Jehovah's Witnesses target Old Colony Mennonites

Steinbach, Man.

Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia and Mexico are under attack for their Christian beliefs by Jehovah's Witnesses. In September, their magazine The Watchtower published a story about the Mennonites in Bolivia, decrying their lack of "progressive Bible study and public preaching," and beliefs in "unbiblical teachings, such as the Trinity, immortality of the human soul and hellfire."

The story also suggested that restrictions on automobiles, radio and television are signs of a lack of spiritual vitality. But Donald Kraybill, an Elizabethtown (Pa.) College professor who has researched and written extensively about Old Order churches, says such measures, deeply rooted in community and history, help church members maintain faithfulness.

Nevertheless, there is no denying that Old Colony Mennonites have problems. In recent years they have experienced increased public scrutiny of issues such as sexual abuse and drug use and trafficking. But that doesn't mean the entire church is entirely spiritually bereft.

"I've encountered enough people who beat me easily [in biblical understanding]," says Kennert Giesbrecht, editor of Die Mennonitische Post, a Steinbach-based German-language newspaper serving colony groups in North and Latin America. "But I've also found people with a very limited biblical knowledge."

That is also the case with any other religious body. Nevertheless, Mennonite troubles seem to particularly draw the attention of churches with a heavy evangelism emphasis.

"Some of these groups really prey," Kraybill says. "If they smell dysfunctionality, they go in and exploit the weakness of the moment."

That has been the case in Bolivia, Giesbrecht says, where shortcomings in the colony educational system have produced members not adept at articulating their beliefs and countering the arguments of other beliefs. That has provided an opening for the Jehovah's Witnesses. "I think they know these people aren't terribly capable of defending themselves," he says.

Stories of proselytizing Old Colony Mennonites seem to abound among Jehovah's Witnesses. According to a 2004 story in The Watchtower, a call was issued in 2000 for German-speaking Witnesses in Europe to go to Bolivia. About 140 responded and made "repeated efforts" to win over colony members, the story reported.

September's The Watchtower reported that 11 Bolivian Mennonites were rebaptized as Witnesses in 2001 and "more have taken this step" since then. But Giesbrecht says he knows of only one family of converts, adding that Mennonite Central Committee workers in Bolivia have developed a brochure for Old Colony Mennonites to shore up defences against proselytization.

Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals and Mormons have also tried to attract members of Mennonite colonies in Mexico. "But people didn't react," says Abram Siemens, who has a Low German-language radio program among the colonies near Cuauhtemoc.

In fact, he says a Pentecostal who tried to start a church is now part of Blumenau Mennonite Church, a German-speaking congregation formally affiliated with the General Conference Mennonite Church. "I don't think he knew there were churches here," Siemens says.

-Rich Preheim

A longer version of this article originally appeared in Mennonite Weekly Review.