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"The story of God's work in Africa did not begin with the arrival of the missionaries, but rather-from the African perspective-their arrival continued, reinterpreted, and reshaped an ancient story," begins this honest collection. Themes of the churches claiming their particular expressions of faith, of achieving self-reliance, of coping with difficult governments, of discovering their gifts despite their material poverty, thread through the book.

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Frequent wars during the past 480 years strained these Mennonite churches immeasurable, especially when their governments battled each other. This volume recounts those tortuous and formative experiences.

Seldom have the distinguishing features of the Dutch, French, the German, the Swiss, the Russian-and more recently, the UK and the Spanish-Mennonite churches been examined. These churches' cultural and historical differences are significantly unique, and they are a key part of the history told in these chapters by European Mennonite historians and church leaders. The Umsiedler, with their sheer numbers and religious vigor, are a current force included in this ongoing story.

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From the Introduction to the volume: "The story of the coming of Anabaptist-descended churches to Latin America begins no in the spanish colonial period, but in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in the period following Latin American political independence from Spain and Portugal.

The first Mennonite church to take root in latin American soil gathered for worship in 1919, in the town of Pehuajo, Argentina. It was the result of North American mission efforts and represents one major impulse for the planting of Mennonite churches in Latin America.

The second major impulse came with the settling of Mennonite colonists in Mexico, Paraguay, and Brazil, in the 1920's and 30's. The Mennonite colonists did not come to Latin America as missionaries, but rather to settle as ethnic and religious communities, seeking new life and a future.

Given the variety of Mennonites who live in Latin America, the questions, 'Who or what is a Latin American Mennonite Christian?' is a recurring theme that runs throughout our story, including the present day."

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