Mennonites in Belize

Mennonite Stores and Other Businesses  Below is a list of the most known stores owned by Mennonites. Stores that are owned by Spanish Lookout Mennonites: 1. Caribbean Tires, with branches in Belmopan, Belize City and Orange Walk. 2.  Farmer's Trading Center, the country's second biggest retailer of hardware and grocery combined. 3.  Reimer's Feed Mill, a store that specializes in feed for poultry and other livestock but sells a variety of hardware and farm tools. Presently they have branches in Belmopan, Belize City, Orange Walk and San Ignacio. 4. Quality Poultry Products, Belize's biggest provider of processed and packaged raw poultry items. 5. Westrac, a store that sells automotive supplies as well as tractor and truck parts. Currently they have branches located in Belmopan, Belize City and Orange Walk. 6. Western Dairies, Belize's biggest and only provider of processed dairy products and a very popular ice cream parlor and pizza kitchen. Branches are loc...

This is not to define or highlight specific traditions and practices. The aim is simply to point out some of the differences that set each group apart from the other.   The Old Colony Mennonites   In most of Belize, the Hispanic people generally refer to this group as Shiparenios, while English and Kriol call them Shipyard people, since that is the biggest community of this group, even though the person might be from Indian Creek or New Land or Little Belize, to the general population as long as the man is beardless, wears a straw hat and suspenders, he's a Shipyard Mennonite. Other than that they care little about the Old Colonist customs.   So what sets these Mennonites apart from other Mennonites? They believe that only their branch of the Mennonite tree is the right one and all other more liberal branches under the Mennonite name are of the world and thus eternally lost. Technology is discouraged except for those who have businesses and in such cases any electronic...

  Take a drive through Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek communities, and you will see some of the finest and costliest homes in Belize with well cared lawns and magnificent driveways. Take a drive through the Old Colony communities and the Old Order Mennonites' communities, and you will see wooden clapboard houses, metal shacks and front yards filled with odds and ends of farm equipment. Of course, their belief systems plays a role in the way they invest their money.       Review:  The Kleine Gemeindes have probably contributed more to the economy of Belize than any other Mennonite or immigrant group. From the 1950's until now, they have had thriving businesses and products that keep growing in demand. At first, only Mennonites worked in the businesses but as time went by and more Hispanic immigrants began arriving, the Mennonites found out it was cheaper hiring locals and immigrants to work in the companies. As of now, between 70 to 80 percent of laborers in ...

Introduction: Mennonites in Belize     While Belize is small in geographical size and in population, it hosts quite a wide variety of religions, among them the Mennonites. Although the percentage of Mennonite population is low, the impact they've had on the country certainly isn't. From Corozal District in the north to Toledo District in the south, Mennonites are scattered throughout the country. Now, let me be clear. Contrary to what people think, the Mennonites of Belize are not just those from Spanish Lookout, neither is it only those from Shipyard. If you Google "Mennonites in Belize", you'll find scores of articles about the Mennonites of Shipyard and the Mennonites of Spanish Lookout and a few articles here and there about the Mennonites of Barton Creek. But the fact is, there are at least 7 main branches of Mennonite faith in Belize, along with those smaller branches here and there that have broken off from their traditional mother church.   The first 3 g...