It was so plain and obvious to all that no one had to wonder what the government intended in this particular situation. Again this news aroused much concern, sorrow, and anxiety and all those in their right minds and especially the leaders, as Aeltesten and ministers, looked to the future with heavy hearts. Would the Privilegium, which had been issued by the federal government, really be revoked? It seemed almost impossible that the loving heart, the heretofore gracious and well-wishing heart of the fatherland, could so quickly turn away from its Mennonite children, and demand of them duties which they could not in good conscience perform. But as it says in the introduction to one of the apostle Paul’s letters, all who desire to follow Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Even if it has not yet come to physical martyrdom, it is nevertheless persecution of our teaching and withdrawal of our educational freedom. Soon we were forced to witness what we didn’t want to believe: highly educated and totally worldly school inspectors appeared in our towns and began selecting the sites for the district schools, which were to be built in accordance with the new law. These men openly stated that if we did not hand our children over to be educated in these schools, our brothers would simply be persuaded to do so through prison sentences and military fines. The first school (as far as I can remember) was built in the village of Reinland. The second school was built in Neuenberg, at the end of the village, right near the home of the dear Aeltester Ohm Johann Friesen, and I’m convinced it was built there out of envy and malicious glee. To our great dismay, we soon learned that many of our false brothers, as traitors and conspirators, were working hand in hand with the government and were even giving officials advice on how to get us into their net quicker.

As I already mentioned, these inspectors did not hesitate to verbally assault the Aeltester with questions about why we wanted to oppose the government. They asked if the English language were not as holy as the German one, and if the English Bible were not as much God’s Word as the German one. In response to these questions the Aeltester answered that the issue was not the language but the fact that it was impossible for us to allow our children to be raised under the flag and under the enthusiastic expression of military zeal. And finally the Aeltester asked the inspector if he himself didn’t believe that the school of today represents the church of tomorrow. Yes, he replied, but he added that it would take about ten or twenty years to come into effect. To another the Aeltester asked what the true meaning of flying the flag above the schools meant, if not the same thing that it meant when it was raised above the battlefields, to which the official had to concede a begrudging “yes.”

But all of our protest was in vain. How often the Aeltester returned anxious and dejected from Winnipeg where he had gone to seek counsel, and how often in the Thursday assembly of the brotherhood he said to the Ohms that our situation was indeed very sad. For all of the lords, regents, and rulers of the land seemed to have turned their looks of friendly approval away from us as if they no longer wished to hear if we complained of our need.

I have already alluded to the extensive monetary offering to the Red Cross that was expected of our congregation during the war, which the government recognized at the time with warm thanks. It was also during the war that the region some seventy-five miles to the west of Morden – the hills of an English settlement called Deloraine – experienced severe crop failure because of a locust invasion. After a plea for assistance was issued to our leaders, we donated about $4,000 and two loads of feed. Our donation was gratefully received and in return we received many moving letters of thanksgiving. Shortly after this our Aeltester and our Vorsteher, Uncle Johann Rempel, were called to Morden by an official, who may have had a high position in the telegraph service. When he arrived there, this man said he only wanted to thank him for all the help our congregation had given, and to say that they wouldn’t have made it without us, and if there were ever anything that he could in return, he would be most happy to do so.

And as things were getting ever worse with the school issue, not only were our brethren being punished with fines and jail time, but the dear minister and servant of the congregation Peter Friesen was sent to Winnipeg as an “evildoer” and was sentenced to two weeks in prison. This awakened a considerable amount of anxiety throughout the congregation, especially because of the time of year – it was springtime, the time when Peter Friesen was supposed to prepare the young people for baptism. I can still remember how many tears were shed and prayers were said on his behalf!

And as the need of the church and the congregation grew ever greater, the thoughts of the Aeltester and Ohms turned once again to this man in Morden who had promised to help us. A delegation drove to Morden to see this man and to present our case to him, and to ask him if he would represent us to the rulers. For as soon as we could find a location, we intended to move away, but in the meantime we wanted him to ask the government to have patience with us and to give us more time. And he had promised that he would help us if ever he could.

Yes, the man acknowledged, the Mennonites had done much for us, and had donated much money, but this is still not blood. He continued, “I have three sons: one died in the war and is now resting in his grave, the other is somewhere on the ocean on his way there and the third will be sent there shortly, so that I will have sacrificed all three of my sons for the war. And the Mennonite sons live no better than ours. Their sons have as much right to be conscripted as our sons do.” And this was the sad answer of this man, with which the Aeltester and Vorsteher returned home.

And so the government continued with its school pressure. What made matters worse was that many in our congregation willingly conceded – even desired – to enroll their children in the public schools. They said, “We wish for our children a better education, higher learning than we received.” And with this the foundation for the tower of Babel was laid. In Genesis 11 it is written: “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we my make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:1–4).

During this time the people of Canada also began to mock us and yearned to have everything unified under one sceptre, one school, and one language, in order to make for themselves a great name among the nations, and so that in the next war they would be that much stronger. And Genesis continues, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” (Genesis 11:7). If we hold up God’s Word as a mirror, we will see that we are far from innocent of this Babylonian idolatry. As Revelation 17:2 states: “With [Babylon, the great prostitute] the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

These suspicious tracks could already be seen clearly back then, and this seed secretly grew among us far quicker and stronger than many would believe. For if we still wanted to boast that we were a people set apart, and if we wanted to humbly follow Christ, in spite of the hatred, ridicule, and contempt of the world, there was a lot of pride, exuberance, and arrogance among us, which only made the tower of Babel grow upwards in many of our hearts and homes. For it seemed that everyone wanted to be the most honoured, the most educated, and most respected, and each was trying to outdo the other. And this all came about because some had begun to doubt the command “thou shalt not covet.” And the great enlightenment with the improved schooling was a net, a dangerous trap, whereby many parents unknowingly allowed their children to be caught. For the enemy, a juggler, a master orator, knew exactly how to convince people that they could comfortably enjoy eating the forbidden fruit. If only he would receive honour, then he didn’t mind if the people continued reading God’s Word and tried to clothe themselves from head to toe in the dead words. It came to the point where it seemed that everything that was godly had collapsed – people were flying flags not only in the cities, but also in every town, and the powerful zeitgeist threatened to overtake everything. Our situation was just like the one described in 2 Thessalonians, where it says: “He will oppose or exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

And with the appearance of holiness, the word of God was partly incorporated as blindness or a larva, behind which the merely natural person would not immediately recognize Satan and be frightened. And it was said: “God’s Word is still being taught and the national language will never hurt us.” Should God have spoken? (Genesis 3:4). And the decline was already so extensive that many among us could not decide whether to obey the law and send their children to the worldly schools or not. Many said that if only they could send their children to the public schools without the threat of them having to bear arms, then they wouldn’t have a problem with it. Because of this sort of thinking, mass confusion erupted, which could only divide us further. It was not only because of this issue that the emigration question arose, but it damaged the congregation in other ways as well. People began to envy their neighbours. There were many who didn’t want to hear anything about the worldly schools. Others laughed about it and said: “We can teach the children the Word of God in the churches – we don’t need the schools for that. We should feel obligated to obey our rulers.” On and on it went like this. All of these dissenting opinions were indicative of a huge rift forming among us. If only we had been of one mind and one heart when we were confronted with the school question, then the government would have been forced to say: “Yes, there is a worthy people.” And the dear Lord would have let us enjoy the favour of the citizens of the country, so that we may have been able to stay a while longer in peace and quiet in Canada.

The people of Israel were once in a situation very similar to ours. If they had stood in obedience before God and had followed his ways and his laws, then they would have been privileged among other peoples, as we read in Deuteronomy 4: “See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me. . . . Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live” (Deuteronomy 4:5, 6–9). This was, however, because of our decline, no longer possible. Therefore the words of our Saviour are that much more relevant: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined” (Matthew 12:25). Thus it would be impossible for our poor congregation to survive the present confusing situation unless it would renew itself, rouse itself, and through righteous atonement and a change of heart seek to live a better life, which would be evident through the fruit borne by the congregation, and through which we would demonstrate that we “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). And yet the emigration question became ever more serious, so much so that I often heard the dear Aeltester Ohm Johann Friesen saying that it was high time to flee and to “humble [our]selves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand” (1 Peter 5:6).

It wasn’t only because of the school issue that we began to consider leaving Canada. It was also because we were becoming too much like the world – because of the automobiles and the ostentatious clothing. And the only thing that could preserve our simplicity in Christ would be if we were to again take up the walking stick. But where would we go? Again the brotherhood met with great anxiety and many tears, and through prayer and supplication sought guidance, and we discussed at length with the brethren how we wanted to do this. In fact, in total, twenty-one meetings of the brotherhood were called to discuss the topic of emigrating. And so you see, my dear children, moving from one land to another is not an insignificant matter.

And it really was high time to move, because many of our brethren were becoming sleepy and indifferent, and began to comfortably eat the forbidden fruit along with our mother Eve. If the Canadian government had not taken such an aggressive step by saying that it wanted to make us all into hundred percent Canadians, I am convinced that most of our congregation members would have stayed in Canada. This seemed to many to be a risky situation, so when the dear Aeltester Ohm Johann Friesen finally asked at a meeting of the brotherhood how many were in favour of moving, the answer was unanimous – everyone wanted out! Many brothers expressed their desire for us to find another country where we could have total religious and educational freedom and still be able to make a living, even if we couldn’t accumulate the same earthly treasures that we were able to in recent years in Canada. Many of those who had come under the most pressure regarding the school question thought only of the words of the apostle Paul when he said: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. . . . For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:8, 6).

But there were many who did not share this sentiment, for many looked with high hopes and great expectations to the future. And so the goal of our wandering – the land far across the Atlantic – Argentina, in South America, a rich and fruitful land, good for growing wheat, shone with the promise of continued economic prosperity. But we were not thinking of the words of the prophet Isaiah, who, speaking for the Lord, says: “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8).