IN EASTERN RUSSIA

From Eupatoria we returned to Odessa, and during our stay made the acquaintance of the American Consul, who had shown much interest in our welfare. Notwithstanding the dangers we had already encountered, we decided that before returning to Switzerland Bro. Roth and I would visit some of the German colonies in Eastern Russia. Accompanied by Bro. Perk, we again embarked on the Black Sea, sailing eastward as far as the mouth of the Dnieper River. Going up the Dnieper, we spent the Sabbath at Cherson, an old fortified city, and after a pleasant trip of three days arrived in Alexandrov, from which place we continued our journey on the cars. Near Alexandrov was a Mennonite settlement, and all along the road we noticed their neat little villages.HSFM 266.4

At Wiesenfeld, the home of Bro. Perk, we spent two days. Though our stay was short, we found some interested ones, and regretted that we could not visit all the Sabbath-keepers in this section. As we proceeded on our journey, we found the country changing for the better. We noticed more timber, and there was more wood used in the construction of the buildings.HSFM 266.5

A journey of about fifteen hundred miles from Odessa brought us to Saratov, on the Volga. This city has upwards of a hundred thousand inhabitants, among them many Germans, who have two fine churches here. As Bro. Perk had friends in the city, we made our home with them during our stay.HSFM 266.6

No sooner had we arrived than we were informed that the Lutheran ministers, having learned from our papers of my intention to visit Saratov, were ready at the first opportunity to secure our arrest. But being thus forewarned, we were on our guard to give them no occasion against us.HSFM 266.7

We arrived in the city early Sunday morning, and in the forenoon I spoke by request to a select company of friends. In the afternoon we visited a family of Sabbath-keepers who live on the outskirts of the city. We were glad to find here a good earnest couple who were not only trying to keep God’s commandments, but were doing all they could to spread the truth.HSFM 267.1

With these friends we ascended one of the hills which form a semicircular wall around the city, while the river Volga forms the front. We had a good view of the city and its many churches, of the great river, alive with steamers, and of the great plain across the river, stretching away toward the east. A few days’ drive across this plain would bring us to Asia, the home of more than half the world’s population. Already the truth has taken root in Saratov, this great outpost; who will carry it to the millions beyond? Oh, as in imagination we looked beyond the barriers, to this great dark continent with its eight hundred million souls, we could but say, “Truly, the world lies in darkness, and Satan is the prime ruler.” But soon a better day will come, when righteousness shall prevail. May God help us to prize the light and to let it shine, that some may yet be brought from darkness.HSFM 267.2

The next day we left Saratov, to visit Bro. Conrad Laubhan, from Kansas, with whom I had become acquainted in that State, and who with his family came here in May to labor among his friends. We went by steamer down the Volga, and had a pleasant trip, not only enjoying a view of some fine scenery, but finding much that was of interest on the steamer itself. Most of the steamers on the Volga are built in England, some being fitted up after the American style, and they are fast sailers. The Volga is navigable for over fifteen hundred miles, while there is a thousand miles of navigation on the Caspian Sea. There being no railroad that follows the river, it is the channel for all the commerce of the vast region drained by its tributaries, and of the countries bordering on the Caspian. The Volga is, in fact, the great eastern highway for all the travel from the interior of Asia to the principal centers of commerce in Russia, especially to Nijni-Novgorod, where, during the famous markets, from two to three hundred thousand persons gather.HSFM 267.3

Our steamer was well filled, not only with Russians, Tartars, Cossacks, and German colonists, but with Persians who were on their way home from Novgorod. These people occupied the whole of the lower deck. They had their carpets spread on the floor, and sat with crossed legs, some chatting in their peculiar tongue, others sipping tea from tiny china cups, while others were smoking tobacco. Their pipes were quite a peculiar and elaborate affair. On the floor stood an air-tight vessel containing water, and on this rested a large bowl with the tobacco, while a little tube passed from the pipe into the water. The smoking tube, which is very long and flexible, was inserted in the side of this vessel, and as the smoker drew out the air, the smoke was forced through the water, and thus, before it reached the smoker, was freed from some of its poisonous qualities.HSFM 267.4

On the boat we had an opportunity to see the Mohammedan worship. Toward evening, while we were sitting on the deck, a man approached the paddle-box, spread a handsomely ornamented shirt upon it, and taking off his shoes set them on two of the corners to hold them down, while he laid his comb on the opposite end. He then engaged in prayer, closing his eyes, and seeming to be lost to all around him. He stood while praying, but from time to time would kneel, and touch his forehead to the comb. When we afterward went below we found all the Persians chanting their prayers, some standing and some kneeling, some touching their heads to brazen rings instead of their combs.HSFM 267.5

Late in the evening we arrived at the Russian village of Tscherbakovka. From this place a road leads along a little creek, through a narrow valley, to a German village by the same name. There are about forty mills on the creek, and at one of these Bro. Laubhan resided with his brother. The night was very dark, the road muddy, and the neighborhood infested by robbers, but we fortunately met two German mill-boys, who conducted us safely to our destination.HSFM 268.1

We were glad to meet our brother in this far eastern land, and we spent several days in counseling together, and visiting a few interested ones. When he came here, Bro. L. held a number of meetings, but was finally stopped by the elders of the Lutheran Church at the request of their pastor. He then extended his work to other places, but continued to visit the interested ones here. Many were convinced of the truth, several had begun to obey, and a number were investigating.HSFM 268.2

From this place we returned to Saratov, where we had a good meeting on the Sabbath. Had not these friends been so scattered, and our time so limited, we would have organized a church, but we hope that an organization will soon be effected. Toward evening we parted from the friends here, and Brn. Perk and Laubhan, with another brother who had that day kept his first Sabbath, accompanied us to the station. Bro. Perk had been three months with me. We had started out with high hopes, but how suddenly had they been overthrown. We had spent many a day together in painful uncertainty, only relieved as we sought consolation from above; but the Lord had been better to us than our fears. Now, after sharing joy and sorrow, we separated, he to continue to labor amidst perils and difficulties for the advancement of God’s cause in Russia, I to return to preach the word to the millions in Germany and Switzerland.HSFM 268.3