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

1899, he was confirmed as elder of the Spat M.B. Church by the Elders Br. Aron Lepp and Br. David Schellenberg. In the spring of 1900, after an extended period of service, Br. Johann Friesen was ordained as minister and Br. Johann Dick as deacon. Later, also the brethren Abram Klaas Kroeker and Dietrich Doerksen were assigned to assist in the proclamation of the Word, while Br. Isaak Dick was appointed deacon. “Though in the course of time it had to contend with not a few distressing experiences and church problems, the church stands today (1902) as a monument to the grace and faithfulness of God. The church consists of some 140 families, 330 members, a total of about 810 adherents, and seeks to build itself up through the Sunday worship and the weekly Bible study and prayer meetings. Over the years, the following have been called into being in various localities and have been sustained by the grace of God: choirs, young men's and young women’s organizations, work associations [women’s groups for mission purposes], and Sunday schools. May the Lord, who began this work on the Crimea peninsula [not only in the form of the M.B. Church, but previously and concurrently also in various forms in both of the Mennonite churches] and who has sustained it, bring it to completion according to His good 556 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH pleasure! To Him be honor and glory eternally!” So far basically the brethren Duerksen and Kroeker. 2. Of the above-mentioned ministers of the Word, the brethren Abram and Jakob Kroeker moved away to Neu-Halbstadt 345 in 1905 in order to be near the printing press in the interests of their publishing activity. In 1905 in Schoental (twelve versts distant from the Kurman-Kemeltschi Station where Elder David Duerksen had lived since 1897), a large church structure was erected so that in actuality the center of the M.B. Church in the Crimea has shifted to Schoental. It is a joy for us to say that the brethren in the Crimea participate with devotion and zeal in Mennonite education. The brethren David Duerksen and Jakob Kroeker were active members (now?) in the commission consisting of elders and ministers entrusted with the instruction and examination of religion and the German language. Also, the members of the M.B. Church participate, by way of advising, assisting, and contributing, in the sudden and successful establishment and support of the two new Mennonite high schools in the Crimea (1905 in Karassan, and 1906 in Spat). The initiative in founding a girls’ high school came essentially from the Mennonite Brethren Church. 346 The brethren, as in other areas, are represented in the teaching staff of the Crimean Mennonites. The generosity of this church in regard to all worthwhile spiritual and other causes seems exemplary to us. It was probably the first Mennonite church, at least in Taurida, to come to the aid of the government when, in 1904, it made a substantial contributi