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#30 I Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 5
I Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 5, by Henry Michel
They were looking for an opportunity to go to a place called something like
“Paradise,” the United States. Then it just happened through the wonderful
guidance of God that this man from the French Settlement was coming for people
and found the Virkler family and asked them to come. They came to the French
Settlement and not only they, but others too. So the family was increasing; they
had meetings, they were singing hymns and reading the Bible, but they lacked a
minister—somebody to show them the way. Through a wonderful guidance, they had
the address of our people in Switzerland. They asked for a minister; and they
came the opportunity for Benedict Weyeneth to come to this country, and he went
to this French Settlement. He found these people and baptized them. One was
appointed an elder, another as a teacher of these Virklers and Farneys, and that
was the first of our congregations that existed in the United States.
Weyeneth afterwards left the French Settlement and returned to Switzerland, but
came back here later to a country called Illinois. That country was said to be a
very, very bad country, not healthful; they had malaria and other sicknesses.
They had mosquitoes, such terrible mosquitoes that it was almost impossible to
live. But the ground was good. So they started, and many others came, and we see
the families Koch, Pflederer, Riggenbach, and many others. Weyeneth was working
in their midst and he was a wonderful man. He said himself that he was a poor
farmer. Yet he was a good evangelist. When the last crop was in his barn, he
went for missionary work the whole winter; until spring came. One spring, he
forgot to go home. That is, he did not forget, he could not go home. His wife
said, “Benedict, it is high time that you come home.” But he had been too busy
that winter. He was doing missionary work in these parts of the country. A
brother told me that in the winter of 1879, he had one hundred fifty-nine
baptisms.
Another man of whom I think I have found some relatives in this country, had the
name of Krähenbühl. He was Swiss by birth. He went with his buggy and spread the
Gospel all around the countryside.
Before the last summer I always believed that the congregations in America had
been created by only Europeans who came through persecution or through people
who wanted to make more dollars than they could make at home, but I have seen
since that the congregations here are also the result of an extensive missionary
work of many, many years. Andrew Braun had to leave his country with his whole
congregation. They, the congregation of Schweinfurt, Germany, all came together.
They traveled through Strasbourg, were in my grandfather’s house, and came to
American and settled in Ohio. And working together, Illinois, Ohio, and the
French Settlement, they went from house to house, preaching, bringing good
tidings of peace. One of the Virklers even crossed the whole United States and
came to the Pacific coast, and that was the beginning of the church in Oregon.
I could speak a long time about the wonderful, wonderful time, and sometimes you
may be astonished. For instance, Mansfield existed a long time before Akron. One
Swiss brother who came first to visit the congregations was Brother Geistlich.
He came in 1866 and traveled the whole United States visiting the churches, and
when he came to Akron, he said, “A busy town, but not one believer, and it seems
not to be a very good ground for the Gospel.” What a poor impression of Akron
where we now have the largest church! See how it can change, how it is changing
and how we should be zealous to do what we can.
One thing happened. The families were growing. They all had many children and
where they had big families, much food was needed. Nobody wanted to be a poor
farmer as Weyeneth called himself, so they started to be good farmers. They had
the reputation of being the best farmers, but the result was that they settled
down. No buggies anymore to go to the Pacific coast, to bring the Gospel from
house to house! And after a while congregations having been formed, they were
enjoying themselves in singing hymns, and working hard, but the missionary work
had been forgotten. We know how many congregations exist, and we are thankful,
but we do not care so much to expand. We have a beautiful hymn, “Where is the
Spirit of all these pioneers who were filled with the love of God, the love of
Christ, who had the passion for souls and who wanted to bring the good tidings
of peace to others?” A time came, the same on the other side of the ocean as
here, as soon as the persecution stopped in Europe, then the people settled. In
Switzerland the persecution ended about 1854. Following that, brethren expanded
their properties, and the missionary work waits for a new revival.
I had much joy in my heart that I could tell you this story. We are in the last
times, my dear ones! Yesterday or this morning, as a topic for our Bible study
we had, “Shall I find faith on Earth?” When the Son of man comes back, shall He
find faith? We, dear ones, who received through the grace of God the knowledge
of the mystery of Christ, the knowledge of salvation by grace through faith, we
are the ones who have to extend that knowledge and to tell our young people, as
well as our neighbors everywhere, as we have the opportunity, that Jesus is the
same today as He was 100 years ago, and that He is willing to save everyone who
is ready to believe in Him. Let us therefore have a revival in our midst; let us
therefore be reminded of what our grandparents did, and let us sometimes lay our
business aside, like Andrew Braun sometimes did. He just locked his shoemaker
shop and put out a sign, “Absent 3 or 4 months”. He was away preaching the
Gospel. He did not have anyone who was working or making money in the meantime,
he had to see how he financed his way. Let us have this spirit of testimony, and
let us be in these last times joyful witnesses of the glory of Christ. If I
could give you tonight more thankfulness for what has been done, and on the
other hand more zeal for what has to be done, I would be thankful my whole life
that I had this privilege to speak to you about this wonderful story of old
times. Jesus is today what He was at that time! And what our grandparents were
doing we need to do for His sake, and to His Glory and to the advancement of His
kingdom.
May the Lord give us the needed joy, the needed zeal, and the necessary wisdom,
that in these last days, in such a wicked world, in such darkness, in such
confusion as exists in the whole world—in the midst of all this—may the Lord
grant that we be joyful witnesses of Jesus, our Savior, who died at the cross.
Amen.
View all episodes
By Timeless FaithI Will Remember The Works of the Lord, Part 5, by Henry Michel
They were looking for an opportunity to go to a place called something like
“Paradise,” the United States. Then it just happened through the wonderful
guidance of God that this man from the French Settlement was coming for people
and found the Virkler family and asked them to come. They came to the French
Settlement and not only they, but others too. So the family was increasing; they
had meetings, they were singing hymns and reading the Bible, but they lacked a
minister—somebody to show them the way. Through a wonderful guidance, they had
the address of our people in Switzerland. They asked for a minister; and they
came the opportunity for Benedict Weyeneth to come to this country, and he went
to this French Settlement. He found these people and baptized them. One was
appointed an elder, another as a teacher of these Virklers and Farneys, and that
was the first of our congregations that existed in the United States.
Weyeneth afterwards left the French Settlement and returned to Switzerland, but
came back here later to a country called Illinois. That country was said to be a
very, very bad country, not healthful; they had malaria and other sicknesses.
They had mosquitoes, such terrible mosquitoes that it was almost impossible to
live. But the ground was good. So they started, and many others came, and we see
the families Koch, Pflederer, Riggenbach, and many others. Weyeneth was working
in their midst and he was a wonderful man. He said himself that he was a poor
farmer. Yet he was a good evangelist. When the last crop was in his barn, he
went for missionary work the whole winter; until spring came. One spring, he
forgot to go home. That is, he did not forget, he could not go home. His wife
said, “Benedict, it is high time that you come home.” But he had been too busy
that winter. He was doing missionary work in these parts of the country. A
brother told me that in the winter of 1879, he had one hundred fifty-nine
baptisms.
Another man of whom I think I have found some relatives in this country, had the
name of Krähenbühl. He was Swiss by birth. He went with his buggy and spread the
Gospel all around the countryside.
Before the last summer I always believed that the congregations in America had
been created by only Europeans who came through persecution or through people
who wanted to make more dollars than they could make at home, but I have seen
since that the congregations here are also the result of an extensive missionary
work of many, many years. Andrew Braun had to leave his country with his whole
congregation. They, the congregation of Schweinfurt, Germany, all came together.
They traveled through Strasbourg, were in my grandfather’s house, and came to
American and settled in Ohio. And working together, Illinois, Ohio, and the
French Settlement, they went from house to house, preaching, bringing good
tidings of peace. One of the Virklers even crossed the whole United States and
came to the Pacific coast, and that was the beginning of the church in Oregon.
I could speak a long time about the wonderful, wonderful time, and sometimes you
may be astonished. For instance, Mansfield existed a long time before Akron. One
Swiss brother who came first to visit the congregations was Brother Geistlich.
He came in 1866 and traveled the whole United States visiting the churches, and
when he came to Akron, he said, “A busy town, but not one believer, and it seems
not to be a very good ground for the Gospel.” What a poor impression of Akron
where we now have the largest church! See how it can change, how it is changing
and how we should be zealous to do what we can.
One thing happened. The families were growing. They all had many children and
where they had big families, much food was needed. Nobody wanted to be a poor
farmer as Weyeneth called himself, so they started to be good farmers. They had
the reputation of being the best farmers, but the result was that they settled
down. No buggies anymore to go to the Pacific coast, to bring the Gospel from
house to house! And after a while congregations having been formed, they were
enjoying themselves in singing hymns, and working hard, but the missionary work
had been forgotten. We know how many congregations exist, and we are thankful,
but we do not care so much to expand. We have a beautiful hymn, “Where is the
Spirit of all these pioneers who were filled with the love of God, the love of
Christ, who had the passion for souls and who wanted to bring the good tidings
of peace to others?” A time came, the same on the other side of the ocean as
here, as soon as the persecution stopped in Europe, then the people settled. In
Switzerland the persecution ended about 1854. Following that, brethren expanded
their properties, and the missionary work waits for a new revival.
I had much joy in my heart that I could tell you this story. We are in the last
times, my dear ones! Yesterday or this morning, as a topic for our Bible study
we had, “Shall I find faith on Earth?” When the Son of man comes back, shall He
find faith? We, dear ones, who received through the grace of God the knowledge
of the mystery of Christ, the knowledge of salvation by grace through faith, we
are the ones who have to extend that knowledge and to tell our young people, as
well as our neighbors everywhere, as we have the opportunity, that Jesus is the
same today as He was 100 years ago, and that He is willing to save everyone who
is ready to believe in Him. Let us therefore have a revival in our midst; let us
therefore be reminded of what our grandparents did, and let us sometimes lay our
business aside, like Andrew Braun sometimes did. He just locked his shoemaker
shop and put out a sign, “Absent 3 or 4 months”. He was away preaching the
Gospel. He did not have anyone who was working or making money in the meantime,
he had to see how he financed his way. Let us have this spirit of testimony, and
let us be in these last times joyful witnesses of the glory of Christ. If I
could give you tonight more thankfulness for what has been done, and on the
other hand more zeal for what has to be done, I would be thankful my whole life
that I had this privilege to speak to you about this wonderful story of old
times. Jesus is today what He was at that time! And what our grandparents were
doing we need to do for His sake, and to His Glory and to the advancement of His
kingdom.
May the Lord give us the needed joy, the needed zeal, and the necessary wisdom,
that in these last days, in such a wicked world, in such darkness, in such
confusion as exists in the whole world—in the midst of all this—may the Lord
grant that we be joyful witnesses of Jesus, our Savior, who died at the cross.
Amen.