That the Bible teaches a way of life involving speech, dress, work, recreation, education and nonparticipation in politics and warfare has been the historical belief of Mennonites. There’s a wide variation of adherence to specific principles among Mennonite communities around the world, but avoiding the outside world, non-conformity, is a guidepost for most followers.
The community documented here allows their children to attend their private school classes up to the 10th grade. There is no television or internet in their homes, the men and women sit on separate sides of the church during services, and the women are encouraged to follow the lead of their husbands in the home. The men are expected to provide the bulk of financial support for their families that often consist of large numbers of children.
With humility they share their successes and hardships with devotion to their way of life and their community.
They have generously allowed me, a worldling, an other, to photograph them and their children at work and play, and share in the peace and simplicity of their lives.
