View source for Yazykovo Mennonite Brethren Church (Nikolaipol, Yazykovo Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)

Yazykovo Mennonite Brethren (MB) Church at Nikolaipol, [[Yazykovo Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Yazykovo Colony]], [[Ekaterinoslav Guberniya (Ukraine)|province of Ekaterinoslav]], South [[Russia|Russia]], was organized in 1875-80 at Nikolaipol, perhaps the largest of the villages in the Mennonite settlement. Peter Peters, Cornelius Fehr, and Martin Koslowsky were the first ministers of the church. It was at first affiliated with the [[Einlage Mennonite Brethren Church (Einlage, Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Einlage Mennonite Brethren Church]] about 15 miles to the south, but later became an independent congregation. The later ministers were Gerhard Regehr, Peter Toews, Johann Peters, and Johann Schellenberg. The MB Church at Nikolaipol after a period of struggle became well established spiritually. The [[Allianz Gemeinden|Allianz]] movement made itself felt quite strongly, strengthening rather than impeding the spiritual life of the church. During the [[Russian Revolution and Civil War|Russian Revolution]] of 1917-20 some of the villages were utterly destroyed by [[Makhno, Nestor (1888-1934)|Makhno]] bandits and the church probably ceased to exist. Elder [[Regehr, Gerhard P. (1866-1960)|Gerhard Regehr]], who lived at Reinfeld near Nikolaipol, managed to escape and immigrated to the USA. Johann Schellenberg was executed by the Makhno bandits during the Dubovka massacre.


{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, p. 12|date=1959|a1_last=Berg|a1_first=P. H.|a2_last=Thiessen|a2_first=Richard D.}}