THE MORNING BIRD
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH PAGE

Abraham said: "The Lord God of heaven which took me from my fathers house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spoke to me and said: Unto your seed will I give this land; he shall send His angel before you... (Gen. 24:7)"

Those with faith in God knew that they were never alone. For the Lord stood with them. Bad things happened--even to people of great faith. But they weathered these storms and went on to make great their nations. God raised up leaders, like William Penn, who served a sentence in the Tower of London for his apostolic beliefs in the manner the New Testament apostles baptized in Yeshua/Jesus name. (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5) Their enemies so hated them, that they built special dunking chairs to torture and drown them. There were the fearless Irish and English Quakers and French Camisards, that dwelled in the Languedoc region of France, who embraced the apostolic doctrine Peter preached on the day of Pentecost without compromise, and they exercized Pentecostal spiritual gifts and did not fear to place women in the pulpit, for they saw it in the holy scriptures. (Acts 2:1-40, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5, 1 Cor. 12-14) These were the Movers and Shakers of their generation. They lifted their voices unto the King Eternal, the Only wise God, and they sang:

Grateful to God for breath,
The strong, almighty King
Who saves my soul from death,
The death that has no end.
Thee, too, O Christ, I praise,
Who dost thine own defend.

Or That first dominion shall come to all those who will receive it. Receive Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ like George Fox who wrote so clearly and prolifically. And there were so many, many others whom we will never know till the Lord returns to take His people home. But they were faithful to the Lord that bought them. Who redeemed them with His own blood. The writer of Hebrews 11 states they wandered the earth persecuted and afflicted, "of whom the world was not worthy!"

In the process of time, the denominations which formed as a result of the work of these people, have not held as tenaciously to their same biblical values. But Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ is Truth and the truth shall prevail!

Fleeing the Rhineland Palatinates, many of the fore-fathers that fled to America, handed down the tales of God's marvellous and magnificent providence. Imagine if you can, war that is continual for 30 years. The Palatinates experienced just such a war. It is called The 30 Years War. It's human nature that people sometimes wait for things to go from bad to worse before they take action. God wants us to be wise, and observant concerning prophetic signs. Even prior to leaving the Palatinate, there were many misfortunes which made saving money to immigrate extremely difficult.

In 1708-1709 the Rhine froze over, so no boats could sail on it. It stayed that way for 5 solid weeks. Grapevines died, and cattle froze to death. Many refugees braved the 6 week journey up the Rhine in spite of setbacks, and obtained passage aboard a sailing ship; only to end up in one of the tent cities for refugees in England, such as the one in London, that housed 1600 tents. Ships also stopped in Kaupp or Cowes, England to take on supplies. Warm food was only served aboard ship 3 times a week, the rest of the time bread, or someother cold food was eaten by passengers, from bundles brought on board with them.

The journey was a lengthy and grueling ordeal, and the patience of the travellors didn't always run high. Ship logs record arguments, and people blaming one another for persuading them to undertake the trip. The elderly and the young children often died enroute, due to the severity of the conditions, which amounted to harsh weather, hostile forces, poor accomodations, foul water, and at times rotton and wormy food.

ENDENTURED SERVANTS BOTH BLACK & WHITE:

The graphic is an example of an indenture note from the year 1699...

England, to avoid being burdened by the over-whelming exodus of home-less people, concocted a brillant plan, in which 3000 would be sent to Britains American colonies. This served to curb the threatened invasion of French-Canadian invasion.

The overflowing refugee camps, and the need for British colonies in the New World were one way in which God worked providentially to get many families to America, that we might have a land of the free and home of the brave. This hasn't come about without a process. In the 1600's there were two types of indentured servants.As early as 1607, at least a portion of the settlers, or early colonists were made up of indentured servants.Africans who were Christians were automatically considered endentured servants, but not slaves. When their contract was complete, they were free men, and many of the Black Camisards or Huguenots no doubt fell into this catagory. European indentured servant-women at times had black husbands and prior to 1700, these mulatto children were born free. Black and white worked side by side in the fields to pay off their indebtedness. They were also punished equally if they broke their work contract. In fact, early colonists did not see themselves as black or white, but in terms of their social class, they were Christians and Englishmen, nobility, gentry or artisans. Prior to the Revolution, there were already 100,000 people from Germany and Switzerland living in Pennsylvania alone, with many others scattered throughout the states.

Here's an example of what an indentured servant received, in addition to his ship passage to where he was going; when his indebtedness was complete.

1) At least 25 acres of land free and clear. 2) Enough corn to last for a year. 3) A brand new house. 4) A cow 5) Weapons or some means of protection against Indian attack. 6) Tools 7) Two complete sets of clothes.

THE PRISON OR CONVICT SHIPS:

Freedom to worship God based upon the truth of His word, is a precious gift. Water baptism is an act of public worship, as well as testimony before men, and this truth concerning water baptism by immersion in Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ's holy and almighty name, was one of the truthes God sought to restore during those reformation years. He is still establishing people in the truth of His word. Given the fact that in the 1600-1700's, as today in some places in this world; your political views or your religious beliefs could get you arrested and imprisoned, as well as your indebtedness, some of you might check "prison or convict ship lists" for ancestors." William Penn is just one example of how nice people like ones own ancestors might find themselves in such a predicament. A fellow Quaker named Philip Ford embezzled huge sums of money from Penn's estates. Will Penn also signed legal documents without reading them first.