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- Forty Years in Russia. The Rev. N. F. Hoijer
- First at Cronstadt
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FORTY YEARS IN RUSSIA
By REV. N. F. HOIJER
After I was ordained in Sweden I was sent to Russia, not to
form there a Swedish church, but to help the Russian people
to form a Russian Christian church. I came to Cronstadt, a
naval base and the Baltic port of Petrograd. All evangelical
propaganda was entirely forbidden in the empire.
I was allowed to hold meetings only on board the ships in the
harbor, and in the Swedish and Esthonian Church. As soon as God
crowned my words with success and signs of revival were seen, there
arose a persecution. We were then forbidden to have light on the
ships at night, but the desire among the people to listen to God’s Word
was awakened, so I would repeat my text and shout my message in
the darkness, without seeing my audience.
First at Cronstadt
A Russian priest, John of Cronstadt, was at that time in the prime
of his manhood. He had greater influence in the state church than
the Czar himself. His large cathedral was packed with people who
crowded each other in order to touch the hem of his garment, and
when he traveled the police had to clear his way that he should not
be trodden down by the people. Through him the people were brought
to a deep knowledge of sin. I read the Gospel and prayed to God for
some of them and they began to witness to other people that they had
received forgiveness of their sins.
Now my days in Cronstadt were numbered. My case was brought
before the authorities in Petrograd; an order was issued to the
governor of Cronstadt to have me arrested and my work stopped. In the
Holy Scriptures I read: “When they persecute you in this city, flee ye
into another.” I wrote to my society that another missionary ought
at once to be sent to Cronstadt to continue my work.
It was late in the fall. A severe winter set in. The gulf between
the island of Cronstadt and the mainland was covered with floating ice
and there was no possibility of crossing it. But in a few hours the
ice became one solid mass and it was possible to walk over it. Some
of the brethren followed me to the seashore. They prayed for me. The
ice was rather weak, but still the bridge that God had made held and
I crossed over safely to Oranienbaum, and from there I went to
Petrograd.
The authorities were now hunting me and they were not aware
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