At one end of the spectrum are people who believe in God, but don't do anything about it. A close second might be those people who give up a little time to attend church on Sunday, but don't let that affect the rest of their week. For your beliefs would you give up TV, or your car? How about just not using electricity at all? Old Order Mennonites do exactly that. Denying themselves many of the things that most people consider essential is part of their spiritual discipline.
We had the pleasure of visiting the Mennonite community of Springfield a few weeks ago. We went their partly out of curiosity and partly because we wanted to see what kind of fruit trees they had for sale. As we drove down the six mile dirt road from Hummingbird highway toward Springfield our first encounter was with a family in their horse drawn buggy on their way out. Since the road was narrow, we pulled over and stopped. They stopped too for a few minutes to chat. They were very friendly but the father did all the talking; we talked about where we were going, and where they were going. The couple had 5 children who all appeared to be under the age of 6! I wish I could show you a photo; the blond haired, blue eyed children were beautiful (and rare in Central America!) but we knew that many Mennonites prefer not to be photographed.
Springfield is a settlement of about 200 people. They all have large ranches that look like they could be in the US Midwest ---- except for the palm trees.
But what impressed us the most was the sawmill.
It is completely powered by horses. Eight horses walk in a circular pattern attached to a large hub that powers a system of belts and pulleys. This not only drives the large band saw, but also feeds the lumber through the saw and runs another small belt that carries away the sawdust.
Some of the logs were more than two feet in diameter. They were surprisingly fast at cutting them up into boards. All the planks were cut "by eye" but appeared to be very consistent in thicknesses. Who needs electricity?
To get them to the mill they use a horse drawn cart, but at the sawmill they drag the logs into place using a couple of oxen. Clever me - I noticed that the man driving the oxen gave commands in German. For example, he'd say "Erstle" and the pair would obediently turn to the right. I impressed Adrienne and our friends by telling them about my observation; then I casually mentioned it to the sawmill operator, so he too would know how smart I was. He said, "What do you mean he is talking German? Erstle is the name of the ox on the right." As it turns out, whichever name he calls, the oxen turn in that direction! After marveling at the sawmill for a half hour or so, we headed to the local nursery.
As it turned out, the "nursery" was just a small greenhouse that a man built in front of his ranch. When we arrived he was steering a plow that was being pulled by a horse ridden by his son. We were impressed with how friendly the man was. I think he would have stood there for two hours talking to us, if we wanted to. (Or maybe he was just tired of plowing.) We bought two trees, a mango, and an avocado, which we hope to grow at Jaguar Creek.
Well, I don't feel like God is telling me to give up electricity and gas powered machines, but I have to say I admire these Mennonites for taking their faith so seriously.
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