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Uev. David Nyvall ’
59
to the bitter end. But Germany was not true to traditions nor to her
own ideals.
In the present fight for supremacy between Russia and Germany,
launched four years ago, so many unexpected forces entered, with so
many surprises, that the original start and the history behind have
been quite forgotten, and perhaps by most people never seen. Eng-
land’s participation, slowly but surely leading to our own, was one of
these surprises weighing heavily in the balance against a German
victory. The revolution in Russia, however, is the greatest, the most
far-reaching surprise in this war of a thousand surprises. And the
world is still guessing at the ultimate meaning of this surprise and its
bearing on the principles which have become the real object of the
fight through America’s participation in the war.
America in the Present Crisis
I am now ready to take up the question, why America must take the
leadership in evangelizing Russia. The question is extremely fascinat-
ing. It is a question forced upon us and demanding attention. True,
other questions just now are equally urgent. And it is hard for red-
blooded Americans at this moment to think intensely and continuously
on any question except actual war. Our hearts are in the trenches
where our boys at this very moment fight and die, and where the fate
of us all and of our civilization and of humanity is to be determined
for centuries to come. And yet it is really a part of partiotism to have
our eyes also on Russia, and it is our Christian duty and privilege
to look for chances at this time to offer to the Russian people, in the
hour of distress, the sympathy and the leadership, which is sustained
by Christian faith and love and hope.
It may be the function of this conference to fill many Americans
with this noble ambition, to serve a great nation at present helpless
against overwhelming odds and through her faults fast becoming as
friendless as she is helpless. But how is this to be done? How is
Russia at this time to be invaded by her friends through the iron
doors shut against her by her strong enemy and ours? How is the
attention of the Russian people to be caught in this awful din of a
world-battle without and many revolutions within? These questions
I cannot answer, and while listening eagerly for an answer from those
present who know more about Russia than the rest of us, I must confess
that 1 am far from overconfident that an answer is to be forthcoming,
because the present Russia seems to be a riddle not only to most of us
but also to those who know ordinary Russia well enough.
One Direct Way to Russia
Were I at this moment addressing not this conference but the con-
ference of my own denomination at Jamestown, I would have no hesita-
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