View source for Morija Deaconess Home (Neu-Halbstadt, Molotschna Settlement, Ukraine)

Morija Deaconess Home, located at [[Neu-Halbstadt (Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Neu-Halbstadt]], South Russia, was the first and only Mennonite [[Deaconess|deaconess ]]home to be established in [[Russia|Russia]], opened on 3 December 1909. A 3-year course offered theoretical as well as practical instruction to Mennonite girls, who offered to dedicate their lives as Christian nurses in Mennonite charitable institutions. The deaconess home also served as a mother house, keeping and caring for the nurses in sickness and old age. The institution was organized as a private charitable organization, all Mennonite churches participating, the initiators being [[Wall, Franz (d. 1906)|Franz Wall]], head of the [[Muntau Hospital (Molotschna Mennonite Settlement, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Muntau Hospital]], [[Schmidt, Peter (1860-1910)|Peter Schmidt]], a rich landowner, and Dr. [[Tavonius, Erich A. (1872-1927)|Erich A. Tavonius]], the father of [[Pankratz, Erika Tavonius (1908-2006)|Dr. Erica Tavonius]] at [[Fernheim Colony (Boquerón Department, Paraguay)|Fernheim, Paraguay]]. The home accepted up to 40 nursing students every year. After the [[Russian Revolution and Civil War|Revolution]] first the religious aspect of the school was changed and in 1927 the last Mennonite head nurse was removed and the deaconess home turned into a medical institute under a Communist leader.
= Bibliography =
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III: 167.

<em>Mennonite Rundschau</em> (1929): No. 34.
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