Mennonites in Belize

  In time, on time, all the time. Not quite true.   For German speaking Mennonites, being on time is engraved into their lives. At least for the majority. If church starts at 7:00pm, you'll see a line of vehicles(buggies or autos) at 6:58pm. If singing ends at 9pm, by 9:03 there is a line of vehicles leaving the church yard. The same way with other gatherings.   KG Mennonites will often say time wasted is money lost. Very true. Also true that when time is used to become materially wealthy, God tends to be pushed to the edge of the heart. Old Colonists have the same mindset concerning time as the KG do, yet their wealth will be shown in crops and livestock and not luxury, since is part of the world and therefore a sin.   Old Order (Hoover) Mennonites are truly the quietest group of Mennonites. Time seems to have stopped in their community. I felt as if I was in the middle of the 19th century, watching ox carts and plows being pulled by horses. Unhurried, calm and t...

  The Holdemans, Beachy Amish and Conservative Mennonites have a different view of living an upright moral life.    Certainly they are not holier or more perfect than the KG and Old Order, yet their morality and Biblical virtues are based on their relationship with Jesus Christ. Without being born again it is not possible to live a "good outstanding life" of any worth. Nor can you become good simply by being baptized into their church. According to them, you can only uphold an upright moral lifestyle when you have the Lord in your heart. This means that adultery, drinking alcohol, smoking, constant outbursts of temper, and other "big" or "major" sins are not forbidden because they're bad; rather, they're not tolerated because they are called "death" sins and create instant separation from God. Which means excommunication from the church, not from the group.    Now and then, when a scandal or other disgraceful and embarassing event happe...

   Moral values are very high among the Holdemans, Kleine Gemeinde, Beachy Amish, and Old Order Mennonites. However, upholding the reputation of good morale has become almost like a style of living for many of the KG and Old Order. I'll explain more later.   The Old Colony Mennonites from north Belize are another kettle of fish altogether. Spiritual life and morale are a mistery to most of them. Living among many of them is like living inside a typical lower class Belizean home. The shower is outside, you splash through mud to reach the outhouse, little naked children in the backyard, mothers screaming at their children and slapping them, fathers whipping their boys severely, and husband and wife speaking harshly to each other. Some of the men and boys drink, smoke daily, fight and use rough language during work. Now this is not said to give a negative view of them; it is simply a way of life. There are still the quiet, conscientious families here and there.   The ...

   Can traditions survive without their unique drinks? Perhaps somewhere else, in another culture, but not among the Mennonites. Whether homebrewed, factory prepared, or instant powder, many Plautdietsch Mennonites can't survive without their traditional iced tea. But when did it become traditional? We'll look at that in another article.   Mennonite beer, as it has been nicknamed, is viewed as the number 1 drink among many of the Low German speaking Mennonites, specially the Kleine Gemeinde and other non-conservative ones. Weddings, funerals, family gatherings, birthdays, etc. are not complete without a cooler of iced tea, even in cold weather. While coffee is just a common drink to any culture in Belize, the iced tea is not popular; non-Mennonite people throughout Belize prefer fruit punch over tea. Among older traditional Mennonites such as Old Colonists and Old Order, hot herbal tea is also frequently used, especially as a medical drink or instead of a cup of coffee. ...

    There are no known celebrities among the Mennonites of Belize, small-town, famous, popular or otherwise. A few musical groups have had shortlived moments in the spotlight.

   Music, the comfort of the soul, the way of sin to some, a sign of true worship to others.   Within the Mennonite family in Belize music to some degree is used or listened to, with each branch viewing it based on their understanding of the Bible.                          The Kleine Gemeinde   Used to consider any musical instrument as wrong. But after acapella recorded music was approved, it introduced a need for tape recorders, then slowly over the years other instruments were approved. Church singing is still acapella, and radio and TV are still not accepted. However, instruments such as violins (which is often played by KG youth girls) and guitars are used during youth singing, community concerts, and personal entertainment or family singing. The organ is also used sometimes in such events.       The Beachy and Conservative Mennonites     Also sing acapella style dur...

                  Farmer's Trading Center                The World's Meeting Place   Located right on the main road of Spanish Lookout, in the middle of the business district, is Farmer's Trading Center, one of the country's biggest hardware retail, one of the biggest retail supermarkets, possibly the second biggest building in the country in which to find and meet people from all over the world, and perhaps the only place in Central America where you may see different types of Mennonites on a single day, both locals and outsiders.   Owned by the community and visited by the whole country, it is jokingly called the Mennonite Wal-Mart by citizens and tourists alike. Sort of like a Co-op, it also serves as the credit union of Spanish Lookout members, and issues its own coupon type of checks which again is only used between community members, not necessarily taxpayers.   ...

  There is a very small group of people in Belize that requires some clearer explaining.   Are they Amish? Or some form of Beachy Mennonites? Or Beachy Amish? Or Amish Mennonites? Or to make it less confusing, are they simply all of the above?   To be honest, what is today known as the Beachy Mennonite church has a more or less official title of Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship. Consequently within that branch there may be groups that may be more closely related to liberal Amish than to Mennonites, while at the same time some groups may be following a liberal Mennonite lifestyle yet cling to Amish type of dressing. For those unfamiliar with the Beachy, Wikipedia explains it as follows:   Today, the Beachy Amish vary widely in practice, as the constituency is a fellowship with congregational autonomy separate of a governing conference.    Of the more conservative minded, Wikipedia states:  A number of other Amish Mennonite congregation...

  Note: It is not my intention to uphold, support or promote any Mennonite group above another; I sincerely respect the contribution of each branch of Mennonites to the country as a whole, whether financial or spiritual. That said, I will explain some more about the Holdemans since I have probably observed them more than any other group of conservative Mennonites.   To start, like I mentioned before, their focus is first on the spiritual life. Baptism, the new birth, communion and feet washing are fundamental in their church. Shunning as known among the Amish, Old Order and Old Colonists is not practiced among them. Excommunication is the word used and practiced by them, it is decided by the whole congregation of that area after holding members-only meetings, and the severity of it depends on the congregation, but the expelled person is still invited to attend church, and is not excluded from gatherings. (This is not just in Belize; in my travels throughout North and Central ...

A Holdeman Mennonite church in Billywhite Village, Cayo District   The least known and seen in Belize, the Holdeman Mennonites are not what come to a person's mind when thinking of Mennonites in Belize. The picture is usually of white-skinned men in straw hats and suspenders or farmers in modern clothes and using modern and up to date farm machinery, right? Colorful dresses are worn by Holdeman girls and women  The real name of the Holdeman group worldwide is Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, and all churches outside of North America were started as missions with the "central government" being in Kansas. Thus, any major change to a doctrine must first be submitted to a global conference. Mennonite is a name that was tagged on since there are many other churches with the name "Church of God". Holdeman Mennonites is a label that was placed on them after John Holdeman in the 1800's left the Old Order Mennonites in an effort to revive spiritualis...

1. February: Universal Hardware's Friends & Family Day. 2. March: La Ruta Maya, the country's annual canoe race in which some Mennonite businesses become involved by either actively taking part or sponsorship. 3. September: Reimer's Feed Mill holds its annual appreciation and sale day. 4. October: Farmer's Trading Center holds its Customer Appreciation Day, by far the biggest event in Spanish Lookout. 5. November: Caribbean Tires has its sale and discount weekend.

  Since Blue Creek and Spanish Lookout are the most progressive of the Mennonite communities, they each have their own medical center. The one in Spanish Lookout is complete with ambulance and rescue squad. The staff at the clinics are all female nurses who receive training through first hand experience. They do not go to any university or even high school. The rescue team however does have licensed male attendants and first aid personnel.   Spanish Lookout also recently bought its own 2 fire trucks. Firefighters are community volunteers who serve terms. Both the ambulance and fire trucks are available for anybody with an emergency and as such this has greatly benefited the surrounding villages. A permanent police station is in Spanish Lookout, but the police are Hispanics or blacks. However due to some issues with the government and police force, no officer resides since 2012.   The Old Colonists and Old Order Mennonites have no central government, hence no taxes and n...

A handmade rug    Below are a few samples of the items and foods produced by all the Mennonites of Belize: Old Colony, Holdeman, Conservative, Old Order, Kleine Gemeinde, Beachy, EMMC and other non-conservatives. The ones who have gained the upper hand are the ones from Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek colonies. From vegetables to building material, handmade or machine-processed, each Mennonite group has contributed its share to the country's economy. However, an export market for a lot of these goods is a challenge since the cost of labor and electricity is much higher than surrounding countries. A few businesses have begun exporting but mostly in food items such as processed poultry, corn, beans, rice and live cattle. Other items not pictured here are leather products and welded tools made by the Old Colony(Altkolonie) and Old Order, handmade baskets and clay pottery made by Holdeman and Conservative Mennonite members in the Toledo District. Blankets, rugs, and cloth na...

  To begin, I'll mention the first non-conservative group that broke away from the traditional church. It was actually a charismatic movement that was in direct contradiction to their beliefs. This group was to a large degree banned from Spanish Lookout; they relocated to Belmopan, where some opened up their own businesses and church and intermarried with locals. However, the years have passed and have crumbled religious borders and traditional customs.     Suicides are almost unheard of, but they have happened. The latest one happened more than 10 years ago.   Kidnappings have also happened. One mysterious incident occurred during the last years of the Guatemalan civil war. Spanish Lookout territory touches the Guatemalan border for a few miles, and it was somewhere along this area that a Mennonite farmer was arrested by Guatemalan guerillas. At least that was and is the story. The farmer was never heard from again. No human bones or remains were discovered ...