A new edition of the The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities has been released. The Journal is published twice yearly and is available for free online. As the title suggests, it covers all manner of research subjects pertaining to Amish, Plain Mennonites, and other Anabaptist peoples. Check out the latest issue here, or the full archives here. So what’s in the latest edition? This intro,…
From time to time you might see claims that Amish live in Mexico. However, this is not the case. There are no established Amish communities in the country. There was an Amish presence there, however, nearly 100 years ago. Amish lived in Mexico for about six years in the 1920s, having left Ohio due to issues over state school requirements. This is the only community…
In this video I show you more of my visit to the horse-and-buggy Mennonite community in Buffalo Valley (Union County, PA). You’ve already seen the posts on the Mennonite bakery and market – they appear here too as well. Additional things you’ll see in this video are a visit with to an old cemetery in Buffalo Valley where 19th-century Amish settlers are buried, some snowy…
As promised, following the look inside a plain Mennonite market, let’s check out the bakery. As you might recall this was found just next door to the market in the Snyder County, PA Stauffer Mennonite community (Port Trevorton area). We were met by the aroma of what I thought was apple cobbler as we exited the market, and promptly located the bakery entrance. This ended…
While in Lancaster County I took a trip with a friend and his son to an Old Order (horse-and-buggy) Mennonite community in the Buffalo Valley area of Pennsylvania. It’s about a two and a half hour drive and there had been inclement weather that day, which worsened as we headed further north. We did get a nice visit at the community which I’ll go into…
Good news from Haiti: all remaining missionary hostages – 12 of them – have now been released. From the Associated Press: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The remaining members of a U.S. missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago in Haiti have been freed, Haitian police and the church group said Thursday. The spokesman for Haiti’s National Police, Gary Desrosiers, confirmed to The Associated Press…
What’s the difference between Amish and Mennonites? I previously covered this question about 10 years ago in written form. I’ve now made it into a video. Given all the different Amish and Mennonite groups, I couldn’t go incredibly in-depth on this question. But I think this is a pretty solid overview. I discuss a number of different groups, beliefs, and customs. The first thing I…
Following up on the Haiti missionary hostage story – some good news, with three hostages being released Sunday, in addition to two released last month: PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A religious group based in Ohio announced Monday that a violent gang in Haiti has released three more hostages, while another 12 remain abducted. The statement from Christian Aid Ministries said the people were released on…
The Anabaptist missionaries kidnapped over two weeks ago in Haiti made national news. The 17 remain in custody, victims of a criminal gang demanding $1 million per person for their release. These kidnappings brought about a flood of reporting in the following days, but I notice there seems to have been little-to-no news over the past 10 days. The kidnapped missionaries’ organization is Christian Aid…
It’s the 65th Annual Pennsylvania Relief Sale, and 65 quilts will be sold online today (Saturday April 10) starting at 10 AM. This sale benefits Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Amish support and participate in MCC disaster relief efforts. Here are some of the quilts. These are not necessarily Amish-made (going by the names, most of them are not) but it appears some might be, and…