Marie Byler

By Marie Byler

October 11, 2012

I was born and raised Amish. I was raised on a dairy farm in Mesopotamia, OH. I am in the middle of six boys, three older and three younger. My sister is the oldest and I was very sheltered. I don’t remember seeing a television until I was about sixteen or seventeen.

When I was seventeen, I was allowed to date. That meant that I was allowed to go out all weekend and did not have to report to my parents. It was scary having been so sheltered my whole childhood and then suddenly be able to have the freedom to go out all weekend and not have to come home until early Monday morning.

In no time I was hanging around the wrong crowd. Drinking and smoking became a habit and I made the bars my “second home.” I’d go back and forth for a few months. I’d go to night clubs and go dancing all night, and then I’d go to Amish parties and singings. These parties and singings were very wild with much drinking and smoking, and drugs were just starting to come on the scene.

One night my girlfriend and I were walking up to this bar, (in Colebrook) and this young man stepped out from behind some trees. I saw that he had something in his hand. I knew that it was a Bible. He said to me, “You don’t want to go in there,” I turned around to go with this man because there was something about him that drew me to him. Then my girlfriend grabbed my arm and said, “Come on Marie, you don’t want to hear what he has to say.” What a struggle. Good versus evil. I went back and forth a while, each pulling me in their direction. I did go with my girlfriend then, but I always wondered who that young man was.

Growing up I always knew about God and Jesus, but I didn’t know Him. I was taught how to be a good Amish Person. I knew what kind of shoes were acceptable and what to wear, etc. Nobody ever told me, (at least not that I remember) that if I were to ever leave the Amish, I would go straight to Hell. But I got the message. Nobody had to tell me. Actions spoke louder than words.

When I was a little girl, my uncle left the Amish. I heard what they said about him and how they treated him. When I was twenty, I moved about one mile from home. It was an apartment. About that time I was tired of bars and parties. I wanted to get right with God. I did not know what to do so I joined an Amish church. I thought that once I joined the church I would stop drinking. I had thought that I’d want to quit. The day that I had gotten baptized I was told, “Now all of your sins are forgiven.” I thought to myself, “Wow, I didn’t even have to ask.”

To join the Amish church you have to be old enough. The age is sixteen or older and you start in the spring. Church was every other Sunday because it would take a few weeks to get everything ready. You would have to go to church all summer and get instructions. You would be told what you can and cannot do. The Preachers would give you until the third Sunday to get rid of anything that you had that was not allowed, (radios, etc.)

In the fall you are baptized into the church, (sprinkling of water). You have to promise to stay Amish for as long as you live. The Amish believe by being baptized into the church you are now eligible to go to Heaven. As long as you stay in the church and do as the Preachers would tell you to do, you would go to Heaven.

Once you joined the church, they would have a hold on you. They tell you what you can and cannot do, and what you can and cannot wear. If someone doesn’t like something that you have or something you do, they would go to the Preachers or the Bishop and tell them. The Preachers or the Bishop would make you stop doing what you were doing wrong or they would tell you to get rid of whatever it was that was not allowed. They would probably say that it was worldly.

Once you join the church you become a member. You are now allowed to vote. However, women are supposed to (and still do) vote the way the men (or their husbands) tell them to vote. Women have no say in the matter, or any matter.

I soon learned that joining the church was not the answer. I was worse than ever. Still drinking, etc. I was very disappointed. I remember feeling hopeless as I wondered -- what is the answer. (1980-1981)

Around that time, I started dating Al (my husband). I had dated him once when I was seventeen and I didn’t really care to date him again. But after seeing him after all that time had passed, I knew that we were going to be married. I also knew this was God’s will for my life. We got married but the partying never stopped.

The thought of being Amish the rest of my life was very depressing. I didn’t know what to do about it. The Preachers told me that if I ever left the Amish I’d go to Hell, and that thought kept me from leaving the Amish, so I kept on partying.

The Preachers were always after me because of my outward appearance. My dresses weren’t long enough; I was to wear my bonnet more; I had a store bought black coat, etc., etc. They kept wanting me to confess my sin before the whole church ever since I had joined the church. Finally I had had enough. I wanted to know the truth.

My Quest for the Truth

What is truth? Where do you go to find it? First of all, I knew that the Bible was the truth, and if the Bible told me that I had to live this way, I knew that I could do it. So I bought a King James Bible and I started reading it. Somehow I knew that there was a price to pay for this truth, but I didn’t care, I was desperate! As the ministers would come and talk to me about my sins, I started asking them questions. In the Amish religion you don’t ask why, you just do what you were always taught to do, and that was being a good Amish person. Anyways, I began asking for scripture for all of these rules.

One night I had four ministers (one was a Bishop) in our living room. I thought that they knew the truth, but wouldn’t tell me because I was a woman (women are not allowed to speak up or out, let alone ask these kinds of questions).

About one week or maybe a few days later, as I was reading my Bible, the words of Jesus almost leaped out of the page. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the light, no man comes to the Father but through me,” (John 14:6) I felt chains fall off of me at that moment and I realized “Truth” is a person not a religion. I realized that the “Truth” is for everybody and it is the same for everybody. Up until then I had believed that some things in the Bible were only meant for the Amish, and some things were meant only for certain people.

As I read my Bible certain scripture’s spoke to me. One was Matthew 15, man- made traditions. I accepted these words as the truth, but I wanted to find something in the Bible that explained why the Amish people live like they do. I finally had to accept the fact that the Amish people do not know the truth.

The Deacon, (my First Cousin), came by one Saturday evening and asked me if I still believed the way that I did (which was salvation through Christ). I said, “Yes I do.” He said, “Well, then we have to excommunicate you.” I said, “Well, that’s fine. I am not going to give up my faith for you or anyone else.” The following day (Sunday) I was excommunicated. I knew the moment they spoke the words because I felt the chains break off of me.

I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to go to church. My girlfriend who had found the Lord (because her life was a mess) was going to a Beachy-Amish church. I did not feel like that was where I was supposed to go. Although I had had some wonderful Bible studies with some Mennonite ladies while I was there.

In the meantime, a friend of ours asked me if I wanted to go to a United Methodist Church in my home town. It was one and a half miles from our house. As I sat at that church and heard the word being preached for the first time in a language I finally understood, I soaked it up like a sponge and I couldn’t get enough. Some people were complaining that the sermons were too long. I felt that they were only five minutes long. Some didn’t like the way that the Pastor preached, but to me he preached Life. So for three and a half or four years I went to a Methodist church while my husband Al went to the Amish church. We got along pretty good. Al went his way and I went mine. Then Al got saved and all Hell broke loose!

I thought that once my husband got saved all would be well. Yeah Right! I didn’t know about “working out” my salvation. I didn’t know about the wilderness and little did I know that I was just about to enter it. God was now trying to get the two of us to work together as husband and wife should. We did not know how. We had some friends who advised my husband to get his wife under control and that of course was a disaster for about six or seven years. God used Pastor Mick to help us through some pretty bad times. Thank God he always pointed us towards Jesus. We were taught about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. That prepared us for Bible School.

Some friends who had been to Pinecrest 25 years ago encouraged us to come for a visit. We attended the Summer Bible Conference in July 1994. At that time it never occurred to me that the Lord might have us move there to attend school. By fall of 1994, we were sure that God wanted us at Pinecrest. After making all of the necessary arrangements, we moved from Ohio to New York for 4th quarter in 1995. The first few months were very difficult for me. My husband Al was getting blessed in Chapel and in his classes but I had to stay home with the children. However, by the time fall arrived I had begun attending morning Chapels and had started meeting the Lord at home as never before. I made up my mind that I was not going to leave Pinecrest the same way I came. I was determined that I was going to get everything of God I possibly could. As the Holy Spirit drew me to Himself, I fell head-over-heels in love with Jesus. What an experience! The Lord kept me in the Song of Solomon for days on end. My relationship with Jesus Christ totally changed. In the past, I had spent time with Him more out of a sense of duty, now there are times when I cannot wait to be alone with the Lord! I also know that I’ll never be totally satisfied as there is always more! Going to Pinecrest has completely changed our lives. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31- 32. I thank God for His truth that sets us free, if we obey Him.

--Marie Byler

This testimony has been published with permission from the owner.

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