 |
| Some friends from Mountain Lake, celebrating a birthday |
From August of 2000 to June of 2003 I had the
pleasure of living in the small town (population around 2,000) of Mountain
Lake, Minnesota. During those three years I discovered this southern
Minnesota town had a plethora of different cultures jam-packed into it's 1.55
square miles. This town has no stoplight, but two schools (public and
Christian). Walking down residential streets, one can smell Laotian
spring rolls wafting from one home and pungent Borscht soup floating from the
next. One can visit a Mennonite church one Sunday morning and later that
afternoon witness a Laotian monk clad in bright orange robes sitting on his
step waiting for his evening meal to be brought to him! One can hear
traditional organ music at one church and then cross the street to hear
mandolins and harmonicas playing Bluegrass gospel tunes in another. Walking through
the local cemetery beside the infamous lake, you can see familiar names like
Yoder, Fast, Harder, Adrian, Klassen, Stoesz, Dick, and Bargen. These are
the resting places of many of the relatives of my former students. But,
walking past the bright pink, purple, and blue houses, you'd know that
Hispanics, Hmong, and Laotian people also abound.
 |
| Everyone gathering around me for prayer after my baptism |
My three year experience in Mountain Lake made me
appreciate "culture" in a new way. I grew up in Alexandria,
Minnesota (population about 11,000). We were mostly Norwegians and
Germans who talked about lefse, lakes, and Lutheran churches! I LOVED
growing up in Alexandria. And, I like living in Becker now too.
But, Mountain Lake had so many different cultures for such a small place.
The "small-towness" of it intrigued me. At times I wanted to burst into the Cheers
themesong.....”Where everybody knows your name.....”
The Norwegians have lefse (yum)
and lutefisk (yuck!). The Russian Mennonites have Zwiebeck, Peppernuts,
Vereniki, and Borscht! I had all those things..... more than once!
The Christian school has a huge Borscht supper fundraiser every year. The
whole building smells of cabbage and beets for days! If you come early to
the bake sale, you have your pick of freshly made Zwiebeck (rolls shaped like a
snowman with no head), and Peppernuts (also known as Pfeffernusse, which are
delicious, soft Christmas cookies the size of a dime). To have Vereniki,
I had to go to a restaurant that was having a special Vereniki dinner, but I
know people who make it in their own homes, too. Basically, Vereniki is
like breaded chicken patties, with cottage cheese inside instead of
chicken. And, they have a rich, creamy sauce you put on top. They
are quite tasty!
The Mennonites I knew were just
like all other Protestants I knew. The ladies didn't wear head coverings
or long skirts. The men didn't grow long beards or farm with oxen.
They drove cars and used electricity!
They sang praise songs just like my Baptist church does in Becker.
They had Vacation Bible School and youth group and Sunday School just like the
Alliance Church nearby. They were farmers and teachers and business owners.
They baptized believers, (but did it by sprinkling instead of immersion).
The only big difference I noticed between the Mennonites and any other
Protestant church was their strong belief in Pacifism. Even after 911 in
2001, I didn't know ANYONE who thought we should go to war. I knew people
who had been conscientious objectors to military service in Vietnam. I
also knew people who didn't want our students singing patriotic songs at
school. Coming from my experience of annual trips to the patriotic town
of Medora, North Dakota each summer (where we sang God Bless America at
the top of our lungs at the evening musical), this was quite a change for me.
 |
| One of the best classes I've ever had! What great kids! |
I taught 2nd grade at Mountain
Lake Christian School. I had 10, 11, and 12 students during my three
years there. I absolutely LOVED teaching in a Christian
environment. I adored "my kids" and felt like I was truly in a
partnership with their parents to educate them. Daily prayers, praise songs
to our God, discussions about Bible stories, and memorizing scripture together
were just a few of the highlights I enjoyed regularly. My students had
such knowledge of the Bible and such faith in our Great Big God! I felt
so close to the Lord. Bible verses ran through my head all the time.
I had friends to pray with right next door. It was a wonderful time in my
life. I didn’t belong to a
specific church, so the school family became my church. I was baptized in May of 2003 in
Mountain Lake. The Christian school had a refreshing culture - one of infusing
God into every area of our lives and teaching.
As mentioned above, I lived in
three different houses while in Mountain Lake. The first one was a tiny
Mennonite house that belonged to one of the first settlers to the area.
Man, was it tiny! The second was in the basement of a home of a kind old
lady who needed someone to rent from her and "keep an eye on
her." The third was a medium-sized house one block from
school. Across the street from that house there lived a Laotian Buddhist
Monk. He had a bald head and bright orange robes. The people of his
church brought him meals on a regular basis. He smoked a pipe. He
mostly stayed in his house, but sometimes he came out and sat on his
steps. I was afraid of him because I felt I couldn’t trust him. I
wasn't afraid of the Laotian children I saw around town, but I was afraid of
him. I prayed that God would protect me from the spiritual warfare that I
knew was surrounding our neighborhood.
 |
| The third house I lived in |
I had very little contact with the
Laotians, or Hispanics, or Hmong.
But, my friend Rachel gave English lessons to one Laotian woman in the
woman’s home. And, my friend
Miranda brought Laotian children to Sunday School on a regular basis. No Laotian, or Hispanic, or Hmong child
attended the Christian school while I was there. I wish I had gotten to know some of them. I missed an opportunity.
Another opportunity I wish I would have
pursued is getting to know some of the Hutterite people in the area. Hutterites are very similar to Amish. They speak German as their first
language and dress in traditional attire.
They have their own schools and their own colonies. The Mountain Lake Gospel Singers
performed for a group of Hutterites one Christmas and found out the hard way
that Hutterites do not “do” Christmas trees. As the singers sang out lustily, “Come On Ring Those Bells,
Light The Christmas Tree.....” offended Hutterite men stood up and stomped out
of the room coughing with annoyance.
Oops! Another culture. Only a few short miles from Mountain
Lake.
Then there is the culture of farming. Almost everyone I knew was involved in farming in some
way. My students (particularly the boys) would “play” at
farming when they had free time.
They’d use paper to make corn fields and hay fields and then drive their
little tractors around. When
discussing the golden calf from the Old Testament stories, my students had
plenty to tell me about the shots and testing that calves must endure when they
enter this world! It seemed that
every student I ever had was an experienced rock picker! Dads were up late combining. Moms decorated with cow spot patterns
and bright red roosters. Sermon
illustrations were about seed falling on the “good soil” and all heads would
nod. I visited a students' smelly
pig farm and helped another student rescue baby turkeys when they tipped over
at her family’s turkey farm. I
brushed horses and even sat on a hay bale! It was definitely a culture of farming. It was wholesome.
I began playing
violin the summer after fourth grade.
Most of what I played was classical pieces, orchestra music, and church
hymns. So, when I joined TWO
Bluegrass gospel groups in Mountain Lake, I was in for a cultural experience
again. The first group was called
Joy Strings and it consisted of guitar, autoharp, hammered dulcimer, and
fiddle. Usually the guitarist sang
and sometimes the rest of us joined him. The
songs were almost all about Heaven.
Most were happy. The music
was fun. The second group was
called The Mountain Lake Gospel Singers.
It consisted of two guitars, two harmonicas, an autoharp, a mandolin, a
bass, a fiddle, and singers. That
group mostly sang songs like what you’d hear at a Gaither Homecoming Show. The songs were fun and energetic
too. My favorite part about being
in both groups was watching the way all the members seemed to love making music
together. We were having a good
time. Also, I enjoyed reaching the point where I could play along to the songs "by ear" since no music was written out for me. I knew what chords were being played, but it was up to me to create fiddle parts. It was a thrilling feeling to be able to play along and feel like I was adding to the two groups.
So, as I close this blog, I challenge you to look around you and appreciate the variety of cultures you discover. Todd is from a small town near Wadena. I have enjoyed getting to know the area (Staples, Bertha, and Browerville) and scoping out the different cultures there. Maybe someday I'll write a blog about Todd's old stomping grounds. We'll see!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
