Our Council With the Siberian Union Committee
By L. R. Conradi
ON May 28 I left Hamburg for eastern Russia. That I might have an interview with the newly appointed governor of German East Africa, at Berlin, it was necessary for me to delay my departure from Hamburg one day longer than I had intended; but this will save me at least a week in Africa. As it had been my privilege to meet the two former governors of German East Africa several times, I knew the advantage to be gained by a personal acquaintance with the governor, and tried hard to secure an appointment with him before his departure, about the middle of June. The governor received me very kindly. I informed him as to our work, and sought his personal advice concerning a suitable place for a health station in German East Africa. After we had thus spent about twenty-five minutes, he began to question me concerning our faith, especially regarding Christ's second advent, the destiny of the wicked, and the hope of the righteous. He also inquired whether we, as do some others, believe in the conversion of the world, or whether we expect to see the gathering in of a chosen few from all parts of the world. He appreciated our German mission report for 1910 very much, and I promised to send him our annual mission reports in the future, and also to supply him with some of our other publications. Brother Guy Dail met me at Berlin that evening, and we reached Warsaw the next morning. Poland, with a population of about ten million, has been recently cut off from the West Russian field, and is now a special mission, Elder H. Schmitz being in charge. In Warsaw, the third Russian city in size, with a population of eight hundred thousand, we have a neat place of meeting, and a church of thirty-five members, whose tithe and offerings last year were about one thousand dollars. Although the brethren here had been together the day before, expecting us, yet we were pleased11that they again took pains to meet, at 10 A. M., and that after our meeting with the church we could spend over an hour with our workers in this field. Seeing that we have scarcely a hundred members in all Russian Poland, and only a handful of workers, there is surely a great field yet before us here. There is but one fast second-class daily train from Warsaw to Moscow, so we had much difficulty in securing a place. In fact, all the places were taken, so we were compelled to secure a berth in the sleeper. Of late years there has been quite a change for the better in the Russian train service. Our train stopped only at the main stations, and only for a short time, so that we averaged a speed of about thirty-five miles an hour. The country between Warsaw and Moscow is mostly level or rolling land, with considerable timber. We reached Moscow about 3 P. M., May 30, and Elder O. Wildgrube, accompanied by one of the brethren, met us at the station. In connection with his dwelling, which is well situated, Brother Wildgrube has a meeting-hall. Moscow, a city of a million inhabitants, is really the center of the national and religious life of Russia, so that our workers here have experienced much of the worst sort of opposition. The enemy did everything possible to break up our meetings. However, through the blessing of the Lord, there is now a church of fifty-three members in this city. Until last winter the Central Russian field, with a population of sixty-five millions, had only one ordained minister. Several districts have recently been cut off, but still the field remains as large as Texas, and has a population of twenty-eight millions, with a membership of seventy-seven. Here we have a field with a population greater than that of any American union, and yet containing only one ordained minister, a few Bible workers, and not a hundred members. However, humble as the beginning has been, the little effort we have made has caused a wonderful stir. On the evening of our arrival in Moscow, we took the train for Saratof, which we reached Friday afternoon. Elder G. Perk and others met us at the station, and we immediately went to the hotel, where most of our laborers had already secured rooms. Elders J. T. Boettcher and J. Sprohge had arrived from Riga, Thursday afternoon. We were glad to greet not only all the members of the Siberian Union Committee, but several leading brethren from the Central Asiatic and West Siberian fields, and nearly all the workers and quite a number of our brethren from the Ural and Volga fields. Saratof is a city of about two hundred thousand inhabitants. Our brethren here have secured a well-situated meeting-place for our small church of twenty-three members at this place. The Siberian Union exceeds any other union of the world in the extent of its territory. The East Siberian Mission, with a population of over three millions, is larger than all of Europe, and the West Siberian Mission is about half as large. The Central Asiatic field is about three times as large as Texas. The total population of this immense Siberian Union is something over forty-four millions. In all this vast territory we have thus far had only seven ordained ministers, and five of these, including the union superintendent, have had charge of a local field. We have had a dozen other workers. Altogether, there are fifty-three churches, with over one thousand members. The superintendent of the East Siberian field had to travel not less than five thousand miles to attend this meeting, and he was fourteen days on the way. He reports excellent meetings north of Vladivostok, near the Pacific Ocean. We spent part of our time giving instruction, and part of it in council. In view of the great needs of the field, the Russian Union gave us Brother G. Zierat, who has labored faithfully in the hot climate of the Trans-Caucasia. After careful consideration, it was decided to ordain him, with Brethren H. Gobel and H. Ostwald, to the gospel ministry. Brother Zierat, with his family, will settle in Samarkand, thus giving us one ordained minister to assist Elder J. Ebel, the superintendent of the Central Asiatic Mission. Samarkand, and Tashkent, where Brother Ebel is situated, are the centers of the Mohammedan world in that part of Asia. Elder Gobel, who has thus far been working in the Ural field, accepted an appointment to the district north of Vladivostok, where the superintendent of the field has reported such a good interest. Therefore, we shall now have an ordained minister near the shores of the Pacific, thus spanning the vast distance between the Atlantic and the Pacific—nearly three times as far as from New York to San Francisco. As we proceed with our work in the Russian empire, one thing becomes more and more apparent,—that under the present laws, our workers ought to be citizens of the country, and have a good knowledge of the Russian language. We were pleased to secure two promising native brethren of some education as students at the Friedensau school. One was at the meeting, and the other one comes from Harbin, Manchuria. While but a few years ago the very name of Siberia reminded one of all the horrors of the exile system, matters have greatly changed, and there now seems to be a constant stream of immigrants to this vast territory. Russia is doing everything possible to hasten the construction of the Amur Railway, which will give her connection with Vladivostok, on the Pacific, without using the Manchurian Railway. Those who go to assist in the construction of this railway receive free grants of land along the railway, and thus many Russian settlers are attracted to this eastern field. But although Siberia is so sparsely settled, yet our people often find great difficulty in living the truth there, because some of the Russian officials do not desire to tolerate any one unless he is a member of the Russian church. Quite a number of our brethren who had settled near members of the state church, had to leave their homesteads and houses without any remuneration, and form a settlement three hundred miles away. Three of our western fields—the Volga, the Ural, and the West Siberian—have greatly suffered from drought. Thousands had to receive government aid, and many of our own members have had to be assisted. Thus far nearly one thousand dollars has been sent them for their relief, the money coming in from various parts of Europe and from our Russian brethren in America. The Siberian Union Committee passed a vote of thanks for the help thus rendered. The canvassing work has also suffered in these fields. Worst of all, quite a number of our canvassers could secure no permission whatever from the government to circulate our literature. During this meeting Elder Boettcher received two telegrams definitely informing him that the tract society in Riga must be dissolved, and our Riga house closed. Seven other religious societies were dissolved at the same time. As a consequence of this information, Elder Boettcher had to leave for Riga before the meeting closed. It remains for us to see what can be done under the present circumstances, and in the midst of these difficulties. In spite of the many troubles the workers have to meet, they are of good cheer. The Lord came into our midst by his Spirit, and the prospects for the future seem brighter than ever before. The few days we spent together proved a season of profit and blessing. All feel grateful to God for his kind protection during our meetings and council here. Although the number of workers is small for this great field, yet we are indeed happy that, according to the present arrangement, each field will have at least one ordained minister in addition to its superintendent. As some of these men must travel hundreds of miles by sleigh in the severe cold of the Siberian winter, and often live in the humblest huts, and work under the greatest difficulties, let us all remember them in our prayers. Especially let us ask God to raise up more workers for this tremendous field.