Sun and Water by Rachael Traeholt

ne Äwaschwaminj

Spring 2013 followed a drought in 2012 with small floods along the legacy Mennonite territories from Chinook and Lustre - Volt, Montana along the Montana - Saskatchewan border, to the Souris River Valley between Walhalla, North Dakota and Winkler and Gretna, Manitoba, north to the great rivers feeding into Winnipeg's historic Forks.

The following are additional photographs from unusually heavy rains the second to last week of May, 2013 (all photos (c) Rachael Traeholt, 2013).

An On-Line Conversation re Baptists and Anabaptism

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Bruce Hiebert • My frustration with the term "Anabaptism" stems as much from its use as a political slogan in contemporary Mennonite institutional and social power struggles as it does from its ties to a specific historical movement that the Baptists can claim, violence and all, with as much integrity as the peace oriented Mennonites. In point of historical fact, we are descendents of Menno Simons' version of Anabaptism, not Anabaptism per se. We need to face up to and respond to that reality, not pretend that by sloganeering to the broader movement of which he was a part we have avoided the Mennonite history that comes afterward. Plus, Mennonite history, pitfalls and all, is who we are. It runs deep in our bones. If someone wants to be an Anabaptist, apocalypticism, violence, medieval anthropology and everything else that goes with it, then I welcome them to it. But let's not pretend that was a movement of peace or that it has more than the weakest connection to the contemporary Mennonite life.

Steven Wall • As I have said before, I do not understand this new Baptist claim to be connected with the Anabaptists. While there were a very few English Anabaptists, and significant interaction intellectually between English Quakers and Continental Mennonites, both the English and Scandinavian Baptists descend from completely different historical tracks than do Anabaptists. According to most authoritative church historians, the Anglo-American Baptists are actually Protestants.

Reserving the right to be wrong, especially in an area with scarce resources i.e. Minnesota, my understanding is that the Baptists were a "free church" movement that sprang from similar political and social concerns but with completely different spiritual foci. The Baptists fit in nicely with Troeltsch's historical Protestant church schematics... Anabaptists and Quakers do not, as he himself indicates.

Generally, I think we should celebrate common beliefs and learn to build bridges using those commonalities but saying that Baptists are Anabaptist because we share an adult baptism is no more pertinent than to claim that Anabaptists are Maronite Catholics because we encourage a married clergy.

Daud and the Soldier

Photograph: Majdi Mohammed/AP

Only A Boy Named Daud song lyrics and actions:

Only a boy named Daud (make a small person with hands)
Only a little sling (swing arm around at ear)
Only a boy named Daud (make a small person with hands)
But he did pray and sing (pray with hands and then raise hands into air)
Only a boy named Daud (make a small person with hands)
Only a rippling brook (move fingers like playing a piano)
Only a boy named Daud (make a small person with hands)
But five little stones he took (show five fingers)

And one little stone went in the sling (take one hand into the other hand)
And the sling went round and round (swing arm around at ear)
And one little stone went in the sling
And the sling went round and round (swing arm around at ear)
And round and round
And round and round
And round and round and round!
And one little stone went up in the air – oop, oop, oop, oop, oop –  (move hands up into the air)
And the giant came tumbling down! (fall down)

⁴² The soldier looked Daud over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³ He said to Daud, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the soldier cursed Daud by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

courtesy The Guardian

⁴⁵ Daud said to the soldier, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the soldier's army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”  
⁴⁸ As the soldier moved closer to attack him, Daud ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the soldier on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 
⁵⁰ So Daud triumphed over the soldier with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the soldier...  (1 Samuel 17:42-50, based on NIV)

Coming to Terms

Mennonitas learning Spanish, courtesy Excelsior News.

Ne Sproak School     

(from Excelsior News)

    It seems that Mexico’s Mennonites, many of whom left Canada due in part to language assimilation pressures in the public schools, have finally decided to come to terms with this past… coming terms in Spanish.

   

    At a time when speculations rests regarding the future of Mennonites in Mexico, Excelsior News reports that Chihuahua’s Mennonites are now enrolling in Mexico’s public school programs in order to learn Spanish.

    Excelsior indicates that over one hundred Mennonites have enrolled in primary and secondary school programming through Chihuahua Institute of Adult Education (ICHEA). 

    Mennonites are feeling the need to learn Spanish in order to obtain official identification papers for passports and to establish business and bank accounts. 

    But, it seems that Spanish is also being used increasingly to communicate with non-Mennonite employees, encouraging these employees also to learn formal Spanish and to complete their education in order to facilitate friendships, business connections and the ability to communicate.

    Excelsior indicates that Mennonites began attending ICHEA courses in 2012, beginning with a group of about 20 farmwives and shortly including several couples and Mennonite school teachers.  Though mostly Mennonite women are studying Spanish with fewer men.

    Daicy Mauricio Gallegos, a volunteer teacher, describes her students as follows, “Son muy metódicos, les gusta estudiar a conciencia libro por libro; saben leer y escribir, pero como no dominan el español, tienen dificultades para entender las preguntas de los exámenes, así que decidieron estudiar desde el nivel inicial (alfabetización).” (Excelsior, see link).

    “The Mennonite students are very methodical, and conscientiously study their books.  They can both read and write but are not as fluent when speaking Spanish and often have difficulty understanding the test questions.  For this reason, I start them at the basic level.”

    In reading this story, one can help but be amused at the turn of events whereby so many of us have volunteered to help teach Mexican immigrant families English and how test questions seem to be especially difficult to comprehend / translate.   Perhaps the world is not so large after all.

http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2013/04/30/896653  

More Fraud Against Mennonite Settlers

Griselda Pastén Cladia Alarcon

Federal Attorney Arrest Related to Fraudulent Land Titles

   Bolivian Treasury official, Griselda Pastén Cladia Alarcon, was taken into custody by Bolivian police today and charged with defrauding Mennonite settlers of up to $800,000 (US). 

    Impacted settlements include the Manitoba settlement and Stones II, both located in San José de Chiquitos.  According to prosecutor, Angel Alvarez, charges include aggravated fraud, material misrepresentation, falsification, forgery and extortion.

    As legal adviser to the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA), Pastén charged the Mennonites $800,000 to consolidate, clear title and transfer 20,000 hectares (about 50,000 acres or 77 square miles) of state owned land.

   In March, the Mennonites hired Alberto Toranzo to represent their claims against Pastén to Bolivian authorities.

    According to the documents forwarded to national lawmakers in the Bolivian House of Representatives, Pastén seems to have charged for illegal and unnecessary fees and forging President Evo Morales’ signature on two land titles.  Included in the documents were bank statements proving the $800,000 transaction.

    In March of this year, Radiofides.com quotes Toranzo, “En el año 2010 la señora Claudia Griselda Pastén trabajando en la Dirección Jurídica del INRA nacional visita la ciudad de Santa Cruz y sonsaca en varias oportunidades a dos colonias menonitas, Manitoba y La Piedras alrededor de 450 mil dólares para saneamiento de sus tierras, tengo en mis manos varios depósitos hechos en la cuenta de la señora Claudia Pastén, en tres cuentas de tres Bancos,”

    Or roughly, “In 2010, Claudia Pastén, an attorney with the Bolivian INRA, visited Santa Cruz and asked the Mennonites of the Manitoba and The Stones colonies for $450,000 in order to clear title to their land.  I have in my hands bank receipts for deposits made into three bank accounts registerd to Ms. Pastén.”

    About 650 Russian Mennonite families are impacted by the fraud.

    I have been unable to determine whether or not any displacement of those Mennonite families has been demanded or has occurred. 

Mennonite in Santa Cruz, Bolivia Image Courtesy Radio Fides

http://www.opinion.com.bo/opinion/articulos/2013/0503/noticias.php?id=93573

http://correodelsur.com/2013/05/03/16.php

http://www.radiofides.com/noticia/seguridad/Una_ex_funcionaria_del_INRA_estafo_450_mil_dolares_a_dos_colonias_de_menonitas