Growing Up Mennonite

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by Sheltiedad

We love Culver's! We have possibly the only one in Texas a short bicycle ride from our house!

I hate those Butter Burgers and Frozen Custards they are terrible, terrible, terrible.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by seguidordejesus

I work for one, and we're planning on homeschooling

Bro. Stephen,
Thanks for telling your story. Now here is my question. I am the outreach cordinator for our church. We have an very conservative Amish community and a
menonite community. How would I go about reaching some of these people with the truth. They are very hard to get close to especially the Amish.

Another thing I have allways wondered but haven't been able to find out. Is do these groups ever except outsiders to join them and if so what is the criteria. I am not interested in joining just want to know for knowledge sake.

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

No the "Black Bumpers" are still too conservative.... I prefer a conservative lifestyle by choice, but not one that is required and enforced by excommunication of the church.


I know some very nice Catholic families.

I actually understand the no technology stance also... My mentality is a lot like ILG in that area. It actually makes more sense to me to live like the Amish or Mennonites than the way I was raised... their "rules" seem to be applied more consistently at least.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by slave4him

Bro. Stephen,
Thanks for telling your story. Now here is my question. I am the outreach cordinator for our church. We have an very conservative Amish community and a
menonite community. How would I go about reaching some of these people with the truth. They are very hard to get close to especially the Amish.

Another thing I have allways wondered but haven't been able to find out. Is do these groups ever except outsiders to join them and if so what is the criteria. I am not interested in joining just want to know for knowledge sake.

I would say the answer is the same as reaching out to other Christians. You would have to show yourself as a friend and build a relationship to win their trust before your ability to show the scriptures in a more excellent way is recieved. Sorry, I cannot think of any shortcut to friendship building.

Many outsiders have built a relationship with the Amish by doing business with them or offering your services as a taxi driver at reasonable rates. Like all families they have their medical emergencies and if they know you are praying for them they will appreciate it, and remember you at other times of need. Like any church the Mennonites and Amish will have their defectors, and if you are available and considered a friend at that time they will listen to what you have to share.

Yes indeed, one can convert into thes groups, but it rarely happens given the language barriar of the old order church services. Naturally the Mennonites that are a bit more liberal have more conversions from the outside, but the numbers are still low until we consider those groups that are no longer in the "Plain People" catagory.

Thanks for your interest.

[Thad]

Hoover,

just a couple of Questions


I heard that when Mennonites baptize, they take a pitcher of water and pour it over the candidate's head 3x - is that true ?


also, do they allow internet in their homes? If so, It would be neat to know if they had their own discussion forums!!! I'd sure like to check it out if so!

[Trouvere]

Third times a charm????

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

Kewl pics. Almost thou were persuaded...

I read this last night and didn't respond until today. I lay in bed last night thinking about it....and it is very emotional for me. Yes, I was almost persuaded. UPC is as close as I got. I remember back when I was becoming more and more conservative.....believing in it all the way, wanting to please God and be as consistent as possible. It seems like a dream in some ways. A dream that was shattered. I did consider becoming plain but not seriously because they don't believe in baptism in Jesus' name or speaking in tongues. I didn't believe they were truly "Christian". Ironic now that I believe that they can be plain and also Christian, that I still can't go that way because I think it is wrong. I contemplated that for a good while last night. Why does it have to be wrong? My dream....But I felt today that my dream is not dead, it has simply shifted. I loved the standards for 16 years. They were my living expression of my faith. But I never saw the negative side until much later after living them.

There is so much to say....forgive me if I ramble a bit. I don't post long posts often anymore but this is in my heart...

When I became UPC, how I wanted to express my faith in a living way!! How I wanted to be different than the world! How happy I was that there was a different way!!

SheltieDad and I were in the same neck of the woods. Indeed TV was taboo for a looooong time. Maybe still is there. You did not have videos either. Some did, but there was a staunch bunch against it. I even heard internet being preached against. I knew a pastor's wife that brought a needle and thread to church to sew up slits.

My husband and I had a house in the country. I love self-sufficiency and gardening, staying at home and being a housewife.

The UPC is not family centered though. I learned what I learned about family from the plain. I was raised in an alcoholic home. I wanted some stability. The UPC is all about church, church and more church and condemn you if you get divorced. The plain expect you to spend time with your family. Family life is not overthrown in the name of "evangelism".

I would have done ANYTHING, ANYTHING, that I thought God wanted me do. One day, early on in my walk with God, I purposed to leave the UPC and become plain. I felt that God strongly warned me not to. And so I never have.

If only the dream about separating from the world by standards were real. If only you could separate from the world and have a little slice of heaven that would be great. It might work in some measure for people who have their whole families in it etc. For those of us coming in from the outside (and as SheltieDad would testify, I think...those also inside) the inconsistencies and more so, the preaching that if you DON'T do things THIS WAY, you are going to hell.....the legalism, the FEAR!!! My God, the fear I lived under. I am not being overly dramatic. Some will never understand the horrible, horrible fear I lived under in the UPC. God has not given us the spirit of fear....but of love, power and a sound mind. I lived in a living depression hell for 10 years. Yes, I know saying this will make some people mad. I don't care. It's what I lived through. It's my reality.

I put on the Amish garb the other night and said "Oh that my dream were real". Because the Amish focused on family as well as standards. Then, I didn't join up with the plain because of the lack of tongues etc. Today, I don't join up because I can't in good conscience try and make religion more important than the grace of God.

But my heart still yearns for the principles that it all stands for. And I know the truth that standards can be lived rightly or wrongly but that God reads the hearts of all men and we are saved by faith and not the wearing of a skirt and long hair.

I still want that house in the country again, the garden, the self-sufficiency. I would still like a loving church family (something I have seen very little of). But without all the legalism. I want the dream to still come true.

Thanks for reading.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

In all seriousness I ask you, "Can you explain why we should send our children to government run schools?"

Here is a start. http://www.nhen.org/newhser/default.asp?id=228

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't. I was just wondering your reasoning. I homeschooled mine for a little while and I don't regret it. However, I am glad that they both are getting (or got) a public high school education. They can learn so much more and are much better prepared for college.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Stephen Hoover

No the "Black Bumpers" are still too conservative.... I prefer a conservative lifestyle by choice, but not one that is required and enforced by excommunication of the church.


I know some very nice Catholic families.

I thought Mennonites did not shun. Isn't that supposed to be the difference between Amish and Mennonites?

My extended Catholic family are wonderful people. They always felt sorry for me when I was in the UPC.

So, when you say conservative, you mean covering and car driving.