I have the honor of knowing some Hutterites through family connections. The ones I know are from the Upper Midwest and of the Schmiedeleut persuasion. While some Hutterite groups are wary of technology for personal purposes (but certainly not for work) the Schmiedeleuts I knew had wireless phones, air conditioners, digital atomic clocks, and even the occasional newspaper that was smuggled in.
I thought that all Hutterites were just like what I knew: Tirolean speaking, Germanic Anabaptists who are somewhat skeptical of personal technology.
It appears I was right about the Anabaptist part. Some Schmiedeleut Hutterites, in partnership with the quasi-expelled Bruderhofers, have founded Palm Grove mission in Nigeria. They have even started a blog documenting their missionary activity. As of right now there are 300 Nigerians at the mission. The primary language in the colony is English so both Hutterite and Nigerian can communicate. Their have been incidents; however, including being attacked by armed gangs in the middle of the night.
So much for my “Tirolean speaking, Germans who are somewhat skeptical of personal technology” definition of Hutterites.
Category: Miscellaneous
No comments:
Post a Comment