Mennonites in Peru belong to two quite different groups: converts to theMennonite faith from different groups of thePeruvian population and very conservativePlautdietsch-speakingethnic MennoniteOld Colony Mennonites of the so-calledRussian Mennonites. Converts to theMennonite faith are both people who speak Spanish and groups with an indigenousAmerindian background, notablyAsháninka. These converts do not differ much from otherProtestants inPeru.

Russian Mennonites started to settle inPeru in 2015, with two colonies coming fromBolivia and one colony coming fromBelize. These Russian Mennonites have their own customs and language (Plautdietsch) and live in colonies. Very Conservative ethnic Mennonites normally do not engage inmissionary activities but look for a quiet and remote place where they can live according to their tradition.

Mennonites as a religious group can trace back their roots to the time of theProtestant Reformation. They belonged to theradical wing of the Reformation who tried to base its faith only on theBible asGod's word and live according to it.

Starting in 1683 (Germantown, Pennsylvania), Mennonites from Europe migrated to North America but most came in the 18th and 19th centuries. Mainly since the second half of the 19th century they split into different groups ranging from extremely conservative to very liberal.

Liberal and conservative Mennonites engaged in worldwide missionary work like other North American Protestant denominations. Around the year 1950 theKrimmer Mennonite Brethren started missionary work in the eastern part of Peru in theAmazon rainforest. When the Krimmer Mennonite Brethren merged with theMennonite Brethren in 1960, the Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services (BOMAS) assumed responsibility for this work. In 1987 the work was continued in association with the Wycliffe Bible Translators, the Swiss Indian Mission, and the South America Mission.^[2]

The Mennonite Brethren Church of Peru, SpanishIglesia Evangélica de los Hermanos Menonitas del Perú, was officially recognized in 1986 by the government of Peru.^[3]

In 2015 two Mennonite colonies calledWanderland (Vanderland) inUcayali Province andÖsterreich (Usterreich) inHuánuco Region were founded by Ethnic GermanMennonites from Bolivia. InÖsterreich colony there are about 25 families which means roughly 150 to 200 people.^[4]Wanderland is located nearPucallpa, Ucayali Province.^[5][6]

In 2017/18 another group of very conservative Plautdietsch speakingMennonites from Belize with 45 families, all together about 300 people, started a new colony nearTierra Blanca,Sarayacu District, Ucayali Province,Loreto Region.^[7] A 2020 survey found that there are more than 200 Mennonite colonies in nine Latin American countries, with 4 in Peru.^[8]

There are 6 colonies of ethnic mennonites in Peru. Wanderland, Österreich and Providencia in Tierra Blanca, Loreto, Chipiar between Ucayali and Loreto and Masisea in Ucayali. As of 2024 there is also a new colony under construction called Salamanca.^[9]

In 2012 theConferencia Peruana Hermanos Menonitas had 441 members in 9 congregations, theNationwide Fellowship Churches 10 members in 1 congregation and theIglesia Evangélica Menonita del Perú 456 members in 20 congregations.^[11] In 2018 there were 3 colonies of Old Colony Mennonites with a total population of several hundred people.

• Ethnic groups in Peru
• European diaspora in Peru
• German diaspora in South America
• Mennonitism by country
• Mennonitism in South America