John Yoder Jr.

December 30, 2014

My family and I left the Amish church in August of 2008, and I have only seen my dad about two to three times since then. We live in Texas and my family lives in Wisconsin, so visiting is a bit more difficult. On December 3, 2014, however, I was in the area and decided to stop by my parent’s home in Tomah, Wisconsin.

It was 6:00 at night, so it was already dark. I parked my truck in my parent’s driveway and walked to the barn where my brother and his children were doing their chores. I opened the barn door cautiously and immediately heard my brother say a hearty and friendly, "Hello!" I said, “Hello” back, and then in Pennsylvania Dutch I said, "Sind ihr daheim?" (Are y'all home?) My brother’s voice immediately dropped when he recognized who I was, and he replied in Dutch: "Who have we here? It is John." After those words, he completely ignored me.

I waited a few seconds and then said, "Well, I just stopped by to see how you and Dad were doing." I could see my brother begin to struggle for what words to say in reply, so I told him I'd like to see Dad, and I asked if I could go into the house. He replied by saying that he wasn’t sure what to say and that he would go in and speak with our dad first. He never offered to shake my hand the entire time.

I followed my brother outside and told him I'd stay by my truck until he came back with an answer. I waited for about five long minutes. Finally, he came back out and said that although Dad didn’t want to refuse me, according to the Bible, he couldn’t invite me in. He was referring to 2 John 1:10-11, which says, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

I replied to my brother by telling him that I understood, and then I also added that I had a desire to ask them questions about the Bible and their faith. I told him that I was not willing to be wrong or misled, but when they refused to invite me in, it felt more like they were being afraid of me than being obedient to Scriptures and God. I also told him that one of my questions was what he, as a preacher, does when he's preaching and comes to a Bible passage that disagrees with the Amish beliefs. He very quickly replied by saying that he hasn’t found any conflicting verses yet, and he left it at that.

After a brief conversation with him, my brother stated that he had to finish chores and began to leave. As he was leaving, I told him that I was going to go in to see Daddy. My brother didn't object, so I went in.

When I walked in the door, I saw that my mother (step-mom) was there, too. My conversation with Dad was sweet, even though he repeated several times throughout the conversation that he thought we were diving too deeply into the topic of faith. I told him that I did not come to justify myself, but rather to show him that I thought of him, love him, and care about him. I also apologized for the barrier between us that kept us from communicating for so long.

After a bit more conversation, I confessed to my dad that as a child, I hadn't realized how much he loved me, and that after studying the Bible and grasping things that were way beyond what I was ever taught growing up, I realized that he does, in all actuality, love me. I told him that I have never doubted his love for me since my study of the Bible.

At this point in the conversation, my dad confessed that he did not spend enough time with us when we were young, and he also confessed that he failed to be nice to our mother many times. I told him I not only understood but that I also forgave him. I went on to tell him that God sees his heart and forgives him as well.

He then continued by saying that he often tries to forget about me because it's so hard on him, but each time I stop by, I make him think about me again. Then, he has to “think” about me for a long time before going back to his normal state of ignoring.

He finished by saying that he couldn’t agree with anything my family and I stood for because the Bible says that whoever preaches a different Gospel than the one being preached shall be cursed, even if it was an angel from heaven. I responded by telling him I agreed with the Scripture he brought up, but that I also felt that the Amish push certain parts of the Bible away instead of preaching things in the correct context of how they were written, and that the Scripture he brought up didn’t apply to me in this situation. His response was, again, that we were getting in too deeply and that we needed a change of subject.

After a few more topics calmly discussed, I thanked him for listening and talking, and then I told both him and my mother that I would do anything it took to correct all of the things I had done wrong. I wished them God's blessings and left, quietly thanking God for being there and for giving me an opportunity to make Daddy “think”!!!!!!

Hallelujah for the power and love of God!