GRETNA, MB
A local real estate attorney, who just turned 40 this week, is still called “junge” by all the elderly Mennonites at his church, likely due to the fact he’s unmarried and keeps his beard trimmed short.
“It’s been like this my whole life,” said Tim Hamm. “Mrs. Thiessen will approach me in the lobby, pinch my cheeks and say, ‘Na, jung, so when are you going to get married once?”
Quite often, the middle-aged man is asked which Sunday school class he’s in and is frequently required to keep quiet while the adults are talking.
“At my church, you aren’t an adult until you’ve got a head full of grey hairs and rheumatism,” said Hamm. “It’s not all bad, though. I get offered a lot of candy in the lobby.”
Hamm says the only reason he sticks around at this church is because he’s hoping to find a nice Christian mejal in her late thirties.
“But right now the only suitable young mejal is Mr. Penner’s daughter,” says Hamm, “She available and lives with her mom…but she’s 68.”