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

ed to try to follow later. Finally, on July 28, the two trains headed south in the intense heat of summer. 10 NO-MAN’S-LAND: BETWEEN KHAN AND CZAR The Claas Epp faction of the Mennonite millennialists were des- tined by their choice of Bukhara to undergo even more hardships than they had encountered in Kaplan Bek and Tashkent. They would soon find that their deep desire to meet the risen Christ would place them in a dilemma that seemed insurmountable. Seeking Shar-i-Sabs In the midst of their many problems during their eight-month stay in the Tashkent area, they became even more certain that Christ was leading them step by step according to a divine plan to their “place of refuge’ south of Samarkand. In fact, by the time of their departure they had become convinced that the actual place of the heralded second coming of Christ would be in a small valley called Shar-i-Sabs (Valley of the Carrots), just 100 miles inside Buk- haran territory.' So intense were their hopes for a refuge at Shar-i-Sabs that they tried not even to think about the multiplying rumors they had heard concerning slavery being practiced in Bukhara. Some in the party dismissed the rumors and confidently relied on earlier Rus- sian treaty commitments with the khanate that supposedly prohibited slavery. Fears about slavery and barbarous natives, they contended, were completely unfounded, because the Russian army had conquered the area and completely wiped out the odious practice. Even with this kind of reassurance, however, many members of the group still No-Man’'s-Land: Between Khan and Czar 115 shuddered at the embellished stories of slave traders operating in the khanate and feared that they were probably looking forward to the arrival of such a choice group of submissive Europeans to prey upon. As preparations for the trip were completed, a gnawing concern gripped every member of the party, and some could visualize the potential destruction of the people and the movement at the hands of Bukharan slave traders. Instigated by the Antichrist, these barbarians might bring a holocaust of hellish evil upon them. Would they ever reach Shar-i-Sabs to meet Christ? With such uncertainty did they leave Kaplan Bek behind that only the encouragement of letters from Epp and the leadership of men like J. K. Penner and Hermann Jantzen could give them new courage. If what they were doing was the Lord's will, exhorted their leaders, then they had no choice in the matter. Furthermore, with the Lord with them, they did not have to fear slave traders, bandits, Russian officials, or the Antichrist himself. Journey Toward Bukhara This was the setting for their midsummer exodus. The climate of Turkestan was at its hottest, driest, and dustiest. On July 28, 1881, the day they left, the temperature was 99 degrees F., and those in the van wondered if it was a portent of the hellfire they were trying so desperately to elude. Still the