Posts

Showing posts from March, 2019

Of Witches and Mennonites

Image
      The following article refers to the Beachy, Holdeman, and Conservative Mennonites and describes a spiritual aspect of their life. These 3 groups are made up of people from different cultures and languages, which is the reason I did not specify an exact church name or Mennonite group since this is a situation that happened in these churches back when they were starting out as mission outposts. Leaving some of the dark cultural traditions and even darker witchcraft practices and becoming a Mennonite makes an interesting and inspiring story.   Dominga (not her real name) was born a Q'eqchi' (Kekchi) Maya in the southern Toledo District. She was well taught on all the taboos and traditions of her culture and as she grew older began training to be a witch. Certain herbs placed in a neighbor's food, placing a black candle on the cursed person's doorstep, casting a spell on the enemy's cattle, etc.   In her early twenties, white-skinned and plainly dressed ...

Plautdietsch Mennonites in Belize

Image
Some time back I had requested permission to use this picture but then forgot about it until recently I discovered it in my files .   Although not all the Mennonites in this country speak it, there are 3 distinct groups of them in Belize who speak Plaudietsch, a Germanic language that has been part of the "Russian" Mennonites' since before they came to North America more than a century ago. In English it is referred to as Low German.   In northern Belize we have the Altkolonie (Old Colony) Mennonites which many know simply as Shipyard Mennonites even though there are other communities of them besides Shipyard. Their Plautdietsch is untainted by English and Spanish words.   In Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek, O.W., live the Kleine Gemeinde side by side with those who have left the KG church and attend liberal churches such as EMMC and Amazing Grace. These non-conservative Mennonites, together with the KG, speak an increasingly watered-down Plautdiesch. Older people...

Mennonites and Drugs

Image
  I'm sure you've heard and read news about marijuana plantations found close to Plautdietsch Mennonite communities and mysterious nighttime airplanes landing in these colonies. No doubt many of my readers were wondering when I would write about this subject, and no doubt also you're waiting and wondering which of all the Mennonite groups in Belize are the most involved with growing marijuana or trafficking other drugs.   Well, I'm going to disapoint you because my aim is not to point out exactly which Mennonite persons are doing business with this stuff and to what extent but I will admit that there have been, are, and will be Plautdietsch  and non-Plautdietsch Mennonites caught up in this trade. Remember though, simply because a plantation is found close to a Mennonite colony or a burnt plane is discovered inside the community does not always mean that the Mennonites were directly involved in it.  You see drug lords and their workers take advantage of these smo...

Beans and Mennonites

Image
  As the bean harvest is upon us and the Mennonites of Spanish Lookout and northern Belize bring in their crops, the western villages in the country see an increase of foreign nationals who cross the border to earn some Belizean cash by picking beans. Most of them are Guatemalan and Honduran with a few Salvadorans sprinkled in. Of course, many Belizeans also sign up too. Usually a Mennonite farmer has an agreement with a Hispanic person who acts as a hiring agent. The farmer tells him when and how many acres and the agent starts making phone calls.    Another form of bean picking is done by villagers who live close to these fields. Following along behind the combine or combing the outer edges of the field to gather whatever beans they find. As a child, my grandparents and I loved these times of "frijolear". We would carry our lunches and spread a blanket at the edge of the road to sort the beans. Not all Mennonite farmers allowed this though. A few would have their ...