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Eli Stuzman
EMAIL #1
I am a former Amish from Ohio, in Canada for the past forty years. The struggle to remove ones self from Amish life is doubtless the greatest test I have ever faced. I have speculated that help and guidance should be given to those who deeply need to leave. But how to do it?
EMAIL #2
...I wish to introduce myself and give a little more background on myself. I was born in 1938 and raised in Holmes County, Ohio and went to school at Buena Vista school, which was closed in 1957. My father decided to move to Canada at that time as some of our people, the Abe Troyer branch of Amish had already done so. There are quite a few different types of Amish around Ontario, but the thinking is the same in all of them. I could write reams on what they have done to me and others who have dared to disagree, but maybe some other time.
My Grandfather was JJ, brother to DJ, whom you may know of. D led my grandfather to the Lord in his senior years. This caused quite a stir and grandfather, the bishop of the Stutzman church was "set still" by AT, a younger bishop who seemed to have more influence. Grandfather would take the opportunity to teach bible stories to groups of grandchildren on Sunday afternoons. He also was known to support Missionaries, and they tried to stop him from doing this. Nevertheless, he continued and I believe I am quite possibly the result of his prayers.
When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I loved to read. We had a little bible story book called "First Steps for Little Feet" that told about the parallel of Moses raising the serpent on the brass pole and the people receiving healing for the fatal serpent bite, and believing on Jesus dying on the cross and we receiving salvation by faith. It was so simple, and I believed with all my heart and found the burden lifted. I felt like I could fly, I had so much joy! But years of Amish training quenched this and Dad told me on several occasions that all we could do is hope. But God had begun a work. I had a spiritual hunger that needed to be fed and I felt empty. I joined the church at the urging of my mother and my cousin Levi. This turned out to be a bad move, maybe necessary in order to get me going. You see, I was not rebellious in terms of violating the ordnung. I had expressed concern during instruction time about the practice of bundling. This led them to delay baptizing me. I was convinced certain people were after me to teach me a lesson. I also had so much fear in me that I had verbal paralysis when confronted by those in authority. I would turn white as a sheet when a buggy came by as I worked on a non-Amish dairy farm right in the midst of our community. I was determined to beat this thing, which choked me and rendered me speechless.
The farmer was a Baptist and they invited me along to church, which I did from day one. I heard the salvation message, but I was so severely "brainwashed" that I hesitated to make a commitment. When I eventually did, nothing seemed to happen, until the Lord brought to mind my childhood experience. I began to build on that and never looked back. I found that I loved the people who loved Jesus and talked about him. I then knew God had indeed revealed Himself in a way that I could not make up. My heart yearns for my brothers and sisters to come to the Lord. There is nothing a man can experience in this life greater than the experience of knowing Jesus. He is Lord! You CAN trust Him! He is the Truth, the Life, the Way. He does not lie when he says He will forgive repentant sinners! But you know that already.
I married at the age of 38 to a lady whom I met at a Bible study. The Lord led us to each other and when we discovered this, I said let's not wait, might as well get married. So we got engaged and surprised even our closest friends. That was 25 years ago. We have 2 boys and 1 girl, ages 23, 21 and 16. We are members of Aylmer Evangelical Missionary Church. We have a Christian Camp known as Barnabas Camp at the back of our property. We along with another couple run 6 programs for various age groups during each summer. This keeps us pretty busy.
God bless you as you give guidance to those whom He sends. It is much needed. I wish this ministry had been here when I left the Amish. I feel that I might some day like to assist in such a ministry. We shall see as we seek the Lord.
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