Amish Partnership

Agricultural exchange

A unique agricultural exchange with an Amish order in Pennsylvania is making it possible for some Low German Mennonites to stay in Mexico.

Many Low German Mennonites in Mexico are second and third generation immigrants, trying to make their living as farmers in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Drought and poor returns for their wheat and dairy products has made life difficult. Many have left Mexico and returned to Canada in search of a better economic future.

In 1994, MCC helped organize a group of eight Amish men to visit Mennonite businesses, schools and churches in colonies in Chihuahua. Since then, the Amish have worked with MCC to help fund a dairy herd, build a modern cheese factory and initiate a teacher training exchange.

"We stayed in homes," recalls Leroy Stoltzfus, an Amish delegation member. "People had some reservations, but I think our background helped build trust."

A common Anabaptist history

The Amish are conservative descendants of Anabaptists who fled religious persecution in southern Germany and Switzerland in the 1700s. They settled in Pennsylvania and the U.S. Midwest. Today, their farming communities are generally prosperous and stable.

"Anabaptist" was used to describe and define certain Christians during the Reformation. These Christians rejected infant baptism, choosing instead believer's baptism. Since many of them had been baptized in their infancy, they chose to be rebaptized as believing adults. So their enemies called them anabaptists -- "re-baptizers." Mennonites are also Anabaptists.

Both the Amish and Mennonites speak German dialects, but they still require translators to communicate. As the two groups learned during an evening of singing, they share similar chant-style songs as well.

The establishment of a dialogue has helped to foster discussion. Along with practical questions, such as about techniques for cooling milk, they have established enough trust to discuss painful issues such as divisions within the church.

The recent introduction of electricity and rubber tires in some communities has prompted church leaders and many other residents to leave for more conservative colonies in southern Mexico and Bolivia.

Today, the Amish in Pennsylvania, along with two other groups in Ohio and Indiana, continue exchanges and assistance. Mennonites from the Mexican colonies have traveled to the United States to visit their Amish friends as well. While the exchange has motivated Amish participants to help ease the poverty in the colonies, the benefits have been two-way, Stoltzfus noted.

"It's something that's affected both groups," he said. "It's been a blessing."