Den Deutschen, die in der Sowjetunion unter Stalins Regime gelitten haben
Eure Geduld war grenzlos,
eure Leiden, unermesslich.
Das Gedenken an Euch
warden wir für immer bewahrn.

Jesu, come and fill my spirit,
Let it be Thy dwelling place.
Drive from it the dust of sin,
Glory, lust and earthly gain,
Grant it Thy great light of grace.

Vocal Solo.................................................................................................Ms.Ruminson “The 23rd Psalm", Opus 37, by Paul Creston (1906- 1985)

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.
Our present help amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe,
With craft and power great, and armed with cruel hate,
On earth without an equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
But there is one who takes our side, the One of God's own choosing.
You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus sets us free!
With mighty power to save, victorious o'er the grave,
Christ will prevail triumphant.

And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God has willed the truth to triumph through us.
The powers of evil grim, we tremble not for them;
Their rage we can endure, for 10, their doom is sure;
One little word shall fell them.

That word beyond all earthly powers for ever is abiding:
The spirit and the gifts are ours, for Christ is with us siding.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life, also;
The body they may kill; God's truth shall triumph still;
God's reign endures forever.

Performances of Schnittke Compositions..................................................... as noted

Remembrance................................................................................ Dr. Larry Metzler

Let us recall members of groups who were targeted for destruction because of their religion, race, ethnic group or nationality, and who perished in the great genocides that occurred in the 20th Century.

• The 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey, who were massacred or who died in death marches into exile, in 1915- 1918
• The 7 million citizens of Ukraine and nearby areas, including many thousands of Soviet Germans, who perished in Josef Stalin's enforced famine of 1932 -1933
• The 300,000 Chinese in Nanking who were slaughtered by the Japanese Imperial Army in just 6 week's time in 1937
• The 6 million European Jews and others who were systematically exterminated by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers between 1938 and 1945
• The 2 million peasant farmers in Cambodia who were killed by Pot Pol and the Khmer Rouge in 1975 -1979
• The 800,000 Tutsis who were killed by Hutu militia in Rwanda in 1994
• The ethnic cleansing of 200,000 Muslims by the Serbian military, in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997

Let us honor the nearly-forgotten members of our own ethnic group -hundreds of thousands of people, including members of almost every German-Russian family-who died beginning with the earliest resettlements at the end of the Czarist era, or who perished under the Soviet govern ment, especially during the Great Terror of the Stalinist regime and the genocidal exile of World War II.

• Let us remember those German-Russians in Volhynia, Besssarabia and other border regions, who died from hardships and deprivations during the earliest forced migrations, in 1915- 1917.

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who suffered the atrocities, massacres and grain requisitions of the revolutionary and post-revolutionary period

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who starved to death in the Great Famine of 1920 -1924

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who perished during collectivization and the dispossession of the “kulaks", and as a result of the enforced starvation, banishments, purges and executions of the Stalin era, in the 1930s

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who died during the mass deportation of Soviet Germans to the remote corners of Siberia and Central Asia, at the beginning of Winter, 1941

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who died of cold, despair, hunger, exhaustion, illness, murder or execution in the Work Army and in the prison camps between 1942 and 1945, and after

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

• Those who experienced "repatriation" from Germany and Poland at the end of World War II, and faced death by shootings, freezing and starvation once back in the Soviet Union

Leader: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable.
All: We will always honor their memory.

Let us remember the generation of German-Russian children, who grew up in poverty in households without fathers; or who, as orphans, spent childhood and youth in government " Children's Homes" ; or who saw no school rooms whatever, and only forced labor battalions after the age of fifteen.

Let us remember the agony of our family members who experienced separation from their loved ones, when parents, siblings and cousins were scattered to the far corners of the vast Soviet Union, and even those who survived then found themselves at the end of the war, living in different republics than their loved ones, often even on different continents.

Let us remember the loss of culture: the language, customs and traditions, religions, the German names of birthplaces and even individuals' given names, which all were intended for extinction.

And the graves. Let us remember those who are buried in abandoned village cemeteries; along roadsides and railbeds where they were hastily laid to rest by loved ones while on the way into exile; or in the anonymous mass graves and random burial places outside the Siberian work camps and penal institutions, where they were shot, died in the snow while laboring, or were found by fellow- prisoners, dead on their cold, plank beds.

All: Their patience was boundless, their sorrows, immeasurable. We will always honor their memory.

Closing Prayer ............................................................................................Pastor Gutsche
O God, we pray that you will look with sympathy upon the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us, and unite us in bonds of love. Teach us and all human beings to love our enemies; lead us and them from prejudice to truth; deliver us and all people from hatred, cruelty and revenge, and allow us all to
work together in reconciliation.
We pray for sound government in every land. Bless us along with all the leaders on our continent, that we may be people at peace among ourselves, and an inspiration to other nations of the earth. Guide all nations of the world into the ways of justice and truth, and establish harmony among them.

Lord, help us to look with compassion upon the people in this world who today live with injustice, terror, disease and death as their constant companions, and embrace them as our brothers and sisters. We know that our people had no advocate during their long and arduous journey through the 20th Century. We pray that you will encourage and strengthen the many individuals who devote their lives to helping the millions of people who suffer today, in the 21st Century. May their efforts bring about improved security, human rights, health, social systems, religious freedoms, economic development and protection of the law.

1. So nimm denn meine Hände und führe mich, nun an mein selig' Ende und ewiglich, Ich kann allein nicht gehen, nicht einen Schritt, wo Vu wirst geh'n und stehen, da nimm mich mit.

2. Lord, take my hand and lead me upon life's way; Direct, protect and feed me from day to day. Without your grace and favor, I go astray; So take my hand, O Savior, and lead the way.

Men only
3. Lord, when the tempest rages, I need not fear; For you, the Rock of Ages, are always near. Close by your side abiding, I fear no foe, For when your hand is guiding in peace I go.

All
4. Lord, when the shadows lengthen and night has come, I know that you will strengthen my steps toward home, And So take my hand and lead me unto the end.
nothing can impede me, O blessed Friend !