Celebrating 75 years in Paraguay

In July, longtime MCC worker and storyteller Peter Dyck attended the 75th anniversary celebration of Fernheim Colony in Paraguay as a special representative of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). MCC helped Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union immigrate to the Paraguayan Chaco in 1930, where they founded Fernheim Colony. In 1947 and 1948, Dyck and his late wife Elfrieda escorted, on behalf of MCC, more than 5,000 Mennonite refugees who had fled the Soviet Union on voyages from Europe to also settle in Paraguay. This is his account of the 2005 anniversary celebration.

Peter Dyck, second from left, with Susie and Ernst Friesen (at right) and a guide (left) in front of the Fernheim Colony Cooperative. Photo: Jack Scott

The celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Fernheim Colony in the Chaco of Paraguay faithfully reflected their three historic phases expressed so well in German: “Die erste den Tod, die zweite die Not, die dritte das Brot.” (The first generation death, the second poverty, the third bread.)

The most dramatic moment for me was on July 7 during an evening program. We heard the old Chaco Indians speak about their first contact with Mennonites. One of them stood on the stage lifting up a long spear and confessing that with this spear he had killed [local missionary] Cornelius Isaak, while his brother described in much detail the scene in the bush long ago. The widow and her sons sat a few feet away from him, listening to every word. Finally they walked slowly to them, shaking hands with them, showing they had forgiven him.

Elfrieda and I knew that story well because Dr. Rakko, who was one of our passengers on the voyage from Europe, had told us how they had brought Cornelius Isaak into his primitive hospital, but he could not save his life. He told us that he had seen many people die, but never had he seen one die like Cornelius Isaak: in his last moments he was still praying for the Indians, especially for the one who had killed him.

We visited the village of Yalve Sanga and other places where the Mennonite pioneers, at a time when they themselves were desperately poor, reached out to their Indian neighbours. We visited indigenous schools and clinics and saw their fields, gardens and rudimentary houses.

Saturday, July 9, was the main day of celebration in a large park in Filadelfia, the central town of Fernheim, where about 5,000 people were gathered. The president of Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, and his wife attended and there was a historic parade, showing 75 years of progress.

Suffering

A musical program in the evening alternated narratives with songs, tracing the history of the Anabaptist martyrs of the 16th century to the sufferings and killings of Mennonites under communism in Russia and the hardships of pioneering in the Chaco. Interspersed were the periods of peace and prosperity. One of the many moving events was the narration of the train leaving Russia and going through the “Red Gate,” while the choir sang “Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices.” At the conclusion, the entire audience joined the choir in a song of thanksgiving.

We were reminded that when the refugees became pioneers in the Chaco, often called the “Green Hell,” many were ready to give up. Not only was life difficult beyond description – clearing the jungle, digging wells and finding no water, enduring grasshopper plagues and Indian threats – but even if they managed to survive, they saw no future for their children.

Today there are more than 100,000 people in the Chaco. I have often asked Mennonites how they explain that. Invariably they point up. When I agreed that God had helped them, and asked if they could think of any other reason why they were able to stay when the others left, they always gave the same answer: economic cooperatives. “All for one and one for all” was their philosophy.

The Mennonites no longer live in an ethnic ghetto. The monument erected for the 75th celebration has five pillars, representing five cultures in the Fernheim colony. None are marked, and all are different in size and shape. In the centre is a cross, signifying that in Christ they are all united.

After the celebrations in Filadelfia, we visited four other colonies: Menno, Neuland, Volendam and Friesland. The Volendam colony was named after the ship that carried thousands of Mennonite refugees from Europe to Paraguay as Elfrieda and I escorted them. It originally had more than 2,000 residents but now has only 560, the others having returned to Germany or immigrated to Canada during the early difficult pioneering years. When we asked our hosts whether they were also thinking of leaving, they laughed heartily and told us how happy they were in Paraguay. Their major income from soybeans and cattle makes them economically secure. They also enjoy their social and spiritual life.

Outreach

Volendam, like the other colonies, has a “Neighbourhood Program” that reaches out to help their neighbours in seven different areas, such as agriculture, education, health, nutrition, work with women. We also visited a hospital named Kilometre 81, which is supported by all the colonies. What a joy to see the work done there by dedicated doctors, nurses and many volunteers. Its initial and continuing prime focus is Hansen’s disease (leprosy). It also addresses tuberculosis, diabetes, and other common ailments, and expects to be at the forefront of AIDS treatment in Paraguay. Like the other outreach programs, Kilometre 81 is for both body and soul. The healing and the spiritual ministry are two sides of the same coin.

The words of the apostle Paul come to mind when I think of our Mennonites in Paraguay. He said: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him” (Romans 8:28 RSV). After destructive and discouraging events like the 1917 Revolution and famine in Russia, then the difficulties of pioneering in the Chaco, they are now a light to people around them and a help to their neighbours.

I found it highly gratifying to shake hands and sometimes embrace so many people who remembered Elfrieda and me from the four ships that brought them to Paraguay. I also met numerous former MCC exchange visitors and was privileged to speak in three colonies and in Asuncion. Reminiscing about the past was particularly enjoyable in the context of the settlers’ success and spiritual maturity, which was so clearly evident. I join with them in praising God for His wonderful leading and the assurance of His presence as they begin a new chapter.