The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

choosing new religious holidays to suit his own personal convictions. Later he attacked known religious holidays, such as Christmas, because, he argued, they had worldly rather than biblical 172 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites origins.'® It did not cross his mind that neither his attitudes toward dissident brethren nor his new celebrations were very biblical. The majority of Epp’s followers, however, blindly accepted his whims, and he continued his harsh treatment of those who disagreed with his leadership. Another critic of Epp had been a staunch supporter whose op- position evolved gradually. Community teacher Wilhelm Penner be- came the focus of attention and controversy over a practical problem. Penner’s home, which was attached to the school, used more fuel than any other in the village. One member of the community who had the duty of going into the desert to search for fuel complained to Epp that teacher Penner was ungrateful for his fuel and never did any manual labor to help himself. Epp therefore announced that the Lord had told him that teachers were not privileged people and that Penner must henceforth gather his own fuel. Penner was per- sonally offended by this turn of events not because he had to use study time to gather fuel but because Epp had said the Lord told him. Thus he began questioning in his own mind other commandments which the Lord had delivered through Epp’s tongue.'* Penner did not speak out against Epp at this time but waited patiently as other events strengthened his questioning spirit. As time went on, Epp’s increasing authoritarianism and prophetic pretensions began to alienate more followers. In one sermon, Epp preached that Christ had suffered for human beings for their souls’ salvation; now Epp was being called upon by God to give salvation to their bodies when they were resurrected. Therefore, Epp believed, he had to go through spiritual suffering and trials so he would be worthy. One woman in the congregation that day could not agree with this teaching and she stood up and verbally disagreed. Pausing for a moment, Epp said he did not appreciate being ‘‘stabbed in the back” by one of his followers. Even the long-suffering Pen- ner still could not attack Epp’s authority. One reason for Penner's reticence was that in the midst of all these problems Epp gained in popularity when he gave an outstanding funeral oration that im- pressed all the people of Ak Metchet. For all his eccentricity, Epp's ability as a leader could not be questioned at this time, even by Penner.” Epp’s Trip to the World Empires In 1886, Epp proclaimed that the Lord told him he would soon Refuge Becomes a Trap 173 have to leave Ak Metchet. He began teaching that he was going with the Prophet Elijah for a face-to-face confrontation with the Anti- christ in the West. He was to travel first to Transcaspia to hold sev- eral meetings with sympathizers and then confront the great “w