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

from the home church. Because of this, the church sensed a special need for an experienced leader. The Lord made Brother and Sister Kornelius Fehr (see above, Jasykov) willing to come and to “dedicate their lives to the Lord and to the church to the end" after declining the invitation for two years (1900). On the recommendation of the general meeting of the year before and in response to the wish of the church in Kamenka, the brethren Aron Lepp and Hermann Neufeld came to ordain Brother Fehr as elder of the now independent church of Kamenka. The ordination was held on June 17, 1900 “and the words of Psalm 5:13 were fulfilled.” “Because the field of labor was great” the Lord granted new workers. The brethren Jakob Toews, previously ordained to serve as deacon, Jakob Friesen and Gerhard Neufeld were ordained to the teaching ministry, and Brother Heinrich Esau as a deacon on September 16, 1900. In that year, 30 persons were baptized. 564 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH §254 Thus the Lord has continued to build His Kingdom with great blessing. Even though at the beginning our future seemed to be dark, the Lord has gloriously provided.” In January 1902, the church had 176 members. Since then eight years have passed. For these years we have no specific records. The year 1906/1907 was an economically depressed year. But again we found that the Chortitza Volost gave strong and many-sided assistance. 2. The leadership in 1902 consists of: Elder, Komelius Fehr. Mininsters: Johann Epp, Jakob Heide, Jakob Toews, Jakob Friesen, Gerhard Neufeld, Abram Teichrow .... Deacons: Hermann Neufeld, Heinrich Esau. IX. The Nikolaievka Mennonite Brethren Church (Ignatievo) from 1889-1910 Province of Ekaterinoslav, District Bachmut Postal Address: New York, District of Bachmut We report somewhat freely from a detailed letter written by Br. Hermann Neufeld, presently elder of the church, dated April 1904. In 1888, the Chortitza Volost bought the estate Ignatievo for those who had no land. This estate was in the District of Bachmut. In 1889 six villages were established here. The main centers here are New York where the Mennonite Church and also the secondary school are located and Nikolaievka, which is the center of the Mennonite Brethren Church and also has a secondary school, established primarily on the initiative of the “brethren.” One piece of this land was set aside to provide a reserve or fund to care for the landless people in the future. Nikolaievka, right from the beginning, was settled primarily by members of the Mennonite Brethren Church. The Nikolaievka Church, now independent, was formerly an affiliate of the Einlage Church and now includes in its membership the brothers and sisters who live in the three villages of the adjacent Chortitza settlement, Borissovo. Although spiritual workers who had been called were lacking, "the little group built itself up into a spiritual house” and soon the brethren A