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

in his faith. It is not so, however, even though he may have confessed to having one-sidedly preached free grace while neglecting the other part of Scripture, and then suffered chastening by the rod which he himself had planted. He wanted so much to correct his mistake, but he was unable to do so because death surprised him! Certainly, the feelings, which allowed him to taste the misfortune which stormed in upon him from all sides [during this period his enemies had once again set the authorities at his throat because of ‘propaganda’; no less painful was the separation from the ‘Joyous’], had to become overpowering and had to shake him to the very depths of his being! In his last suffering-filled days he was quiet and spoke little; once he gave me a very friendly look and said: ‘Oh, I feel so well, indeed I feel a heavenly well-being!' At that point he must have overcome all of his difficult battles, and God now, finally, in His grace, gave him, for all the bitter things he had experienced, sweet and heavenly blessings, which no longer forsook him ! One or two days before his death I began, quite frankly with an anxious heart, to sing a verse from Hiller’s ‘Schatzkaestlein’ at his bedside, because he loved singing so well: ‘One may place his trust in grace,’ but I had hardly begun to sing when he quickly joined in quite strongly: “One trusts it without remorse, And should dark fear o’ercome us. The words— God is true— remain!” “And should the grief grow greater, Still we believe and call aloud: Oh, thou mighty Savior, You come, then come indeed!” "I knew nothing of many of the things that depressed him; he naturally kept many things from me in order not to make my heart heavier than it already was, since I clearly foresaw his death! And once, after he had lain there quietly for some time, he called out in a loud voice: ‘Jesus! Jesus! nothing but Jesus!’ That certainly testifies to the fact that he must have quietly been very preoccupied with his dear Savior and quite satisfied with His leading. Some brethren were also present at his death, among them Leonhard Sudermann and his wife, who stood by me. . . .” c) “Wuest's funeral took place the following Sunday. A great number of Swabians, Prussians [from the Mariupol ‘Plan’], and Mennonites had come, some from great distances. This participation Alliance and Communion Fellowship 227 even at his grave testified to the great love they bore Wuest, who had been a spiritual father and leader to them and had awakened in them a joy of life the like of which they had not dreamed of previously. “In the center of the well-kept Neu-Hoffnung cemetery, amidst the rustling leaves of the friendly village woods, there rises a tombstone, which covers his ashes and is surrounded with flowers provided by the loving hands of his congregation to this very day, decorated with a surrounding border and a bronze monument, which to this day preaches Wuest’s