Tour Leader’s Blog

Our office is buzzing with excitement as persons are making final plans to attend the Global Assembly of Mennonite World Conference in Ascuncion, Paraguay. Today we had persons waiting in line to talk with Audrey Voth Petkau as they brought in their passports for visas and discussed flights.

We have Edgar Stoesz’s books, The Garden in the Wilderness and Like a Mustard Seed on the table in our reception area. These were discussed and one person bought one to take home.

We have a few seats available on our MWC #2 and MWC #5 tours and expect, because of the number of persons calling in, that they will be full soon.

Don’t miss the trip of a lifetime to visit the Mennonites of Paraguay and worship and fellowship with the Mennonite Global family from over 60 countries. See you in Paraguay! Call or email office@tourmagination.com to join one of our groups.

~ Wilmer Martin

The TourMagination group had a wonderful two days at the Copper Canyon. We arrived and walked to our hotel. Our rooms all had balconies on the edge of the canyon. We ate a picnic lunch on the balconies before heading out on a hike. The hike took us along the cliffs where the native Indians live in caves. After supper lively music was performed in the lobby. The next morning we went on another hike along the rim of the canyon. We ended with a local group performing a dance and music for us. Our train ride back was a little late but made up time. We had a light supper on the train.

Today we visited the Mennonite museum, an Old Colony school, and the Bible School.

The school children prayed and sang in unison. Their assignment was to copy New Testament scripture in Gothic script into their notebooks. One of the teachers was 15 and was fluent in English. She said she had been a teacher since she was 13. The children and teachers were very welcoming of our group.

After lunch at the Bible School we were heading to the cheese factory when a back tire blew. We limped back to a small town and managed to change it. We decided not to go on further because of time so we headed back to town. After faspa at Mrs. Kroeker’s of soup and buns we made it back to our hotel.

A great day of interest and excitement.

~Ed Epp

Today we journeyed on the spectacular railway ride to the Copper Canyon. The dry steppe soon made way to foothills and mountains. As the train path literally circled on itself, the vegetation changed to pine forests. The views were amazing.

Yesterday we began the day at the same railway station where the Mennonites first arrived. David Friesen read from some journals and then had a prayer. We then visited the Old Colony church and school followed by centres for challenged persons and those struggling with addictions. We ended the day at the Mennonite museum where we saw a video on the history of the Mennonite settlements in Mexico.

We are currently on the train an hour from our destination in the Copper Canyon. There is a problem with the tracks and so we are stopped. We expect to be on our way soon. Tonight and tomorrow morning we will hike and enjoy the Canyon.

~ Ed Epp

We have had a good start to our Mexico tour. Yesterday we left El Paso and headed through the dusty desert to Cuauhtemoc. We arrived in time to drive out to Altenheim to have supper in a Mennonite senior citizens home. This centre opens their doors on Saturdays for people to eat and contribute towards the centre. We had.delicious noodle soup.

This morning we went to two services. First we attended the Old Colony service in Gnadenfeld. Then we went to the Blumenau Mennonite Church. These churches are separated by ten kilometres but much more. In the first we saw a very traditional service with men and women sitting separately. The nine songleaders sat in the front. The preacher read scripture in a monotone chant followed by a quiet sermon in low German. We saw no electricity or lights. Ten kilometres away, the other church had a praise band, power point and an animated preacher. After lunch with the congregation we toured the school. We met the colony’s young doctor who graduated from this school. We heard about recent grads who are in Canadian Mennonite University and other Mennonite colleges in Canada. There really is an emphasis on education.

We ended our tour by driving through the villages and seeing the new homes and businesses.

David Friesen is an excellent teacher. He moves easily between the Old Colony and Mennonite communities. People from both respect him and his sympathetic history teaching is inspiring to us all.

Tonight we get more Mexican food! Don’t you wish you were with us?

~ Ed Epp