It was in the year 1867 that the first real act of persecution was perpetrated but soon to be followed by further acts of cruelty.
In the same year, 1867, Pastor Bonekemper, of whom we have already spoken, died, and was succeeded in the pastorate of Rohrbach by his son Karl Bonekemper. The latter had begun life as a merchant, and had gone to seek his fortune in America, but during a storm which his ship encountered on the voyage, God spoke to him, and he at once determined to devote himself to the service of his Master. This he did for some years in America, until the news of his father’s illness and death recalled him to Rohrbach. He was, as to natural talents, a superior man to his father, and there is no doubt that according to his light, he used his talents in the service of God and for the benefit of his fellow men. He had studied medicine as well as theology, and as he understood the dialect which is common to the south of Russia, he easily found entrance among the poor whom he was ever ready to befriend. He soon became one of the chief leaders of the Stundists, and when difficulties arose in their midst, it was invariably to him that they turned for counsel and advice.
The Stundists so steadily increased in numbers, that after a time Karl Bonekemper felt that some sort of organization was necessary, and he set to work therefore to divide the field of labor into presbyteries, each presbyter being assisted by a deacon. As all this has been fully gone into in “The History of the Stundists,” it will not be necessary to repeat it here, but it may be interesting to note some of Karl Bonekemper’s maxims, which, in the shape of letters, were handed about from village to village.
“Learn to read, both men and women of you, and teach your children to read.”
“God’s will and revelation are found in the New Testament, therefore obtain a New Testament at all costs, and study it day and night.”
“Be generous to your brother in darkness; be not spiritually proud; seek to enlighten him, he is your brother.”
The letters of many of the Stundist leaders were addressed in the scriptural style to “The Church at ―”
“To the beloved in Christ, the brethren of the Church in ―, greeting,” followed perhaps by a warning, such as “See, brethren, that as your Church has sounded for ten years as with the voice of a trumpet, that that sound be not silenced;” or “Gird up your loins for the fight. For the enemy will rejoice in your weakness, and if you set not your house in order, great will be the confusion and danger. See that your elders be men well spoken of, and do not forget the poor and the oppressed when you assemble together on the Lord’s day.”
The Russians are par excellence a nomadic race, and this of itself tended to keep the Stundists in close communication one with the other, and promoted a sort of rough organization, for every leading Stundist visited his comrades in the faith, and maintained correspondence with them.
“The service of God,” they said, “means our living for others, and dying to ourselves.” And it is on this principle that they greatly regulated their lives. They mowed the hay and reaped the corn for the prisoner or the afflicted. They sowed his potatoes, repaired his hut, and even brought up his children. Another thing which characterized them was their love for God’s Word. Most of them carried a New Testament in their pockets, even when about their work, so
ILLUSTRATION
“They mowed the hay and reaped the corn for the prisoner or the afflicted.”
that when a moment of recreation came, instead of spending it at the public-house, they retired to some quiet nook to read the precious volume, and found it “more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb.” (Psa. 19:1010More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)).
But it is not only for enjoyment that they read God’s Word, though a very blessed thing doubtless; they read it also to learn how to walk in this world. It was a lamp unto their feet, and a light unto their path (Psa. 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)). They sought to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, as may be seen from the following letter written by a presbyter of the province of Bessarabia: “We have only one duty on earth― to put ourselves into harmony with God’s will concerning us. How are we to know God’s will? He has revealed it in the New Testament, and in so far as we are negligent in finding out that will of God, so far do we defeat the end for which He has placed us here. We hold, therefore, that constant meditation on the Scriptures enables us to live after the pattern of Christ, and to glorify and enjoy our Maker.”