Mennonite Weekly Review

RUECKENAU, Ukraine — Foreign visitors made a pilgrimage to sites at the root of Mennonite Brethren history as they celebrated a faith tradition that has spread around the world.

An international delegation joins local people in Rueckenau, Ukraine, beside a building that was constructed as a Mennonite Brethren church in 1883. A plaque was unveiled on the side of the building to commemorate the founding of the MB movement near there 150 years ago. — Photo by Peter Horban

As part of worldwide celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the MB church, more than 100 people gathered May 16 in the village of Rueckenau, near to the place where 18 men signed a document seceding from the larger Mennonite church in 1860.

The day began with a delegation from Japan, Germany, Brazil and Canada joining a Ukrainian Mennonite congregation in the village of Kutuzovka. The church, formerly Petershagen Mennonite Church, was dedicated in 1892 and restored 10 years ago.

Representatives from Paraguay were held up in Vienna, Austria, due to a visa problem.

Ben Stobbe of Victoria, B.C., chair of the Friends of the Mennonite Center in Molochansk, described in an e-mail the international character of the event, which included prayers in Japanese, German, English and Russian, as well as a greeting from churches in Brazil.

A talk by Moriki Hatakenaka, a pastor from Tokyo, especially impressed the congregation.

“Imagine them seeing a Japanese man standing in front of the church saying he was Mennonite,” Stobbe wrote. “Then he read the Scripture in Japanese. The children sat bolt upright — this was more unreal than Google Earth! How could his tongue curl around those words so fast and speak with such volume? Ukrainian pours out like cream; Japanese staccatos out in bite-size pieces.”

Later on May 16, the group traveled to Rueckenau, where an MB church building was built in 1883. Many local people, as well as regional representatives, joined the delegation.

“These are warm, friendly people, accustomed to nostalgic Canadians coming to visit and talk about some distant relative who lived here, owned a flour mill there, spoke German and planted trees,” Stobbe wrote.

Rudy and Hildegarde Baerg, North American directors of the Mennonite Center in Molo­chansk, noted that Ukrainian dignitaries welcomed the event’s audience and spoke of Mennonite contributions to development of the region.