Pastor Onisim Kowal in Paraguay, South America (baptism)

Onisim Kowal in Paraguay, South America (baptism lunch)

[Note: The pictures were distributed via email courtesy of Victor Kozaczuk. I asked Victor if he would tell me about the people in the pictures. He wrote the following email, giving me permission to post it on my web page in honor of Onisim Kowal, and also in honor of the people who came from Paraguay to settle in the United States of America.]

From
Victor Kozaczuk
Hello Paul,

Nice webpage. And a nice idea.

The Kowal family farm was across the street from my Grandfather's (Serhiy Woronko) farm. My mom Lidia Kozaczuk was the eldest Woronko daughter. She had many fond memories of playing with the Kowal kids across the street. The Kowal and Woronko homesteads were located at the intersection of 5th and F streets. Back in the 30's these streets were dirt tracks through dense tropical forests, full of parrots and monkeys and armadilloes and iguanas and snakes. The forest was choked with thick liana vines in places and a machete could not get through it. This is the "farmland" that was given by the Paraguayan government to the 2000 Slavic homesteading families who showed up by the late 1930's.

Calle 5 (5th st) runs to the small town of Fram about 2 kilometers south and to the bigger town of Carmen maybe 10 kilometers north. In Carmen you catch the main route between the big city of Encarnacion on the Parana river (the south border w/ Argentina) and Asuncion (the capitol) to the north. Both farms were on the south of the intersection, Kowals to the east and Woronkos to the west. The church Onisim pastored was next door to him on the north side of F St. They built the church using wood planks sawn from the trees on the homesteads. My grandad contributed some wood. I've attached a photo of one log it took him three days to topple with an ax. In the photo you can see the unfinished Woronko frontier cabin.

The water baptism picture shows a lady and 4 boys being baptised. I think the lady is related to Victor and Anna Daciuk, and I think it's Anna's mom Mrs. Kot, but I'm not sure. The boys from right (nearest Onisim) to left are: Rev. Ben Shevchenko (Woodburn, Oregon church); Rev. Alex Shevchenko (Russian Gospel Temple, San Francisco), Missions Director ("Every Home for Christ," Russia) Paul Ilyin (father of Vicky, Natasha, Dave and Laura); and Peter Dumanovsky (of Vernon BC, father of Dave, the current Asst. Pastor of Russian Gospel Temple). On the shore in the middle of the picture is a distinguished man with no tie. That's Alexander Efremovich (AE) Shevchenko, Ben and Alex's dad. AE, was the choir conductor in Onisim's church and ran a sewing school as well. AE taught my mom to sew, which became her livelihood in California. Onisim prayed a dedication over my mom as an infant, he baptised her, and he performed her wedding ceremony. My dad greatly respected and admired Onisim and was always happy to have him over for a visit when I was growing up. He used to walk over to our house in Burlingame. Dad always considered Onisim to be one the best pastors he'd known.

The other photo is a crowd of people gathered for a big lunch after a water baptism. The crowd is on my grandfather's farm, across the street from the church and the Kowal farm. Onisim is seated next to my grandad. Their wives are next to their husbands. Grandma is holding my mom as an infant. I believe Eva is holding a baby as well. Since mom was born in 1937, I would date this picture to maybe November, 1937 (springtime in South America). The structure in the back is complete and there are no stumps in the foreground. I'd guess it's nearly a year after my grandparents arrived from Ukraine, and just after the Kowals arrived. Mom told stories of how the church members arrived for church on Sunday morning and parked their wagons and horses at the Woronko farm. My aunts (Catalina, etc.) would have the chore of watering the guest's horses. Likewise, the congregants would use the horse trough to wash the dirt from their feet after walking many kilometers barefoot. Once their feet were clean, they put on their shoes and crossed the road to enter the church.

The baptism photo, I would guess, dates to 1948 or 1949, since Rev. Alex Shevchenko is my mom's age, and he looks around 11 or 12 years old. And his older brother Ben is quite taller in the photo, so I'm guessing he's hit puberty and had a growth spurt. I'm guessing again that this baptism occurred shortly after the Shevchenkos, Ilyins, Shevchuks, Dumanovskys, and others arrived from Shanghai and, subsequently, the Phillippines. This group stayed in Paraguay only about 10 years before heading for SF. The baptism creek was located to the west of the Woronko farm next door on the Tsimbaluk farm. Mr Tsimbaluk was my grandma's brother in law. His son Pablo now owns about 600 hectares (about 1500 acres), including his dad's farm, and my grandad's farm as well.

I visited Pablo last September. He showed me around and filled me in on the history. And he offered to sell my a hectare, the corner where the Woronko homestead cabin stood - and where the big lunch baptism photo was taken... Today the Woronko and Kowal farms are corn fields. The site where Onisim's church stood is still fenced, though the lot that held the old wooden church now stands bare. A tall palm tree grows on the corner. Farm trucks whiz by on Calle 5 between Fram and Carmen. The Slavic Pentecostal church still meets, and they have a nice stuccoed brick building, freshly painted and maintained in the heart of the small town of Fram. Onisim planted a "sturdy tree" with that church. My uncle Pablo attends there. Another Ukrainian farmer, not far from the Kowal's old farm, pastors there now. Nowadays, the view from the Kowal farm is beautiful. The forests are mostly gone. On the clear spring day I was there, I could see probably 20 miles from that gentle hilltop farm. Rolling farm fields, clumps of trees, and farmhouses as far as the eye can see.

And there's some history for you. Pass this email around the Kowal clan if you like.
Best to you,
Victor

[Date: January 8, 2010 - 13th anniversary of Onisim Kowal's "Going into Eternity" - Пошёл в Вечность]

[Notes about the pictures, by Victor Kozaczuk]
"I thought of two more photos that might have the (Kowal) family in them. One is an elementary school photo - all the kids are dressed in white, the front row is kneeling and there are no men. The second photo is of the Sunday school - the front kids are on a blanket and two men are in the back row. The man to the far right is Mr Tsimbaluk - my grandfather's brother in law and across the road neighbor of Onisim. I believe it was on his property that the baptism was held. My mom Lydia and aunt Catalina are the two girls on the left, front row on the blanket. I'm guessing there are likely some Koval kids in there as well. The grade school photo has my aunt Catalina in the second row wearing a bow to the left of the girl holding a baby. I'm guessing this photo also has Kovals. I think I recall my aunt Catalina actually pointing out some Kovals in one or both photos."
Third photo: "The church Onisim pastored was next door to him on the north side of F St. They built the church using wood planks sawn from the trees on the homesteads. My grandad contributed some wood. I've attached a photo of one log it took him three days to topple with an ax. In the photo you can see the unfinished Woronko frontier cabin."