| The Past Businesses |
Mennonites of Enderby In January 1962 a few Mennonite families landed in this area to farm. As more families followed they built a church which is situated on Gardom Lake Rd. Nearby they built a school for their children. As of 1991 the church has one hundred families in its membership. Not all family members are church members, so there are approximately 150-175 people in the community. The Mennonite community pulls together to help each other in crisis and also other communities which face disaster. The Mennonite community is a close, caring and interesting community. The younger generation as of 1991 are the first children to be born in this area. Originally Mennonites came from Holland, Poland, Russia, North Germany, Prussia, Switzerland, and in 1683 landed in Pennsylvania. The different congregations from Canada and the U.S.A. keep in contact with each other. The congregation of Gardom Lake and area are a part of a large network of Mennonite congregations. They keep in touch with churches all around Canada and U.S.A. Once a year they have their annual meeting. The meeting of Preachers and Decons from all over North America gather to talk about Doctrines. Every four years there is a general meeting in which anyone may attend. In these meetings they talk about Doctrines of the church and the changes of the ever-changing world. These meetings keep the chuches the same, so if someone from this area went down to the East coast of America they would feel at home because their beliefs and lifestyles are the same. It is like one community that covers all of North America. The Mennonite congregation believes in the Christian God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They believe that Jesus was born, died and resurrected and believe he will return. They believe that you must be born again, repent "for your sins and ask him to be your personal savior". They take their learnings from the King James Bible, both the Old and New Testament. Anyone can enter the Mennonite congregation, all they have to do is accept Jesus as their savior, and follow their Doctrines. They believe in A Life After Death, a Heaven and a Hell. They try to follow the Bible to the letter and lead a lifestyle that He would want lead. They try to keep away from the worldly influences of everyday life. It is a form of protection from temptations of evil. That is why they do not use musical instruments. They see nothing wrong with the actual instrument, as they are referred to in the Bible, but it takes away the temptation of playing worldly music. If the instrument were only used to play gospel and Christian music there would be nothing wrong, but they don't because of evil influence. The men grow beards and the women wear caps to show that they are born again. They believe in baptism, but not infant baptism. Shannon Peel |