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

Johann Wieler, also Br. Johann Kargel, then Jakob Reimer and David Schellenberg and others. In 1887, Brother Heinrich Ewert, Sr., a minister of the Alexandertal Mennonite Church, joined the M.B. Church in the Molotschna and was recognized as a minister of the M.B. Church at a conference in Friedensfeld in 1888. However, he died in April 1889. The writer of this report had already been baptized in 1888 and having been called to come south, was inducted as a worker at Jasykovo, August 1889. Almost every year there were additions to the church. In 1894 the school teacher, Gerhard Claassen, formerly a teacher in Margenau, Molotschna, a graduate of the Halbstadt Pedagogical Institute (now a minister of the Davlekanovo M.B. Church) came to serve here (at Old Samara) as minister of the M.B. Church until 1900. After this, Br. Peter Koehn (former student at St. Chrischona) came from the Molotschna M.B. Church. He served here as appointed minister until 1907, partly supported by the M.B. General Conference and partly by the small local church. From the report we can see that this church distinguished itself by its readiness to give sacrificially. Br. Koehn went to Waldheim, Molotschna, in 1907. Sometime, during the time span mentioned, Br. Johann Wiebe, a former elder of the Mennonite Church, joined the Mariental congregation, after he had vainly attempted, over a long period of time, to structure practices in his church in conformity with his convictions. Our reporter, Br. Jakob Epp, died in 1903 (?). Brother Johann Isaak had been ordained as minister in 1905. Since then he has already been serving for some time in the Gortschakovka M.B. Church (Province of Ufa). Since 1887 this congregation has its own church building in the village of Mariental (later this was enlarged). Membership in 1905 stood at 48; with adherents the total was 98. The only person definitely known to be in the leadership at present (1910) is the above mentioned Br. Joh ann Wiebe. In 1905, Br. Cornelius Wiebe was deacon and had been since 1901. It is not clear from the report whether the Mariental M.B. Church is an independent church or an affiliate of the Rueckenau-Molotschna Church (the latter is hardly conceivable). XVII. The Nikolaipol M.B. Church in Russian Turkestan from 1887 to 1910 (Postal Address: Aulie-Ata, Syrdarienskoe District) This church came into being as the result of a so-called “Exodus” which began among the Molotschna people and was particularly strong in the Volga colony, Koeppental parish, in the 70s and 80s of the last 570 THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH century. On the Volga it was Martin Claassen (author of a familiar, small volume on Mennonite history), a devout and reasonable man, and Claas Epp who was widely known among the Mennonites of Russia through his book, Die Entsiegelung des Propheten Daniels (The Decoding of the Prophet Daniel). Later he became even more notorious for his fanatical religious