We recently returned from a vacation that included a quick trip through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Most people know Lancaster for its Amish and Old Order Mennonite population, and the horses and buggies that share the roads with cars. The same is true here in southern Ontario, where town names like St. Jacobs or Elmira conjure up similar images.
By contrast, my family and many friends, although Mennonite, live in the 21st century, linked to the world around us by media and technology, but it hasn’t always been so. When I was a child, my parents, grandparents, and nearly everyone I was related to, were members of the Markham-Waterloo Mennonite church, a conservative group that was outwardly identifiable by their dress, black cars, and lack of radio or television, although we had electricity, and modern appliances and farm equipment. This warm and supportive community worshipped together and socialized together, a comfortable life for a child.
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