Watch Through the Desert Goes Our Journey
- NR
- 2008
- 57 min
Winner of an Emmy award for Musical Composition/Arrangement in a television program by the Heartland chapter of NATAS (2010). At the height of the Great Game, when Russia and the British Empire were jockeying for control of Central Asia, hundreds of Russian Mennonites fled in covered wagons to the Khanate of Khiva. They believed this Muslim kingdom bordering Afghanistan would be the site of the Second Coming of Christ in 1889. After recovering from the shock of failed End Times prophecies, many remained in Khiva and formed close relationships with the local Muslim population.
The film follows American descendants of the migration as they retrace the steps of their ancestors along the Silk Road. Errors associated with the trek left a legacy of shame and silence among many Mennonite families in the Midwest. However, Uzbeks fondly remember the Khiva Mennonites for their modernizing influence and commitment to nonviolence. Many Mennonites today are reconciling the episode's difficult legacy with information previously lost to history.
This video makes an excellent companion to the book Pilgrims on the Silk Road: A Muslim Christian Encounter in Khiva, by the documentary's director.
Through the Desert Goes Our Journey is a 2008 documentary with a runtime of 57 minutes.