With a draft looming in 1940, the peace churches were eager to avoid the persecution their young men experienced in World War I.
Rich Preheim
In 1920, the Russian Mennonites’ world was in upheaval. Civil war had been raging for three years, creating political and social chaos and leaving the country’s Mennonites impoverished, hungry and fearing for their future. Their brethren in North America responded by founding Mennonite Central Committee, putting aside their sectarianism to come together to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.