Canadian team visits Mennonite colony plagued by rape
WINNIPEG, MB—When Sharon Cornelsen first heard news of a case of mass rape among a community of Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia, she felt immediately that she should go.
In June, horrific accounts emerged from an isolated community of Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia called the Manitoba colony. According to reports, gangs of young men from the colony were spraying cattle tranquilizer into open windows at night, then breaking in to rape the sedated women and girls.
Eleven men have been jailed in connection with the attacks and await trial. However, more nighttime assaults were reported in early October.
Cornelsen, who is working on a post-graduate diploma in art therapy and speaks Low German, the language of Old Colony Mennonites, joined a team of Canadians organized by Power to Change that visited the colony in September.
An Ontario couple, John and Neta Banman, headed up the team. The Banmans have worked among Old Colony Mennonites in Bolivia under the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission for 22 years.
The team visited the colony together with local missionaries already working Bolivia.
"We told them we had come from Canada and we were concerned about the victims as well as the perpetrators," says John Banman. "We were there to help them spiritually."
No answers
Surprisingly, the elders and ministers whom they visited in the intensely private colony were more open to talking than ever before, says Banman. "They were without an answer. They didn't know what to do. They said this had been going on for some time already and they didn't know what to do, so they had decided to take matters into their own hands bringing these people to justice."
Colony elders told Banman they had tortured some men into admitting guilt in the assaults. One man died after being hung by his hands from a tree for nine hours.
The team also visited the men in prison. "They all claimed to be innocent," says Banman. "We said, 'Between you and God, you know if you are guilty or not, and if you are, you should confess. You should make things right with God and with the people you have offended.' After two hours of sharing the gospel, all seven men accepted the Lord."
The colony is governed by church elders who oppose the infiltration of any other form of faith, including evangelical Christianity. Scriptures are read in High German. Old Colony Mennonites also shun electricity and vehicles with rubber tires.
Missionaries have been holding Low German Bible studies in some homes on the colony despite the fact that anyone who attends risks excommunication.
"We talked to the ministers about that," says Banman. "We said, how do you expect people to change if you don't teach them the Bible?" Banman assured the elders he wasn't trying to change their religion, but to open them up to better understanding of the forgiveness of Christ.
No safe place
Cornelsen and other women on the team visited homes in the colony to talk to the women. Cornelsen was startled by their unemotional attitude toward abuse.
"There isn't really a safe place for these women to share their feelings," she says. "They wouldn't even share their feelings with their husband or with a close friend. They just have to cry alone."
Many of the families had fortified their homes against attackers by nailing their windows shut. With no ventilation, the heat in the houses weighs heavily.
"When I was visiting people, I was sharing little pieces of my own story," says Cornelsen. "I've come out of fear-based legalism to get to know God in a different way. I've also had to overcome an oppressive, abusive relationship. I shared about how God led me through that time, how He redeemed what I went through."
Power to Change is planning a follow-up trip to the colony in early 2010.
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