Wyneken did not remain idle while he waited for a dismissal from missionary service. He began his ministry in Fort Wayne and Adams County, preached to a small settlement near Auburn, Indiana, on the Cedar Creek, along what was to become the Lima Pike Road. On the third of December, he set out for the Elkhart area, but found his horse too lame to make the journey. He Spent Advent and Christmas in the Fort Wayne area.
Wyneken made a northern journey just after the first of the year. His horse went lame again and be left along the way. The missionary completed the journey to Benton on foot. There he baptized nine and formed a congregation. He continued on to Goshen, where he baptized a
child and stayed overnight. Although he became ill in Goshen, Wyneken continued on to Elkhart, where he was expected. There he was able to preach, conduct a confessional service, commune eighteen and baptize six. His illness worsened and forced the missionary to remain in bed two
days. Since he promised to preach to a small settlement ten miles from Wolf Lake, Wyneken had to turn back for Fort Wayne.
Upon his return, Wyneken found a letter relieving him of his position as a missionary of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. During the eventful period from September 10th to the end of his commission on January 11th, he organized three congregations, preached fifty-eight times, baptized sixty-eight children and two adults, confirmed one, communed one hundred and eighty, married one couple and buried one person. He collected contributions totaling $16.50.
Settling down to serve two parishes in Northeast Indiana did not stop Wyneken, full of zeal, from preaching, teaching and organizing congregations whenever he had the time. When time permitted, he would answer requests to visit other settlements on weekdays and preach in them.
The circuit rider felt he could not organize these stations into congregations because most they lacked either the sufficient catechesis or piety and because he simply could not properly care for them. It broke his heart to have to ignore the many pleas to come and prepare children for confirmation and to meet many desperate needs. He could see whole villages sinking back into paganism. On his longer trips, sometimes four to six weeks from home, Wyneken had to depart settlement after settlement, sick with the knowledge that not even a survey missionary would minister in these places for the next few years
He could only promise to return from time to time and tell them of his many letters to Germany, begging for help.
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