The information and material provided within this website has been compiled through networking with various service providers, years of partnership with Low German communities, and through some of the following materials listed below. We hope that these materials may open doors for you on your journey of learning:
Videos
Mennonite Central Committee in partnership with the Kindred Credit Union is developing a series of videos in the Low German language to explain Canadian culture and practices to Low German newcomers. If you have any suggestions for topics for these videos, please contact Lily Hiebert Rempel at lilyhiebertrempel@mcco.ca.
- NEW! Mental Health: Please be sure to complete the survey following the video (located in the notes). Your feedback is invaluable!
- Confidentiality Part 1
- Confidentiality Part 1 Video Script
- Confidentiality Part 2
- Confidentiality Part 2 Video Script
- Important Cards Part 1
- Personal and Financial Cards Part 1 Video Script
- Important Cards Part 2
- Personal and Financial Cards Part 2 Video Script
- Consent
- Consent Video Script
- Other video resources
- Stories of Low German speaking (Dietsch) Mennonites Living in Ontario, Part 1
- MCC Ontario’s Low German Program: Look into the life of Low German speaking newcomers and some of the challenges they face arriving in Canada
- A glimpse into the challenges newcomers face when they arrive in Canada
- James Schellenberg’s presentation at the 2017 Low German Networking Conference in Aylmer
General Resources
Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO). Available at: http://gameo.org/
Increasing Cultural Proficiency in our Workplaces
Kjenn jie noch Plautdietsch?: A Mennonite Low German Dictionary (Herman Rempel).
Las mujeres flores (Eunice Adorno). Available through your local bookstore.
“Intimate portrait of Mexico’s Mennonite community“, a BBC News Magazine video clip.
Preservings: A journal of the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation.
The Mennonites (Larry Towell). Available for order online.
Low German Dictionary © 2013 by Loren Koehler and Ed Zacharias
Who are the Anabaptist Christians? Waa es een Anabaptistischa Christ (written in Low German)
Dam Dromla’s Wife and Other Stories Dam Dromla siene Fru un aundre Jeschichte – Josef Stoll (written in Low German)
Stories of Anabaptist Martyrs Jeschichten von de Anabaptisten Martiera Spaunisch fa Schiela – Josef Stoll- Plautdietsch Utgow (written in Low German)
Stories of Anabaptist Martyrs for Students Jeschichten von de Anabaptisten Martiera Enjlisch – Plautdietsch Utgow fa Schiela – Josef Stoll (written in Low German)
Enn Bloomenheim Oppjewossen: Growing up in Blumenheim by Jack Driedger
Enn Bloomenheim Oppjewossen: Growing up in Blumenheim Audio Version by Jack Driedger
Low Germans are one group within the large spectrum of Mennonites. To learn more about Mennonites, visit this site.
The Social Value of Settlement Services - Part 1
The Social Value of Settlement Services – Part 2
Diese Steine: Die Russlandmennoniten
Migrations/Mennonite History
“Government Pressure, Mennonite Separateness and the 1920′s Migration to Mexico and Paraguay” (Bill Janzen)
Hidden Worlds: Revisiting the Mennonite Migrants of the 1870s (Royden Loewen).
Mennonites in Ontario: An Introduction. (M. Epp), Waterloo: Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario, 2012.
“Personal Reflection on 35 Years of Migration Work” (Bill Janzen).
Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History. (Steven Nolt and Harry Loewen). Herald Press, revised 2010 edition.
Mennonites in Canada series:
Mennonites in Canada, 1786-1920: The History of a Separate People. 1974. (Volume 1) (F. H. Epp).
Mennonites in Canada, 1920-1940: A People’s Struggle for Survival. 1982. (Volume 2) (F. H. Epp).
Mennonites in Canada, 1939-1970: A People Transformed. 1996. (Volume 3) (T.D. Regehr).
Mennonite Experience in America series:
Land, Piety, Peoplehood: The Establishment of Mennonite Communities in America, 1683-1790. (R. K. MacMaster), 1985.
Peace, Faith, Nation: Mennonites and Amish in Nineteenth-Century America. (T. F. Schlabach), 1989.
Vision, Doctrine, War: Mennonite Identity and Organization in America, 1890-1930. (J. C. James), 1989.
Mennonites in American Society, 1930-1970. (P. Toews), 1996.
Global Mennonite History series:
Africa: Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts, 2006.
Europe: Testing Faith & Tradition. 2006.
Latin America: Mission and Migration. 2010.
Asia: Churches Engage Asian Traditions. 2011.
Religion and Culture
One Quilt Many Pieces: A Guide to Mennonite Groups in Canada (Margaret Loewen Reimer).
Health
“A theory of maternal engagement with public health nurses and family visitors” (S.M. Jack, A. DiCenso, & L. Lohfeld).
“Familial and cultural perceptions and beliefs of oral hygiene and dietary practices among ethnically and socio-economically diverse groups” (Adair, Pine, Burnside et al).
“Health and Illness Beliefs Among the Southern Alberta Kanadier Mennonite Immigrants” (J, Kulig & B. Hall).
“Religion, Pain, and the Body: Agency in the Life of an Old Colony Mennonite Woman” (K. L. Fast). Available at:
“Transcultural Nursing Care with Old Colony Mennonites in a School Context” (K. Edmunds).
Education
Called to Mexico: Bringing hope and literacy to the Old Colony Mennonites. Available through Old Colony Mennonite Support. PO Box Office 150. Nappanee, IN 46550. PH 574.773.2565.
How to Relate Well
“Social Exclusion as an Individual Kind: A Categorical Point of View” (L.G. Gingrich). In Canadian Review of Social Policy/Revue Canadienne de politique sociale.
“Social Work and Kanadier Mennonites: Challenges and Rewards” (B. Hall, J. Kulig, R. Campbell, M. Wall, R. Babcock). In Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work.
“Theorizing Social Exclusion: Determinants, Mechanisms, Dimensions, Forms, and Acts of Resistance” (L.G. Gingrich). Chapter 1 in Emerging Perspectives on Anti-Oppressive Practice (Wes Shera, editor). Available for order online.
Religious Holidays Celebrated by Low German Immigrants from Latin America
Christmas: December 25-27, 2020 and 2021
Epiphany: ( Heilige Drei Koenige) January 6, 2021
Good Friday: April 2, 2021
Easter: April 3-5, 2021
Ascension Day (Himmelfahrt): May 21, 2020 and May 13, 2021
Pentecost: (Pfingsten): May 31-June 2, 2020 and May 23-25, 2021