Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/82

Contributor - Will Kroon

Title - To Withdraw From The World or To Be In It?

Topic - Church In The World

During this past year I visited two different groups of Christians. Both of them sought to do the Lord's will. The Hutterites seek the Lord's favour by withdrawing from the world, while the Salvation Army people enter into it.

The Hutterites

While attending a meeting of the Canadian Council of Churches is Saskatoon, I joined a group of delegates who were going to visit a Hutterite colony on the outskirts of the city. These Hutterites are followers of Jacob Hutter, a sixteenth century Anabaptist from Europe. Most of those who followed him to this country are of German descent. The German language is important to them, and it is still their official language on the colony and during worship. Nevertheless, the group is doing well, for during the last 30 years 35 colonies have been established in Saskatchewan alone. What are these Hutterites like?

They withdraw from the world. They really do. Our bus driver had a hard time locating the colony. They lived totally out of sight on a river bank. After arriving at the colony, we were directed to one of their leaders who happened to be in charge of the finances. He was a sturdy looking six-footer, who informed us that theirs was still a new colony with only 13 families on that site. If the colony gets too large, they split up and half of the group moves out to a new location. Girls usually move to the colony of their husbands.

A Hutterite colony is not only a social group, it is also an economic unit, as well as a congregation. In other words, these people eat together work together, and worship together. As such, they are self-sufficient and shun contact with others except for business reasons. No one is permitted to leave the colony except with permission from the leaders. Even grown men have to ask permission to use the keys for the car to drive to town. Our leader mentioned that he did not read the newspapers, or watch TV, or read any books. They screen the information that will reach the colony. They appoint two of the men to be in charge of all the preaching and religious teaching in the colony. An outside teacher is hired to teach their children at their new little school building, which also functions as their church.

Men and women do little or no mixing in the colony. They all eat together, but the women eat at a different part of the building than the men. The men also sit apart in church. Unwanted pregnancies are a seldom occurrence. Furthermore, there is strict social control, "I watch Pete and Pete watches me" is their slogan.

They are good business people. On the one hand one might think they are way behind the times in their thinking, but on the other hand, they are very up to date with the equipment they use in the kitchen and on the farms. For instance, the leader showed us a spotless modern milk parlour and a huge "egg producing" factory. I was somewhat shocked when I saw how these thousands of chicken*) were housed in over-crowded little cubicles. I asked their pastor (who was sorting eggs) why they put three chickens where there was room for only one. "It is more economical that way," he replied. They seem to be interested in the dollar, as they charged each person one dollar for a tour of the colony.

The Hutterite way of life has many attractive features to offer. There is no unemployment, no poverty and no drug problem. The people make some homemade wine and they enjoy drinking it after a hard day. "There are no divorces," our leader said. "Once they marry they have to stick it out." Some of the young men may feel restless at times, for we heard that the leader's son had left twice, but had since repented and is now the colony's official carpenter.

In conclusion, I might add that I was surprised to hear our leader say that they don't give financial aid to needs outside the colony. They don't share in the responsibility for the hungry in the world.

The Salvation Army in the Walled City

Outside the city of Hong Kong is a very unappealing place called the "Walled City of Kowloon". The walls are no longer there, but the city is still separated" from the booming city of Hong Kong. It does not belong to it, in fact, it does not belong anywhere. It is a kind of no man's land. No one is anxious to claim it either, for there is a stigina attached to the place. It has become a haven for crime, suffering and injustice. Each person is free to do as he pleases, for there is no law to guide him. Many of the 25,000 inhabitants are willingly, or unwillingly involved with crime.

Since there are no laws, huge apartment buildings are built to illegal heights. There is no building code and no sanitary rules, nor is there any protection against child labour or other abuses. When I watched that place from the outside, it looked like a huge overcrowded apartment complex. Some balconies looked clean, but others looked like dilapidated chicken coops.

The only reason we went there was that a lean-looking Salvation Army captain invited us to come along to see their mission work for the elderly and in the refugee camps. He also asked us to join in a visit to the Walled City. Well, we really stayed close to him when we entered the building through a maze of alleys and tunnels. Here we smelled the open sewers where it flowed through the alley, with a few dead rats as well. When we looked around us in the dark comers, we saw suspicious looking faces peeking out from behind machines. There was no laughter, no talk -just noise, sweat and dirt. But after having gone from one slippery alley to another, we arrived at a brightly lit classroom crowded with singing kindergarten children. It was like a little bit of heaven on earth. In the midst of this awful looking, crime-infested housing complex, the Salvation Army is bringing a ray of hope to the children. It prepares them for the day they might go to the Salvation Army School in the city of Hong Kong. The Salvation Army has gained the confidence of the people in the Walled City and they are willing to entrust their children to them.

Does Christ want us to withdraw from the world or enter into it? The Hutterites believe in the former, and have built themselves a healthy, pleasant and secure colony. Their filled walk-in freezer with produce and meats makes their way of life even more appealing.

The Salvation Army people leave their security in order to sweat it out in the refugee camps of Hong Kong and in the smell of the Walled City. When I saw what they were doing, I could not help but feel that they are the ones who really interpret the will of the Master, who said to His followers that they ought to feed the hungry and seek the lost.

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