An experience money can’t buy.

This morning we broke camp in time for church.  Church, we assumed, would be at 10.30 am, like most in USA.  When we got into the town of Stony Fork, we were disappointed to find that church started at 9.30 am in the Baptist Church.  We were about an hour too late!  Oops!

Driving on, we thought that we might find one that started at 10.30 am, or 11 am even.  But as luck would have it (did I really say “luck”?), we spotted a sign saying Mennonite Church. 

Church for us this Sunday

A short debate between me and the misses ensued.  Ruth was not so keen.  She was dressed to kill. (NO I WASN’T! But I did have pink nail varnish on.)  I was dressed in blue denim jeans, and a stripy, but smart, polo shirt and looked casually smart. But maybe it was a bit too worldly for the Mennonites?  Maybe we would get turned away at the door?  Maybe they wouldn’t appreciate the visitors from UK intruding?  In the end I persuaded Ruth that we should at least try and find out.  The worst that could happen was that we were not welcome, - and we would then leave and find somewhere else.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

We parked Harvey in their car-park and went in.  A guy in a white shirt, buttoned up at the top, and black trousers greeted us.  I asked if we would be allowed to worship here this morning.  He replied, “Of course. You’re welcome”.

As we were a couple of minutes late arriving, they were all on their knees praying, with their backs to the front of the church, kneeling in their wooden pews. 

Women on the left.  Men on the right. 

All the ladies wore exactly the same styled full length dresses, buttoned up to the neck. Their hair pinned up underneath their identical bonnets.  All the men wore the white shirt and black trousers.  Only a few wore anything slightly different.

From where I was sitting, it reminded me of a cross between a lot of nurses in hospital, and/or nuns in a convent, with the doctors sitting the right!

Ruth sat in a pew across the aisle from me, and we waited for the prayer to end.

They all sat up again, and faced the front, while a preacher delivered a solemn sermon about the need to keep oneself from worldliness and from the perils of this world’s system.  His sermon was based on Psalm 118. 8-9.  It is better to trust in the Lord than man, and that God would supply your needs.  A ‘no compromise’ position was advocated, even if meant some difficulty for the Mennonites.

He preached about the need to care for one another, and to not be jealous of one another.

The whole sermon was nearly an hour long.  Text after text proving his point.

At the end of the sermon, a hymn was announced.  An elderly guy walked to the front, played a note on a pitch pipe, and hummed the note for all to hear.  He then conducted the whole congregation of about 100 in the singing of ‘When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His love,…… Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.’

It was stunningly beautiful and very moving to hear the full harmonies being sung acapella.

I will try to add the recording of the hymn that I made on my phone in a while, if I can do it.

We both knew the song from our childhood and sung along.

At the end of the hymn, there was another prayer, where we all shuffled round and faced the back of the hall as we knelt on our knees to pray.  A blessing was pronounced and the meeting closed with the dinging of a small shop bell.

We were besieged by friendly Mennonites who engaged us in conversation for a good 30 minutes.  Ruth was treated like royalty by all the ladies.  

Ruth with the ladies

I was warmly welcomed by the menfolk and introduced to some of the customs and theology behind their beliefs. 

Ruth was shown around the classrooms where they hold school for about 20 children.

Teachers

Classroom 

Soon, along came Clarence Zimmermann, who invited us to have some lunch with them!  Ruth was away with the women, and so I took Clarence up on his kind offer, promising not to take up all his afternoon as we needed to travel.

A short 2-mile drive across gravel roads in Harvey took us to the Zimmermann homestead.  

Ruth and Caroline

The family after lunch

Clarence and his wife Caroline sat and chatted to us in their living room, while the children prepared lunch for us.  9 of us sat down to lunch of meatloaf (from their own livestock), noodles, garden peas, AND homemade bread and strawberry jam.  All on the same plate, to be eaten at the same time!

It was delicious!  All followed up by a lovely coffee sponge pudding and strawberry sauce.  And coffee.

We talked about life for the Menonites.  Life in UK.  Life in Europe.  How far is it to France?  Where is Wales?  What is Shropshire?  Is the Queen still alive?  What is a shilling?  What is a pound?  Do you have McDonalds in UK? Clarence told us that today was the best geography lesson he had ever had.  We left the Zimmermann kids with a selection of the Great British Pound currency!  Wow!

It was one of the most amazing experiences we have had on this Harveymoon.  One that will stay with us for a very long time.  We felt extremely privileged to have been invited into the home of such hospitable and gracious people.

What a delightful honour!  To think that we nearly missed it! 

Money couldn’t have bought it.