p. 14 | The East Russian Mission by Guy Dail

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jan 2, 1908

The East Russian Mission

By Guy Dail

GUY DAIL

The first general meeting of the East Russian Mission was held October 9-13, in Saratof, on the Volga, a city of about one hundred forty-three thousand inhabitants.

The territory of this field, which, beginning with Jan. 1, 1908, is to be made up of a part of the former East Russian Conference and German Union District, contains the governments of Astrakhan, Saratof, Samara, Orenburg, and Ufa, and further, it embraces Siberia, western Turkestan, Khiva, and Bokhara. It has an area of 5,300,000 square miles, and contains 28,848,100 inhabitants. It is in many ways a fascinating field—a field of tremendous distances, of great extremes of climate, of almost unlimited natural resources, and of a mixed multitude of peoples, whose languages, institutions, and religions show very marked differences and contrasts.

Thus far our own work is chiefly among the Germans, although here, too, we have good Russian churches. There were thirty-three delegates, representing the seventeen churches and companies, at the meeting. Our membership is four hundred sixty-nine. During the first nine months of this year, seventy-eight additions have been reported in the East Russian Mission; while the tithe during that time was seven hundred seventy-seven dollars.

The people receive their money in the fall, when the farmers sell their produce, so we hope the tithe of the fourth quarter will be much greater than any preceding quarter. We also should not forget that parts of this field have been visited by a famine, so that even many of our own people had to receive aid from without. Of course this would influence our income.

The meetings were held in a well-located house which we had secured for the occasion. They were properly announced, and all who came were admitted until there was no more room. The presence of the policeman was appreciated, as one or two evenings the services might have been much disturbed by unruly elements had there been no policeman on hand. There were three priests of the state church at the opening lecture, and priests were in our audience the following evenings. About three hundred persons could be conveniently accommodated, but as many as four hundred hearers were present each night. Brethren L. R. Conradi, J. T. Boettcher, and O. Wildgrube assisted the native workers in the lectures and business proceedings.

We were much pleased to see that one of our former brethren who tried to influence the Russians in particular by bringing them another gospel, gained no hearing. However, in some districts false teaching and working against the gospel plan of supporting the ministry have met with more success. All these things show how necessary it is that we build our faith on simple Bible truth, the love of which we must cherish in our hearts, so that nothing shall offend us or separate us from the work entrusted to the church of Christ in this, the last generation.

Aside from the recommendations similar to those that were passed in the first two of our Russian meetings this fall,—reports of which have already appeared in the REVIEW,—there was one resolution that I feel sure will be interesting to our friends generally who may have assisted our people with money or by their prayers during the famine on the Volga. We only wished that all who had in any way acted a part in relieving their distress might have been eye-witnesses of the scene when the delegates expressed their gratitude to God and to their brethren for the help they had received; the donors certainly would have rejoiced that their acts of love had been so highly appreciated by these dear brethren, who had passed through such a time of need. The occasion was also improved to impress upon the Russian- and German-speaking brethren the necessity of being true to God in all things, for that will be expected of them—not only by those who have thus shown their willingness to help, but also by the heavenly intelligences who are interested in the development of the cause of God in the earth.

The report of Elder H. K. Loebsack's recent experiences in Siberia and Turkestan, where we have four companies and about seventy-five believers, was also listened to eagerly. He visited Samarkand, with its famous architectural ruins and tomb of Tamerlane. He passed through Tashkend, and organized the company at Aulieata, not very far from that city. He visited the believers at Semipalatinsk and at Omsk. He met Kirghiz Tartars, who were interested in the message. He stated that, were he to seek out all our brethren in this part of his field, it would require at least a full year, as they are so widely separated, and the methods of travel are in many places so primitive.

Here, as much as in any part of the Russian Union, there is need of more workers. Therefore the delegates took an active interest in the steps to collect funds for our Russian institutions. Two hundred five rubles was raised for the material fund, one hundred twenty-five rubles of which is cash, while the remaining eighty rubles is to be paid

within a year. (A ruble is about fifty cents American money.)

Brother H. K. Loebsack was unanimously asked to act as superintendent another year. He will be assisted by one ordained minister, three Bible workers, and two colporteurs—surely not too many for a field that is twice as large as the United States of America. There is certainly enough to be done in the East Russian Mission, with its wide-extended territory and millions of inhabitants. Let the field not be forgotten.

Saratof.