In My People, the Amish, Joe Keim paints a detailed picture of life behind the bonnets and buggies. More than a biography, this is an honest look at the heart-warming traditions that mingle with the deep-rooted legalism of the Amish community in Ashland, Ohio. Born, raised, and baptized in an Old Order Amish church, from childhood Joe Keim was taught that if he didn’t follow the twenty-two-page ordinance letter that governed his community, there was no way he could get to heaven. What started as a path of rebellion led Joe and his wife Esther to a caring group of Englisher Christians who would love them like family and show them how to live out their new found faith in Jesus Christ. Nine months after their traditional Amish wedding, Joe and Esther left family and friends forever to live openly for Christ, and endured shunning and excommunication with bold faith. Since then, the Lord has brought many former Amish people to Joe and Esther for help. Because of their passion for the Amish people and with the support of fellow believers, they have brought biblical truth to thousands of Amish through the ministry they founded in 2000, Mission to Amish People (MAP).

I will personally have the chance to help enrich mankind’s knowledge of the Amish and a life of happy choices. I learned how to be a satisfied person fourteen years after leaving the Amish. I know I could have happy moments in either world. Yet I chose to have it away from the Amish where I could also have my own religious freedom. I treasured those moments. My story is told in the events of my life. Yet in the end, all done and said, I never regretted leaving the Amish or learning everything I did. I found the other side of misery. I learned that I believed in self respect and living a whole life which made everything complete.

From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, John A. Hostetler was the world&’s premier scholar of Amish life. Hailed by his peers for his illuminating and sensitive portrayals of this often misunderstood religious sect, Hostetler successfully spanned the divide between popular and academic culture, thereby shaping perceptions of the Amish throughout American society. He was also outspoken in his views of the modern world and of the Amish world&—views that continue to stir debate today. Born into an Old Order Amish family in 1918, Hostetler came of age in an era when the Amish were largely dismissed as a quaint and declining culture, a curious survival with little relevance for contemporary American life. That perception changed during Hostetler&’s career, for not only did the Amish survive during these decades, they demonstrated a stunning degree of cultural vitality&—which Hostetler observed, analyzed, and interpreted for millions of interested readers. Writing the Amish both recounts and assesses Hostetler&’s Amish-related work. The first half of the book consists of four reflective essays&—by Donald Kraybill, Simon Bronner, David Weaver-Zercher, and Hostetler himself&—in which Hostetler is the primary subject. The second half reprints, in chronological order, fourteen key writings by Hostetler with commentaries and annotations by Weaver-Zercher. Taken together, these writings, supplemented by a comprehensive bibliography of Hostetler&’s publications, provide ready access to the Hostetler corpus and the tools by which to evaluate his work, his intellectual evolution, and his legacy as a scholar of Amish and American life. Moreover, by providing a window into the varied worlds of John A. Hostetler&—his Amish boyhood, his Mennonite Church milieu, his educational pursuits, his scholarly career, and his vocation as a mediator and advocate for Amish life&—this volume enhances the ongoing discussion of how ethnographic representation pertains to America&’s most renowned folk culture, the Old Order Amish.

Enveloped in mystery, Amish culture has remained a captivating topic within mainstream American culture. In this volume, David Weaver-Zercher explores how Americans throughout the 20th century reacted to and interpreted the Amish. Through an examination of a variety of visual and textual sources, Weaver-Zercher explores how diverse groups - ranging from Mennonites to Hollywood producers - represented and understood the Amish.

Bob Brawley is thumbing through the newspaper one Sunday afternoon, looking for something to distract his mind from the freefall that has left his marriage with Shelly in near shambles. He comes across an article that describes the Amish lifestyle and its customs and passes the paper to Shelly, beckoning her to read the article. Agreeing to remove themselves, if only for a weekend, from the toxic, pernicious air that has filled their home, Bob and Shelly locate the Amish community and soon find themselves in the home of Jacob and Katie Beiler, where they learn about the Amish persecution, their relocation to America, their traditions, their beliefs, plain dress, and methods of farming. When Bob asks Jacob about the possibility of his family living in the Amish settlement, he learns that he would need the bishops approval as well as a sponsor. Returning to Oklahoma City, Bob and his family miss their Amish friends and feel led to return to the quaint, pastoral Missouri settlement. After Jacob locates a vacant, two-story, dilapidated farmhouse for Bob and his family, they pack a travel trailer. Join them as they discover what it means to live a simpler life in Adopted by the Amish.

Strong families. Caring communities. The nearly nine in ten youth who join the church. How do the Amish do it? In Amish Voices, Amish writers share news and advice from their communities and reflect on their daily lives, work, and faith. Brad Igou, publisher of Amish Country News, gives readers a behind-the-scenes tour of Amish life by compiling writing from Family Life, a popular monthly magazine that thousands of Amish people read. Learn about how the Amish began and what they value. Hear what they think about technology, happiness, community, obedience, success, and change. Listen in as they discuss shunning and rumspringa and forgiveness. Find out what sustains them in difficult seasons, and how they try to trust God in all things. Why learn about the Amish from outsiders when you can learn from the Amish themselves? And why just learn about them when you can learn from them?

The thrilling narrative of Rosanna McGonegal Yoder, the Irish Catholic baby girl, who lived with an Amish woman, Elizabeth Yoder. All the episodes of Rosanna of the Amish are based on fact. Joseph W. Yoder gives an honest, sympathetic, straightforward account of the religious, social, and economic customs and traditions of the Amish.