A Visit with the Amish

By Kim Lautzenheiser

With my car radio screaming a cool rock-n-roll tune from the '80s, I drove up the long driveway of my hosts' quiet farmland settled among green rolling hills that looked as if it came right off the cover of our Amish Heartland magazine.

When invited to be a guest of an Amish Family, I expected a cold visit in which a lot of silent staring took place as two separate worlds collided. Of course, I imagined horses and buggies, foreign tongues and a farm house absent of electricity. I assumed that many of my questions would go unanswered.

But assumptions have a way of going awry.

David Beachy, who now is Mennonite, had led the way from his restaurant in town and already was out of his truck directing me to the correct home. There were several dwellings on the lot, including a large farmhouse, a double-wide modular home and a few other house trailers. I was waved into the double-wide.

Inside, David's father, Preacher Joe M. Beachy, smiled, offering me a seat on the couch. The preacher, in his navy pants and suspenders and sporting the traditional Amish beard, sat directly across from me on a chair next to an electric lamp with a local newspaper directly underneath. Joe's wife Lovina came into the room smiling and took a seat to my left. The woman with white hair and a beautiful complexion (no makeup) was wearing a plain dress, apron and head cap. I tried not to gawk at the scene as I took it all in.

Dave explained that Joe and Lovina have been New Order Amish for 30 years. They started their family under the Old Order but switched when Dave was a teenager. In many ways, the New Order is more modern than the old, and the Mennonite order is more modern still than the Amish. Now, only one of the Beachys’ 12 children is Amish. Several have chosen the Mennonite way of living, and Dave Beachy explained that the Mennonite order actually came before the Amish.

"In the 1500s during the reformation in Europe, there were predominately three priests who broke away from the Catholic Church to form their own (church)," Dave said. "Then, in the late 1600s or early 1700s, Jacob Ammon broke away from the three priests' church. He felt the church was becoming too liberal and began the Amish church."

“But even the New Order Amish must frown upon electricity,” I commented.

"This is Amish electric," Dave returned, smiling. "Mom is allergic to gas." He explained that Lovina went to the church's bishop for permission to have lines put up.

There were other aspects of this Amish home that took me by surprise — like when the phone rang.

"When the children were growing up, our phone was outside," said Dave. "It couldn't be attached to the house, and there was no electric."

Lovina also mentioned a washer and dryer that she now has. She explained that the couple lead different lives than they did when raising their children.

They had a turkey farm on the property, with 15,000 to 24,000 turkeys to feed and care for at a time.

"We had chores in the morning before school," Dave said. "We would eat breakfast and get ready. We did go to a public school."

As with most Amish children, Dave finished after the eighth grade. He was able to take two additional years of courses from home, and although he wanted to go back to school, his parents said "no."

His father explained why. "If you get more education, you become more independent and you now can compete in the modern world because of your education. You might want to be a doctor," Joe said.

"In the Bible," Dave added, "it mentions not putting a lot of trust in knowledge. If you're too educated, you won't need dependency on God."

On the other hand, Joe said he utilizes the services of doctors. He said although he decided it is wrong for him, it is not wrong for everyone and he does not believe people will go to Hell for it. "We depend on doctors," he said. "We have doctors who are personal friends."

Some would say Joe became a preacher with the luck of the draw. The Amish would say it was God's will. The Beachys told me how it works. When a man is baptized as Amish, usually between the ages 19 to 22, the church asks the man if he will be a preacher if chosen.

When the church decides there is a need for a preacher, nominees are sought. In Joe's case, 17 people received enough nominations to make up the "lot" at the Menno N. Miller Church, also referred to as the Sugarcreek East Church. Each person in the lot picks a song book, all taking turns opening the book to a designated page. The person who has a Bible verse tucked into that page becomes the preacher.

Joe was 25-years-old, with a wife and two children, when he became preacher.

"We all kneeled in prayer before they opened their books," Lovina said.

"When I found the verse, I was stunned," Joe said.

"It's overwhelming," Lovina added. "Quite often, they do cry. They feel unworthy of it."

Joe is a preacher for life. Now though, he has other preachers to help out at his church.

It is a common belief among English-speaking people like myself that Amish people who leave the order are shunned by the Amish society.

I asked if Dave is shunned. They told me Dave was not shunned because he never became a member of the Amish church. He wasn't baptized Amish. Choosing not to join the Amish is not considered as negative as leaving the order.

"My parent's preference is that their children all be Amish," Dave said. "Their concern is that they're all Christians."

"As long as they're in a church where they have the gospel they need, we're satisfied," Lovina said. Shunning, said Dave, is not so much meant for its cruelty as it is to bring the person back to the church.

"You first get a decree from the church that you have been excommunicated, then you are shunned by all the members of the Amish church. Shunning means that you don't eat with them or get into the same car," he said.

"Shunning is meant to be good. That's what the Bible says," said Joe, adding that a shunned person still can be communicated with, and not as much shunning goes on with the new order.

"Each church draws a line where they believe they should be on subjects," Dave said, adding that some churches allow Sunday School while others are adamantly opposed to the practice.

At that point, I began to realize that just as English-speaking folk are different, so are the Amish — with levels of orders and standards of behavior within the orders. And just as important are the changes that occur within the levels.

With all the adaptations, I wondered aloud if the old order will become extinct.

"There will always be Amish driving a horse and buggy," Joe said. He and Lovina now ride in automobiles because of their age.

"The Amish population is not decreasing," Dave added. "It's probably increasing, if anything."

At the conclusion of our visit, Joe said he would like to talk more and invited me to return the following week. After snapping off a few forbidden pictures with my camera, I jumped in my car and headed back to my world.

This time, though, I didn't turn on my radio. I rolled down my window and inhaled the intoxicating air of a peaceful countryside that played beautiful music of its own.

It was during my second visit to the Beachy’s residence that I was beginning to make real headway in understanding this religious family.

I was back in the home of Amish Preacher Joe M. and Mrs. Lovina Beachy, with son Dave at hand for a younger point-of-view and some interpretation.

“They will talk to you because they are not afraid of what the church will say,” Dave said.

Joe and Lovina wanted to talk about the Amish work ethic in an attempt to dispel the myth that child labor is too demanding in the Amish world. “One of the greatest blessings would be the fact that Mom and Dad have taught us how to work,” said Dave.

The Amish don’t decide whether they feel like working on a particular day. It comes as naturally to most of them as watching TV does to most of us.

“We had Saturday cleaning,” Dave said. “I would wash off the furniture, mop the floors and clean the oil lamps. I also cleaned the kitchen cabinets and helped Mom in the kitchen. I hated that because I didn’t want to be in the house and do the cooking.”

The other children would tease Dave for his “soft life,” while they tended to the outside chores.

“On Saturdays, Mom did the baking for the weekend,” he continued. “She would bake two or three cakes at a time — usually chocolate cake or spice cake with brown sugar icing — and pies and cookies. We would cut the cakes into big pieces. They would last until Sunday at noon. That was the extent of our splurging as far as eating.”

Dave had a passionate dislike for kitchen duty until his fifth grade class held a talent contest.

“Mom said right off that I should bake a cake. I did, and the teacher let everybody eat the cake in class.”

Dave didn’t win the contest, but he was hero for a day for creating such an indulgence. Incidentally, he now owns his own restaurant in Sugarcreek, Beachys Country Chalet.

“I have Amish employees and you can’t make some of them sit still if you have to. Belden Brick (a local business) is here directly because of the labor force that is here.”

There were also fun times growing up. Highlights in Dave’s memory include his camping trips. “We would take off with our ponies and a back pack on a Saturday afternoon to some local hillside,” he said.

Dave and his buddies would prepare their evening meal and sleep under the stars. It wasn’t until Sunday afternoon following a skillet breakfast that they would head home for chores.

Entertainment for the Beachys was of the self-made kind. Games were popular, as were light-hearted tricks pulled on friends.

Dave’s first television show was “Wizard of Oz” at age 8. It was a thrill finally to be able to share in one TV-related conversation at school.

“It didn’t make an awful lot of sense to me, but I took enough of it in to be able to prove I saw it,” he said.

There was an interest in many other aspects of the outside world as well. “We wanted to know how it felt to be in a fast-moving car,” he said. “The curiosity was there.”

“It’s hard if you’re curious,” added Joe, who definitely fits into that category, with his newspapers stacked neatly by his chair.

Displays of emotion were discouraged in many Amish orders. That is changing. “Hugging and kissing was not a way of life, but it just caught on in the last 10 years or so,” Dave said. “We wouldn’t hear, ‘I love you,’ or that kind of stuff growing up.”

The Beachys laughed as they discussed a recent wedding they attended in another state. A relative who frowns upon displays of affection also attended the event.

“Mom went outside to hug someone so he wouldn’t see her,” Dave said, creating another round of laughter from his parents.

Even at a funeral, many orders do not show their feelings. “In the Bible, (it says) we are to be sober,” Dave said. “The Amish take that too far, like they have to have a frown on their face, like it’s almost wrong if they’re having too much fun.”

The Beachys believe in their faith. Devotions are a daily occurrence in their household. But I could tell they want to be happy while they believe.

It’s all about setting standards and then adhering to them — the ingredients for tradition.

For example, If you’re an Amish girl and you want to date a boy, there is a protocol. “At a New Order church, there are singings on Sunday nights,” Dave said. “The girls and boys face each other on benches. After the singing, they mingle socially.”

Not every aspect of the New Order is headed in a modern direction. Currently, under the New Order, you must be 18-years-old to date. Earlier, the age was much younger.

“I was 18 before I ever had a date,” said Dave. “Dates typically don’t start out with ‘Let’s get together.’ You ask somebody because you have an event to attend.”

At social gatherings members of the New Order don’t put on their dancing shoes. “There used to be some pretty hefty dancing going on,” said Lovina. “Now it’s prohibited, even for Mennonites.” Lovina lovingly discussed a great tradition for the Amish that has ceased to exist — corn huskings. “I loved those corn huskings,” Lovina said, as she slapped her arms down on her chair enthusiastically. “We danced upstairs on the barn floor. It was an event.”

It is indeed true that worldly temptations can be an issue for the Amish. For Lovina, the lure was a pair of fancy shoes.

“I always wanted t-strap slippers,” Lovina said. “I was given a pair. I wore them. Oh, I sure did!”

For Joe, the enticement was the automobile. “Growing up, I always wished I could drive a car, but I stayed obedient to my parent’s wishes,” Joe said.

“We’re not kidding anybody if we say we’re better than anyone else,” said Dave. “We’re just as human in our tendencies as you.” Dave said Amish children grow up not considering any other lifestyle a choice.

“I never thought of not being Amish until later on,” Dave said.

“The Amish are not supposed to talk before they have been spoken to,” Dave said. “Dad will say ‘hello there’ to anyone. “He knows it takes people by surprise.”

As our second visit came to an end, Lovina hugged me, placing a jar of Amish peanut butter in my hand.

This time, as I drove home, I wondered what I could take with me from the visit. What could I keep forever. I guessed that long after the peanut butter was devoured, I would have a lesson in priorities. Thank you Beachys.