I Will Be With You

When it became clear that World War I would not be resolved as quickly as expected, many prisoners tried to make themselves more comfortable. I did so as well. We rented a room and went about making it homey; the lice were less of a problem there too.

One day, we received orders to travel another 70 kilometers into the foothills of the Urals. I had a close acquaintance with connections to the police. He told me not to go, intending to talk to the police on my behalf. Now, I had a choice to make. Should I stay, or should I go? Staying would have been better for me, but because I wanted to remain consecrated to the Lord, I decided to let Him take the lead. It took several weeks of prayer before I got the clear impression that I was supposed to go with the others.

On December 24, 1917, we set out on this journey, with some of us on foot and others in sleds. We arrived the next afternoon, at around 3 PM, when it was already getting dark in that region. The next day, near noon, an acquaintance came to me and asked if I would accompany him to a neighboring village that was around 7 kilometers away. I agreed to go with him, having heard that there were Russian believers in this village.

By the time we arrived, it was dark. We were invited into the house of someone who spoke German, and when he asked what we were there for, I said, “I am looking for children of God.” In response, I was invited to stay, and we then had a discussion about the truth. It lasted until midnight. The head of this household was the preacher of a German-speaking congregation. He accepted the full truth and became someone we could rely on. He invited me to stay in his home, and others soon converted too. This brother was Johann Hübner, who later moved to Essen, Germany, where he was of great help to me in the congregation. After the death of Brother Borbe, who had taken over from me as pastor in Essen, Brother Johann Hübner served as the pastor to the congregation there.

Through Brother Hübner, I connected with Brother Oskar Zeitner during the time we were prisoners in Russia. He, too, served as a preacher and made a full commitment to biblical truth. Brother Zeitner spoke Russian well and helped out by translating for me; this led to the formation of a Russian-speaking congregation, for which he translated around 30 songs from our hymnal. Brother Oskar Zeitner later moved to Germany and established the local church in Gronau.

In the beginning, when I had to decide whether to stay in the village where we had already established a home, I could not yet see what the Lord was planning. However, because the Lord helped me to recognize His leading, a great blessing resulted. A major factor was that services could not be held in German in the first village. Although I was unaware of this at the time, God did know, and He led me there in order to better serve the Gospel.

It is always good to follow God’s lead. However, God can only lead us if we have let go of everything else and totally surrendered ourselves to Him. If we instead pursue our own desires or benefit, God cannot lead us. From an earthly perspective, it would have been better to stay, but God’s will was for me to go. Brother H. M. Riggle once wrote that the way of the Lord is usually the more difficult one; I can say that I have experienced this for myself as well.

God’s plans for us were made before our birth (see Psalm 139:16, Romans 8:28–30, and Ephesians 1:4). If we allow ourselves to be still before God, if we completely surrender our own nature, plans, and work to Him, and if we are totally consecrated to the Lord, we will be able to understand Him and His leading. By contrast, if we get too caught up in our own perspective, the path we take may ultimately turn out to have been chosen based on our human standpoint rather than God’s divine one.

When we are under pressure—such as during war, sickness, or other hard times in which our choices are limited—it is easy to bow to God’s will. The more options we have, the more it costs us to recognize and obey God’s will. His ways always require us to take the cross upon ourselves. The ways of God require us to be willing to deny ourselves, to make sacrifices, and to practice love (see Philippians 1:9–11 and 2:5–8 as well as Hebrews 11:24–26).

God leading through a dream

Looking back, my time as a prisoner, from ages 28 to 30, was a blessing for me. Apart from the two brothers and pastors that I was able to help grow in their knowledge of the truth, many a soul came to the Lord during that time, including an older Russian pastor. In this way, this time became a great blessing for me and others. When I was finally able to return home, it was not easy for me to leave the sisters and brothers in Russia and the ministry there.

However, returning home was easier said than done as all train routes were blocked and only the waterways were open. Some people tried to go by boat, but I intended to wait several more weeks and then travel home with the brothers and sisters and their families. One night, though, I had a dream in which I was standing in a big room with several people building a barge. A man came up to me and said, “Some of us have built a boat and want to take the river home. Everything is ready, but we are missing one person. Come with us!”

I do not generally set much store in dreams. In this case, however, an acquaintance came to me the next day and said the exact words I had heard in my dream. Astonished, I prayed about it, spoke to the brothers and sisters, and decided to go with them. 

After many hardships, I finally arrived at home. Later, I learned that we were the last ones to make it out. The sisters and brothers that remained had to go through much suffering and pain in the additional two years they were forced to stay. Many died. The Lord led me out through this dream. In 1919, I was back in Essen, serving the congregation there and the German ministry in general. Thanks be to the Lord for His wonderful leading!