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

to the point of self-destruction. That, in my view, is the most precious monument to these men. That is the result of my (by that time) fifteen years of delving into the past of our Russian Mennonitism. But the brothers Kroeker (whose work I so much appreciate) could not know all this about Brother Johann Claassen. I entreat you to deposit this letter in the archives of the Kuban Church, just in case I am not able to publish a biography of Claassen in the context of a history of the M.B. The M.B. Church 1873-1885 503 Church. I heartily greet you and all those who love our Lord Jesus and His Kingdom of grace and truth, and remain yours in ever constant respect- ful love for you and your spiritual kin and fellow workers, P.M. Friesen.” 3. A view of the state and development in the Kuban area can be derived from the reports of two itinerant preachers of this period (before Daniel Fast’s ministry as elder and after Johann Claassen’s death). The abridged reports are those of Abraham Unger, 1875, and Christian Schmidt, 1876. We here abridge without use of quotation marks. a) Brother Abraham Unger writes: "On October 23, 1875, I began the journey [by train] of nine hundred versts to the Kuban Church together with Brother Jacob Reimer of Blumenau and Brother Heinrich Huebert of the Kuban. We arrived at Alexanderfeld on Sunday, October 26. We visited Br. Peter Berg and then went to church. We remained there ten days, during which time we made twenty-three house visitations and preached in six services. I made a special effort to visit all the Old Colonists in their homes, which I considered my duty. But I visited many others as well. I found what I had known in part earlier, namely, that many of our people had joined the Friends of Jerusalem. This happened through the influence of Heinrich Neufeld [see above XXI, May 7, 1867, and Lepp’s corrections, #201(2 )] and the mad Johann Friesen from Gnadenheim at the time they delivered the entire church to the Devil, 302 with the result that the church was scattered, as when a hawk descends upon little chicks. Mad foolishness! The Friends of Jerusalem exploited this time of confusion to win many of our people for their movement. But that was not the worst of it, for we know that there are many honest individuals among them. Unfortunately many of them had strayed so far from God that they no longer considered music and dance to be sinful. Some have become sober again and want to return to the church. The brethren H. Huebert and Daniel Fast take pains to lead the church according to the teaching of the apostles and of Jesus Christ. This is difficult because confidence in one another has been weakened greatly by the dissension. But this may change little by little, if only more of the erring ones find the right pathway and return to the church. The brothers Jaeckel, Peter Gaede and Heinrich Neufeld with their consorts are a special group, and therefore cannot hav