Community in Paraguay a Visit to the Bruderhof
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Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 Community in Paraguay A Visit to the Bruderhof By Bob and Shirley Wagoner Illustrations by Leslie Holland Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 CONTENTS Foreword ix Preface xiii 1 From Campus to Canal Zone 1 2 Over the Andes 18 3 Paraguay at Last 29 4 Primavera 45 5 Anabaptist Backdrop 56 6 Inner Basis 66 7 Working Together 83 8 Mealtimes and Meetings 98 9 Children in Community 111 10 A Conference 127 11 Other Special Occasions 132 12 Reflection and Retrospect 147 Afterword 159 Bibliographical Endnotes 168 Glossary and Names 170 Authors and Illustrator 172 Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 3 PREFACE This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Bruderhof's finding a refuge on the Paraguayan estancia of Primavera during World War II. The world is still facing war and rumor of war. Though nearly forty years have passed us by, the Wagoners' report radiates a timely hope for an answer that "takes away the occasion for war." Previously, we have been able to write only in briefest summary of the Primavera decades. This report will surely warm the hearts of all who experienced that period of our history. To those with no experience of it, we hope to give a glimpse and at least some understanding of that time. The Editors January 15, 1991 Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 4 FOREWORD This is a charming and winsome story of the six month visit of Bob and Shirley Wagoner to the three Bruderhofs in Paraguay, known collectively as Primavera ("springtime" in Spanish). The Wagoners lived in the Primavera Bruderhofs in 1953 while on leave from theological studies at Bethany Theological Seminary in Chicago. Struggling with the key question--What is the nature of the Church and how does it become fleshed out in concrete daily living?--the Wagoners decided to visit Primavera and immerse themselves in the daily life of the community. Their quest was also propelled by a sense of disenchantment with their experience in the institutional church. In their affiliation with the Church of the Brethren they were disturbed by the gap between its present-day practice and the unwavering commitment to radical discipleship by early Brethren and other Anabaptist leaders. Were the stories they had heard about the Bruderhof true? What was it really like to live in a community setting among others who willingly denied self for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ? They set out to discover the answers to these and many other questions. Their account is sometimes written in a diary-like fashion and other times organized around key themes and issues such as child rearing, work, and worship. The style is readable. The story of their visit is hard to put down. They describe all facets of their sojourn in vivid and well-crafted detail. But more importantly they clearly state their own questions and reservations and share their emotional reactions as well. This is not a heavy analytical study. Rather it gives voice to a genuine search--a personal journey with all the surprises and emotional responses. This indeed is one of the strengths of their account. It is not a cold academic study of Primavera nor is it a defense of Bruderhof life by members of the community. It is rather an open and honest account of the Wagoners' personal voyage with its joys and frustrations, anxieties and delights. In this way the Wagoners have served all of us well who stand outside the Bruderhof because they lead us inside for a candid and honest visit. Throughout the narrative the Wagoners keep the basic theological questions in focus as they partake in the nitty-gritty of community life--what is the nature of the church, what does the church look like when disciples renounce self and utterly commit themselves to the way of Jesus? Is it possible to realize the vision of the early church today in concrete human communities in the modern world? This is the genius of the Wagoner account--the profound theological questions are placed alongside the practical experience of living in a real community day after day throughout their visit. This integration of the fundamental spiritual questions with daily community life in a real setting animates the book. At first glance this appears to be a pleasant historical description of the three Primavera Bruderhofs in 1953. Such pertinent description would certainly be important in its own right for those interested in history. But it is much more. For it lays bare the fundamental issue that faces the modern world today as it prepares to greet the twenty-first century. What is the proper fit and balance between the individual and the society? Many social scientists worry that individualism has gone to seed and that, indeed, greed and self pursuit--so characteristic of the "me" generation of the 1980s--threaten to undermine the western social order. The Wagoners in this fascinating account of their pilgrimage show us how the Bruderhof has struggled with this fundamental spiritual question of the modern age. They describe how the rejection of individualism does not mean loss of individuality. Moreover, they show how the renunciation of selfish desire and the commitment to live in community provide the wellspring that feeds the deep reservoirs of human satisfaction. By addressing these issues with observations flowing from the life of Primavera, the Wagoners have spoken not as historians but Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 5 as prophets. As you will discover, Bob and Shirley Wagoner were deeply touched by their six-month visit. Join them on their trip. You will be touched and moved as well. Com. in Par. 15 Nov 90 6 1 From Campus to Canal Zone I first heard of the Bruderhof during the last few months of my senior year at Manchester, a Church of the Brethren College in Indiana. A few friends had met and talked with two traveling brothers of the Bruderhof at a conference on war and peace and returned to campus full of enthusiasm over what they had heard about the Bruderhof. My reaction to their report was my usual one, "Nonsense! A bunch of utopian crackpots!" And with that I dismissed the whole business from my mind. It turned out, however, that my friends had extended a definite invitation to the two brothers to visit Manchester in the course of their travels. Not long afterward, one of them arrived at the college in an ancient, rattling Buick. I saw the fellow going about the campus, but I was still quite uninterested. Later on that day I learned that one of my favorite professors was having him at her home for tea and had invited any interested students to come and meet with him. At this point I decided that if this fellow was worth the attention of my professor, then perhaps I ought at least to go and listen, if for no other reason than to find out what sort of foolishness it was. Full of skepticism, I went, drank tea, and listened. As I listened to the brother talk, I was impressed almost immediately by his simple, straightforward way of speaking. Something about his very evident sincerity made it plain that I had been unjust in my offhand dismissal of the Bruderhof. Still, I was far from being convinced. This sort of community experiment had started and failed--by the dozen. Historically almost no community effort had ever succeeded beyond a few struggling years. What gave this particular group the audacity to think they could succeed where all others had failed? As the evening wore on, I certainly did not feel that the brother's manner of speaking and method of presentation was very evangelistic in the common sense of the term. After giving a brief account of the Bruderhof's beginnings, he let the discussion take a more or less question- and-answer form. He answered all the questions quietly and simply, sometimes with even a little reticence. He didn't seem to be trying very hard to convince anyone. And he freely admitted that in many ways the life could be improved. Neither did he seem to be offering a blanket invitation for everyone to come and visit, although he did make it clear that any visitors would be welcome. His words had a certain force to them, partly because of their clarity and honesty, but due more, I think, to the fact that he was not just telling another idle theory or discussing some new abstract notion of social reform. He was in actual fact representing a people who really lived what they believed. My interest was finally caught when I began to get an intimation of the real, driving motive of Bruderhof life. I began to realize that there was something more than human involved here, even though the brother said little or nothing about it. I made no comment to the brother that night, but wondered idly as I walked back to the dormitory how difficult it would be to see this thing in action. Spring came and with it graduation from college. Shirley and I were married shortly afterward, and I told her of what I had heard. She was not very enthusiastic at first, but at least she was curious. The next fall during my first year at Bethany Seminary, we wrote some cautious letters to Paraguay and to the community's mailing address in Philadelphia, expressing interest and requesting more information. They responded, some traveling brothers came to visit us on several occasions, and we found ourselves thinking more and more in terms of a visit to the Paraguayan Bruderhof.