His Return
One account of his return states that he walked to his father’s house, and as he stepped into the kitchen, he found the family at dinner. He bade the time of day and returned to the yard and seated himself on a stump. After his father had finished his meal, he went to the man in the yard whom he supposed was an Indian and began a conversation with him. In broken German which he could scarcely recall, he said, “My name is Christian Hochstetler.” We can easily imagine the joy and surprise of the father, who nevertheless found it not easy to get his son into the house for dinner. For some time he would not decide to forsake his Indian friends and make his home with the whites. The childhood home that he had cherished in his memory during the years of his captivity was no longer to be found.
His Conversion
A short time after his return and marriage Christian was converted and joined the Tunker Church and soon became a preacher in that church. There was a Tunker congregation in Bern and Upper Tulpehocken Township, along the Northkill, several miles above the confluence of this stream with the Tulpehocken. A church was erected in 1748. In 1750 Elder George Klein came from New Jersey and settled among the members. Through his energy the congregation flourished for over twenty years, when the settlements further west attracted the families. It is likely that the ministry of Elder George Klein resulted in the conversion of Christian. Practically all the descendants of Christian to this day are in churches that practice baptism by immersion, and nearly all of them are members of some church.[footnote]17
[footnote] 17: Montgomery’s History of Berks County, p. 47.
Taken from p. 37 of Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler, by Rev. Harvey Hostetler, D.D., 1912. This portion was prepared by William F. Hochstetler.
No comments:
Post a Comment