Interesting Happenings in the Mennonite Communities of Belize
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 on the Belizean side of the line. The latest kidnapping happened last year, during the tense military stand-off between Guatemala and Belize; a young Mennonite farmer was working close to the border when he was held up, blindfolded and taken to the Guatemalan side where he was held for a few hours.
Some of the long, lonely stretches of limestone roads in the Mennonite communities make good runways for drug transport planes. About 3 years ago Spanish Lookout residents found the burnt remains of a plane in the middle of a mile long, straight piece of road on the western side of the community, a few miles from the Guatemalan border. Only the tail and pieces of the wings were left, no trace of anything else. It happened again a year later, but with more details. This time residents heard a plane circling low for awhile, then landing, then according to some they saw a bright glow, followed by the sound of lots of vehicle traffic heading back to the community. The next morning only the tip of the tail could be seen. Again, not a trace of anything else.
The first Mennonite to enter politics was Elvin Penner. He ran for representative of a portion of western Belize; he served in the United Democratic Party for some years after which he was fired over a scandal involving illegal documents for a non-Belizean.
Shortly after Elvin Penner's entrance to politics, a self-proclaimed pastor and prophet of a nonconservative, Pentecostal church made a run for Prime Minister. Cornelius Dueck named his group National Reform Party. His idea was to incorporate the church into the government, but it quickly fell apart after his party lost. NRP never regrouped or recovered.
Horrific murders have happened in some of these communities, but so far the murders have been committed by criminals who are non Mennonite or outsiders who targeted the Mennonites. There have also been wierd, strange and odd looking white people, either North American or European, who have spent time living and wandering in these colonies and then they disappear to who knows where. They rent a room somewhere or sleep out beside the road. Most people label them loco and let them be.
In Shipyard, zealous church members openly and publicly attacked a group of wayward young people who had gone out to socialize and enjoy a beer and a smoke. Alcohol and smoking are part of the Old Colonist's lifestyle but what angered these parents was that the young people were becoming involved with technology, playing with smartphones, listening to radios and watching movies.
