O Sinner Man Where You Gonna Run To?

We have been studying Mennonite migrations recently in my 11th and 12th grade World History class. Why have large groups of Mennonites migrated in the past? How did these migrations impact Mennonite culture? What happened to those who didn't move out with everyone else? Will there ever be cause to migrate again? If so, where would we go?

 In this light, I gave my students a little assignment: "Things get bad for us in the United States. As a group of people we decide this is not the best place for us. (One could argue that we should consider such a move right now on the basis that the Anabaptist people have begun to accept perverted American consumerism.) Do some research and recommend a suitable destination to the Mennonite community."

This is what they found. Of course the research is quite limited and not necessarily in depth. Still, using several criteria these were some of the re-occurring suggestions. Some of them even had google images of the land in their presentations.

1. Australia ( Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland,) 
Pros:
High GDP/ low poverty rate Good agriculture
Space
61.1% Christian
Dairy products are the 4th most valuable agricultural export
No military conscription
Already some Mennonites there
High health standards
Religiously tolerant

Cons:
HIGH COST OF LIVING
In debt (190 billion) (Sure does beat the slats out of 15 trillion)
Can be dry

2. Iceland (Hunavatnshrepopur), 
Pros: 
-Mostly Christian
-Strong sense of community: 98% of the population believe that they know somebody who would help them in a time of need
-Very beautiful
-Small population
-Located on a major trade route between North America and Europe
-2nd highest quality of life in the world
-4.8% unemployment
-Public school system demands that Christianity be taught
-Constitutional Republic
-No regular military forces

Cons: 
-Language
-Cold rough country
-Not much farmland/ main industry is fishing
-Friends with United States
-Small island/ limited space

3.French Guiana 
Pros: 
- Are welcoming Mennonites
-GDP per capita highest in South America
-Main religion is Roman Catholic
-Close to Brazil which is also a good option

Cons: 
-Soil is low in nutrients (they are working at changing this)
-Main language is French (Some English is spoken)
-Issues with illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors

4. Brazil 
Pros: 
-Nice cities and lots of country
-Temperate climate/ good for working with the land
-2010 survey showed they had the highest religious and cultural tolerance.
-Places to escape to if need be. (mountains, swamps)
-Technologically advanced

Cons: 
-A country with a fair amount of world recognition
-Fairly populous

Late Season Archery

Over Christmas break I had the time and freedom to be in the woods a lot. With all the snow there is almost no place I would rather be. I wasn't hunting or videoing most of the time...just watching.

The video camera binge will pass soon as do most things with me, but there really are some incredibly sacred sanctuaries in the woods right now. I never video the sacred things...I don't want to ruin them. 

In that light, here's another video to demonstrate how idiotic we really are....

If you're wondering why I'm whispering when it doesn't seem like I would have to...you're definitely not a child of the woods. After several hours of snow muffled silence, even a whisper sounds like howling tires on hot summer blacktop. 

Up from the dead they arose

The men's group that I sing with is being resurrected from the dead today...well partially resurrected. We were invited to a choral festival held at Kidron Mennonite Church, Ohio...we haven't sang together in ages...we're scattered all over God's creation...we're missing all our tenors...but hey, why not? Who knows how it will go? We've picked up a few new guys and we're going to give it a wing.

We've always sang from the hip (or the heart), so we've had a real mixture of musical moments. Sometimes we accidentally fall on a good one, but we have also face planted ourselves into some real laughable musical moments. Luckily we can laugh at ourselves trying to sing SATB and other absurdities:)

Now we're asking ourselves if we still have that same youthful, musical energy. Last night, I tried a jump serve while playing volleyball...it was a horrid failure. I told one of the guys that I just needed a few practice shots to get it going. You know...I'm slowly finding this old boy just doesn't have the Wheaties he had a few years ago...its a pretty hard thing to admit. A number of years ago when I was playing on a team I lived and died by my jump serve. It just feels like there's bricks in my pants, and the floor gets harder every day....I can barely touch the rim these days.

I'm realizing that some things just pass us by. If its not athletic ability its just something else. Sometimes I wonder if musical energy is passing me by. Hopefully a good old Choral Festival can rekindle the flame....