Attending a Mennonite Funeral
It was a cloudy and rainy day. Two young men were heading home for lunch trying to stay ahead of the rain, but they never made it. Both were within sight of their homes, both lived on the same road, both were driving motorbikes, and each was coming from the opposite direction. They collided and both died on the spot. This happened in Spanish Lookout, on the 22nd of June, around 11:30am. I received the news at 11:45. One was the son of a Kleine Gemeinde business owner, another was the son of a non-conservative Mennonite mechanic whose home church is in Belmopan.
One of them had been a co-worker. My friends and I stood around in shocked silence when we were told our co-worker had passed away. For the rest of the day, everyone seemed to be more subdued.
The KG's son's funeral service was held in the big KG Schoenthal church on Center Road, and the other one's funeral at the Countryside Park, the place where non-KG people hold their funeral services.
I attended the funeral of the latter, since he used to be a co-worker. Out of respect for the family I will not post close-up photos of the funeral and scene of the accident. It was heart-breaking watching his sisters and parents take turns shoveling dirt, a Mennonite tradition.
Now a little bit of interesting history. Most Plautdietsch Mennonites bury their dead under the ground and use a simple marker. The KG used to have the belief of having as little machine noise as possible on the graveyard, but it has changed now and riding mowers and excavators are used.
An intriguing onservation is that the son of the KG preacher had a large attendance, was more organized and lasted longer. The other guy's funeral was shorter, had a much smaller crowd, and very few KG's attended. Perhaps part of the reason is that about 2 decades or more ago, a charismatic movement broke out in Spanish Lookout. This group was known as the Locals. They moved out of the colony and later resettled in Belmopan and established businesses such as Belmopan Aggregates and Jimmy's Wireless. Now years later there is more interaction between the "Local" Mennonites and the people of Spanish Lookout than there used to be.
So maybe that was part of the reason, the other reason could be because the young man and his family were simply not as well known.
One of them had been a co-worker. My friends and I stood around in shocked silence when we were told our co-worker had passed away. For the rest of the day, everyone seemed to be more subdued.
The KG's son's funeral service was held in the big KG Schoenthal church on Center Road, and the other one's funeral at the Countryside Park, the place where non-KG people hold their funeral services.
I attended the funeral of the latter, since he used to be a co-worker. Out of respect for the family I will not post close-up photos of the funeral and scene of the accident. It was heart-breaking watching his sisters and parents take turns shoveling dirt, a Mennonite tradition.
Now a little bit of interesting history. Most Plautdietsch Mennonites bury their dead under the ground and use a simple marker. The KG used to have the belief of having as little machine noise as possible on the graveyard, but it has changed now and riding mowers and excavators are used.
An intriguing onservation is that the son of the KG preacher had a large attendance, was more organized and lasted longer. The other guy's funeral was shorter, had a much smaller crowd, and very few KG's attended. Perhaps part of the reason is that about 2 decades or more ago, a charismatic movement broke out in Spanish Lookout. This group was known as the Locals. They moved out of the colony and later resettled in Belmopan and established businesses such as Belmopan Aggregates and Jimmy's Wireless. Now years later there is more interaction between the "Local" Mennonites and the people of Spanish Lookout than there used to be.
So maybe that was part of the reason, the other reason could be because the young man and his family were simply not as well known.
The graveyard in Spanish Lookout
