When I was a little girl, growing up in South America, my grandmother, who was born in Russia lived with us. She loved telling me stories about when she was a girl living in a mansion with all kinds of luxuries and how the wars came and changed her life. Mostly I got the feeling that her life had been very hard, and I didn’t always want to listen to the repetition of the sorrows she’d gone through. It wasn't until years after she died, that I became much more interested in the history of our family and I began to investigate. I wanted to finally be able to explain my very confusing background. I’m a Canadian by choice, born in Uruguay, and my first language was German because my grandparents came to South America from Russia!The only way this makes sense is because we are Mennonite and Mennonites tend to stick together. We have been known to live conservatively and carry a whole bunch of culture with us. Because the name Mennonite is not only a religious but also an ethnic term, it is possible to be a Mennonite by name and not have any religious affiliation to a church. It is possible to be a Mennonite belonging to any other faith. It is also possible to not have the ethnic background and be a member of a Mennonite Church.
Mennonite congregations around the world generally have the same belief system, but they vary in their views as to how this is lived out, ranging from old order (plain people) to very conservative to moderate ways of life and worship. The core beliefs are centered on the teachings of Jesus and the authority of the Bible as the written and inspired Word of God. We believe in salvation by acknowledging the sacrifice of Jesus, believer’s baptism, and the taking the Lord’s supper in memory of His death for the forgiveness of our sins.
I have experienced the life in a church where what defines you is what you don't do. A place where our elders and parents tried hard to raise us in the best way they knew, not realizing that legalism was at the core. I have no bitterness about it, since it kept me out of trouble. But, I have also come to know more about grace . . . and that our faith could possibly be better defined by what we do do. Asking and allowing God's Spirit to work in us and through us to help us keep the right balance.
In another post I will go back to the beginning of the Mennonites
27 comments:
Anneliese. . .well done. I have done my bit to do an explanation of my heritage some time ago . ..but I always feel I've missed the details of what defines us. I look forward to your next posts on this.
I appreciate you sharing your background. Fascinating set of nationalities involved. I don't know how the "Canadian" part came in: was one of your parents a Canadian citizen?
I didn't realize that Mennonite was an ethnic as well as denominational grouping.
I come from the Plymouth Brethren, myself, and that is also an interesting history to look at--it's not ethnic, though over the generations it almost seems so.
Way to go Anneliese. Your ideas were wrapped up so well and that's exactly how I view them...you could not of put that any better.
Just watched Dr. Zhivago and was reminded of my grandparents journey in Russia.
Hubby and I learned a lot about Mennonites growing up in Winterpeg (oh, ok, Winnipeg, Manitoba!) He studied at the MBBC. From that College we had the profs as guest speakers in our home church several times throughout the year. What godly, wise men, teaching us the deeper things of God. A good foundation of faith was laid for us. Now we still enjoy connections with the Mennonites through our son-in-law and his family! And more recently in blogland! God bless! Great post - look forward to more!
It is quite a unique heritage, isn't it! My family skipped the South American part and came straight to Canada from Russia, but it's still complicated to explain.....even though they lived in Russia they were not really Russian. We have to look back a few hundred years to see where we originally came from. Looking forward to your future posts on this!
Loved your post!
I find that, sometimes, people cannot understand being Mennonite because of religious affiliation or simply because you happen to be born into a Mennonite home and therefore, of course, you are Mennonite.
I remember trying to explain this to one of the pastors at the church we used to attend. He could not understand the difference back then, but has learned about it, since! :-)
Your journey to Canada is almost as complicated as mine!
I am a born Brazilian with one parent born in Russia and the other in Paraguay but they met and married in Brazil, (even though they both grew up in Paraguay)and then our family came to Canada.
Spoke Low German at home, learned High German and Portuguese in school and then had to learn English. :-(
Being Mennonite is, most certainly, not an easy thing to explain!
Looking forward to your next posts on this topic!
Well said, Anneliese. What is a Mennonite? There is no simple answer. I look forward to your upcoming posts.
good explanation of some of our cultural and faith based heritage.
i too grew up somewhat legalistic, and then tried my best to DO the right thing for the right reasons.
I also have come to accept that there is nothing i can DO or NOT DO, to experience God's love, grace and Mercy in my life. If it depended on our doing, we would all be doomed, since we are all human and make mistakes.
God wants a personal relationship with us........thank you for sharing you beautiful faith with us Anneliese.
Hollace, I don't think we are as much ethnic as cultural.
I enjoyed reading about your heritage and look forward to reading more! My grandparents also were Russian (Ukranian), however I believe they were Baptists. It really is interesting to look at our heritage and how it affects us to this day. And, it is unfortunate that legalism tends to creep in so many ways. I think some of us have those tendencies more than others--finding that balance of loving obedience while avoiding the snares of the world can be a challenge.
I've been surfing some of the blogs of folks who comment here. There is just no end of inspirations, encouraging, delightful blogs! It certainly requires self-control to not sit on the computer all day and read, and read and read. I just came back to answer a question, lol.
I have my poems in Word. It is there I click on Insert/Symbol and insert the copyright symbol after my name. Then I cut and paste the poem into blogger. I have the copyright button on my blog, but perhaps having the symbol right after my name is better.
I want my poems to bless people for free, with my permission, and would not want someone to publish them or to charge for them.
Such a long answer to such a short question, lol. Thanks for visiting my blog!
I think many people don't understand the seperate ethnic and religious aspect of Mennonites. Good explanations!
This is so interesting. I very much look forward to your next post on this.
Anneliese..What an interesting post...I found it interesting that one can consider themselves Mennonite without being affiliated with a specific Mennonite church, or Faith. I will definitely look forward to more posts. I am not Mennonite and I have not found a church locally that matches with my belief system and there are no Mennonite Churches within my state.
~Blessings~
great post about the Mennos... can't wait till the next post with more history. I know I learned it all at MEI, but can't remember that much about them.
Also, nice new clothes... you look super stylish!
Good post on being a Menno! By the way, that windmill looks just like the one at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Steinbach Manitoba!
I think that I need to print this post out and stick it on my fridge. How many times have I had to try and explain my background (take yours, plus add the fact that I live in Indonesia)?!
A good explanation. My DIL is from a Mennonite background. Some of her family came from Russia.
Her immediate family left the Mennonite church and aligned with the EVFree church. My son, who was raised Baptist, is now a member of that church. My DIL's brother became a Pastor -- first in a EVFree church, then in a Mennonite church. He told us that some of their church members do not realize that their church is affiliated with the Mennonites.
In April we visited our children in Fresno and attended a Mennonite festival there -- lots of good food, and beautiful quilts.
My Mennonite great-grandparents moved from Russia. I hold onto a lot of the Mennonite culture/traditions, however do not attend a Mennonite church.
I think you provided a great explanation of what it means to be Mennonite!
I love this! I just read it out loud to my husband (along with your history lesson) and we found it really helpful!
Well, thank you so much for your post, Anneliese. I had no idea. I assumed, wrongly, that Mennonites were a church only, or a religion only. I never thought of it from a strictly cultural point. I learned alot just now.
Anyway, what a great job you did in expressing your thoughts. Thanks for educating me.
jenny
...but the legalism can really kill a person for the rest of their lives if they make even one mistake! Try going back to the church and see if one of God's children is welcomed back with open arms after making a stupid mistake. Whatever happened to the Prodigal Son lesson in the Mennonite Church. Gossip and ruined lives spell the end to that person's desire to ever go to church again...anywhere!
Dear Anonymous ...(I'm sure there are many of you feeling like that) I'm so sorry! If the ones you know are not wecoming you back when you regret what you did, then maybe it's time to find another place to worship.
The prodigal son repented and turned towards home... and guess what, it's the only place in the Bible where we see the father (God) running towards his child! A prodigal is welcome! That's what grace is all about.
I know there are those who want "proof" that you have changed and desire to come back . . . it's not right, but maybe you have to forgive them as God has forgiven you.
I want to give you a hug and tell you that Jesus came for sinners ... you and me ... the church you go to needs to give room for people to get well and strong again. I pray it will.
Thank you for an awesome blog and thank you so much for sharing. Grace is so amazing, is it not? I shudder to think what I would be without God's Grace. Kay Arthur has a great book" Lord, I need Grace for today"
I posted using blog id, but it is terribly out of date, i will try to update the end of summer. I need God's Grace!! Thanks again for an awesome blog!
Blessings, Deanna
I saw Mennonites when I was traveling in Paraguay. It was a bit of a shock to see those blonde heads and heavy, dark clothes in that part of the world!
I am familiar with the Mennonite in Pennsylvania and we have a community here in Maryland of Mennonites. Are any of you from Pa. Dutch country in Pa?
Pippi21, When the Mennonites (followers of Menno Simons / Anabaptists) fled Europe due to persecution, many came to the States, but there were those who travelled East and ended up in Ukraine/Russia. Hundred of years of separation makes for differences in lifestyle, level of conservativeness and food. I think that in many cases where it comes to matters of faith we are the same. As to us on the cooking blog - all of our grandparents were born in Russia and so the foods have a Russian influence as well. I hope that helps.
Thank you for your visit.
Post a Comment