge, and the slanderous accusation of my enemies, the same words as those of Genesis 12 come to me: Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. “To leave my external home and farm here is not difficult for me! But alas to leave my colleagues, the children, and the congregation which weighs so heavily upon my heart and which I served so faithfully and tirelessly, although in great weakness for twenty -one years, in such a maimer! And since it seems that the dangers threatening the soul are really beginning to come to the fore, it all but breaks my heart! But what shall I say to you or complain about when God has said: you shall go where I send you, a