Canada Journal

Last November (Nov 1993), Professor John Hostetler, author of the book Hutterite Society, traveled in Canada with several men from a non-Hutterite religious communal group that he has known for a number of years. He contacted me and said that I might want to get acquainted with these people. He gave me the name and address of a couple that live in northeastern Washington (Ted and Peggy Lakman, Ione, WA). As a result, we became very interested in getting to know this group. I called the colony boss at South Peace Hutterite colony, Dawson Creek, BC who said that these people are located about 75 miles north of the South Peace colony and they visit back and forth. He said that they are 'good people'. I also called Art Katz (Christian writer) in Minnesota. He has spoken at their conventions. Art said that he has some differences with them but they are strong Christians. So I felt that I should visit these communities (called The Move of the Spirit, and also Sam Fife's people), along with a long overdue visit to the Hutterite elders in Alberta.

1/8/94 8:24am Left our community at Fan Lake, WA, for Alberta. It snowed about 2 inches last night and was still snowing when I left. Driving our 1992 Dodge mini-van by myself. Charles Hutchins, founder of the Hospitality House in Wenatchee, was to go with me but called three days ago to say that he was unable to come at this time.

1/8/94 10:15am Stopped at Bonners Ferry, ID, for a cup of coffee and to call home to check on Shelly. Bonners Ferry is 80 miles from Fan Lake. Still snowing. Roads are a bit difficult. At one place, I came around a sharp curve in the road and saw a large big-horned sheep in the road, licking the salt off the pavement. He didn't move as I drove by in the other lane.

1/8/94 1:50pm Arrived at the BC-Alberta border. The snow had stopped by the time I had crossed the US-Canada border.

1/8/94 2:52pm Riverside Colony Arrived at Pincher Creek (city) in southwestern Alberta where I got gas for the car. Pincher Creek is 289 miles from Fan Lake (closer than Seattle). Very little snow in southern Alberta. Drove to Riverside Hutterite colony where I spent an hour or so visiting at the colony boss (Haushalter), Joe Tschetter vetter's house. Joe, his wife Lydia, sister Martha, son Steve and others were there. Spoke with their mother, Katie-bal, who's husband Joe vetter (Prediger or minister) passed into eternity on Jan 1st. They had been married 53 years. Katie-bal has always been an inspiration to me and now she is grieving over the loss of her long-time partner.

1/8/94 5:05pm Raley Colony Arrived at Raley Hutterite colony in time for church, which had just started (6pm their time). After supper in the colony kitchen, spent the evening at Elias Waldner's house (his wife Esther was gone to visit a daughter in another colony). David Waldner vetter (the minister) and others came over. Elias told me that we, at Fan Lake, were in a sinking ship because we were not living in an ethnic Hutterite colony... Stayed overnight at Elias's house (in my usual room). It is always a joy to visit Raley Colony. Elias vetter seems to regularly have many grandchildren in his house, which are such a blessing. Their father, old Samuel Waldner, passed into eternity in 1990 at the age of 95. He invariably showed such a concern for me and had urged me to start an 'English' colony (a colony for converts) as he said, 'That's the only way that I can see that will work.' I visited him several days before he died. He told me then, 'Jesus is my life, dying is my gain.'

1/9/94 Sunday Raley Colony Breakfast in the colony kitchen at 7am, church from 9am to 10:45, lunch at 11am (local time). Talked with David vetter. He said that the Hutterites were waiting for us (Fan Lake) to get more members before they could accept us. He also said that we should come to Raley to live for a time. I told him that there was seven adults at our community, including two handicapped women.

1/9/94 Sunday afternoon Old Elm Colony Left Raley colony and drove to Old Elm Hutterite colony and met with Isaac Wurz vetter (the colony minister and an elder of the Lehrerleut Hutterite conference^[1]) and his wife. They are old friends with deep spiritual insight. Isaac vetter told me that he had met Paul Gross, minister at Espanola colony near Spokane, a year ago and Paul vetter said to him, 'Why did you tell Don Murphy that I should baptize him?'. I responded to Isaac vetter that Paul vetter must have mixed him up with John Wurz vetter of Wilson who had told me that. Isaac vetter's advice to me was that the Dariusleut Hutterite conference should follow up on their word to me. If John Wurz vetter tells me to go start an 'English' colony then they should follow up on it. Asked Isaac vetter if he knew of the communities north of our Dawson Creek colony but he didn't. He had read my letter in the Sept 93 issue of KIT^[2]. Spent about an hour with him.

1/9/94 Sunday evening Wilson Colony Arrived at Wilson Hutterite colony just in time for supper. Met John Wurz Jr (second colony minister) as he was bringing supper from the kitchen for him and his elderly father (John Sr, the first colony minister and the head elder of the Dariusleut Hutterite conference). After supper in the colony kitchen, I visited with John Sr and John Jr for a while. John vetter seems to be in good health (he will be 93 years old in May) but only talked for a little while. He showed me a calendar that he received from Japan and then he went to lay down in another room. John Jr said that there will be a minister's conference in February and they will discuss our situation. John Jr also said that we should go and join the Schoonover colony in Washington. Katie-bal from Keho Lake colony was there and we talked about the Owa colony^[3] in Japan (where we had visited together some years ago). When I went to say good-bye to John Sr vetter, he said that we should join the Owa colony. I reminded him that he had said that about six years ago and that Owa was not accepting new members. Katie-bal said that she would speak with her husband (George Wurz vetter, minister at Keho colony and son of John Sr) about that. Left Wilson about 7pm for Lakeside colony (12 miles away). It suddenly got very cold this afternoon. The temperature dropped from about 25 to -4 in a short period.

1/9/94 Sunday evening Lakeside Colony Arrived at Lakeside Hutterite colony and met with Joe Wipf vetter (minister) and his wife Kathrina-bal. Helped Joe vetter with his computer (backed up his address book databases and his family book databases - they never get backed up except when I or Pat (my son) do it for him)^[4]. Had my meals at Joe vetter's house and stayed over night there (in my usual room). Kathrina-bal is using a cane and doesn't get around very much these days.
Lakeside colony just branched out last November. They had purchased about 6,000 acres of land several miles away and had spent several years building the new colony. The new place was equal in size and buildings with the old place. The people at Lakeside divided themselves into two groups, each group having an equal number of males and females, and equal age groups. Then, last November, they were ready. They had two colonies, each fairly equal in material goods and two groups of people, each fairly equal in size and strength. Then the names of the two colonies were placed in a hat and the head minister, Joe vetter, drew one out. He drew Lakeside, so he and his group were to stay and the other group packed their bags and in two days had moved to the new colony. Joe vetter said that this was his forth experience in branching out and every time he was in the bunch that stayed in the old place.

1/10/94 Left Lakeside and stopped briefly at their new colony 3 miles north. Sam vetter, the minister, showed me around. His son, Leonard, who was the electrician at Lakeside, is now the boss at this new colony. The place is very impressive, all new buildings, modern hog barns, big kitchen. The kitchen, school and church are all in the same, large building.

1/10/94 Byemoore Colony Arrived at Byemoore Hutterite colony in north central Alberta where there is lots of snow (blowing and drifting) and is very cold. Met with Mike Stahl vetter and his wife. Mike vetter is the assistant head elder of the Dariusleut conference of the Hutterian Brethren Church. He is elderly (83), but in good health and active. Gave him a report of our situation at our Fan Lake colony where we have been for nearly four years. I told Mike vetter that we needed help, that our colony was too small. I asked Mike vetter if we could be invited to the next minister's conference. He said that would be Ok. He also said that it would be Ok if we used the name 'Hutterian' in our corporate name. Also asked him about the non-Hutterite communities north of Dawson Creek but he did not know of them. His wife Sarah-bal told me to tell my son Pat that the young man Mike, who shared a room with Pat (when Pat was at Byemoore), got married and now has a beard. This Mike came by later and sends greetings to Pat.

1/11/94 Stayed overnight at Mike vetter's house at Byemoore colony and ate in the colony kitchen. My next destination was the South Peace Hutterite colony at Dawson Creek, BC, where I had never been before. I could not find anyone at Byemoore who had been there either and they didn't know the way but they thought it was about a six hour drive. The roads are icy and snow covered. After driving about six hours, I was about 200 miles northwest of Edmonton and realized that I still had a long ways to go to get to the South Peace colony. It was about 3pm and getting dark (gets dark early this far north). So I checked my map of the Alberta Hutterite colonies and found that Valley View Hutterite colony was nearby. I had never been there before and didn't know anyone there. The man at the gas station in the town of Valley View gave me directions and I drove out to the Valley View colony just as it was getting dark.

1/11/94 Valley View Colony When I first arrived, I wasn't sure that I wanted to stay at the Valley View Hutterite colony. The place did not look too prosperous and the first man that I met did not seem to welcome me. But then I met others, including Eli Tschetter (the minister), his brother Sam (the boss), and their brother Wally, all young men. They had gone through a lot of tribulations. Eight families had left to join a cult (called the 'Two By Twos') and left the colony in bankruptcy. The old minister died. Then Eli broke both of his legs and next he lost the sight in his left eye. All this had resulted in him drawing close to God. Others in the colony also responded by turning to the Lord, including Wally, a single man who had left the colony but returned. I was very impressed with their response to the trials and tribulations that they had gone through. The people at Valley View Colony were a great blessing to me. I stayed at Eli's house (he moved out of his bedroom for me) and I ate my meals at his house (as I was older than him, he asked me to say the blessings before and after the meals). He suggested that I meet with John Wipf vetter (an elder of the Lehrerleut) at Twilight colony (located north of them). So I made plans to visit him on the way back.

1/12/94 I left Valley View Colony in a snow storm. The temperate was about -15 degrees. I could hardly see the road. I prayed that I would not be troubled by the many large trucks that travel on the highway. The Lord heard my prayer and I was not troubled by trucks that entire day! That whole morning, I was so elated over my visit to Valley View colony that I was singing and praising God for a long time. During this time I glanced down at my speedometer and found that I was doing 70 mph in a snow storm on an icy highway! That didn't bother me but I did slow down to a reasonable speed. And a short time later, I realized that I hadn't encountered any trucks since I had prayed. Then I remembered the words in the Bible, "you have not because you ask not" and it occurred to me that if God can answer my prayer about the trucks, He can also control the weather. So I prayed to God to clear up the weather. Within a few minutes, the visibility went from a few yards to ten miles or more! It remained that way for the rest of the day! Praise God!

1/12/94 South Peace Colony I stopped at the Dodge dealer in Dawson Creek and purchased a car engine heater as it was so cold. Arrived at the South Peace Colony Hutterite just before dark. The South Peace Colony has 122 members (many school children) and farms 20,000 acres located in a triangle with two very large rivers on two sides. They are a very impressive colony. Every thing is large scale and neat and clean (as is customary in a Hutterite colony). Met Mike vetter (the second minister) and then Peter Hofer vetter (the first minister) who is in a wheelchair due to a broken leg. Felt very stressed during church and then after supper in the colony kitchen, got into a heated discussion at Peter Tschetter's house (the colony boss) concerning a newspaper that they receive. It is published by a right-wing Catholic organization and contains all kinds of garbage. (Was that the reason for the stress that I felt during church?)
    Otherwise, it was a nice evening with Peter, his wife Anna-bal, daughter Barbara and granddaughter (who are visiting from Granum colony), Jonathan (German school teacher) and Mike vetter (second minister). The South Peace colony is very remote and far from the other colonies. But they seem to like that. Peter vetter said that this remote location is good for them and when they branch out, in 10-15 years, they will probably build in the same general area. He told me about Prof. Trudy Huntington^[5] of Ann Arbor, MI, who works with Prof. John Hostetler.
    I asked Peter vetter how he manages to run such a large operation with so many young people to work it. He said they trust me and I trust them^[6]. Very simple but very deep.
    That evening I shared the bedroom with Peter vetter. His wife stayed with their visiting daughter in another bedroom.

1/13/94 South Peace Colony The next morning, at South Peace colony, breakfast was like the previous supper. There was no talking during the meal. Everyone was dressed in their church clothes. They ate quickly and then sat in absolute silence for a minute or two before the closing prayer was said. Meals are like a church service, like a sacred occasion. After breakfast, Peter vetter (the boss) showed me their sheep and cattle operations. They have 600 sheep that are protected by three large guard dogs which live with the sheep day and night. They use collies for herding the sheep. Peter vetter also showed me their school, which has two teachers and is part of the local school system. They have several neighbor children who attend their school. One of the teachers lives in a house on the colony. The other lives in town. One of the boys at the colony installed the heater in the car for me and filled it with gas before I left.

1/13/94 Shepherd's Inn Drove to Shepherd's Inn which is at Mile 72 on the Alaska Highway (which means that it is 72 miles north of Dawson Creek)^[7]. Shepherd's Inn is a small community of about 60 people, most of whom live in mobile homes behind the church building. The church building is located just behind the motel-gas station-restaurant named Shepherd's Inn which is owned by the community. Got directions at the Shepherd's Inn for Blue Berry Farm.^[8] Shepherd's Inn and Blue Berry Farm are two of the communities of the late Sam Fife's group.

1/13/94 Blue Berry Farm Arrived at Blue Berry Farm just as they were finished eating lunch in the community kitchen (they call it the Tabernacle). You leave your outdoor shoes (or boots) in the hall way. Most people have a set of indoor shoes that they keep there. Inside was very noisy, about a hundred or more of men, women and children were standing around and talking. Everyone is dressed just like the people in town except you do not see any beards on the men (strange in this north country) and nor do you see any pants on the women. Met Dave Smillie and John Austin, two of the elders. They said that they were expecting me and took me over to Dave Smillie's house, a large log building on the side of the hill. Dave said that the building belongs to the community but he owns the furniture in the house (very nice furniture). Their electricity is provided by the community's own generator and goes off at night (except during very cold weather). They have running water in most of the houses but do not have flush toilets.
    Dave, John and I spent most of the afternoon together. I told them my story and then John Austin told us his story. He and his wife were going to college in Virginia when they got called to this place (about 20 years ago). They have six children (10 years to about 25 years old). There are about 140 people at Blue Berry Farm, including 40 college students (they have their own college). The people on the farm give 50% of their income to the community. Many have outside income (from jobs or Social Security). The community owns about 3,800 acres, has a beef operation and does commercial logging. They have their own two engine airplane which is used to fly to the remote logging sites. The community has 14 leaders (called elders) including six women. The elders share responsibility for the affairs of the community.
    Supper was at the Tabernacle. They sit in assigned seats. The seating arrangements are changed every two weeks, giving everyone a chance to spend time with everyone else. After supper, they have some announcements and also asked me to share a little with the people. I told them that we had been seeking community and had visited a number of communities. Most communities would blossom like a flower but then would later fade and die out (often with great pain). We were seeking a community that was based on a solid foundation. I told them that we found that community in the Hutterites.
    After supper, I spent the evening with Alvin Roes (one of the elders) and his wife Marie. Alvin told me his story. He and his wife were Mennonites in Ontario when he was elected as the Sunday School superintendent. He had recently experienced the new birth in Christ and was eager to tell others about it. The Mennonites didn't like that and banned him. He then joined up with Elmer Graber, a Mennonite who had also experienced the new birth, and also with several like-minded members of the Dutch Reformed church. They were led to drive out to northern British Columbia (five men in a car) where they found and purchased the Blue Berry Farm in February 1973. I asked Alvin how their group understood and practiced the teaching of Jesus in Mt 5:31-32 (divorce and remarriage). He did not answer at first, but then said that they have a number of people in that situation. Then I asked him about Mt 5:33-37 (swearing of oaths) and Mt 5:33-48 (turn the other cheek). He responded to these two with answers that would be acceptable to the Hutterite church.
    That evening I shared a small room with a young man named Donovan who works at a community-owned gas station near Fort St. John. He gets up at 4:30am to go to work.

1/14/94 Blue Berry Farm Breakfast at the Austin's house. They live in a large log house on the second floor (enter by an outside doorway). There are 16 people living there, including a 16 year old boy from Japan. John asked me to share after the meal so I read briefly from a Hutterite sermon (Mt 5:1-12). We then went to the Tabernacle which had been set up for a meeting. The tables were put aside and the chairs arranged in rows. A man from Scotland, Bobby Owens, was at Blue Berry Farm for three weeks teaching daily (sometimes twice daily) on the Tabernacle of Moses. Before he started, there was singing for about 45 minutes (everyone standing, very lively). Then Bobby preached for an hour (he is an old time Pentecostal preacher). The singing was wonderful. The preaching was about what one would find in most Pentecostal churches.
    During the singing, I experienced a strong message from God that a purification was coming upon the church, that the Lord would purify a holy people for himself. I felt such stress over the coming tribulations for the church that I cried deeply for God's people. What great pain there would be, that in the troubles and tribulations, the people would turn to God with all their heart! Oh, what misery is coming to cleanse the people! Tears came to my eyes...^[9]    After the morning meeting, which ended about 9:30 am, I was invited to sit in on the men's ministry meeting. Present were Dave Smillie (who ran the meeting), John Austin^[10], Bill Vanderhorst, Alvin Roes, Roger Henshaw and I. This meeting was to conduct community business. We sat at a table in the Tabernacle and discussed bee keeping, fire wood cutting and things like that. I observed that they have a long ways to go to be like the Hutterites in conducting community business.
    Bill Vanderhorst, one of the elders, was a businessman (butcher shops and restaurants) who just moved here last Sept. (from Kitchner, OR). He obviously is having to adjust to the way that business is conducted here. After the men's ministry meeting, I went with Bill to look at his butcher shop (which he recently set up and is very well organized) and then to his house (he does not have indoor running water). Bill told me his story and he is very much like me: he was raised a Roman Catholic, met the Lord Jesus, left the Roman Catholic church, joined a Pentecostal church and the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship (FGBMFI). He became disillusioned with the Pentecostals and got involved in a home fellowship. I was blessed with hearing Bill's story. He seems to be very dedicated to the Lord and is totally committed, the first FGBMFI man that I met who has gone beyond the teachings of Billy Graham ('accept the Lord and you'll be saved') to obedience to Christ. That seems to be a common characteristic here at Blue Berry - they want to be obedient to Christ and to hear his voice!
    After lunch, I met with Roger Henshaw (a deacon) and Edie Dwyar (an elder) in the Tabernacle. We sat in a small area near the stairway above the dinning room. Edie is divorced from her husband but has not remarried. She was raised a Roman Catholic and now has a strong sense of the need to hear God's voice. We had a very good talk.
    After supper there was another community meeting. It began with singing (about 45 minutes of lively singing and praising God) and then Bobby Owens preached again for an hour or so (on the Tabernacle of Moses). After the meeting I returned to the Austin house where I spent some time with John and Chris Austin. He asked me how I felt about my visit. I told him that I concurred with the reports that I had heard from John Hostetler (Mennonite professor in Pennsylvania), Art Katz (a Jewish Christian author in Minnesota) and Peter Tschetter (colony boss at South Peace Hutterite colony).
    I gave John Austin a collection of Hutterite publications: Hutterite Chronicle (1 copy), Confession of Faith (2 copies), Brotherly Community (5 copies), Brotherly Faithfulness (5 copies), History of the Hutterites (1 copy), Hutterite sermons (Mt 5:1-12 and Acts 2:44-45), Hutterite song books (2 books) and some literature that I have written. I suggested that they have more contact with the Hutterite colonies as I feel that both can benefit from such contact.
    That night, another man shared our small room - he slept on a mat on the floor.

1/15/94 Blue Berry Farm Ate breakfast at the Austin house. John asked me to share so I passed out the Hutterite song books and we sang a Hutterite song. I felt concerned about the weather so I decided to leave right after breakfast. Roger Henshaw came over and helped me get the snow off the car. He and his wife, Bertie, are wonderful people. It had been snowing and was very cold the past few days. When I got to the road, the Alaska Highway, the visibility was very poor and I was tired from lack of sleep the past three nights.

1/15/94 Shepherd's Inn The highway was very bad, especially when you met one of those large trucks. When they pass by, they throw up such a cloud of snow that you can not see out of your windshield for a while. Very dangerous driving. When I got to Shepherd's Inn, I saw several large trucks parked there, so I thought that if the driving was too bad for these trucks, maybe I had better stop here for a while. There I met Don and Dorothy Rutherford who manage the inn. I called Peter vetter at South Peace colony. He said that they had about 6" of new snow overnight, no vehicles had gone out and the road hadn't been plowed in several days. He said that he would call John vetter at Twilight colony (my destination that day) to see how the roads are. He called back in about 20 minutes and said that John vetter said that I'd better wait a day or two as their roads are blocked.
    Signed into the motel, took a shower and a nap. Had lunch in the church kitchen with 9 people who were working on the kitchen building (they call it the Tabernacle). After lunch, sat there with Elmer Gerber, about 62 years old, who runs a logging business. He and his wife, Mary, were Mennonites back near Kitchner, Ontario. He has a wonderful testimony and feels good about his Mennonite background. He drove out here in 1973 with the men who purchased the Blue Berry Farm. He is very quiet and expressed an interest in coming down to Fan Lake to do the logging for us. He and his wife are beautiful people, both inside and out.
    At 3pm, I went over to Sid and Joann Miedema's home. They came from Holland and were part of the original group to move out here 21 years ago. Their testimony was very lively and beautiful. They are a joyful couple. Marie Bauman was also there (she, too, was part of the original people at Blue Berry Farm 21 years ago). She had recently broke her right arm and was rather quiet.
    Supper at Don & Dorothy Rutherford's home. They are the managers of the Shepherd's Inn and are elders in the community. Gus Breiden, who works at the inn's gas station, gave his testimony after supper. He is about 45-50 years old and is an ex-Catholic and an ex-alcoholic. His wife left him years ago.

1/16/94 Shepherd's Inn Breakfast at Don & Dorothy's house. They have a wood stove heating the kitchen and Don said it was too hot in there. Dorothy thought it was a bit cold (which shows a common difference between men and women). I described the situation of the Arnoldleuts a bit and told them that the Arnoldleuts have two major organizational problems: their decision making process is badly flawed (they do not decide major questions by secret ballot but mostly just let their leader, a grandson of the founder, decide everything) and they allow women to be leaders and decision makers (contrary to the teachings of the New Testament)^[11].
    Sunday church meeting starts at 9:30am. We stood and sang for an hour! Then three of the elders brought a messages based on the teaching of Jesus concerning foot washing (John 13:4-17). They said that you must serve one another so that the other person is the lord and you are the servant. You must lift up the other person and lower yourself. Our old nature causes us to want to lift up ourselves at the expense of the other. We press others down to lift up ourselves. This is wrong! We must press down ourselves in lifting up our brother or sister. We should be a true servant. (What a beautiful, humble message this morning. It is a message that brings life, that feeds the spirit as compared to messages that merely feeds the mind, giving it only knowledge.)
    The Shepherd's Inn people eat meals together only twice a week. They contribute only 10% of their income to the church community. But they say that God is calling them to closer community, to a fuller commitment to each other and to the Lord.
    Left after lunch, Dorothy made me some moose-meat sandwiches as I felt pressed to leave and head for home. I drove to LeDuc, AB, where I stayed overnight in a motel (got there at 10pm).

1/17/94 Left LeDuc, AB, at 6am and drove to Ron Hoffmann's place near Carstairs^[12]. His living conditions are about the same (no indoor plumbing). His oldest daughter has left. He seems to think that he is doing Ok. Drove on to the Fairview colony and met with their minister, John Tschetter. Asked him to call me when the next minister's conference is announced. Spent about an hour with him. He suggested that I return home by going west from Calgary, instead of south, so I did. Picked up three hitchhikers in Calgary.
Had an experience with the Lord while driving through Kootenay National Park west of Calgary. For several days, there was an annoying rattle somewhere near the right, rear side door of the van. I tried a number of times to quiet it. I stuffed napkins in various places around the door, hoping to still it. I also prayed a number of times that the Lord would show me the cause of the rattle. Today I stopped several times to stuff tissues in various places. Nothing would work so finally I gave up and said, "Lord, your will be done. Whatever the Lord ordains is right". Immediately I found the source of the noise: my small suitcase that was on the rear seat. The Lord was teaching me to accept His ways, whatever they are.
Arrived at Ted and Peggy Lakman's home near Ione, WA, at 8pm. Spent nearly two hours with them, sharing about my trip to Blue Berry and Shepherd's Inn. Finally got home about 10:45pm. Drove 2,391 miles on this trip.

It was very good to meet the people at the Blue Berry Farm and the Shepherd's Inn. How to describe them? I think that the words in II Cor 6:17-18 describe them best:

"Come out from among them, purify yourselves, says the Lord. Do not touch anything unclean, and then I shall welcome you. I shall be father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the almighty Lord."

They feel called out of the world, with a strong desire to be clean before the Lord. They want to hear His voice (John 10:16), and answer His call. They believe, along with the Apostle Paul, that 'Christ in you, your hope of glory' (Col 1:27). Your new-born spirit, born of the Father, the Spirit of Christ, must grow within each child of God. The growth of the Spirit of Christ within a person corresponds to the death of carnal nature of the child of God. We can only increase in Christ as we decrease in ourselves. It seems to me that these people probably are like the Hutterites were at the time of Jacob Hutter and Peter Reidemann^[13] - very strong in faith and close to God.

Shepherd's Inn               about 60 people including 8 elders and 5 deacons
Blue Berry Farm            about 140 people including 40 college students
Evergreen                      about 30 people
Hilltop                            about 40 people, raise sheep, peaceful place
Graham River                 about 65 people including 15 music students
Blair Valley                    about 12 people in two families plus a single man
Watson Lake                  about 20 people in four families plus two single ladies
Whitehorse                     about 40 people

    The people in all the communities, except Shepherd's Inn, give 50 percent of their income to the community. I understand that Blue Berry Farm is moving to total community (giving up all private possessions). Shepherd's Inn is moving that way also. They seem to recognize that they can not have total unity with their brothers and sisters as long as they hold on to their own possessions.
    The people in the communities have a covenant relationship with one another. They verbally agree to the covenant. They forbid men to wear beards but they allow women to wear jewelry and make-up. People must get permission from the elders of both communities before visiting another community (this seems to be designed to prevent 'sheep stealing' by leaders of smaller communities). They also must get permission to go to town (even though they may be driving their own vehicles).
    At least one of their leaders is in a re-marriage situation (their spouse has been married before to someone who is still alive). This will be very difficult for them to face. They have no central organization over the various communities (and no name for their association) but they do have certain people in several ministries that they recognize as leaders for all the communities. Each community makes their own financial decisions. There does not seem to be much inter-community financial activity. They hold conventions several times a year where people gather together from the various communities to hear their inter-community ministers preach.
    They generally feel that they are part of a great move of God. They should remember that each move of God is followed by great persecutions and tribulations for His people. The early Christians suffered terrible persecutions, the early Hutterites also suffered greatly...
    In I John 2:12-14, the Apostle John describes three classes of Christians: children, young people and parents. It seems to me that the Hutterites are the old, established Christians. Their foundation is based on the Lord Jesus Christ and has been strengthened by the blood of the many Hutterite martyrs. They are the parents of the modern day believers church. They have a very solid foundation but are seriously lacking in spiritual vitality as evidenced by that fact that only three Hutterite colonies, out of more than 350 colonies, have converts.
    The solid foundation that any group of Christians must have is faith in Jesus Christ as evidenced by obedience to him. Jesus said, 'Why do you call me Lord when you do not do what I tell you?' Without that evidence of obedience, a person's faith is mere words, it has no foundation. It will not last when the time of testing comes. The Apostle John writes, 'This is what the love of God is: keeping his commandments.' (I John 5:3)
    The people at Blue Berry Farm and the Shepherd's Inn do not yet show a solid foundation but do have the spiritual vitality. They are the children described by John, full of joy and enthusiastic for the Lord. They seek to hear the Father's voice. In some areas, they seem deaf to Him^[14] and perhaps do not realize that they are deaf. But they seem to want to hear His voice clearly, they seem to want to purify themselves. Their structure lends itself to change so perhaps God will give them the grace required so that they can overcome their shortcomings. But, I am afraid that it may require strong medicine for them to change and follow in complete obedience to Christ in all areas.

^[1] - The Hutterian Brethren Church consists of three conferences: the Dariusleut, the Lehrerleut and the Schmiedleut, each having their own head elder. The other colonies visited are Dariusleut.

^[2] - The KIT is a publication for former members of the Society of Brothers, also called the Arnoldleuts. They have several communities located in the eastern United States and were, for a time, united with the Hutterites.

^[3] - A Hutterite colony in Japan.

^[4] - Joe vetter publishes the Family Book for the Dariusleut. It shows all the families in each colony. He also publishes a pocket-sized address book showing all the Hutterite colonies.

^[5] - She and her family almost joined the Arnoldleut group at Woodcrest in New York. They stayed there two weeks.

^[6] - In a Hutterite colony, one man is elected by the colony members to be the colony boss (business manager) who is responsible for the economical well-being of the colony.

^[7] - Directions to the South Peace Colony from Shepherds Inn: Go 9 miles south from the Peace River bridge, just past a place that looks like a Hutterite colony - its called South Peace Ranch, to the Tower Lake Road. Turn left there and to about two miles to the Tower Lake community hall, turn right and go about two miles to an intersection, turn left and go about 12 miles to the colony.

^[8] - Directions: about 10 miles north of the Shepherd's Inn is a rest area. About 6 miles past the rest area, turn right. Sign on stop sign says 'Mile 86'. A short ways in is a sign for Blue Berry Farm. Follow the road a couple miles to the creek, cross the creek to the community just around the bend.

^[9] - This was a strange and unusual experience for me. Such a thing had never happened to me before.

^[10] - John's business card has his title as Managing Director of Blue Berry Valley Farms, North Star Ventures (logging) and Woodlands Apiary (honey bees)).

^[11] - Dorothy is an elder. She said that she would accept whatever role that God would give her.

^[12] - Ron and his family lived for several years at the Raley Colony. We had hoped to live together in community but it didn't work out.

^[13] - early head elders of the Hutterite church - circa 1535.

^[14] - Such as: Mt 5:32 'Any one who marries a divorced woman commits adultery', Luke 14:33 'None of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions', I Peter 3:3-4 and I Tim 2:9 'women are not to wear jewellery', I Cor 11:2-16 'head covering', I Tim 2:11-12 'woman is not to have authority over a man'.