♪ Es sinn zwehn weg in dieser zeit ♪ ♪ Der ein ist schmall, der ander weit ♪ >> Joseph Graber: We call them the Amish. Shunning modern advancements they drive horses and buggies and live without electricity. Where do they come from? Are they a culture? A religion? What made them who they are? This film series explores the inner workings of the Amish Church as told by some of their own. who no longer wear black hats and bonnets. For three hundred years the Amish have been known as the 'silent in the land' but now a growing number of them are breaking the silence. [music] Hi, my name is Joseph Graber. I'm your host for this film series. I grew up Old Order Amish. Since my family left the Amish I've gotten lots of questions. 'What's it like growing up Amish?' >> Stacie Graber: What exactly do the Amish believe? And why do they do what they do? From the outside they all look very similar, but since marrying somebody who grew up Amish, and working on this film project, I've learned that they can be quite different from community to community. And those differences are very important to them. >> Lester Graber: There is a difference in all the Amish. They're not the same. >> Stacie Graber: There are around 300,000 Amish in America. And each of their stories are different. They have similarities like horses and buggies, but each of their stories is unique. If you're like me you have a lot of questions about the Amish. And in this episode we're going to answer some of those questions. So let me introduce you to some of the people that we met on this journey. >> Ora Eash: I'm Ora Jay Eash, and born Amish >> Irene Eash: I am Irene Eash and I was born to an Amish couple. >> Sam Burkholder: Yeah, my name is Sam Burkholder I was born at Medford Wisconsin. >> Barbara Burkholder: My name is Barbara. >> Lloyd Miller: Lloyd Miller is my name. >> Marietta Miller: I am Marietta and I grew up in Middlebury Indiana. >> Lloyd Miller: I was the third in a family of 8 plus we have two brothers in the grave. So there were 10 children my Mother had. >> Barbara Burkholder: There were 15 in my family. >> Ora Eash: I had a Mom and Dad that really cared for me. They gave us a roof and a bed. and food and transportation and really cared for us. >> Lloyd Miller: I had dozens and dozens of cousins. And grandparents always part of the family and Uncles and Aunts [farm sounds] >> Stacie Graber: You've seen them as you've driven by on the road, out there working with their animals. But are all Amish farmers? >> Lester Graber: We had about 160 acres, 40 was woods so we had 120 acres to farm. So we were constantly plowing or doing something out in the fields. Putting in long long days. >> Lloyd Miller: I plowed by the time I was 6 years old, and I was milking cows, and I was hauling manure with the horses >> Sam Burkholder: I remember starting to do field work with team horses at age 7. >> Lester Graber: And there was many a day when either I or Dad would work till dark and the other one go to the barn and milk the cows. Sometimes Mom was sick and couldn't help. There was many a night when I milked all 16 of those cows by myself. >> Joseph Graber: Not all Amish are farmers. Even historically some of them have been blacksmiths and weavers and builders. But most of the Amish have gardens and animals and so we think of them as farmers. >> Lester Graber: A rural culture brings that with it you know, but the Amish is exclusively suited for a rural culture any other culture would not work. You know, Amish would not stay Amish in a town, they just couldn't do it. Doesn't work there. It has to be rural. It almost has to be midwestern or you know northern. Um, its very hard to make it work in a state like Texas where its really hot in the summer time. Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, that area of the country is very conducive to the Amish culture as we know it. >> Stacie Graber: Since being married, I've had a chance to ride in a few Amish buggies. And they were all different. There were ones that were open, ones that were closed, different shapes. >> Lester Graber: When you see a picture of a horse and buggy you can tell almost where they're coming from because every community has its unique little things. Dozens of communities in Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. And for a large part they're kind of similar. Its What I call the midwestern Amish. But if they're from Indiana they have a unique style. Northern Indiana has a unique style to its buggies you can just tell it when you see it. Pennsylvania, Lancaster County Pennsylvania has a unique style. But there are some of these communities that would have brown buggies instead of black buggies like we were used to. Some of those had yellow buggies. You can see so much by how a buggy is shaped. You know some of those, we called them big cracker box buggies. You know just big square boxes. Our buggy that we had in the midwest just curtains on the side and on the back straight down. Indiana style has a trunk in the back where you could lift up a lid and put things in. The same thing with a woman's head covering. Every community is unique. Again, the Midwestern were kind of similar. But Indiana had a specific style, Ohio had a style, Pennsylvania had the most unique style of all. >> Joseph Graber: What are some of your favorite childhood memories What's it like growing up as a little Amish girl? The whole world thinks its the cutest thing in the world, a little Amish girl. What's it like? [laughter] >> Irene Eash: Well, I guess I didn't know I was that cute, you know? >> Ora Eash: It's the little bonnet! >> Irene Eash: We played doll a lot. We would go out to the barn and just have a little space where we would call this our house. >> Joseph Graber: So what kind of dolls did you play with? >> Irene Eash: We had some homemade rag dolls, but also did have some with real faces. But of course, our parents kind of discouraged, to have some, that had hair. And we made the clothes for them. Amish clothes of course. And we just had a lot of fun with that. >> Ora Eash: So why didn't they have hair? >> Irene Eash: Well, because... probably because we couldn't braid them like the Amish. It wouldn't have the Amish look, if it had hair. >> Ora Eash: My mom, I remember her saying to my sisters, that doesn't even look Amish. The hair were too short, or they were curled, or they were dyed. And they would talk about the dyed hair. >> Barbara Burkholder: Enjoyed gardening. Playing. Playing out in the woods sometimes Sundays. >> Rebecca Graber: Rainy days were some of my most favorite times. Because growing up on a farm when it rained it brought everybody together. My brothers and my Dad would bring harnesses and stuff they were working on into the living room in the house. Nobody complained about it. Everybody was together, everybody was doing something. And then singing. Singing is something we all loved, my Dad loved to sing. He would copy out songs and put em behind the kitchen sink. And he would say, 'Girls, I want to hear you singing.' And you know what? As long as we were singing we weren't fussing and I think he knew that! So that's one reason he wanted us to sing. >> Lloyd Miller: Riding in a buggy with my parents and they always sang together in harmony all the way to where we were going and all the way home till we came back. >> Stacie Graber: The Amish, to the outsider, appear very similar in the way they dress. But to them those details on their clothing are very important. So why do they wear the plain clothes? >> Joseph Graber: Because Jacob Amman was a tailor clothing became a huge emphasis for the Amish. Today, it's just part of their identity. So, do I miss wearing the Amish clothing? Not really. But the transition was sometimes hard. Check out this story. Growing up Amish, my Mom had always made all my clothes for me. My shirts my pants. Everything. I remember after we left the Amish, one of the first times I went into a thrift store. I was looking for pants. I stood there and I looked down those long rows of pants, and I was tryng to figure out what size I might be. And then I looked up and saw that some of the pants said, 'men' and some of them said 'woman' It had never occured to me that girls could wear pants too. And I had no idea how to tell the difference between girl pants and boy pants. I was so shaken that I just left and got out of the store. I really didn't want to accidentally buy some girl pants and show up somewhere wearing girl pants. [laughter] >> Lester Graber: When you leave the house you will be wearing a hat. You would wear your hat until you walked inside the house then you would take it off. But if you got up to go leave or whatever, go outside, even if its just step outside for a minute, you'd go get your hat. You know, you'd find your had in that big pile of black hats over there. To step outside you know. You weren't seen without it. >> Stacie Graber: Those Amish men have big long beards but why do they shave their mustaches? >> Joseph Graber: Its for the same reasons why many Amish communities don't allow Amish men to wear buttons on their coats. Centuries ago, when the Amish were first putting together their ordinance letters there was a lot of military action going on and the Amish didn't want to have any part of it In France, the military men often wore mustaches and had buttons on their coats. Later when the Amish came to America, the military here was the same. In an effort to show that they would not take any part in the military the Amish chose not to wear mustaches, or buttons on their coats. Today, it's tradition. "Miah din vass miah din, because sel iss do weg es da Dody's geduah hat." We do what we do because that is the way Grandpa did it. >> Stacie Graber: What language do the Amish speak? >> Joseph Graber: For the first 7 years of my life I spoke Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of German the Amish use. And then, the summer I was 7 I began learning English in preparation for school. Then in 3rd grade, my Mother began teaching me high German. So that I would be able to read the songs and Scriptures at church. Had my family stayed Amish this is a conversation I might have had with myself. Many Amish people have found themselves asking similar questions and getting those kinds of answers. Much of what the Amish practice has been handed down from generation to generation until many of the Amish don't even know why they do the things they do. What are some things you see about the Amish lifestyle and culture that are positive when you see them? >> Irene Eash: They trust their children. They get to have responsibilities and little chores around the house, even when they're very small. >> Sam Burkholder: Parents normally teach their children work ethics. Accountability, responsibility, at a young age >> Ora Eash: They trust their children. Its like in their culture to let them go out and play with their cousins and not be looking over their shoulders all the time. 'Where is he? Where is he? What, what, what??' Once and a while a Mom would come out and check up on us, but we were by ourself playing for the most part. >> Irene Eash: Not, but not hardly at all. >> Sam Burkholder: Sharing. A lot of families are larger so you share. >> Ora Eash: And we always cherished getting together. And that's a practice that the Amish do a lot. If you want to go visit someone, which is the thing you do because there's no TV there's no, you don't want to go to a ballgame, you don't go to the fair. If you're gonna go someplace you're going to visit somebody. And so we would go to our cousins. And man, the word from Mom and Dad saying, 'We're going to go to our cousins is like Whoopee! You know? And we were just all ears all excited, everybody was doing what they could to make this happen. We don't even know if they are going to be home. But we're going to chance it. And it takes 45 minutes to get there. They're only 5 miles away. As you get closer you say, 'Are they home? Are they home?' And sure enough, they're home! And the excitement just rolls. But if they're not, you start saying 'aw where else can we go now?' Because you're not just going to turn around and go back 45 minutes. >> Marietta Miller: We had a misfortune in our family, our barn burned down from a lightning strike. How the community just came right away and helped us. Helped us build a new barn and brought in meals and food the women of the community, they cut out and sewed new dresses for me during that time. >> Lloyd Miller: Just the way the Amish have a heart to help and a heart to be there in catastrophe or in times of need. And that's what the Amish have taught us. And I really, really honor them for that. Always will. >> Stacie Graber: Are the Amish involved in politics at all and do they vote? >> Joseph Graber: It seems that every election cycle some candidate is going after the Amish vote. And while some Amish in some communities do vote, where I was growing up it was considered worldly and undue involvement with the civil government. Although, I do remember finding out that one of my friends' Dad was actually voting secretly. It was somewhat scandalous. >> Stacie Graber: The Amish have their own one room schoolhouses but is it true that the only go to the 8th grade? >> Joseph Graber: An 8th grade education is deemed sufficient for Amish children to be prepared for the Amish lifestyle. However, when my Mom was a little girl they were still sometimes attending the public schools but in the 1960's my Great-Grandfather and some other Amish men took on the government and went to court in order to gain freedom for the Amish to educate their own children in their own one room schoolhouses and to only go to the 8th grade. >> Stacie Graber: It's well known in America that the Amish do not use electricity. Why not? >> Lester Graber: We didn't have a electricity. I heard a lot of things over the years, I don't know which one is true. But we didn't have have electricity because it was worldly. Well, some people said the electricity itself isn't worldly but having wires attached that come from the outside, that's a connection with the world we don't want. >> Stacie Graber: One of the fun things about visiting Joseph's family is getting to eat some of their traditional Amish meals. But do the Amish eat more healthy than the rest of America? >> Joseph Graber: Amish have rules about everything, except food. Food is the one area they can freely indulge. Sure, they grow a lot of things in their gardens, but most Amish aren't opposed to chemical fertilizers. And Amish people buy many things at the same grocery stores other people do. The biggest shock for many people, is how much food the Amish eat. And how many sugars, and carbs, and fats are in those foods. We have an Amish recipe for an apple dessert. If you put in a third of the sugar that it calls for, it is still quite sweet. Now, of course, eating habits vary from family to family and even if their diet is excessive, their active lifestyles seems to allow them to do this. >> Stacie Graber: The Amish are known for home remedies, so do they use normal doctors? >> Lester Graber: When I was 6 years old my family moved from Middlebury, Indiana to Clark, Missouri. Three years after we got there my Mother died from cancer. She tried all kinds of things. She went to the University of Missouri at Columbia and had radiation treatments. She had surgury. And another interesting thing, there was an old Indian doctor used to come out and he would bring some bitter black medicine. And she took that, but it, you know, it obviously didn't help either. >> Joseph Graber: Both of my grandmothers died when my parents were around 10 years old. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, these are all common among the Amish. As a child I was taken to chiropractors, dentists, and even doctors. And while my family didn't vaccinate some Amish families do. And I did get the Whooping Cough and Chicken Pox. As well as the occasionaly flu and cold. >> Lester Graber: Another thing that had really started to bother me, was the transportation issue. >> Irene Eash: You had to go get a taxi driver if you wanted to go somewhere. Yeah, that was any distance that was too far for your horse. >> Lester Graber: We would have to hire a driver. You now, we'd pay a taxi. And sometimes it was really hard to get one. You couldn't always when you wanted, but you'd have to hire this, you know. I can't take my wife to the doctor, but I can let my neighbor- let him, let him take my wife to the doctor because he drives a car and I can't. I just started feeling so frustrated that my family needs things and I can't do it. You know, I can't meet the need. I could just as well be providing this for my family, but I can't because we believe in a religious belief that says we can't do it this way but we have to let some other person, you know >> Irene Eash: I just remember how much we appreciated when we got our own vehicle. How we could just go whenever we wanted to. And, we could go together as a family. That was so nice. >> Stacie Graber: I thought Amish people weren't supposed to have phones so how would they call a driver to come pick them up? >> Joseph Graber: Most Amish communities do not allow them to have phones in their homes. Some of them allow them in their shops or businesses. and a few have even started allowing cell phones under certain circumstances. But a common sight in many Amish communities is still the Amish phone booth conveniently located within walking distance. Access to simple things that aid in cleanliness, like showers and running water are not available and often not allowed in many Old Order Amish homes. Most of my childhood years we lived in communities that used outhouses and we took a bath once a week. Running water and bathtubs are much more common now. But daily baths still seem excessive for most of the Old Order Amish. >> Stacie Graber: I had heard that as a young Amish person grows up they're allowed to go out into the world to try driving cars and experiencing the world. Just to see if they really want to come back and join the Amish. And that this is called Rumspringa. But do the Amish really embrace this? And what is it? >> Joseph Graber: Rumspringa literally means running around. And yes, many Amish people do sow their wild oats. However, the media has often wrongly claimed that Amish young people on purpose are sent out into the world to sin, before deciding whether or not they want to be Amish. >> Ora Eash: I was wild. I had a tape player in my buggy. I had rings on my horses. I had a flashy buggy. I built my own. And I was dating Irene She knew the thought of having a car was kinda there in my mind. Hey this would be fun to experience at least. But then I found out through her, she didn't directly tell me this, but it's like, if you get a car, you're going to have to choose between me and the car. Because my Dad will never let me go out with a car, with a guy with a car. >> Joseph Graber: Where I grew up, if any of the boys got cars they were considered the naughty boys. And far from being alright with it and saying, 'Ah its just rumspringa', their parents would weep for their children. Because according to Church teaching, if a child rebelled against the rules of the Church and went into the rumspringa time, they were in danger of hell fire. >> Stacie Graber: Some people see the Amish as very devoted Christians. But how much do the Amish read the Bible? >> Lester Graber: To an Amish person, the Bible is in German. There is no other Bible. >> Joseph Graber: By the time I was 10 years old I was learning 3 languages. I was doing alright with the first two, but the third one, High German, was a real struggle to me, because it wasn't a spoken language we just read it in church. But still I was fortunate, because both of my parents could read and understand German. Many Amish parents do not know German well enough to teach their children at all. >> Sam Burkholder: Being Amish your Bibles had to be German. Not knowing the grammer makes a world of difference. >> Lloyd Miller: The only time that you were free to talk about God was on a Sunday morning church service. When it was okay to open the Bible and to preach. And to talk about God or to give testimony. As soon as the service was over it went back to its default setting and you never really were able to talk about it. It became uncomfortable to talk Scripture and to just openly talk about Jesus. >> Lester Graber: But when you went to church on Sunday morning, you never carried a Bible to church that would have been so wrong. Even if you were a preacher you did not carry a Bible to church. There was a Bible provided at the church, that was the church's Bible that you would use to read the Scripture. >> Joseph Graber: It is sometimes the case that when an Amish person starts reading the Bible a lot they are warned to be careful, because reading the Bible often causes Amish to leave the Church. If you find that shocking here is another little known fact about the Amish. Some of them are involved in a form of witchcraft. >> Rebecca Graber: When I was 5 or 6 years old, I remember being outside of Grandpa's house and they were working in the garden. And all at once they were all excited talking about something. They had this mole, they had found one alive while working in the garden. And they were all excited 'Oh, we have to find someone to hold this mole until it dies. They were saying, 'who is the oldest one here that isn't 7 years old yet?' And so they decided that I was the lucky one. And they came over there and they explained to me and said, 'If you hold this mole until it dies, then you will be able to to put your hands on people and you can heal people. You can Brauch. >> Joseph Graber: Among the Amish there are Brauch Dokter. People who try to bring healing by using spells and word formulas and mystical actions As a boy I remember my Grandmother using this as as an alternative to prayer. >> Rebecca Graber: I said I do not want to touch that dirty thing! But they said Yes, yes, this is really special. One of them said 'I will sit right beside you and I'll I'll hold your hand while you hold it. And you just hold it, and it will be so special. Because you probably won't get another chance because you'll soon be 7 and then you'll be too old and it won't work. So I said, okay. So I sat there and held that thing till it finally died. And so they were telling everybody that if any of the babies has a a tummy ache, I should just hold it. And seriously, the babies quieted down. I held them. I got a tummy ache and the baby slept. But then I started getting these horrible nightmares. I mean things that now they make horror movies of them. Back then I didn't know where in the world these thoughts came from. I would just wake up in a cold sweat and just be shaking. And, I would try to tell my Mom. I remember especially one morning. I had had a horrible dream again. And I was just so sick of it. And I was buttoning up my dress and my Mom was standing at the stove making breakfast I just wanted to tell her so she could assure me that that's just a dream, it couldn't ever happen. But she, I just remember, she must have had a dozen things to do because, and she just said, 'Oh Becky, just go play. Don't think thoughts like that.' 'Just go play'. I said, okay. So I went. And I never could tell anybody what I was dreaming. >> Joseph Graber: From the outside she looked like a normal cute little Amish girl. Her otherwise happy childhood was being marred by these horrible nightmares. As she grew older, her father unaware of what was happening to his daughter Becky inadvertently helped her when he taught her how to read German. >> Rebecca Graber: He got this little green book with some prayers in the back. He said, 'Here are some nice little prayers that you can memorize then you can just say them whenever you need to say a prayer So I thought, this is good. And one of them was about asking the angels to stand beside my bed while I slept. I memorized 3 of those little prayers, and he had also gotten us to memorize the Lord's Prayer So every night, before I went to sleep, I would say the Lord's Prayer, and then I would say these other prayers, especially the one prayer that said 'little angel come and stand by my bed and watch me while I sleep so nothing bad can happen. And I did not have the nightmares! I was so happy! And I knew prayer worked. Now I had something to fight back. The last time I actually saw my Mother alive, although she wasn't really conscious that she knew we were there was, they took us to the hospital and my Dad told us, 3 of us girls went on one side of the bed, and 3 on the other side and he told us to hold her hand there, because she kept rolling her head back and forth and saying 'Girls? Where are my girls?" She would say, "Mad, wo sin die mad?" You know, where are the girls? And my Dad would say, 'They're right here, they're here with you.' And she would just keep mumbling and going on and she was delirious, she didn't realize we were even there. I had read enough of the Bible that I knew He healed people in the Bible and I thought surely He would hear my prayers and heal my Mother. I prayed, every day, all day long. 'Lord, heal my Mother! Make her be all well.' 'Make it be okay'. I would just plead and pray and pray and pray. And, 9 days later she was dead. 'I'm not even going to pray anymore' God doesn't even here my prayers. So I quit. And the nightmares came back. I started having nightmares. So I said, okay, I guess they're good for one thing. >> Joseph Graber: Trapped by grief on one side and nightmares on the other, she kept praying and looking for answers. >> Rebecca Graber: I read this book called 'The Prince of the House of David' a novel about a young girl in the time of Jesus. And the crucifixion in Jerusalem. And it just made it so real that I saw what Jesus actually did for us! And I became very convicted of my sin and I repented and I made recompences for everything I could. It was for real. I could see that this Jesus really died for me. Then I read my Bible, and it said that if you believe and are baptized and the way the Amish preachers always preached it, they said if you're old enough to know that you should be baptized and you don't get baptized if you die before then, you will go to hell. So I asked my Dad if I could go get baptized and he said, 'no they don't baptize 15 year olds. And I said what am I gonna do? And he said you just have to wait until your old enough. So I lived in terror for a couple years. I was afraid I would die and I would have to go to hell because they wouldn't baptize me. But I survived until I was 17 that summer. And when I got baptized I thought now I am baptized, I know I can go to heaven! But then the devil came at me with thoughts like Okay, now you are a baptized Believer, now if persecution comes to the country, when the Communists come over here and take over the country you're going to suffer for your faith. They'll probably chop your head off or something! You're going to be tortured! They'll torture you because you are a baptized Believer. As long as I was with other people I could handle my fear But when I got married and Lester would leave I had to keep really busy working or reading or it would just get the best of me. And for awhile there, Lester had a job where a guy would come pick him up and go make wood or hay or whatever and as soon as he drove out the lane I hit the bed and the covers were over my head and I was in the bed all day until I heard him drive home at night and then I would jump out and go out in the kitchen and start pretending as if nothing happened. And then just get as much done in the evenings until he left again. And it was crazy. But I was so scared. But then when we lived there, after Ruth was born we started going to the Library and getting books to read. And then we also would always if there were yard sales or second hand book stores we always checked them out. And I got a hold of some of Catherine Marshall's books. And I started reading them. And she came through a lot of struggles herself. And, I just really loved them and they started helping me. And I started doing what she said. And one thing I remember especially that was probably the most liberating of all that I ever did, was she wrote how she made a list of everybody that ever hurt her that she had to forgive and so I wrote down, I went way back, anything I could ever remember that she said, you know if you think of the person and you think, eww, then there is something there and you figure out what it is and you write it down. And then you pray about it and you say out loud that you forgive that person. And you ask God to bless them. And then you throw that list away. And that did such thing to me. It was so relieving it helped me so much. >> Joseph Graber: Forgiveness brought a lot of freedom to my Mother, but there were still areas where doubt and fear could hide. Years later as we were leaving the Amish we learned about spiritual warfare. >> Rebecca Graber: I knew that I had to get this thing out of me that was put in there when I held that mole 'til it died. >> Joseph Graber: Once and for all, Mom was able to pray and renounce the dark powers and find a complete victory. >> Rebecca Graber: And I was so free! And so happy! >> Stacie Graber: If it's dangerous for an Amish person to read the Bible then what happens if they read it? >> Joseph Graber: We left Denver Sunday afternoon or evening so we got here in Trego Montana around 1:00 or 2:00pm on Tuesday. We went to Ora Jay's house, Cripple Creek Ranch So you're saying, even tho' there wasn't an Amish Minister here you were still having church, still having the Bible readings and? >> Ora Eash: Yeah, so we put our brains together and said okay so how are we going to do this now? Well you're coming to my house, and next time, two weeks from now is your turn. And the guy that's turn it was to have the house was to read the Scripture that was set forth for that period. >> Joseph Graber: Okay. >> Ora Eash: So that was the first time for me to get up in front of people and actually read the Bible in German. Of course I practiced like crazy to make this so I could actually read it. >> Joseph Graber: How did that impact you then with the...? >> Ora Eash: Well, then the huge impact was that, well okay, I couldn't understand what I was reading in German. I could kind of read German but I knew half the meaning of the words. And so we got this German English Bible side-by-side. That we would still be obedient to reading the German but we had the English to compare it with. Okay? >> Joseph Graber: Yes, yes. >> Ora Eash: So that just opened the meaning of the Word. >> Lester Graber: Dad had an English Bible that I now have in my possession. But, uh, we didn't read it you know? It was English. And English was worldly. In church we spoke Pennsylvania Dutch We preached Pennsylvania Dutch In fact we got chided sometimes for using too many English words in our sermons. And we prided ourselves in trying to get all the words right. [German preaching] >> Lloyd Miller: The only mindset that we had when we grew up and most Amish have, you either stay exactly who you are, or you become completely something else. You leave and discard and reject everything And I didn't want to reject everything. And yet the time came that I realized that we're going to need to do something other than what we're doing. Because I wanted to know this God that saved me in a new way And I wanted to know how to pray. >> Marietta Miller: As I began studying the Word of God for myself I soon found out that they're not being, the leaders are not being as open as I thought. As far as really living out what the Bible teaches. >> Ora Eash: There would be German words we'd say I think this is what this means according to what the preachers always said. >> Joseph Graber: yeah, >> Ora Eash: And then we'd read it English and oh, it don't really mean that anymore. >> Joseph Graber: Oh, wow. okay. >> Lester Graber: You couldn't read from the Bible, you preached from total memory and a lot of what we preached turned out to be something that we heard others say. We'd quote others and we thought it was the Bible and we found out later that a lot of the things we thought were Bible really weren't they were just things that we would all quoted each other over years and years and years. >> Ora Eash: Just being a part of the church had a huge impact I believe in our spirit. More than just dressing yourself right and coming and sitting and showing yourself. You were expected to be part of it. >> Joseph Graber: And actually reading it, understanding it, saying something, bearing witness. >> Ora Eash: Yeah, It's like if you know something and you say it it just fills you more, I mean it gives you a deeper insight. >> Sam Burkholder: One Amish preacher gave me an English translation one of the newer ones that were easy to understand. And he said, if you read this you will understand things you never new existed, in the Bible. So I got to reading more in the Bible, and I got to do research on the Amish history, how that got started and I was amazed at some of the findings I realized hey, this is on shaky ground a lot of the things we were taught are not Scriptural >> >> Stacie Graber: Even though the Amish religiously pray with their own families out of little prayer books, they are discouraged from meeting with other Amish families for prayer meetings. Why is this? >> Ora Eash: We were introduced to prayer meetings. On how to pray, and verbally pray, which we weren't used to that at all. And that became part of our life, it was like, man this is life! This is what we need, and we so enjoyed being around people that did that. And so we started doing that. And then of course the opposite side came and said, no, no, no, no, you can't do that with those people. In fact you shouldn't even be praying verbally because that is proud. >> Lester Graber: When we prayed in an official capacity we would use the little Amish prayer book. You know even if you prayed at home with your family you wouldn't just pray from your heart. You would open the little prayer book and you would read the prayer. >> Irene Eash: We started reading the Bible more and just seeing some things that didn't seem to quite make sense, uh, living in the Amish lifestyle so we read more, and eventually they excommunicated us, and then we started going to a nondenominational church in Eureka >> Stacie Graber: So if you have Amish neighbors, is it okay to talk to them about the Bible? I mean how should you interact with them? And if you find out that one of them is leaving the Amish Church, is it okay to help them? Should we help them? >> Joe Keim: If you are a non-Amish family and someone comes to you and wants help, because they've just left the Amish. Be careful that you don't start to tell them what to do, because they've just come out of that controlled atmosphere. And the best thing to do is to step back and let them find their own way. If they are born again and a child of God, we have to let the Holy Spirit guide them in all truth, and be there for them when they need us and stay out of their way when they don't need us. What I see in many of the Amish that are leaving, they come out, and all of a sudden a world opens up. We have so many choices. Church denominations, which one is right? A lot of them become very judgemental of everybody else, to them it's black and white, If you don't see it the way I do it that means that you and I can't fellowship. >> Lloyd Miller: And at that time I didn't have enough revelation to know that that was possible for God to do different things in different people. And everybody still had to do what I did you know? >> Joe Keim: They don't fully understand the grace of God, they don't fully understand the variety of types of Christians. Born again Christians, we're allowed to have freedom and liberty its no longer a black and white world. It's no longer follow the guidelines, everybody looks identical. >> Lloyd Miller: God has room for everybody, to be, and to grow, and to become a child of God. >> Joe Keim: We are all on different levels. The more I understood that the more I relaxed the more I was acceptable of somebody that wasn't maybe exactly on the level or where I was at in life. That's a difficult milestone for many of the former Amish. >> Joseph Graber: Yeah, to not have someone telling them how to live, or them telling someone else how to live. >> Joe Keim: Yeah, um,huh. >> Joseph Graber: Sometimes people ask me if I still consider myself Amish. Technically I am not a baptized member of the Amish church. And so on that level I say no, I am not Amish. But on another level my family has been Amish for over 300 years and so in a very real sense I have an Amish heritage. But what exactly is it, and what am I going to pass on to my sons? Join me next time in the final episode as I explore my Amish heritage and exactly what it is that I will be passing on to my sons. [music]
