MCC 1920 to 1940: “With a new hope that there might yet be a future”

The Great War to “end all wars” finally ended in 1918. The experience enlarged the vistas of millions of troops from Canada and the U.S. Significant numbers of Mennonites and other Anabaptists resisted the war experience, but were influenced by it, nonetheless.

Conditions within the collective Anabaptist churches in Canada and the U.S. and the social conditions surrounding the church presented a medium in which MCC sprang to life quickly. By 1920, Mennonites in the U.S. and Canada stood ready to engage a much larger world. Mennonite colleges provided students with enlarged perspectives. Late 19th century foreign mission work produced first-hand accounts of lands and people from afar. European devastation during the Great War lured some Mennonites to respond with the Red Cross and the Near East Relief organization. 

Church leaders observed the plethora of small Mennonite aid organizations, operating in behalf of one specific church group in the early 20th century. By 1920, visionaries sought [read the entire article here January 2022 Historian]

Ruth (Reimer) Yoder is featured in the Oct. 2021 Historian

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Reimer Family in 1943. Lisa, Mother Gerda, Father Johannes, Ruth, Hans

“My homeland was Danzig, in West Prussia, close to the Baltic Sea,” writes Ruth Yoder in the Oct. 2021 Historian. “We lived there on a farm. In 1945, World War II was raging. Germany was in turmoil. The Russian front was coming closer. Bombs were dropped, air strikes were constant, and it was not safe to be outside anymore. My father was in the army and the last time he was at home, around Christmas 1944, he told us that if we must leave, not to go with horse and wagon. He had seen too much suffering along the road. Many people were fleeing [continue] Continue reading “Ruth (Reimer) Yoder is featured in the Oct. 2021 Historian” →