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I
grew up in an Old Order Amish community in Pa., believing that if I
remained steadfast in the keeping of the ordinances I would surely go to
Heaven when I die. As long as I did not commit any of the "big sins",
I should be all right. I went to church every two weeks as was required. I
didn't drink or smoke. I was a pretty good boy in public.
However,
I was a genuine hypocrite. I was a liar, a burglar, and a fornicator.
I was just a filthy, rotten, no good "good-for-nothing".
My
father owned a small engine shop and one of the largest apple cider
presses in the state of Pennsylvania. That, of course, gave us plenty of
opportunities to visit with non-Amish people. Several of our customers
were members of Grace Baptist Church. I remember very well when the pastor
of that church witnessed to me one on one. However, it did no good at the
time. I saw no need for a change. (After all, I was a church member and
went to church every two weeks) I read my Bible occasionally, too.
In
the spring of 1987, when I was 18, my parents moved to another Amish
community in Wisconsin. I was self-conscious. The move to a more
conservative community provided a new environment. I was no longer with my
very filthy "buddy". (There were girls in Wisconsin, too.) That
thought helped me to clean up my act a lot. I soon met Polly Stutzman,
who, two years later, became my wife. After we got married, we raised
calves and I had a small woodshop. We made some bad decisions that
eventually led to financial problems.
My
paternal grandparents lived in Missouri. By 1991, Grandma's health was
failing. My parents decided to move to Mo. to help take care of her (and
Grandpa). Polly and I decided to move down there, too. My uncle is a
carpenter. I went to work for him. He is a very religious man that seems
to think he understands the Bible better than the average Amish-man does.
We often discussed religious matters, which I enjoyed.
On October 26, 1997, I was ordained a lay minister. At first, it was
hard for me to preach, but as I studied the Bible and memorized
scriptures, it became easier. Before long, I really enjoyed preaching. I
had a little different style of preaching which made me well liked. As a
preacher, I studied the scriptures more than I had before. I started
having questions about certain inconsistencies. (The shunning cannot be
backed up by scripture; and according to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 11, there
is just as much emphasis on men as there is on women; therefore men should
never wear a hat if women always have to wear a head covering, etc.) Those
questions got me to digging deeper in the scriptures. In
Feb. 1991, my great aunt passed away in another community. My two uncles
and one aunt that got saved left the Amish about 15 years earlier were at
the funeral too. I listened as two or three Amish preachers confronted my
aunt's husband, Ervin. I was ashamed of some of the things they came up
with. I also noticed that Ervin stood firmly on the scriptures. The things
he said made sense and were indisputable in my opinion. However, in spite
of all that, I still did not agree with his "lifestyle" (English
clothes, driving cars, etc.)
One
evening that spring, I had to use the public phone. Suddenly, I had the
urge to call my uncle Joe. When he answered the phone, I told him I really
did not know what I wanted, but that I just had an urge to call him. That
was just the beginning of many phone calls to my uncles and other
ex-Amish. We would discuss scriptures, etc. I would make at least one or
two trips to the phone every week.
In
the meantime, my parents were also beginning to see the light. They
started hosting Bible studies with Pastor Glen Yoder and other ex-Amish.
On one such occasion, I asked my aunt's husband, Ervin, about the
doctrine of eternal security. He replied that he did not care to discuss
that until one understood the doctrine of salvation. He then presented the
plan of salvation in a way that was easy to understand. The
following Sunday I preached the plan of salvation in the Amish church. I
was so excited! It was so simple. I thought everybody should be able to
understand it. However, that Sunday's sermon turned out to be a
controversial subject. From that point on the Bible became alive. It was
as though the secrets of God were opened up for me. What a wonderful
experience!
My
wife, Polly, accepted Christ a few weeks after I did. Then everything in
our lives changed. I quit praying out of a prayer book. Then I started
praying in English. (That was a big step; I was not sure that God
understood English.) Eventually we decided that we could no longer live
the Amish lifestyle and help police the Amish ordinances; knowing that
they had no benefit towards salvation. While
all these things were happening, Polly's parents lived with us. Of
course, when they found out what was going on they quickly arranged to
move in with one of their other daughters.
There are so many other details that I could have written about, but space does not allow it. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. My email address is: burkholder@centurytel.net. Or you can also mail me your questions at: John Burkholder, 424 E. Moore St, La Plata, Mo. 63549. |
