The dear Lord in his wisdom had decided that our plans would come to naught. And so it was decided by the three congregations that two delegates would be selected from each congregation, and that these six representatives would be sent across land and sea into the far reaches of the earth. From our Manitoba congregation, Uncle Klaas Heide and Uncle Cornelius Rempel were selected. From the West – the Saskatchewan congregation – the preachers and ministers Johann Wall and Johann P. Wall were selected. And from the Swift Current congregation the minister Ohm Julius Wiebe and Uncle David Rempel were also chosen to take part in this dangerous journey. It was no small undertaking for these men to agree to embark on this journey, to set out for an undetermined period of time, to leave their wives and children behind, to tear themselves away from the congregation with heavy hearts, not knowing if they would see us again in this lifetime. But they went with the comfort that God’s hand was upon them, and with the promise: “You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. . . . If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:3, 9–10). Their journey was in many ways like a wide fog-covered field, and just as one cannot see through the fog, we had no idea what our delegates would encounter on this journey. Above all else, their trip was the fulfillment of what the poet says:

No trip is without adversity.
The life’s path also has its woes!
One doesn’t walk on beds of roses.
The bridge is narrow, many are the foes
Who would lead us from the goal.
One must often bump into thorns.
Through many dry deserts we must journey,
Where no way out can be seen.

But! Just as it was decided by the brotherhood that the delegates would leave from the port city New York, it was also decided that they should stop in Ottawa on their way and see if they couldn’t beseech the rulers and the highest officials to change their hearts towards the Mennonites, as it is written in 1 Peter 2:14 where it talks about honouring the king.

The elderly and well-known Mr. McLeod of Morden was invited to travel along as mediator, whereby he sought to demonstrate once again with all eagerness his willingness to serve us Mennonites. They arrived without difficulty in Ottawa (as Uncle Klaas Heide later told me), and were warmly received and welcomed. And after the delegates had made their desires known, Mr. McLeod movingly pleaded the Mennonites’ case. He began by telling of how they came from Russia in 1875, and how they had built up and developed the wild land, and how they had been on the verge of starvation, but how they pushed ahead and eventually made the land into the fruitful, blessed, crop-bearing countryside that it now was. He then told of all the money the Mennonites had donated to the government, both during wartime and peacetime, and how they had always held their gentle hand of generosity out to the government. And he continued that after all the Mennonites had done, the government should not now be so unmerciful to them. For they were not asking for anything new, only that the Privilegium which had been granted to them when they first came to Canada, and had been promised to them and to their children and to their children’s children, not be revoked. He reminded them that the Privilegium had been sealed with the promise that as long as the British flag flew above Canada, the Mennonites would be able to enjoy their freedom in that land. Mr. McLeod then closed his speech with the following statement: “You know, most honoured of men, that these six men have been sent out by their congregations, to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and to search out for themselves a new homeland. But I assure you, yes I plead with you gracious men, let these people be with their simple private schools, and they would turn with thankful hearts, and head straight back home, and try to stop any attempt to emigrate, for I know that they would much rather remain in Canada. Again, I ask of you, please just let the Mennonites have their private schools!”

No one said a word. It was so quiet that the hearts of the delegates began to pound with hope that Mr. McLeod’s compelling speech would be accepted. Finally one of the highest ministers began to speak. He said that they had determined to make hundred percent Canadians of all citizens through the new school law, and they could not revoke the law. Again the delegates pleaded with them. How about if they made a large donation to the government? Or what if they left Manitoba and settled in a different province? In response to this, the minister replied: “The war ruined everything. The freedoms that the Mennonites had previously enjoyed can no longer be granted, even if you were to move to the northernmost tip of the country.”

Once more, the delegates implored the ministers to only let them keep what had once been freely given. And to this the minister responded in a most serious tone: “Yes, you were once given your freedom, but now the government recognizes the folly of such a decision. “And,” pointing to himself he continued, “if I were to put my coat on backwards or inside out in the morning, it doesn’t mean that I would be obliged to wear it that way the entire day.” This was a most depressing answer for our delegates, for they were forced to abandon all hope of staying in Canada.

From the truthful presentation of Mr. McLeod to the ministers in Ottawa, we can see the love and devotion with which Mr. McLeod and Mr. Black always worked to promote the welfare of the Mennonites to the government of Canada. They helped the leaders, ministers, and Aeltesten of our congregation out of countless emergencies. We only learned in times of trouble how much these honourable truth- and peace-loving men meant to our people. At the time when this happened, when we were forced to leave Canada, these men were already getting on in years, and I can remember well their grey heads, when we met with them to discuss our options.

And even though these men would only accept meagre payment for the assistance they provided us, we can only hope that their greatest reward will be in the next life as we have been taught: “Each will be rewarded according to his own labour. . . . And we know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free” (1 Corinthians 3:8, Ephesians 6:8). And even if they (Mr. McLeod and Mr. Black) are not one with us in belief, it is nevertheless a scriptural truth that “God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34). Why else would some Jewish elders approach Christ in Capernaum on behalf of the centurion to heal the latter’s servant, even though the centurion did not acknowledge himself as a Christian? Because, the elders explained to Christ, the centurion “deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue” (Luke 7:5).

With great sadness the delegates left the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, and went immediately to work, preparing their passports for travel to South America. After a few days, everything was ready, and full of anxious fear, interspersed with doubt and hope, they boarded the ship with the wish and the prayer that God would lead them as much by sea as by land, that he would be their guide and their protector, and that they would happily survive their journey over the swelling waves and return alive and healthy, and that they would find what they were looking for. The month was August of 1919. And thus passed the days and weeks, in anxious anticipation, especially for the families of the delegates, that they would see their loved ones again in this lifetime. And as much as everyone hoped for some news, for a time they heard nothing. Each asked the other if any news had come; word was sent even from western Saskatchewan, inquiring if we had heard anything. Nervous concern mounted in the congregation: “Why was there no news?” “Why hadn’t we heard anything?” “Was it possible that there had been an accident?” To be sure, many in the congregation wished to express the thoughtless statement: “Our delegates will without a doubt have a pleasant journey, and certainly it will be blessed with success, because the dear Ohms have gone along.” But that only showed that we hadn’t taken the Word of God to heart, where it is written: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? . . . Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens – what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave – what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him?” (Romans 11:33–34, Job 11:7–10).

Immediately the news circulated through the congregation that a telegram had arrived bearing the tragic news that the dear minister Ohm Johann Wall had died in Curitiba, South America [Brazil]. What a scare that was, and how it sent ripples of dismay throughout the entire congregation, especially because no one knew what the cause of death was, or that he had even been ill! And so, our Aeltester Ohm Johann Friesen along with some of the other Ohms headed west, to take part in the funeral with his family and dear congregation members.

Again for a long time there was no word. It got to the point that people were wondering if the dear Ohm Johann Wall had actually died. After about two months letters began arriving from South America which confirmed that it was indeed true, that the dear Ohm had died of a bowel obstruction and an intestinal infection, and after suffering for six days, had died a natural death. Shortly after the Ohm passed away, the other Ohm Johann Wall wrote a letter to the deceased’s family, which I have included here:

Brazil, Curitiba. September 29, 1919.

My dearly beloved sister in Christ Jesus!

It is with a very heavy heart that I am writing to you at this early hour of the morning about the last days of your warmly loved father and husband. This duty weighs so heavily upon me. My eyes are so full of tears that they are spilling over and covering my face. My heart is filled with such deep sorrow that I almost don’t know how to put into words so important a thing, for the wound that is bleeding in my heart is still so fresh. But though my heart is already feeling part of my own deep sorrow, how much greater must be your grief and that of your children. The news of his death you have undoubtedly received by now. For as soon as it was morning, I sent a telegram to you telling you of the devastating news. Because I know that you are longing to know more regarding the circumstances, I did not want to waste any time before writing to give you some more information. I know that he wrote you and told you that we had arrived in Brazil. We did not wish to spend much time in this country, but rather had hoped to use their rail system to pass through because it was on our way to our actual goal, which was Argentina. And yet, after we had been admitted by the authorities, things were progressing much slower than we had hoped. We hurried from one location to the other, as the government suggested more and more places for us to look at.

And so, on Sunday, the 21st, we left here and travelled to Curitiba, where we arrived Monday evening. We planned to stay here only one or two days, and then continue on to our planned destination. On the way here – a very physically arduous journey – I didn’t notice that anything was wrong with him. We arrived here around 8 p.m., ate some supper, and went then went directly to bed. The next morning, which was Tuesday, the 23rd, as we went to breakfast, I noticed that he wasn’t doing well but he still managed to eat some breakfast. This was his last meal – his last in this world, but not his last in that world. As we went about our affairs with the government, he stayed at the hotel. Our schedule was so busy that day that I couldn’t spend much time with him, because we wanted to be done there by the next day. We all wanted to get to Buenos Aires where we were hoping to receive some news from home.

On the way here, the two of us had wondered numerous times if bad news was going to be waiting for us because both of our hearts were filled with such a deep pain, a strange presentiment that weighed us down. That evening in his room, however, I noticed that things were not improving. The pain in his body was getting worse. We tried to rest, but he didn’t sleep at all. I spent a lot of time at his bedside.

When morning finally came, we sent for a doctor, because the pain kept getting worse, and he was totally constipated. Leaving Curitiba was out of the question. The doctor finally came around noon, and when he saw him, he knowingly shook his head. When he returned in the evening, things still hadn’t improved. In fact, they had only gotten worse. The prescribed medicine didn’t bring any relief. He advised us to call another doctor, which we did immediately. At ten in the evening he returned with another doctor, who has the reputation of being the best doctor in Brazil. After examining him, they determined that they would wait until morning, and if there still was no improvement, then they there would be nothing left to do but operate.

And though the pain did seem to subside somewhat, there was no improvement. He was having difficulty breathing. And when the two doctors came on Thursday and saw that he was no better, they decided that he had to be moved to the hospital. And although we did not want to be separated, we all agreed that day and night one of us would always be at his side. At one o’clock the ambulance came and took him to the hospital. There we were given a large room with two beds to ourselves. He stayed there until Sunday at four in the morning, almost constantly in severe pain. I did not leave his bed, other than to eat. I must honestly say that he suffered terribly in the flesh. He did not want to let them operate, and we, or at least I, counselled him against it. But on Saturday morning, when the doctor mentioned it again, he was not opposed to it, for the pain was almost unbearable. Together we got down on our knees and cried to God our father in our need, as we had done so many times before. Right at that moment the doctor called me out of the room and wanted to discuss the operation, but just as I left the room, we heard talking coming from inside. I hurried back in and saw that God had heard and answered our prayer. The stool had moved. I hurried to find the doctor to tell him the good news. Dubious, he came to see with his own eyes, and alas, beheld the impossible. He stood there speechless and in awe. It was like a stone lifting from our hearts. The doctor stopped the preparation for the operation and was as hopeful as we were. By noon the pain had subsided considerably, and by the afternoon even more so. And yet, the invalid was so frail and so weak. And though he was more hopeful than he had been, he was not nearly as optimistic as we were. His pain was not as intense, but he still felt very oppressed. But not in his soul, oh no! Just in his body. His heart and soul were longing to be released. Because I hadn’t left his side up to that point, and because he appeared to be doing so much better, it was decided that I would go back to the hotel to try to get some rest. But then he took a turn for the worse, so I decided to stay after all, which made him glad. He said it would be his last night and how he yearned to be set free and to be with Christ. This night was cruelly difficult, and he cried out to God throughout the night. I sat on his bed with him and cooled his tongue with an ice cube, and his forehead with a water bottle. It went on like this until about 3 a.m.

At that point he didn’t want any more assistance. Until this point he had only laid on his right side, because any other position hurt too much. But at this point he turned onto his back, straightened himself out, and lay fairly still. It was almost four, and after we had said our goodbyes he lifted his arms to the sky. As his hands came down we realized that it was over. By four the soul had freed itself from its earthly ties, and hurried toward its home of eternal peace. It was over, his wish had been fulfilled and his prayer answered. I closed his eyes, eyes that would no longer see the evil of this world. My heart is nearly broken, and I am almost numbed by this overwhelming pain. I must mention that the other delegates were also with him on the last night. We hurried on Sunday to get his earthly remains into the ground. We didn’t do it too quickly, although it will likely appear to you that way. We were able to buy our type of coffin. We dressed him as well as we were able, and led him to his earthly rest.

Now dear sister, you and the children are probably thinking that I haven’t said much about his hopes for the future, but that is what I intend to now do. I’m certain that neither you nor I have any doubt that he is now at peace. His faith was secure that he would appear before God as a sinner redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, as he had so often wished and prayed for. And he also hoped, dear sister, to one day meet you and the children in God’s presence. Dear children, you were so often on your father’s heart. There are a lot of things he asked me to say to you, which I will do, if God grants me the grace and strength to return home. And to you, dear sister, he asked me to say that he holds you dear in the innermost heart of his spirit, and that he took leave of this life with one last kiss from you. And he also remembered his dear mother and siblings. And the Aeltesten, Ohms, and the congregation. If I forget to mention something, which you thought he would have said, please don’t hold it against me, for the grief is overwhelming me sometimes so much that my thoughts are barely coherent and it would be very easy for me to forget something. Though I hope that you will be able to look beyond what is missing and will be able to put yourselves in our (I will not say “my”) position. Although this dear husband and father would have preferred to have ended this battle in the company of you, his loved ones, it was not to be. Instead, he was not afraid in the least, even here in this foreign land, to allow his body to decay, even if he could have gotten better, which he did not want, but went to meet Christ all alone.

Comfort yourselves with this hope, and use this uncertain time to prepare yourselves for eternity. God has given it to us out of his grace, through Jesus Christ, amen.

Now Johann, the most difficult task falls to you. You must try to lighten your mother’s load wherever possible. Show yourself worthy of this task and take it as a man. Get rid of everything that is not seemly for a Christian man, and muster all your strength in order to fulfill your duty. Fulfill your father’s wish and will, and be careful how you use the present – this period of grace – because it is followed by the long eternity. And if time has already helped to alleviate your family’s pain somewhat, then my prayer would be partly answered, for I feel with you. Please don’t hold it against me that I didn’t write to you last night, but it would have been impossible for me to have done so. Though if we could have left here today, I would have done whatever was necessary. But alas, we are planning to leave here tomorrow morning for Argentina.

I would like to be able to offer you some words of comfort, but my own heart is in need of consolation, for I too have lost very, very much. And there will be others who will comfort you, so I will leave it at that.

Please greet everyone warmly who intercedes on our behalf, for we need intercession more and more. Sometimes my heart feels like it is in despair. O! Aeltesten and Ohms, and congregation overseers, please be diligent for our sake. And to the dear flock and congregation, please pray for us, and may God in heaven hear and answer through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Written by your brother who is bound to you in love and who suffers with you in distress.

–Johann P. Wall

And so the plans of the people were frustrated, and the five remaining delegates returned home safely after a three-month absence, but with the depressing news that they did not find any country willing to grant the requested freedoms. So again we looked to the future with anxious hearts. And what made matters worse was that the Canadian government continued to fine and imprison members of our congregation to try to persuade us to send our children to the public schools. This served only to inspire our search, not to hinder it.

Dear children, you were once small and carefree, and all you needed to be happy was to be near your mother and father, or to take your parent’s hand. But what has it come to? How many sighs, tears, and prayers have been sent to God above because of the children? The parents, who could see the danger the children’s souls were in, feared for them. Think back, dear children, to the way things are in Canada, where the young people are being conscripted into the military. And imagine if the Aeltesten and Ohms and the congregation had not been bold enough to leave? Whom do you have to thank that we have now been in Mexico for nearly half a century with our simple private schools and our freedom from governmental intervention so that we can teach our children the Word of God as we see fit? Not only the dear Lord, but also the dear elders, Aeltesten and ministers, and many of those with grey hair in our congregation, though most of them have now passed on. “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

As I recall it was not long after the delegates returned that we received an offer from Quebec, because that provincial government believed that if we were to settle in the forests that we would be able to maintain our own schools. And so arrangements were made with the provincial government to see the land. But things were not working out – the land was so densely forested, and the ground would be extremely difficult to cultivate, and the government couldn’t guarantee us what we asked for. Again the time passed with anxious expectation regarding our fate. It was only during this period that we finally understood the words of the poet:

It costs more than one initially thinks,
To stay faithful to that which we were given,
And in the power of the first love to remain,
Until one sees us leave the battlefield.

Therefore you parents and you children!
Do not forget the way
Which brought us to this place,
Lest you will miss your help
When hard times do befall.

We received word through land agents that the state government of Mississippi, in the United States, was interested in having us settle there, if we would agree to clear the land and to cultivate it. In return they were willing to grant us our schools and military exemption. A delegation was sent down there and the land was examined and the officials met with, and it really seemed as if we had found what we were looking for.

Shortly thereafter, at a meeting of the brotherhood, it was decided that, God willing, we would prepare to move to the south and settle in their forest region. Our congregation leaders began depositing large sums of money into the bank in Winkler, Manitoba. But then what happened? Again the words of Moses were fulfilled: “At midday you will grope about like a man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you” (Deuteronomy 28:29).

It really seemed as if the Lord was letting us wander around in the darkness, for exactly at that time when the transaction was supposed to go through, the border was closed and we were informed that we would not be allowed into the United States. To this day no one knows what the reason was. As I later heard our dear Aeltester Ohm Johann Friesen describe the situation, it was simply one of those things that we had to attribute to the mysterious ways of the Lord, as is written: “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom” (Isaiah 28:29).

And once more our situation was like that of the Israelites who wanted out of the land against God’s will. It is written, “Whenever the Israelites went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress” (Judges 2:15). And just as there were many grumblers in Israel, the unrest also continued to mount in our congregations. The leaders of the congregation were accused of not doing their jobs properly. There was no shortage of masters, but a real lack of workers who were willing to humble themselves, fold their hands, and ask God for guidance. But people’s motives were not right; they lacked broken hearts and contrite spirits, the only sacrifice which God will not despise (Psalm 51:17). We lacked that sense of conviction for our sins; we were missing the balm of Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22).

No oil flows without being pressed,
No balsam without effort,
So it seems then if a Christian be stressed
Under pressure more nicely blooms.

Exodus 2:23–25 states: “The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” And so we continued to look for somewhere to go to escape what surely was in store for us were we to remain in Canada. And the time passed in this way, and the summer of 1920 passed and still we did not know where to go, and we were exasperated: “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20). And the Canadian government pressed aggressively ahead with its agenda. And when a few of our leaders appealed to the government to have patience with us, for we were clearly looking for a new home, the response we received was quite hostile. We were told: “And if we give you more time, until you find a new home, in forty years you’ll still be looking but won’t have left, and you’ll still be on your knees begging for more time, but in truth, you have no intention of leaving.”

Fines and prison sentences were becoming ever more frequent. It seemed that the more seriously we sought a new homeland, the more seriously we wanted to leave, and the more intense became the hardship we had to endure. But then our thoughts turned again to Israel, and how Egypt was for them an “iron-smelting furnace” (1 Kings 8:51).

How applicable the Israelite story was to our own, as we read in Exodus where Pharaoh talks to Moses and Aaron and says: “‘Why are you taking the people away from their labour? . . . They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, “Let us go and sacrifice to our God.” Make them work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.’ . . . The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, ‘You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you each day.’ When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, ‘May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.’ Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.’ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of the country’” (Exodus 5:4, 8–9, 19–23, 6:1).

How we finally had to abandon our own ideas about how things would go. The dear Lord took us in a totally different direction than we had anticipated. How many lacked the joyful courage to continue the struggle, to persevere, to hold on patiently through all the trials, hardships, and crises that confronted us. Especially I, a poor servant, who was supposed to be a practiced fighter, a leader, I too was nearly defeated. The words of the poet often spoke right to my heart:

You head with all your wit and senses
Toward a thousand worries
And you wonder what on earth
Will finally become of you.
And yet you say my countenance
Should be your guide your whole life through,
But yet you don’t believe
Anything but what your eyes can see.
Only what you create will be
Your head, your light, and your master.
What you did not elect,
You dismiss as lost.
Now see again, how much and oft
What you had certainly and firmly hoped
To hunt down with your own hands
Is shamefully knocked over.
Then again, how sometimes it is
That when these things happen all around,
No person, no counsel, no mind
Could conceive of such things.
How often you have gotten into big trouble,
On account of your own will.
You mistook your blind sin and death
For life.
And had God allowed you
To fare according to your own work and deed,
Just as you intended it,
Then you would have collapsed.
Oh! How many times he remains quiet
But does what’s good for us.
But in the meantime our will and hearts consider,
Searching here and there and finding not,
We want to see but lack the light,
We want to wriggle out of fear
But cannot find the way.
But God continues straight ahead,
In his ways of wisdom.
He goes and brings us to the place
Where wind and storm abate.
And only after, when the work has happened
Can the person finally see,
What governs him, and guides him.