This class will offer an illustrated, biographical presentation of an extraordinary young man from eastern Berks county who became an explorer of Africa’s Sahara, Canada’s Hudson Bay, and the Amazon basin in three dangerous expeditions in the four years just prior to World War I. His scientific discoveries made today’s maps more accurate and modern air travel possible.

Presented by Robert Gerhart, who as a boy lived in the house in which Darius was raised in Clayton. Pastor Gerhart, years later, returned to Bally as pastor of the Hereford Mennonite Church which had been the home congregation of the Berky family.

About the Instructor: Dr. Robert Gerhart

Bob Gerhart has been a student of church history from his youth throughout his years of pastoral ministry. He served as a pastor of congregations in Pennsylvania, California, and Lesotho, Africa. He was a staff member of the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) and has served as the executive director of the Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations. He and his wife, Joyce, live in Bally.