Isaak, Kornelius (1928-1958)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Sep 18 p. 1

Birth date: 1928

text of obituary:

Young Missionary Killed By Morro Indians in Paraguay

KORNELIUS ISAAK, 30, FATALLY INJURED IN ATTEMPT AT FRIENDLY CONTACT WITH FIERCE TRIBE

Thursday, Sept. 11, the office of the General Conference Board of Missions, 722 Main, received the following telegram from Asuncion, Paraguay: “Missionary Kornelius Isaak, wounded yesterday by Morros, died today. Funeral tomorrow, Gerhard, Giesbrecht.”

Kornelius Isaak, stationed among the Chulupi Indians in Neuland Colony, was a General Conference missionary serving under the Mennonite Brethren Mission Board in Paraguay. He was a son of the well-known Elder Jacob Isaak, General Conference leader in Paraguay, and a brother of Jacob Isaac Jr. [Jakob Isaak Jr.], student at the Mennonite Seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Further background material on this tragic incident is given in the following report by Rev. P. K. Regier, General Conference executive secretary who returned from South America only a few weeks ago, and in a release from the Mennonite Brethren Board of Foreign Missions, Hillsboro, Kan.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Sep 18 p. 1, 3

text of obituary:

Promising Young Worker

By Rev. P. K. Regier

On Saturday evening, June 21, it was my privilege to visit the Chulupi Indian village just outside of the New Halbstadt of the Neuland Colony in Paraguay. Mission work is being done among these Indians and two young missionaries, Kornelius Isaak and Walter Rennert, were working together in this mission enterprise. At the time of my visit the foundation for a church building had already been laid and the two young men with the help of some of the Indians were at work on the building.

FATALLY WOUNDED — Kornelius Isaak, General Conference missionary in Paragiay

These two young men had learned the language of the Chulupi Indians and were preaching the Gospel in their native tongue. On that Saturday evening a prayer meeting was held in the yard of the two missionaries just outside of the Indian camp. We arrived early at this home and the Indians began coming to the prayer service. Group after group came and it appeared as if the whole village must have been emptied to swell the attendance.

Prayer Service

It so happened that Ernst Krupka, the evangelist from Germany, and myself were the visitors at the prayer meeting. After the missionaries had given brief messages and the two of us had given Christian greetings to our Indian brethren in Christ, many of the Indians led in audible prayer in a very impressing service. We went away from the service with the feeling that a most effective mission work was being done by these young men and we thanked God for the souls which had already been won to Christ in such a comparatively short time.

On Sept. 11 we were shocked by a telegram to the Mission Board that one of those young men, Kornelius Isaak, son of Elder Jacob Isaak of Fernheim, had been wounded by the Morro Indians Sept. 10 and that he died the following day as the result of this attack.

Savage Tribe

The Chulupi Indian tribe is a tame, peaceful tribe and not a menace to the lives of our Mennonites in the Chaco. On the other hand the Morro Indians are a wild, savage, bush-inhabiting tribe and have on two previous occasions attacked Mennonite families.

We are deeply grieved that the mission work of this fine, promising young Christian worker has been cut short so that he can no longer minister to a needy Indian tribe just when the work had made such a wonderful beginning under the evident blessings of God. It is our sincere prayer that the Lord may comfort the bereaved family, and that He may use this tragedy to the salvation of many precious souls.

Details Not Learned

Hillsboro, Kansas. — A Mennonite missionary in Paraguay has given his life to reach the savage Morro Indians with the Gospel.

Dead is Kornelius Isaak, 30. News of this tragedy is based on a cablegram received here by the office of the Mennonite Brethren Board of Foreign Missions on Sept. 11.

Just where the tragedy occurred and whether others were injured in this encounter has not yet been learned.

Missionary Giesbrecht had written of a planned trip to establish friendly relations with the Morros. On Monday, August 25, Missionaries David Hein, Kornelius Isaak Johann, a Lengua Indian preacher, set out by jeep and trailer for the Morro bush territory while the church prayed for their protection and a successful contact with the Morros.

Departure of the party was preceded by appropriate missionary services in Fernheim the previous day. On Sunday, August 24, Missionaries Gerhard Hein and Walter Rennert were ordained.

Bro. Isaak is survived by his wife, the former maria Born, and several children. His parents are Bro. and Sister Jacob Isaak of Fernheim. Mrs. Isaak is the daughter of Jacob Borns, also of Fernheim.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Sep 25 p. 1, 7
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1958 Oct 9 p. 1