Siberian church filled with youth

“God has blessed us with young people,” Brother Wall, a leader in the largest Mennonite church in Siberia, told a group of visitors to the village of Waldheim in June.

Founded in 1911 when 13 families emigrated from Ukraine, the Waldheim church never ceased to exist even during the Stalin years when he and many other preachers were arrested and imprisoned. “If we had agreed to cease being the church, today there would only be two or three young people active in the church,” said Wall.

Today, the visitors noted, the church is filled to capacity, with more than 300 in attendance, many of them youth and children.

Mennonites in Siberia say they often feel forgotten by the wider Mennonite community. They celebrated 100 years of existence in the region in 2005. There are more than 500 locations in Siberia where Mennonites live. In the Omsk region, more than 40 villages have Mennonite congregations legally registered under the Baptist banner.

Asked whether the Mennonite community rejoiced when Stalin died, Wall said, “The Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders, and that leaders are placed in authority by God for a reason; therefore, we prayed for Stalin and did not rejoice at his death.”

—TourMagination