Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church is a church denomination of the

Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches The Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches (FEBC) is a small evangelicalism, evangelical Christianity, Christian denomination with an Anabaptist Mennonite heritage. Most of the denomination's approximately 5000 members are in congregations locat ...

in Belize.

History

Anabaptist-Mennonite groups began arriving in Belize in the 1950s from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Canada, and the United States.

Hurricane Hattie Hurricane Hattie was one of the strongest and deadliest tropical cyclones of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, reaching a peak intensity as a Category5 hurricane. The ninth tropical storm, seventh hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and secon ...

, which hit Belize hard in 1961, prompted the arrival of numerous Mennonite agencies to provide disaster relief, notably the

Beachy Amish Mennonite The Beachy Amish Mennonites, also known as the Beachy Mennonites, are an Anabaptist group of churches in the Conservative Mennonite tradition that have Amish roots. Although they have retained the name "Amish" they are quite different from the O ...

and the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. In 1964, missionaries Paul and Ella Martin arrived in Belize and, in 1969, the Mennonite Central Committee established the Mennonite Center in

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

to govern the Mennonite agricultural colonies in the country. The Belize Evangelical Church was formally established in 1973. By 1978, the Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church was established, and there were several dozen colonies in the country, made up mostly of Old Colony Mennonites (Rhinelanders) and Kleingmeinde Mennonites ("The Little Brotherhood"), and had five congregations and 122 communicant members, including Creoles,

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

, and

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

s. The Mennonite Central Committee and Mission and Eastern Mennonite Missions who started service in Belize in 1960s were responsible for initiation of the service activities of this church Mennonites were first initiated as their knowledge of German was poor and later Belizeans were also initiated into the service. In 1981, the church has grown to 10 congregations and 425 members. By 2003, there were 425 members and 13 congregations. The Mennonite colonists in Belize made an agreement with the authorities to promote education, agriculture and their beliefs. By 1978, they operated 39 primary schools and two secondary schools. In addition, they cultivated some 5,000 acres, concentrated in

Orange Walk District Orange Walk District is a district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town. Main settlements The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), is located north-northwe ...

and

Cayo District Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio. Geography Being ...

, providing Belize with an influx of dairy products and vegetables.

Services

The church's services are held in English (official language of

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

), Spanish and

, or a mixture of these languages. The Jesus Deaf Church, an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

Christian church, is affiliated with the Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church, offering services that are led by a deaf pastor. In

Belmopan Belmopan () is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. In addition to being the smallest capital city in the continental Americas by population, Belmopan is the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and S ...

, an Evangelical Bible church is located at 3840 Ambergris Avenue.

Affiliations

Within the Caribbean community, the Belize Evangelical Mennonite Church is affiliated with Cuba's Brethren in Christ Missionary Society; the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

's Divine Light Mennonite National Council and the Evangelical Mennonite Conference; the

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Mennonite Church; and the Mennonite Church of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

References

{{reflist Mennonite denominations Mennonitism in Belize Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches Evangelical denominations in North America

History

Services

Affiliations

See also

References