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Bontragers and Bowers 2


Coconut Flan

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Is there a gas leak in my office or did the bontrager Instagram just post their Mexico travel schedule...in German?

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14 minutes ago, picklepizzas said:

Is there a gas leak in my office or did the bontrager Instagram just post their Mexico travel schedule...in German?

Here's your answer. They only sing to German speaking churches. Why am I not surprised? 

IMG_7330.PNG

I'm guessing the churches they go to are super white and super Protestant. I doubt they would ever expose their children to any other church in Mexico. 

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I seem to recall from some documentary I watched (don't remember where or what the title was) that there are Amish & Mennonite groups that are in Mexico.  Which would explain the German speakers

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23 minutes ago, Baxter said:

Yes, Mexico has fairly substantial Mennonite population.

The Bontragers are former Mennonites, and still very close to their Mennonite kin. They go to Mexico pretty  much every year to perform at a number of Mennonite communities. They have distant relatives in those communities. I believe Alison also spent a couple of months in one of them volunteering in a school.

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Do any of the younger Bontragers understand Pennsylavania Dutch, do we know?

My family comes from a (non-Anabaptist) community that spoke a German dialect in the US for generations, but by the time my father came around it was mostly something the older relatives spoke among themselves, and I myself don't know a word of German.

I wonder how much a former Mennonite family would preserve those linguistic traditions after leaving the church. Clearly they are still close with families and institutions where those dialects are spoken.

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4 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Here's your answer. They only sing to German speaking churches. Why am I not surprised? 

Does anyone remember that episode of Frasier where Niles mentions Maris is learning German? And Martin replies "Maris learning German? Just when you think she couldn't get any cuddlier." So many things Fundies do make me think of that line. But this one especially. 

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3 hours ago, HereticHick said:

The Bontragers are former Mennonites, and still very close to their Mennonite kin. They go to Mexico pretty  much every year to perform at a number of Mennonite communities. They have distant relatives in those communities. I believe Alison also spent a couple of months in one of them volunteering in a school.

I'd be interested to know when the Bontragers switched over from being Mennonite. Both sets of grandparents are still practicing Mennonites, so I wonder when/why/how their family's philosophy changed. It doesn't seem to be mentioned on their blog, other than maybe that "Turning Hearts" celebration they have every year to commemorate when Mr. Bontrager turned his heart back to his family 15 years ago. (see the bottom comment on this post http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2018/02/announcing-16th-annual-turning-hearts.html

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I am so confused. I knew that the Bontragers are still close with their Mennonite families, but I thought it was more a case of "we love our families, so we don't discuss reigion with them." But then what in the world makes them tour Mennonite churches in particular? I really don't see how this goes together with their own theology.

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8 hours ago, pandora said:

I'd be interested to know when the Bontragers switched over from being Mennonite. Both sets of grandparents are still practicing Mennonites, so I wonder when/why/how their family's philosophy changed. It doesn't seem to be mentioned on their blog, other than maybe that "Turning Hearts" celebration they have every year to commemorate when Mr. Bontrager turned his heart back to his family 15 years ago. (see the bottom comment on this post http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2018/02/announcing-16th-annual-turning-hearts.html

I'd love to know more about their family history. Both sets of grandparents are indeed Mennonites, but Ma and Pa Bontrager both have siblings that seem to be very worldly (at least judging from their appearances) and at the same time you can see women wearing traditional Mennonite gear. 

In the "About" section of their motel it is stated that they have an Amish background. I know that a lot of people that leave the Amish lifestyle find themselves in Mennonite communities afterwards. It would be really interesting to me when the grandparents left the Amish or if this happened generations before. 

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6 hours ago, JillyO said:

But then what in the world makes them tour Mennonite churches in particular? I really don't see how this goes together with their own theology.

Could be wrong but my guess is $$$$

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3 hours ago, ophelia said:

What do you think? How much is their salary for a concert?

I thought it was usually donations. Which could vary with each church. 

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5 hours ago, fluffy said:

Could be wrong but my guess is $$$$

My guess is both $$ and conversion.  Mexico has a surprisingly large German-speaking population.  Mennonites, definitely, but also German RCs moving out of TX at the end of the 19th century, and a fair number of Germans emigrated there after WWI and WWII.  (Not all of them were Nazi war criminals fleeing justice.)

The Bonts also might be more willing to try to convert Mennonites in Mexico than their own extended family.

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6 hours ago, fluffy said:

Could be wrong but my guess is $$$$

Or they may just go down to Mexico because they know people/family in the Mennonite communities there and so they get invited. And perhaps they enjoy the March weather in Chihuahua better than the March weather in Iowa! : )

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They definitely see it as missionary work. They "have a heart for the Mennonite people" because of their roots, but they also believe most Mennonites aren't born again because they believe in salvation by works/legalism.

There's an interesting snippet of information about Pa Bontrager in this preaching video from last year, starting at 1:20:45. 

His father died when he was 18 and he mentions being very mistreated by his Mennonite ministers at that time. It sounds like they humiliated and lectured about some trivial rules instead of offering him comfort and condolences. 15 years later, he was driving home from a business trip and had a breakdown, bawling in the car remembering those days. He mentions the problem with Conservative Mennonites is that "there are a lot of rules and regulations without Word conformity". Having suffered under that system, he probably sees his evangelical conversion as somewhat of a liberation and sees it as a duty to share that with other Mennonites. 

 

In that same video, I would suggest watching Mitch, Chelsy and Allison sing "Call me Old Fashioned" at 50:55. There's something about Mitch's lisp and the lyrics they take so seriously that make it unintentionally hilarious. Also note a pre-courtship John Maxwell sitting in the front row!

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1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

Mexico has a surprisingly large German-speaking population.  Mennonites, definitely, but also German RCs moving out of TX at the end of the 19th century, and a fair number of Germans emigrated there after WWI and WWII.  (Not all of them were Nazi war criminals fleeing justice.)

Central America in general has a lot of Germans living there. I have German relations who immigrated to the US from Germany, went to help build the Panama Canal, and stayed there. They lived in a large German community in Panama.

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I've always wondering if a Bontrager kid could ever become attracted  to one of their Mennonite friends or distant relations (like, some comely maiden second-cousin-twice-removed that catches the eye of one of the Bontrager boys). Would their families allow them to court? If so, which side would be pressured to convert?

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9 hours ago, HereticHick said:

I've always wondering if a Bontrager kid could ever become attracted  to one of their Mennonite friends or distant relations (like, some comely maiden second-cousin-twice-removed that catches the eye of one of the Bontrager boys). Would their families allow them to court? If so, which side would be pressured to convert?

I suspect the girl would be pressured to convert so she can properly submit to her new headship.

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Mexico is a haven not just for Mennonites but other religious sects as well - Colonia LeBaron, a Mormon/FLDS offshoot with a Charles Manson style history of religious leaders using young wives to murder one another  (if you've seen Big Love there's a bit of inspiration there with the crazy Mexican polygamists) and distant relations to Mitt Romney. These groups go to Mexico because it is easier to do what they want without U.S government rules and taxes.

If you want to go down a fun rabbit hole google Ervil LeBaron and read Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer.

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On 13/03/2018 at 4:28 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

Here's your answer. They only sing to German speaking churches. Why am I not surprised? 

IMG_7330.PNG

I'm guessing the churches they go to are super white and super Protestant. I doubt they would ever expose their children to any other church in Mexico. 

On a side note, little dude on the left has taken his man spreading lessons seriously. :my_biggrin:

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7 hours ago, Percy said:

On a side note, little dude on the left has taken his man spreading lessons seriously. :my_biggrin:

Gotta start em young!

I hate these shiny suits.

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12 hours ago, Percy said:

On a side note, little dude on the left has taken his man spreading lessons seriously. :my_biggrin:

I believe they know the Tool so he must have witnessed the Tool's extreme spread at a young age and it made an impression. 

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Well, isn't he the one who prays for "a godly little wife" every day, according to Pa Bontrager's infamous wedding sermon :pb_rollseyes:

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