Peter Mommsen

I've lived in the Mid-Hudson Valley on and off since 1982, so the Hutterite Bruderhof has been sort of vaguely familiar for a long time. Who are these people? Then a few months ago I visited the Woodcrest community for their Harvest Festival. What a delightful group of people! Now, by reading this book, I have a much better sense of their history.

Heiner's father started this group in Germany in the 1920s. The group moved to England, then Paraguay, then to the USA. There are and have been other locations but that is the trajectory of the story told here and does seem to be the main channel of the current of the group.

I am a Buddhist so a lot of the Christian emphasis of this book doesn't make exact sense to me, but it seems very genuine and it is not so thick as to be confusing. Heiner was a devout Christian and this is his story.

This group has been through many difficulties, with both internal and external causes. It's quite amazing that they continue to thrive!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and found it very inspiring. It is really a celebration of the human spirit!… (mehr)