Dear children,
I have not seen my father carried away by the constables or felt the bitter cold of winter in the Alps. I have not seen storms on the Atlantic or searched for a lost brother in the tall prairie grasses of the Midwest. I have not made bricks for a farmhouse or threshed wheat with a Frick steam engine. Have you?
These are the stories of Mennonite boys and girls from long ago, stories of children who suffered because of their parents' faith, stories of children who grew up to love and appreciate that faith.
This faith is tried in many ways. Sometimes faith means giving up home and friends, sometimes it simply means hard work, and sometimes it means making wrongs right. But this faith always gives peace to the heart and hope of heaven.
Years bring changes. We do not farm with horses as these boys did. We freeze our sweet corn instead of drying it. We attend Christian day schools instead of public schools. Yes, many things have changed. But our God is the eternal. He has not changed in the slightest way. And His Word endures forever. Although our Bibles are English instead of German, as Madleni's was, the message is just the same.
May God bless you as you read these stories.
—Sister Joanna
