Amish Religion

Mary Stoltzfus is 30 years old, splashed with freckles, and unmarried. In her Amish world, that qualifies her to be called an old maid. She is living her quiet schoolteacher life in the Lancaster County Amish community when she gets a surprising invitation in the mail one day. Would she come to Montana to teach?

One moment Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbor's barn raising. The next his foot slipped, and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children - the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbors help her to make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, all grieving their father's death, is overwhelming.

When two Amish children are taken by a known killer, will their father break his vow against violence to save their lives? It’s 1826, and Amish congregations are settling in Ohio. Although they do so despite dangers such as bears, wolves, and cougars, they look forward to building new communities in which to worship. But there are worse dangers than bears, wolves, and cougars. When two children are taken by a murderer with a savage past, their father must decide if he can defy his community’s Ordnung and commit violence to save their lives. If not, he knows they will be lost forever—...

Born a Native American but brought up Amish, Hester Zug, at age 20, flees her Amish home. Her father's too-tender care of her has made her stepmother wildly jealous, and so Hester sets off, knowing only that she can't stay. Hester's natural instincts for navigating the forests in colonial Pennsylvania, along with the book of medicines and remedies given to her by an aged Native American woman, allow her to survive until she gets sick from drinking river water.

The setting is the beginning of an Amish settlement in colonial America in the forests of eastern Pennsylvania. There, a young Amish couple, Hans and Kate Zug, are in their ninth year of marriage, still waiting to have a child. Then, one April morning, Kate finds a Native infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where she went to fill her water bucket.

After her husband's death, Grace Stevens returns to her family and her Amish community. She'd suffered through the challenge of an abusive marriage and wanted nothing more than to be baptized into the Amish faith and begin a new life. Grace finds it impossible to put the past behind her when Marlene, the woman who caused her to leave the community, is now living in Grace's family home and married to Grace's brother.

Beth’s journey out of the pit has been heart-rending. But from this and the poetic expressions of Psalm 40 has come the reward: a new song for her soul, given by her Savior and offered to you in Get Out of That Pit—friend to friend. This is Beth’s most stirring message yet of the sheer hope, utter deliverance, and complete and glorious freedom of God

Blending wisdom from the past, practices of intentionality and community, and Whittaker's signature engaging communication style, Reconnected will inspire and equip you to reset your life in a tech-saturated world. It's time to take back control of your life from technology and recover the lost art of being human. You were made for more. This is how you start living again.

As the daughter of a deacon, Amy Yoder knows all eyes are on her to set a good example by marrying an Amish man. But Amy has discovered that finding one is much easier said than done. When her mother secures her a suitable match, Amy isn't expecting much, but Andrew is everything she could have hoped for in a husband. The only trouble is, the man she's now pining for lives in Wisconsin, a great distance away. Now that Amy has found Andrew, she's determined to bridge the space between them, but will absence make the heart grow fonder - or stop their happily-ever-after before it begins?

Growing up Amish and leaving the fold, Emma Gingerich left her Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri, at the age of 18. Her memoir Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape captivates even the timid listener. Disagreeing with the beliefs of Amish traditions and upbringing, the pressure became too much for her to bear. Forced to make a personal decision, Emma found the courage to leave the only life she had ever known. She had no idea the emotional turmoil she'd inflict on her family and friends.

With her baby only weeks away from being born, Deborah is skillfully avoiding her sister Emily's attempts to match her with someone totally unsuitable. When Emily realizes that Deborah is not interested in the man she chose for her, Emily finds a replacement and throws herself into ensuring that a wedding will take place.

Food and friendships bind souls in an Amish kitchen. Return to the Troyer farm, where, despite stressful changes occurring in their lives, Lyle and Heidi once again open up their Ohio home to those seeking to learn about Amish cooking.

Salina has been dating Josiah for almost a year now, but he feels more like a friend than a boyfriend. Her parents approve of Josiah, who is a hardworking roofer. He’s handsome and easy to talk to, but he just doesn’t warm her heart the way she feels a boyfriend and future husband should. She secretly longs for more. Along comes William “Will” Zimmerman, a Mennonite chef who runs a restaurant located next door to the Amish market. He wants Salina to supply the produce for his restaurant, and as they forge a business relationship, they both feel themselves falling in love.

Amish woman, Evelyn King, had spent years being disappointed in her husband and her marriage. When Evelyn's husband died, leaving her pregnant and with a three-year-old daughter, she is faced with many problems including a house in ill-repair. When the quiet and kind Hezekiah Hostetler suddenly proposes, Evelyn knows this will solve all her problems as Hezekiah is nothing like her late husband.

Midwife Kim Osterholzer ushers listeners behind the doors of Amish homes as she recounts her adventures answering God's call to the craft of midwifery. Kim chronicles her nine-year apprenticeship grappling with the nuances and idiosyncrasies of homebirth. She recounts the beauty and painstaking effort of those early years spent catching babies by the light of crackling woodstoves, oil lamps, and lanterns. Every birth enthralled her, whether it involved halting hemorrhages, sharing breath with tiny lungs, or bouncing through wild rides in ambulances.

At just 17, Honor Baker found herself an unlikely love — her new brother-in-law. When the couple learns they won't be allowed to marry, their choice is obvious, and they do the only thing that makes sense. When Honor goes missing, Florence finds herself in a car on a road trip with her mysterious English neighbor. Even though he has many qualities she admires, there are things about him that don't add up. Will they be able to find Honor and bring her home?

When Amish woman Courtney Willis is left widowed and expecting a baby, she moves to a larger community in hopes of finding a job and a new life. Courtney is delighted to receive a job as a nanny to an Amish widower who has three unruly children. Aaron's wife died a year ago and he soon learned it was impossible to hold down his farming responsibilities and look after three children and a household. He's overjoyed when his aunt writes to him letting him know that a suitable Amish woman is on her way.

As Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer mourn the death of their son, Simon, who died during his rumspringa, Bree Fortsworth knocks on their door and announces she is having Simon's baby. Bree explains she has nowhere else to go and asks if she can stay with them. After they agree to her request she has another and the Stauffers are surprised when Bree wants them to adopt the baby.

Newly widowed Amish woman Anita Graber has returned to live with her brother and his family in Lancaster County. As an expectant widow, she is quite surprised when everyone from the bishop's wife to her brother decides that her baby needs a father. Anita endures many embarrassing moments as she's forced into one awkward situation after another. Even though another man is the last thing on her mind, she finds a friend in her sister-in-law's brother, Simon.

Using eight principles, a variety of true stories and their years of experience as professional psychologists, Cloud and Townsend enlighten readers on how to make empowering choices-and how to build the life they want to live. It may seem impossible but it's true: taking personal responsibility is not only liberating, it is the best-and perhaps the only-way for a person to get what they really want out of life.