Page 221 - The Diary of A. H. W. Behrens

105
1909
After the election of the advisors mentioned above, Brother Ernst Penzhorn told me that he would have acted in exactly
the same way as I had done and would rather close an eye to matters in his congregation than to call the little superintendent for assistance. He gave me the advice to see to it that Meyer would be transferred so that I would be alone in Bethanie again because otherwise I couldn’t stand being in a double- bind between Meyer and Behrens. That was absolutely my opinion too. So, when I had returned from Bloemfontein,
I wrote to Director Harms, “Please remove Brother Meyer from Bethanie and give me my “positive” work again, I
hereby lay down all my “negative” functions and work. You are not to have any complaints against me, and I shall show the new superintendent all due honour. But I wish to be on
my own.” But Director Harms denied me this and said that
the congregation in Bethanie was too attached to Meyer etc.
I should wait until he returned from his inspection journey
to India, then he would see what could be done. I insisted on
a decision before then and when nobody responded to this, I announced from the pulpit on the next Sunday that Missionary Meyer would be their “moruti” from now on and I would leave Bethanie. That caused a great stir and the congregation refused to accept Meyer and to let me go.