Mennonites in Belize

  The following is a narrative from Mr. Cornelius H. Friesen, a cheerful, very friendly gentleman from Upper Barton Creek. It has been slightly edited.   "My Dad, who's name is also Cornelius, moved his family from Spanish Lookout to Upper Barton Creek in June, 1969. I was 4 years old back then. About 8 or 9 other families moved together with us. According to my Dad, they left Spanish Lookout because they felt the Kleine Gemeinde were becoming too worldly. Instead of spending more time in spiritual things they were investing more and more in their businesses and neglecting God.   At that time several Old Order Mennonites families from the US had just migrated to Belize and settled in Pilgrimage Valley. Then a year later some of them together with Heinrich Friesen from Spanish Lookout bought land in Upper Barton Creek. So my Dad decided to join their way of simple lifestyle. We hadn't lived there long until my Dad started growing a beard and mustache because he believed ...

  It's interesting and fascinating watching older girls deftly braid their hair, then turn around and do their younger sister's. Braided hair is as much a part of a conservative Mennonite girl's life as wearing a dress. Old Colony, Kleine Gemeinde, Holdeman, Beachy, and Conservatives all teach their little girls to wear braided hair. For some of the Mennonite groups, braids are usually dropped as the girl enters her teenage years.   The Holdeman Mennonites require all school-age unbaptized girls to wear either braided pigtails or braided ponytails. No other hairstyle is accepted while at school or at church.   The Kleine Gemeinde are no longer as firm in that area as they used to be. Little girls now wear their hair in whatever style their moms prefer as long as its not "worldly." Lately it seems they are leaning towards buns and loose ponytails rather than traditional pigtails.   Beachy and Conservative Mennonites also believe in teaching the...

  Below are a few of the traditional acapella songbooks used by the Beachy, Holdeman, Kleine Gemeinde and Conservative Mennonites. However each group also has their own off-the-record songs composed by their own members. The most popular English songbook used widely in both Mennonite and non-Mennonite circles is the black  Christian Hymnal , published by Gospel Publishers, a Holdeman printing company in the U. S. The German songbooks are not pictured here.   Singing is done in 4-part harmony except for the Old Colony Mennonites who do not use notes in their singing. To listen to them singing, click here  or watch below: Songbooks:

  Today Belize celebrates 38 years of independence. On the night of the 20th fireworks are held in different towns across the country. Then on the 21st parades and marches are carried out countrywide.   Most schools celebrate the holiday one or two days before the 21st. Conservative private Mennonite schools such as the Old Colony, Old Order and Kleine Gemeinde do not observe the holiday. The non-traditional Mennonites do observe and celebrate it. Other conservative Mennonites such as the Beachy and Holdemans keep the holiday but do not allow festivities.   The following  video is a patriotic parade held at Jireh Fundamental Education, a modern but private school on the southern edge of Spanish Lookout owned and managed by non-conservative Mennonites. At first they had the parade on the school grounds, then for a year or two they had a big march on Center Road through Spanish Lookout, but according to what I heard the "community" said something about this so now t...

  The structure of most Mennonite families is still built on the Biblical base of one man and one woman married for life and with the purpose of having children.                   Plautdietsch Mennonites   Among the Old Colony, Kleine Gemeinde, Old Order and conservative daughter colonies, it is not unusual to have big families and those families usually work together. Children are taught from a very young age to get up early and work on the farm or in the shop, and to work hard. Chores such as milking, gathering eggs, weeding the garden, making cheese, driving the tractor, etc. are done by both boys and girls. However when it comes to chores inside the house, most Plautdietsch men and boys have the mindset that such things are for women. Washing dishes, hanging up laundry, No way! they would be mortified if someone saw them doing women's work. It is an old tradition that boys belong out on the farm or in the shop. Yet, the gi...

 In the 1700's, the Spaniards made repeated attempts to invade the colony of British Honduras. Their final attempt at conquest was on September 1798, beginning on September 3 and lasting 7 days until the 10th. This battle decided the fate of the small British colony. British soldiers and a mixed group of Belizean settlers, slaves, buccaneers and timberjacks fought side by side and defeated the much bigger and stronger Spanish army. The battle took place off the coast of St. George's Caye. On the 10th, the Spanish finally sailed away and never again attacked Belize. Today Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America due to the victory of the Belizeans and British on that historic day.   Belizeans nowadays commemorate the event by holding a variety of festivities and parades. However, the autonomous and conservative Mennonite colonies such as Shipyard and Springfield do not observe the holiday. In the modern communities of Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek, ...

 Here's a link to introduce you to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/PtZnGeE5J_g  I intend to use this channel for education and information only. For information and  entertainment, visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/belizemennonite  Or you can also check out our pictures of Mennonite life on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/belize_mennonite