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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
Lutherans Become Baptists
G. W. Hervey
From The Story of Baptist Missions, 1884
At the eighth Triennial Conference, held in July, 1870, the German Baptists were reported to have entered all the quarters of the globe.
As early as 1859 they had gone across the German States, from the North Sea to Russia, and from the Baltic almost to Italy. In 1865, they sent a missionary to British Caffraria, in South Africa; in 1867, they sent a missionary to China. In 1866, the Gospel entered Kurland, in Russia.
Ten families of the Russian Baptists were in 1865, driven by persecution into Turkey. Of these, some were banished by Russia and others left of their own accord. Crossing the boundary, they found that refuge in the shadow of the Crescent, which was not enjoyed beneath the shade of the Greek Cross.
These exiles and emigrants were attended by the power of the Divine Spirit, and revival drew to their company the Lutherans of that region, so that the Lutheran chapels fell into the hands of the Baptists and their bells were rung to call all the population to Baptist worship.
But, in spite of persecution, the Baptists made progress in Russia. In 1863, two hundred and forty were baptized in the dominions of the Czar. In 1867, it was reported that there were three churches, numbering 857 members, flourishing in Middle Russia. Ten years later, the Russian Baptists numbered 3680.