I owe my life to MCC”: “the memories of David Berg

David Berg

I met David Berg at Evergreen Village in Abbotsford, following a Bible study session on the gospel of Mark. As soon as I mentioned my association with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), he said with a touch of excitement, “You know, I want to tell you: I owe my life to MCC. If it were not for MCC I would not be here!”

Although I had heard similar expressions over the years, the approach was unexpected and the story was unusual.

Mr. Berg is now in his 92nd year, and has had a life-long pastoral ministry with the North American Baptist Church, even up to his 80th birthday, he told me. Although his affiliation had been with a non-Mennonite church, he emphasized that he had never deserted his Mennonite (Brethren) roots nor its Anabaptist tenets of faith, especially its peace principles. And his respect for MCC had never wavered.

“I have often wished that I could make a significant contribution to MCC, as an expression of my gratitude,” he lamented.

Mr. Berg was born in the Soviet Union. When he, an only child, was six, his father died of typhus; nine months later his mother died, leaving him orphaned and in the care of an uncle. He still has vivid memories of these deaths as well as of the massacres by bandits that he witnessed. For many years after these occurrences he would experience flashbacks and nightmares.

Conditions were harsh and food resources were practically non-existent. Then in 1921 provisions from MCC arrived in the village. The MCC rations consisted of rice and a bun one day; cocoa and a bun on an alternate day. He had ticket number 19 and would patiently wait with a bowl and a spoon in hand. The diet was supplemented by his uncle with bread made of the leftover grounds of “prips” (a barley drink) mixed with flour, which “not even the dogs liked.”

He recalls being severely malnourished and always hungry, like many other children. MCC’s intervention was critical for him and for many others. “In those days all a person could think of was about wanting something to eat,” he said. MCC saved his life and procured a way out of the repressive conditions.

Death was common. Three of his uncles and one cousin died violently. When the typhus epidemic struck, funerals occurred almost daily. He himself, although often in danger, was never seriously ill.

Berg was able to leave Russia in 1923 and come to Canada. He and his uncle were supported by a family in Main Centre, Saskatchewan. As an 11-year-old he was assigned to work on a farm. It was a very lonely atmosphere.

“How did you deal with all the hardships, abuse and painful memories?” I asked. “What sustained you?”

“At first I thought I must have been cursed by God,” Berg said. “He must have forgotten about me.”

However, with a characteristic gleam in his eyes, he recounted how he experienced new life in Christ at age 18. This was a pivotal moment in his life, almost paralleling the intervention by God through MCC in Russia. One significant change was his attitude toward those who had done him harm while a boy, and later during his pastoral ministry, God gave him strength and courage to forgive without recrimination.

The culminating experience for him occurred following his retirement in Kelowna with his wife (who died in 1995). One day, after a period of emotional agony, God revealed to him that he had not yet processed his anger toward certain people. Methodically he checked out various circumstances and one by one forgave the people associated with them. Then peace came.

Bill Thiessen, now retired, has been associated with MCC for 29 years, in Nigeria, Alberta, and B.C. He is a member of South Abbotsford MB Church, as is David Berg, the subject of this story; David’s son Steve is their pastor.