Linda Maendel - Hutterite Diaries: Wisdom from My Prairie Community

Linda Maendels clear vision and her loving heart wrapped me in a fine quilt of story as I read. Of all of the books on Hutterites that I have seen, this is the one that I cherish.

Joe McLellan, author of the Nanabosho series

This book will awaken your longing for a better world. As I read it, I smiled, laughed out loud, and cried along with the author and her community. Linda Maendel takes you deep into Hutterian community life one gentle picture at a time.

Shirley Hershey Showalter, author of Blush

Hutterite Diaries is an insightful look into Hutterite colony life from an insider who not only describes what life is like there but why things are done in particular ways. Maendels explanations will not only resonate with all Hutterites but also provide an important introduction to Hutterite life for non-Hutterites.

Rod Janzen, author of The Hutterites in North America

Hutterite Diaries is a welcome and long overdue contribution that fills a void in the daily events of a Hutterite. This book reveals a way of life that seems extraordinary to the outside world.

Paul M. Wipf, farm steward, Viking Hutterite Colony

I so much enjoyed the chance to step into the Hutterite community and feel a part of it. Linda Maendels delightful use of the power of story makes the Hutterite Diaries the type of book that is universal and enduring.

Sigmund Brouwer, author of Thief of Glory

What an amazing book! Informative, interesting, entertaining, and very well written. Through skillfully told stories, Linda Maendel, an insider, guides the reader on a journey exploring the world of a Hutterite community. Her book provides an important addition to the literature now available about Hutterite life.

John J. Friesen, professor emeritus, Canadian Mennonite University

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maendel, Linda, 1962

Hutterite diaries: wisdom from my prairie community / Linda Maendel.

pages cm. -- (Plainspoken: real-life stories of Amish and other plain Christians)

ISBN 978-0-8361-9946-8 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Hutterian Brethren--United States. 2. Hutterian Brethren--United States--Social life and customs. I. Title.

BX8129.H8M34 2015

289.73--dc23

2015003491

Some chapters in this book previously appeared in other publications: Beehive Busyness appeared in Portage Daily Graphic and Manitoba Cooperator; Weathered Wood Lessons in the Portage Daily Graphic and Winnipeg Free Press; Hearts and Hand for Common Causes in the Manitoba Cooperator; sections of Christmas on the Colony in Winnipeg Free Press and Lamplight Tales, a Poetry Institute of Canada short story anthology; Lenten Reflection in Portage Daily Graphic; and Bracing for the Breach in Winnipeg Free Press and Our Canada.

HUTTERITE DIARIES

2015 by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22802

Released simultaneously in Canada by Herald Press,

Kitchener, Ontario N2G 3R1. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015003491

International Standard Book Number: 978-0-8361-9946-8

Printed in United States of America

Cover and interior design by Reuben Graham

Cover photo by Linda Maendel

Photo credits: Sonia Maendel, pp. 27, 29, 34, 70, 108, 109; Linda Maendel, pp. 99, 102, 105, 147, 149; Kenny Wollman, p. 58; Susan Sevig, p. 133; Judith Maendel, pp. 50, 52; Erol Kagan, p. 139

All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the copyright owners.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

To order or request information, please call 1-800-245-7894. Or visit www.heraldpress.com.

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To my fellow Hutterites,
in hopes that it will inspire many
to pen their stories
and have the courage to publish them.

Nowhere is a sincere believer happier than in the presence of his brothers and fellow believers. They show each other love, reverence, and faithfulness and do good to each other. It is the divine nature of love that makes us feel we are in our neighbors debt and urges us to serve him joyfully where we can. Brothers and sisters refresh each other by sharing the gifts God put into their hearts for the good of the Body of Christ, which is the gathering of all the believers who have made a common bond in Gods love.

Claus Felbinger, sixteenth-century Hutterite martyr
from Brotherly Community, Highest Command of Love

N OVELS, TOURIST SITES, AND TELEVISION SHOWS offer second- or third-hand accounts of Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite life. Some of these messages are sensitive and accurate. Some are not. Many are flat-out wrong.

Now readers can listen directly to the voices of these Anabaptists themselves through Plainspoken. In the books in this series, readers get to hear Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite writers talk about the texture of their daily lives: how they spend their time, what they value, what makes them laugh, and how they summon strength from their Christian faith and community.

Plain Anabaptists are publishing their writing more than ever before. But this literature is read mostly by other Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites, and rarely by the larger public.

Through Plainspoken, readers outside their communities can learn what authentic plain Anabaptist life looks and feels likefrom the inside out. The Amish and Mennonites and Hutterites have stories to tell. Through Plainspoken, readers get the chance to hear them.