I would like to raise an issue here. As you have been aware for some time now, whenever someone in the Old Colonies converts and comes to a living faith in Jesus, they are expelled from the Old Colony.
This is also the case here; it concerns Bernherd and Helena Schmitt and their family. They now have six children; their youngest daughter, Martha, was born on 22 June 2020.
They are now being evicted from the house where they have been living up to now; the reason for this is that they profess their faith in Jesus. The plot of land and the house where the family have been living belonged to Bernherd’s parents. They have now sold it to other people so that Bernherd and Helena Schmitt would be forced out of the colony; otherwise, the parents would not have sold the land to other people in this way.
But the Lord always has a wonderful way of working things out, and this is no exception. They also own another small plot of land in the same colony, but it has no house and no well for water. As they now have to move out of their old house, they are trying to move onto the plot that belongs to them. They have an old, small wooden cottage and a few other items with which the family is now trying to set themselves up again. They should have moved out of the old house where they’ve been living for ages by now, but they aren’t quite ready with the new plot yet. It was simply an open field where they’d always harvested crops until now, and that’s where they’re now trying to set up their home. The reason it’s all taking so long is that they don’t have much money, and they no longer have the opportunity to earn more money in the colony.
But the wonderful thing is that they have Jesus; we (Herman & Lena Friesen) are running discipleship courses with them, which have been going very well and positively so far, and Bernherd & Helena are already members of the church in Sommerfeld.
We know that the Lord has led them this far and will continue to lead them, but it is not easy for them. The reason I am writing this is to ask if you could also pray for this family:
- Give thanks that they have come to faith
- Give thanks that they have been able to endure all this so far
- Pray that they may grow in their faith through this
- Pray that they may be a witness there
- That the Lord may provide opportunities for them to move to their field, as they are not in a strong financial position
The Lord is gracious. Thank you to all of you who pray.
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:13
Report and photos by Hermann Friesen
