Friday, February 4, 2011

From Canada to Mexico, the story of the old colony mennonites,

(Story taken from mexican web site) http://mexfiles.net.(Picture credit Chuck Holton from flickers) Menonas (Mennonites) are a conservative Christian religious group which originally chose to live in communities which shun secular life. After being pushed out of Europe and Russia, they scattered to Northern Africa, U.S., Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and to Belize, etc. seeking religious freedom. The Mennonites pledge their allegiance to a higher power (God) and steadfastly refuse to pledge allegiance to a nation. They are pacifists and will not fight in wars. They still speak in low German (Plautdeitsch), which is an old unwritten language. It is the issue of refusal to join the military that often causes the most friction in the countries they reside in. When Canadian laws changed, Mennonites, who refused to send their children to government schools, faced imprisonment. Mononas insist on educating the children in their own private schools. The strict rules of the Mennonite community prohibited conscription into the Canadian armies and the teaching of English. The believers didn’t want to interact with “outsiders” and rejected modern technology (electricity, automobiles, telephones, etc).

So in 1921, six elders left Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada for Mexico. Long story short, the exodus began in 1922 for many Mennonites to found two main communities near Chihuahua, Mexico. The government of Mexico signed an agreement with them allowing for religious freedom that complied with the groups needs. Today, there are approximately 65,000 Menonas residing in these two communities.To be honest, i didn't find alot of information like i thought i would of the old colony Mennonites living in Mexico.Even more impossible was trying to find any information on the Amish settlement in uvalda Georgia, which i went to in the mid 1990s.I have only 1 or 2 pictures of my time in Uvalda,one of those 2 pictures is of a Amish buggy in town. So i might be among a small circle of people who have any records of the now defunct Amish community that was in the state of Georgia.And When you look at the buggy wheels you can tell they use tires unlike the Amish and old order Mennonites in America.If anyone has any more information or pictures to share about these unique people living in Mexico, please e-mail me and ill post it on this site. Richard

