Anyone here a Mennonite or know anything about the Mennonites? Sissy

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), December 05, 2001

Answers

Hi Sissy! I know Diane can help you out with any questions. Hopefully she will stop in and be able to answer any questions for you! God bless.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), December 05, 2001.

Hi Sissy, What is it that you are wanting to know??

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 05, 2001.

Hi Diane, I am so hungry for a strong Christian church and Christian people. Since arriving in Flagstaff a year ago, we have visited one dead church after another. I have seen some Mennonite women in town, and was curious to know about the church, their practices and beliefs as Christians. Though I would gather info here on the boards first before approaching one of them. In His Grace, Sissy

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), December 06, 2001.

Now that I understand your question a little better I am more willing to answer. I know exactly what you mean by visiting one dead church after another. It is very much why we considered the Mennonite church; besides being people of peace. There was no Quaker church within driving distance and since we had felt so drawn to our Amish neighbors, we tryed Mennonite. I can tell you first hand that there are also "dead" Mennonite churches as well. A great many of them are really hung up on "outward holiness" and really not particularly interested in the inward relationship with Christ. When we finally found one that was really "on fire" for the Lord, they wanted no part of us since we had been divorced and remarried before finding Christ. In their opinion there was no place for us in the kingdom of heaven as long as we remained with each other. Since we had been together for over 19 years and had no belief that the Lord would have us separate in our old age, we moved on. I think you would really enjoy some of them, if you are more-or-less without "major" sin, and you don't believe in war as a solution to world problems.

We finally found a more liberal Mennonite church and enjoy it a lot. IMHO a great many churches of all denominations are quite dead, and more concerned with outward appearance than inward holiness. Tough call for us and I would say we really are still searching for a church closer to home.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

Oh, I would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have if you want to e-mail me privately. I have been to Haiti twice as a missionary with the Mennonites and have a fairly good understanding of their beliefs and practices.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 06, 2001.

Hello Sissy,

I do not know very much about the Mennonites, though I have lived in a couple of different areas where they reside. But, my conclusion of the post on this thread is that PEOPLE believe that "if you meet on Mennonite, you have met them all". The word "Mennonite" can be replaced with Christian, Jew, Buddist, etc. It think even in a religion, people measure what they expect of that religion by what that see from the people they know that prastice it. Mennonites are just like everyone else. There are "good" ones that follow the rules of their beliefs. There are "average" ones that follow most of the rules. And of course there are "bad" ones that break all the rules.

If you are seeking a religion as so you can have rules to follow, there is an abundance of them out there. But, if you are really seeking TRUTH you will have to research, research, and research somemore before YOU are convinced of what is the best path to follow.

I personally, like the lifestyle that the Amish Folk live, believing that anything after 1850 especially if it involves government interference is unviable to their lifestyle. I like their reverence for the land and nature. But, religiously speaking I think they are pretty much just like everyone else....they have their short comings!

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), December 09, 2001.