Mennonites of Paraguay

LOCATION: Paraguay
POPULATION: 28,000
LANGUAGE: Plattdeutsch (Low German dialect); Hochdeutsch (High German); Spanish
RELIGION: Mennonite

INTRODUCTION

The name Mennonite derives from Menno Simons, a Roman Catholic priest who led the Anabaptists in the Netherlands and North Germany in the 1530s. The Anabaptists later split into other groups, including the Amish, and the first Mennonites belonged to a church organized in Zurich, Switzerland.

During the 16th century in Holland and Switzerland, Mennonites ran into serious conflict with both the Catholic and Protestant authorities over their religious beliefs. They believe that baptism and church membership should be given out solely to those who have voluntarily given up sin. Only those who proved their goodness could be baptized, which is how they came to be called Anabaptists. Persecution scattered the Swiss Mennonites throughout Europe, for as pacifists they believed in the separation of Church and State. What made matters worse was their rejection of compulsory military service, and they were forced to flee to Germany, Russia, and Canada.

In the early 1920s a group of conservative Mennonites in Canada, part of the 1874 migration from Europe, began to look for other places to settle because they felt the Canadian government was beginning to make too many demands on their freedom. These included restrictions on the school system, increasing pressure to serve in the military or support the military effort, and demands that English become the first language in the schools.

Paraguay was attractive to the Mennonites due to the offer of large tracts of nearly uninhabited land, on which they could continue their traditional agricultural way of life, and the government's willingness to grant them political autonomy under a "Privilegium." Under this they were to be responsible for their own schools (with German language instruction) and community law enforcement. They were also to have freedom from taxation, religious liberty, and even exemption from military service. Today, they are in charge of making their own regulations regarding ownership, transfer, and use of land, the building and maintenance of villages, roads, pastures, public buildings like schools, fire houses, governmental institutions, and jails, and the collection of taxes, as well as the training of teachers, the running of their own postal service, and the development of agricultural techniques. The only rights the Paraguayan government retained for itself were the rights to levy and collect taxes, to apprehend and adjudicate criminals, and the right of eminent domain.

The first group of Mennonites arrived in Paraguay in 1927. They were called the Sommerfelder, the Summerfield Mennonites from the Canadian prairies. These Sommerfelder formed the Menno colony, the first of three distinct but territorially overlapping Mennonite groups. They originally acquired a tract of land, more than 130,000 hectares (320,000 acres) in the Chaco to the west of Puerto Casado. The Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia severely threatened this first settlement. One of the main motivations of the Paraguayan government to accept this religious community was the rumor assuring that exuberant oil deposits existed in the Chaco territory. Actually, this rumor led Bolivia to trespass on that area resulting in the 1932 War of the Chaco. This sovereignty violation made politically necessary to populate the region with Paraguayan citizens.

Although the Mennonite immigrants obtained major concessions under the Privilegium, they soon discovered that they had been given land in the middle of an area under violent dispute. From the beginning of the 20th century, Paraguay and Bolivia had been preparing for armed conflict by building fortifications throughout this part of the Chaco. In 1932 the situation developed into open warfare, and the Mennonite settlements found themselves at the center of ground fighting and air attacks between the two sides. Nomadic Amerindians were often targets for both Bolivians and Paraguayans. While some found refuge with the Mennonites, others were so hostile to the arrival of the settlers that they violently resisted any approach from them. Even as late as the 1940s, Ayoreo hunter-gatherers attacked and killed members of a Mennonite family in the northwest Chaco.

Only a few years after the founding of the Menno colony, Mennonite refugees from the Soviet Union established Fern-heim, with its main town at Filadelfia. Neuland was founded in 1947 by Ukrainian-German Mennonites, many of whom had been forcibly conscripted into the German army during World War II and had managed to stay in the West after being released from prisoner-of-war camps. Neuland's largest settlement is Neu-Halbstadt. Of the original 641 family units, 253 were without fathers due to casualties on the Russian Front while serving in German uniform.

Because of their isolation, the Mennonites saw Paraguayans only infrequently, but they regularly came into contact, and sometimes conflict, with Chaco Indians. Today, there are about 28,000 Mennonites in Paraguay, which are living in 20 colonies and in Asuncion, Paraguay's capital.

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

The Gran Chaco covers more than 60% of the total area of Paraguay and yet contains only 4% of its population. Great distances separate its small settlements. The paved Ruta 9, known as the Ruta Trans-Chaco, runs 450 km (280 mi) to the town of Filadelfia, the administrative and business center of the area colonized by the European Mennonite immigrants. Beyond Filadelfia, the pavement ends but the highway carries on to the Bolivian border at Eugenio Garay, another 300 km (190 mi) northwest.

The Paraguayan Chaco is the northernmost segment of an enormous plain, which lifts gradually from the southeast to the southwest. Within it are three distinct areas that emerge gradually from east to west. West of the Rio Paraguay, the Low Chaco landscape is a huge savanna of caranday palms, with scattered islands of thorny scrub. The main industry here is ranching. The climate becomes drier the further northwest the Ruta Trans-Chaco runs, and it is within this inhospitable environment that the Mennonite colonists have created successful agricultural communities in the Middle Chaco.

There are about 28,000 Mennonites and a roughly larger number of Amerindians in the region. Through the years, church membership has been about 41% of the total population, while about 14.5% of people in the colonies never join the church. Menno's percentage of nonchurch members is only 2.2% because both men and women must belong before the church will perform a marriage ceremony.

The Mennonites in Paraguay can be grouped in three categories. The first group is the Mermonite colony in Chaco, which can be subdivided in: Menno, Femheim, and Neuland. The colonies work in a joint-venture and dedicate to evangelism and educate native populations. They also operate a local radio station known as the Voice of the Chaco of Paraguay. The three settlements run a psychiatric clinic in the Chaco as well as a sanatorium for leprosy. The second group of Mennonites is located in the Eastern part of Paraguay and its main colonies are Friesland, Volendam, and Tres Palmas. Finally, it is possible to identify the Mennonites of Asuncion, considered the most progressive Mennonites in Paraguay. In Asuncion, the Mennonites help in psychiatric hospitals in the preparation of meals and physical and mental therapies. Despite their different locations, there are not significant differences among these groups; all put emphasis on solid education and sound systems of values according to Jesus Christ's example.

LANGUAGE

The Mennonites prefer to speak Plattdeutsch, a Low German dialect, among themselves at home and in church, but they also speak and understand Hochdeutsch, High German, which is the language used in schools. Most people speak Spanish, and quite a few have a passable grasp of English. Chaco Indians often speak German as well as Spanish, although most prefer their native languages.

FOLKLORE

The Mennonites' faith is based on the Christian Bible, especially the New Testament. Their creed is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), which they believe forbids them from going to war, swearing oaths, or holding offices that require the use of force. The Mennonites believe in adult rather than infant baptism, and as pacifists, they also believe in the separation of Church and State and reject compulsory military service.

RELIGION

Mennonites are Trinitarian, believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believe that Christ is the head of the Church, and only those who submit to Christ can be true members of the Church body. Their religion is based on the philosophy that religion is holy, that its spirit and way of life are different from the world about it and should be maintained as such. They maintain that they should adhere to a pure belief system and a holy life that has to be preserved in its entirety and passed on to the next generation.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

The important Christian festivals, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, are used to reaffirm the traditional beliefs and intensify the religious commitment of Church members.

RITES OF PASSAGE

Mennonites are not baptized as infants, but undergo this religious rite at the age of 18 or whenever the person publicly renounces sin. Communion is also celebrated, but unlike the Catholic practice of celebrating with the bread and wine as the actual body and blood of Christ, Mennonites participate in this ritual as a means of committing themselves, like Jesus, to a life of complete and utter obedience to God.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

Mennonite thought has been characterized by a separation between religion and the world. As a result of severe persecution in the 16th century, Anabaptism was forced to develop a strategy of withdrawal from the outside world in its attempt to survive, and this has become central to Mennonite theology.

Consequently, a strong sense of identity and loyalty has been created within Mennonite society that is maintained and reinforced, first, by cutting themselves off from the outside world, and then by practicing a religious group discipline among themselves. It is this voluntary isolation that has led to the philosophy of encouraging the virtues of hard work, piety, and mutual cooperation.

Some members of the Mennonite community still practice foot-washing, a ritual based on the act of Jesus washing his disciples' feet.

LIVING CONDITIONS

Traditionally, work on the farm is done by hand or by draft animals, but the building of the Trans-Chaco road has brought about a gradual modernization. It has opened up communication with the outside world and increased the opportunities for marketing agricultural produce. A number of long-term credits have also been obtained, the first of which was a $1 million loan from the United States. This has allowed the colonies to restructure agriculture and dairy production. Farms have gradually been mechanized. Food production and consumption has improved and, with it, the general level of health in the colony.

The town of Filadelfia has grown considerably. It has been the administrative center of the Fernheim Colony since 1931 and has 1,700 Mennonites out of a total population of 3,300 in the colony. An additional 200 non-Mennonites and more than 1,000 Amerindians also live there. One of the main reasons for Filadelfia's rapid growth is the fact that it is the location of all necessary services, schools, hospitals, cooperative stores, and industry. Many private enterprises are also located within the town, and it has a major airport.

Houses throughout the colonies are built in the simple Dutch or Midwestern American styles.

The administration of the Mennonite society is organized on a colony basis, consisting of a number of villages that originally settled in a region, which in turn is governed by an administrative head, the Oberschulze, with several assistants. The individual family heads who own the land are the backbone of the system, being eligible to take part in all decision-making. The villages meet periodically and decide on all matters not taken care of at the colony level. A committee also looks after various matters such as the promotion of agriculture and economic development, and funds are maintained to take care of widows, orphans, and the poor. The statutes and regulations agreed upon in the village system and at the colony level are enforced by the Mennonite authorities through fines, penalties, and ultimately jail if a person does not conform. Sentences can include hard labor and flogging. Lawbreakers can also be handed over to the Paraguayan authorities in rare cases.

Landowners are the source of juridical power, since only landowners have the authority to vote in colony meetings. Each village, normally made up of 20 to 40 families, constitutes a political unit with an administrator, an assistant, and a clerk as the official group. There are also "tenth men" who assist the village unit. All the village decision-making and authority is vested in this group. Each village, for example, has its law enforcement officer, who is even authorized to arrest people for speeding through the village.

The Colony Authority, which oversees all the villages, holds yearly meetings at which all major decisions are made, such as election of officers, punishment of offenders, levying of taxes and dues, building of secondary schools, laying out new lands for cultivation, refusing a family permission to emigrate (if, for example, it has large debts), and deciding who can own land. It also organizes the levying of taxes to support the school system, the hospital system, and payment of doctors (each colony has a modern, well-equipped hospital and medical staff); the maintenance of roads and public fences; and the provision for power, burial grounds, and health and retirement insurance. Even the maintenance of colony ranches, public pastures, airports, the mail system, and telephone systems are under the control of the Colony Authority.

FAMILY LIFE

Traditionally, men have the authority in the family and women are expected to carry out the housekeeping functions and help with raising farm produce. Divorce, once unheard of, does take place, although it is still a relatively rare event.

CLOTHING

Those in rural areas dress more simply than do urban dwellers. Men wear hats and blue or green overalls, and the women wear head coverings and plain, knee-length dresses of one simple color. On important religious occasions, such as Good Friday services, the women will wear plain black dresses and carry black caps in a box. The caps will only be taken out and tied under their shawls once they reach church.

FOOD

The Paraguayan Mennonite communities enjoy large meals, with many traditional German and Russian dishes, such as sauerkraut and borscht. They also make a Mennonite cheese, which has become well known throughout Latin America.

EDUCATION

The education system is organized and operated solely by the Mennonites. The system is directed by the administrator of the Colony Authority, two teachers, and two ministers, but an administrator for the school system is also employed. Families contribute to the cost of educating their own children, but the villages assist those with more than three children.

Each village is responsible for the building of the schoolhouse, the hiring of the teacher, and the general operation of the school. The three high schools are directed by the boards, responsible to the authority.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Through a traditional program of education—Sunday schools, Bible schools, preaching, and home training—the young people are introduced into the Mennonite Christian tradition. Bible study conferences are sponsored at Easter, Christmas, and other occasions to reinforce the Mennonite faith and theology.

WORK

Mennonites are not afraid of settling in the most inhospitable areas and are hard-working farmers. In the Bolivian wilderness (known as the Oriente) north and east of Santa Cruz, for example, they cleared the forest, built their houses, and sowed their crops. Each community trades their farm produce, dairy products, and crops such as cotton, sorghum, and wheat with neighboring towns. It is a Mennonite tradition to cooperate with one another at sowing and harvest times, as well as when building new barns. In Paraguay, the Mennonite community has built an excellent reputation as hard-working and disciplined farmers. This fame is understandable taking in account that in the wilderness of the Chaco, with its extreme climatic conditions, the Mennonites were capable of building a successful farming and religious community. In spite of the dryness and inhospitable territory known as Chaco, where the temperatures easily reach 122 degree in summer, the Mennonites have set up an efficient cooperative farming system that provides around half of Paraguay dairy needs and produces its finest quality cotton fiber and groundnut oil. Moreover, today Mennonites are the most important milk producers in Paraguay controlling close to 70% of the milk industry. Because of the success achieved by the Mennonite community, the Paraguayan government is planning to expand the development of the Chaco, based on the availability of potable water.

SPORTS

Mennonites enjoy games of all sorts but avoid any professional sport. They enjoy competing in friendly contests among each other, but they do not believe in the notion of towns or villages competing against one another. Sport is seen as a physical pastime, meant to be enjoyed for itself, as well as a means of learning to cooperate with others as part of a team.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Mennonites are against music, dancing, and any form of boisterous party. They prefer to live a simple, puritanical lifestyle. Social gatherings are the main form of recreation, such as men getting together to raise a new barn or gather in the harvest, and women preparing and serving meals for friends and neighbors. While Sunday is a day of rest, it is also a day of worship, although simple board games of skill are a favorite family pastime.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

All Mennonite crafts and hobbies have a practical purpose, from the handcrafted tools and implements made by the men, to the large quilts handmade and stitched together by the women.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

With the arrival of increasing numbers of Paraguayans settling in the Chaco, the Mennonite communities have come un der pressure from the authorities, and there is a growing worry that the government may not honor its Privilegium. More and more Mennonites are investing their money abroad, or looking to emigrate. The election of a Mennonite governor for the department of Boqueron, however, is a sign that Mennonites are deciding to become more involved with Paraguayan affairs.

Meanwhile, the modern world has caught up with Filadelfia, and the arrival of motorbikes and videos is seen as a threat to Mennonite values. At the same time, beer and tobacco, once forbidden in the settlements, are being openly sold, although they are only being bought and consumed by non-Mennonites.

In some areas of South America, the unique Mennonite lifestyle is attracting tourists, but the Mennonites do not like photographs to be taken of them and try to avoid tourists.

GENDER ISSUES

The primary role of Mennonite women in the Old Order society was that of mother and homemaker. Since children were seen as blessings from God, the use of birth control was discouraged. Church leaders also encouraged women to wear a prayer covering, a small mesh cap that symbolized their submission to men and their membership to the Mennonite Church. The home and family were traditionally Paraguayan Mennonite women's central focus, since raising large families is important to ensure the next generation of farmers. Labor tasks were delineated by gender, but families working together conducted much of the work. Males tilled small plots of tobacco for sale and home consumption and provided food for the table by hunting and fishing. Women and children made cheese and butter, gathered berries, and took care of cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. As household producers, women's work was essential to the success of the rural household. These values were reinforced during the years following World War II through much of the 1970s. The model of the stay-at-home-and-on-the-farm mother and wife, however, did not adequately meet the financial challenges facing young couples that started farming by the late 1970s.

As a consequence, since the 1980s young Paraguayan Mennonite farming couples have began to change religiously and historically cherished farming practices. Young married women with small children face an irreconcilable dilemma. Devout women's religious beliefs and church discipline strongly encourage women, especially those with preschool children, to stay at home and on the farm. However, they have felt obligated to work outside of the home because of economic necessity.

Even though historically women were not allowed to serve on church committees, teach Sunday school to men, or preach, since the 1980s women have increasingly held positions that had been filled by males for decades. Many Mennonite women were first resentful of this change, but saw no other way to keep the church functioning. In some cases, the large number of women as primary earners expedited the process of granting women a vote in church decision-making. In the last two decades of the 20th century, Mennonite women have become leading ministers in Mennonite churches.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bernhardson, Wayne. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay: A Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit. 2nd ed. Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 1996.

Epp, Marlene. Women Without Men: Mennonite Refugees of the Second World War. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.

Fretz, Joseph Winfield. Pilgrims in Paraguay: the Story of Mennonite Colonization in South America. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1953.

Johnson-Weiner, Karen. Train up a Child: Old Order Amish &Mennonite Schools. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. The Mennonite Encyclopaedia. Vol. 5. Scott-dale, PA: Herald Press, 1990.

Krause, Annemarie Elisabeth. Mennonite Settlement in the Paraguayan Chaco, Chicago: Department of Geography, University of Chicago, 1952.

The Mennonite Quarterly Review 45, no. 4 (October 1971).

The Mennonite Quarterly Review 47, no. 4 (October 1973).

Rich, Elaine Sommers. Mennonite Women: A Story of God's Faithfulness: 1683-1983. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983.

Schirmer, Will. Reaching Beyond the Mennonite Comfort Zone: Exploring from the Inside out. Telford, Pa.: Cascadia Pub. House; Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 2003.

—revised by C. Vergara.