Amish in Belize

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  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 congregations exist in an independent, unaffiliated setting. Most identify themselves in name as Conservative Mennonites or conservative Amish Mennonite and may hold fellowship with various Beachy or conservative Mennonite congregations.
  Generally, the word Amish would bring up bonnets, black hats, horses and buggies and plain clothing. But they, like the Mennonites, have divided, split, broken off and regrouped and revived although not as often or with so many varieties. So while Belize does not have any of the Old Order Amish living in the country, it has the Beachy, which, like mentioned earlier, is not directly Amish but has its roots in it. Now why all this explanation? 
  Well, in Belize, close to the capital, are the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio. Just outside these towns a few families are living. At the beginning of the blog I wrote about the Amish Mennonites who lived among the locals, dressed somewhat like the Amish in the US yet in a way resembled the Beachy, drove vehicles, worshiped with the Beachy yet associated more frequently with the Old Order (Hoover) Mennonites here in Belize. While the Beachys are called Amish Mennonites by many, this little group could more correctly hold the title of Amish Mennonites, in my opinion.
  The folks most often mistaken for Old Order Amish here in Belize are the Old Order Mennonites, a division of the North American Old Order Mennonites. The reason for the confusion is the men's bushy beards and the women's black bonnets.

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