Mennonite Heritage in Paraguay: A Fascinating Story
In 1948, a group of Mennonites from Manitoba and Saskatchewan left Canada for Paraguay on a Volendam ship. The ship was carrying about 1100 people. The Sommerfeld and Bergthal Mennonite Colony was established in 1948, about 95 km east of Villa-rica in East Paraguay. The group boarded the ship (Volendam) in Quebec City on June 25, 1948, and arrived in Buenos Aires on July 12. The group then traveled by train to Villa-rica, in Paraguay. Arriving there on July 23, 1948. Since there was no road to most of the land they had purchased, they began building it themselves, usually through heavy forest. The east reserve and west reserve remain. The two bodies, Sommerfeld and Chortitz (Berghtal), were similar in position, although, because of the parity of the elders and the lack of an overall organization such as a conference, they remained organizationally as well as geographically distinct. 75 years later, much has changed. Similar in boht colonies. Both of the colonies have more than one church group. In general, the people have become much more liberal. They are not the quiat in the land anymore. Most of them have become very aggressive. https://biblethebible.com/paraguay/