Mennonites in Belize

   Fourteen years ago I arrived here as a visitor and now, for only the second time in my life, I stood beside the river in Roaring Creek, Belize. A fine gray film of caliche dust coated our clothes and hair as we attended to customers at Belize’s annual National Agriculture and Trade Show in Belmopan. Semi-trucks thundered past on the bridge which overlooks the grounds, busses blared their horns, the neighing of horses and lowing of cattle mingled with the loudspeaker’s squawking at the rodeo stands which was accompanied by loud country music as well as some other classics which were not country. BJ Thomas was mournfully reminding us of raindrops falling on our heads despite the fact that the sky was sunny and mostly cloudless. I do not like country music or any slow music, for that matter. The "new" bridge, which nearly stayed underwater during the flood of 2020   Needless to say, the beer company possibly carried the honor of being the most important trade on th...

  Work has begun on the site of the future roundabout. "They had a vote, and the roundabout won,” muttered a disgruntled resident of Spanish Lookout. He and a certain minority believe that a roundabout is unnecessary. But the majority voted in favor, so he'd better resign himself and accept the fact that for the first time ever, the community will construct a roundabout, located at the site where Route 40 intersects with Center Avenue, right next to the town hall. “Next thing you know we’ll have speed bumps,” remarked another resident .    Speed bumps of any type completely disappeared from Spanish Lookout many years ago, the general consensus being that bumps, whether plastic or concrete, are a nuisance. Instead the main street is vividly marked with reflective paint, signs everywhere, and reflectors along the margins.   Personally I don’t believe speed bumps or pedestrian ramps will reappear anytime soon, but then again, who would ever have thought that a ro...

  The Kleine Gemeinde mission school ground in Duck Run 1, southwest of Spanish Lookout.  It’s that time of the year again, when we commence our search for a school in which to enroll our children. Homeschooling required many sacrifices and I thoroughly enjoyed those days when I would be home since teaching school has been one of my greatest joys; it’s the only way that I can pass on my love of mathematics, archaeology, geology and astronomy. Do not get me started in astronomy but thankfully now my two oldest are of an age when they can understand the basics, all with a God-centered view of course. I often hold long one-sided conversations with them about galaxies, comets, asteroids, super giant stars, etc., conversations which are impossible with my other half who usually falls asleep listening to my celestial observations.   Certainly it has been an enjoyable year but with a new family member about to arrive in a few weeks, we realized the strain would be too muc...

      By far one of the best articles I have ever read on "how to save the earth" appeared in my feed recently, and I was duly impressed by the author's wise and biblical viewpoint of global warming and her common sense approach towards the climate change "crisis" that many conservative Christians find themselves facing nowadays. I had been working on a similar article on that subject myself, gathering opinions from various Mennonite individuals throughout Belize and might publish it sometime later this year. As our family continues to grow and we are bombarded with ridicule, disbelief, and pressure--mostly from the younger generation--from without at the size of our family (another little one will arrive in a few weeks) such an article is certainly very refreshing and inspiring. Click the link below to read the article: How to Save the Earth View Blog Mennonite News                               ...

     The morning was actually chilly, which was rather odd for a tropical Easter Sunday. Usually the Easter holidays are known as a hot, dry, dusty weekend but this year was an exception. Cloudy skies, a pleasant wind blowing for three days.   We hastily dressed our children appropriately then headed towards the Ford Ranger. The time was 5AM. Indeed. The Mendoza family was about to experience our first ever sunrise Easter Sunday service at a conservative Mennonite church. Our children were bewildered at the unusually early church service. Couldn’t blame them. I was too.   But it was an enjoyable and spiritually refreshing moment, to hear traditional hymns concerning the resurrection and to watch the sun breaking up the low morning clouds and casting its brilliant rays over the congregation after hiding behind a blanket of clouds for the last three days. A solemn hush settled over the seated crowd as the sun finally burst free and became a dazzling ye...

    Before the crowd arrived After an exhausting day greeting several thousand people, what better way to relax than to lay on the white sandy beach, with coconut leaves whispering overhead, sipping a cool drink and listening to the soft hissing of waves on the sand and forget about Mennonites in general and customers in particular? At least, that was my goal. Reality hit hard although I should have known better.   The beach was not crowded at first, but it was certainly flowing with more than just salt water. Bottles of beer decorated the various wooden tables; blue tobacco smoke wafted here and there.    As the afternoon wore on the crowd became thicker and I restless. Our children enjoyed the water and sand thoroughly but we parents soon realized we had arrived at the wrong beach or simply the wrong time of day. More bucketfuls of beer materialized under the coconut trees; cursing and swearing was the norm. Some of the swimmers arriving reminded me of ...

     Early Saturday morning, under the new roof on the north The 2024 Spanish Lookout Business Expo (March 15 & 16) is finally history, all the more so due to the fact that more than 45,000 people were present, nearly double the amount from 2022 or in other words about 10% of the country’s population. The community of Spanish Lookout carried out several preparatory works; upgrading roads, building a new roof at Countryside Park, and in employing traffic control and clean-up personnel from the surrounding communities.   Although alcoholic drinks and tobacco were prohibited, I noticed more than one male visitor with Yeti and Contigo coffee cups in their hands. Who drinks coffee at 12pm in 95°+ weather? And they weren’t sipping it either. One customer with a suspicious odor emanating from him greeted me affectionately, cheerfully spoke about 7 different subjects in less than 2 minutes, and ambled along happily discussing politics with himself. Under the trees...