Mennonites in Belize

  This article refers to the Plautdietsch Mennonites of Blue Creek, Spanish Lookout, Shipyard and Little Belize    We hear and read of how the Mennonites have built strong businesses, have prospered, have strengthened the economy, etc. But what we don't read or hear is the fact that for the last 3 decades or so, Mestizos (aka "spanish people") have gained strength in the labor force of the modern communities of Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek, especially Spanish Lookout. Western Dairies, Quality Poultry Products, Farmer's Trading Center and other well-known businesses are made up of an estimated 80% Mestizo employees. And not just common jobs; many have ascended the ladder to distinguished positions. The famous prefab "Mennonite" houses built by Linda Vista and Plett's Home Builder are built by Mestizos from surrounding villages. The trees are being cut down by non-Mennonites, a mixture of Mestizos, Creoles and Maya. The men tramping in the mud and ...

    Above is the  testimony of an ex-Holdeman Mennonite. Some of my future articles will be of ex-Mennonites who left their home churches and the reason why they left them. Old Colony, Beachy Amish, Old Order, etc. throughout Belize there are many who have left their traditional churches either voluntarily or were forced to.

  Menoniten Gemeinde Rosenort is a conservative church in Spanish Lookout which is made up mostly of ex-Kleine Gemeinde and ex-Old Colony Mennonites. They formed a few years ago and since then have been steadily growing. Their dress code and worship service is not traditional but is still very conservative (e.g. the ladies wear modest shirts, long skirts and no jewelery) as compared to other modern churches in Spanish Lookout. I was invited for evening services and enjoyed it very much, especially the sermon. Here is a  video of the choir singing. Services are all in Plautdietsch but English and Spanish translations are available. This video is not mine I'm just providing a link so you get a glimpse of this church.

  Below is a variety of church buildings of  some of the Mennonite branches in Belize. Mennonite churches not pictured here are the Old Order as well as Conservative and other Amish-Mennonite congregations.                       Kleine Gemeinde Sometimes during weddings and funerals at KG churches, men and women are allowed to sit together. Beachy  Holdeman Again, men and women are allowed to sit together on special occasions. Old Colony In the following churches below, mixed seating is allowed EMMC Shipyard Blue Creek Spanish Lookout Other Churches Fountain of Life, Spanish Lookout                     Amazing Grace, Spanish Lookout

                        The following is a look at a typical Sunday morning service in a Holdeman Mennonite church. The above  video is a sample of congregational 4-part acapella singing.   9AM. The moderator i.e. charge d'affaires, opens the service with a few words of welcome and announces 3 congregational songs, chosen by random members and non-members. The song leader takes over until the last song is finished and the moderator announces the opening sermon.   9:15AM.  A lay member brings the short introductory sermon, then everyone kneels in prayer, facing forward.   9:30AM  The moderator dismisses everyone to their respective Sunday school classes (do you know who got the idea of Sunday school classes? I don't). Toddlers stay in with their parents while those above 3 sit with both preschoolers and first-graders, the older ones in a separate group, the young teens in another group, et...

                     "Spanish Lookout is a progressive Mennonite community in western Belize." This is the most common phrase used to describe Spanish Lookout by many non-Mennonite Belizeans and foreigners. However, some visit here, see the Kleine Gemeinde ladies with their long dresses and black headcoverings, and go back thinking that all the ladies here dress like that. Others see Old Colony Mennonites from Shipyard walking around and take pictures "of the Mennonites in Spanish Lookout". Still others see horses and buggies from the ultra-conservative Mennonites of Lower Barton Creek traveling on Center Road and write an article with pictures of the "very traditional Mennonites of Spanish Lookout".   But Spanish Lookout is none of that. It is a self-governing Plautdietsch Mennonite colony which is made up of 2 main branches of faith and continues to modernize every year by leaps and bounds. There is the non-cons...

  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 ...