Anabaptists in Brazil

[JohnH]

Greetings to anyone from Brazil.

My home congregation has quite a few people who moved to Brazil and consequently a number who have moved back, plus many visitors. If you visit, you may hear Portuguese spoken, find yourself eating beans and rice, see the a auriverde in someone’s house, or end up in a debate about the latest goings-on in local Brazilian politics.

The Mennonite group I am part of has a a few hundred members in Brazil and several congregations. These days it is about half people of ethnic Anabaptist origin (plus one white family from Ohio that isn’t European Anabaptist in background but wound up converting many years ago) and half “native” Brazilians, i.e., people whose families go back generations in Brazil.

A common surname is Lima. Nothing to do with Peru or beans.

[MennoSimons1998]

Hello!, Brazilian seeker here!, a question I always wondered is why are there no Mennonite colonies in Brazil?, there are many in Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, etc., but not here, is it because our laws make it an unpopular destination for Mennonites? (i.e. forced voting, private schools must conform to the state curriculum, obligatory military service, etc.)?

[JohnH]

Hello!, Brazilian seeker here!, a question I always wondered is why are there no Mennonite colonies in Brazil?, there are many in Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, etc., but not here, is it because our laws make it an unpopular destination for Mennonites? (i.e. forced voting, private schools must conform to the state curriculum, obligatory military service, etc.)?

There are Holdeman Mennonites in Goiás, Mato Grosso, and "Tocachints" (Tocantins?). I'm not sure of the exact locations but I can tell you nearby airports with an hour or two drive - Sinop, Sorrinto, Palmas, Goias.

They're not organised into "colonies" like Old Colonists are with horse and buggy but they do tend to live in clusters throughout the country. I would gladly put you in touch with some people there if you wish.

[MennoSimons1998]

There are Holdeman Mennonites in Goiás, Mato Grosso, and "Tocachints" (Tocantins?). I'm not sure of the exact locations but I can tell you nearby airports with an hour or two drive - Sinop, Sorrinto, Palmas, Goias.

They're not organised into "colonies" like Old Colonists are with horse and buggy but they do tend to live in clusters throughout the country. I would gladly put you in touch with some people there if you wish.

Yeah we write it as Tocantins, that is very interesting to know, and I would appreciate your contacts!, I wish I would be able to visit them one day before I move back to Italy.

[Ernie]

I also have had contact with some Anabaptists near Estr. Vicente Teles de Miranda, Boituva

This church also seems to be doing well at growing the church from the local population.

You can get more information at www.churchindex.org

https://map.churchindex.org/church-prof ... 163eb3bc90

[MennoSimons1998]

I also have had contact with some Anabaptists near Estr. Vicente Teles de Miranda, Boituva

This church also seems to be doing well at growing the church from the local population.

You can get more information at www.churchindex.org

https://map.churchindex.org/church-prof ... 163eb3bc90

I am also from São Paulo (Piracicaba, an hour away from Boituva), so that is very interesting to know!, do you know which specific Anabaptist tradition they follow in Boituva?

[Neto]

Oi! Tem muitos Menonitas em Curitiba, mas faz anos que a conferenca alemao se juntou com a conferancia Brasileia. (Que dizer que os que falavam alemao adaptou se a falar portugues. Isso e a igreisa Irmaos Mennonita.)

Me perdoa por nao escrever bem portugues - so fiz uns 10 meses de escola em portugues. (Isso foi em Forteleza, Ceara. Depois nois nos mudamos pra Porto Velho, Rondonia, e um parte da tempo moravamos no estado de Amazonas, na areia chamada Medio Purus, com o povo banawa. Eles moram na beira duma confluente do Rio Piranha.)

[MennoSimons1998]

Oi! Tem muitos Menonitas em Curitiba, mas faz anos que a conferenca alemao se juntou com a conferancia Brasileia. (Que dizer que os que falavam alemao adaptou se a falar portugues. Isso e a igreisa Irmaos Mennonita.)

Me perdoa por nao escrever bem portugues - so fiz uns 10 meses de escola em portugues. (Isso foi em Forteleza, Ceara. Depois nois nos mudamos pra Porto Velho, Rondonia, e um parte da tempo moravamos no estado de Amazonas, na areia chamada Medio Purus, com o povo banawa. Eles moram na beira duma confluente do Rio Piranha.)

Olá!, o seu Português está ótimo para quem aprendeu por só 10 meses!

Yes, I did heard of the "Mennonite Brethren Church" in Curitiba, but to me they appear to be a standard modern Evangelical-esque congregation with ethnic Mennonites as well as local converts, instead of a Paraguay/Bolivia-styled rural colony and acapella worship, they are still my brothers in Christ however!

[Neto]

Oi! Tem muitos Menonitas em Curitiba, mas faz anos que a conferenca alemao se juntou com a conferancia Brasileia. (Que dizer que os que falavam alemao adaptou se a falar portugues. Isso e a igreisa Irmaos Mennonita.)

Me perdoa por nao escrever bem portugues - so fiz uns 10 meses de escola em portugues. (Isso foi em Forteleza, Ceara. Depois nois nos mudamos pra Porto Velho, Rondonia, e um parte da tempo moravamos no estado de Amazonas, na areia chamada Medio Purus, com o povo banawa. Eles moram na beira duma confluente do Rio Piranha.)

Olá!, o seu Português está ótimo para quem aprendeu por só 10 meses!

Yes, I did heard of the "Mennonite Brethren Church" in Curitiba, but to me they appear to be a standard modern Evangelical-esque congregation with ethnic Mennonites as well as local converts, instead of a Paraguay/Bolivia-styled rural colony and acapella worship, they are still my brothers in Christ however!

10 months in a formal school setting. I had really good immersion learning for the following 5 months, and learned a lot of new words, since I was working in mission center maintenance (in Brasilia). Then we moved to PVH, and my interaction after that was then mostly with Riberinhos. So I kept learning, but it wasn't standard Portuguese. (We had moved to the Indian village, and began learning their language. Some of them knew some Portuguese, but none understood or spoke it well.) We lived in Brazil over a period of 18 years, with some months of 'home service' (also called furlough) back in the States every 3 years or so. I wish now that I had not been so quick to cut the formal schooling short after such a short time.

I don't know what the Irmaos Menonita are like now, since the last interaction I had with any of them was in 84, actually prior to moving there. A Plautdietsch ('Russian Mennonite) girl had come to the States on an MCC work-study exchange program, and she spoke Portuguese with a very heavy German accent. The two conferences were still separate for some years after that. (In case you are not familiar with MCC, it stands for Mennonite Central Committee, the shared social service arm of the Mennonites in general, across many different conferences. They have offices in Recife.)

At that time the IM were still very much non-resistant, and they had been given military exemption there in Brazil. So not plain in dress, but plain in life-style.

[Ernie]

I also have had contact with some Anabaptists near Estr. Vicente Teles de Miranda, Boituva

This church also seems to be doing well at growing the church from the local population.

You can get more information at www.churchindex.org

https://map.churchindex.org/church-prof ... 163eb3bc90

I am also from São Paulo (Piracicaba, an hour away from Boituva), so that is very interesting to know!, do you know which specific Anabaptist tradition they follow in Boituva?

They are "unaffiliated Mennonite" but maybe similar to Bethel Fellowship or something like that.