Fred Smolchuck (1917-2008), Slavic Pentecostal leader, passes away

Fred Smolchuck had a passion for spreading the gospel and the Pentecostal message to Slavic people. A founding member of the former Ukrainian Branch of the Assemblies of God, he served as a pastor and district official in Michigan, and he authored 16 books. His life is inextricably intertwined with the history of the Slavic churches in the Assemblies of God. He passed away peacefully in Springfield, Missouri, at the age of 90 on February 23, 2008.

Born February 26, 1917, in Boston, Massachusetts, Smolchuck was the son of Ukrainian immigrants to America. A series of tragic events, beginning with the death of Fred’s seven-year-old sister, led the Smolchuck family to accept Christ. Fred was saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit at the age of ten. He and his parents joined the Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian Pentecostal Church of Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 1934, he enrolled at Zion Bible Institute in Rhode Island, graduating in 1936. A year later he married Stella Hanko.

Rev. R. L. Brandt (1917-2007) is remembered

Robert Louis Brandt was born May 29, 1917, at Tower City, North Dakota, the oldest child of Alfred and Etta Brandt. He passed away in Billings, Montana on September 27, 2007 at the age of 90. He served the Assemblies of God Fellowship as pastor, author, Bible school president, executive presbyter, National Home Missions Secretary, and superintendent of two districts.

Raised on a farm near Rock Lake, North Dakota, Brandt accepted Christ at Lake Geneva Bible Camp near Alexandria, Minnesota at age 16 and soon felt a calling to the ministry. After completing high school, he attended North Central Bible Institute (now North Central University) in Minneapolis and went on to pastor churches in Stanley (1939-1945) and Grand Forks, North Dakota (1945-1951). He married Marian Williams in 1940, and they became parents of three children.

Brandt’s ministry expanded when he was elected North Dakota District Superintendent (1951-1958), resigning to become the National Home Missions Secretary for the Assemblies of God (1958-1965). He then became pastor of First Assembly of God in Billings, Montana (1965-1970) and Montana District Superintendent (1970-1983). He served faithfully for 20 years as executive presbyter of the Northwest Region from 1981 to 2001. He also served on many boards and committees, including the board of directors for North Central Bible College, Central Indian Bible College, and Northwest University.

A gifted author, he contributed articles to the Pentecostal Evangel, Pulpit, Enrichment, and wrote several theological texts including Praying With Paul, The Spirit Helps Us Pray, Attitudes of the Beatitudes, The Pentecostal Promise, among others, and a number of Sunday school quarterlies. He also traveled as an evangelist to many countries including Puerto Rico, Thailand, Java, Canada, and South Korea. He is remembered as a leader, board member, teacher, preacher, and author, but most of all, he is remembered as a faithful servant of God.

Juanita Bruhn (1917-2007), former director of Hillcrest Children’s Home, passes away

Juanita E. Bruhn, wife of the late Rev. Herbert Bruhn, passed away on Thursday, January 25, 2007 at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at the age of 89. The Bruhns were ministers and missionaries with the Assemblies of God, pastoring churches at Festus, Chaffee, St. Louis, East Prairie, Jackson, Whitewater, and Perryville, Missouri. They also were missionaries in Alaska at the end of World War II and were directors for Hillcrest Children’s Home in Hot Springs, Arkansas, from 1957-1966.

Her obituary appeared in the Southeast Missourian, Friday, January 26, 2007.

The Bruhns were featured in AG Heritage, Winter 1995-96.

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