Laura

October 20, 2015

I grew up in an Old Order Amish community. My childhood consisted of lots of wonderful fellowship and friendship among the Amish, open buggy rides in the summer, and tasty Amish cooking! I enjoyed being able to grow up in such a relaxed and friendly environment.

My relationship with my parents was what you might expect from any typical child-parent relationship. We shared good memories, but we also had stressful times of disagreement and tension. Growing up, I would have never dreamed of not being Amish. However, as I grew older, as wonderful and as peaceful as my childhood was, I began to feel led by God to take some steps toward leaving the Amish.

The turning point in my life occurred when my brother called me one day and said some hurtful things to me. To be honest, I don’t even remember the details of all that he said. The unexpected phone call, though small, really got my mind to start thinking. I realized that maybe there was a deeper reason behind the call, and God was trying to tell me something through it.

I started asking God why the call happened and what He wanted to show me. Then, out of nowhere, I started having thoughts and dreams that I had never had before. At first, I was scared, but finally, I realized that this may have been God’s way of answering my prayers and reaching out to me, so I finally gave it to God and told Him that if He wanted me to leave the Amish, I would be willing.

At this same time in my life, my husband and I had to move out of the house we were renting. We had been looking for a replacement Amish home with room for our horses for about six months with no luck. I began to give up, and finally told God that I would take whatever place he would give me, even if that meant a home with no place for my horses. This was a difficult sacrifice to be willing to make since I loved horses so much! Just a couple of weeks after I surrendered to God, we found a place for rent, but unfortunately, it had no room for horses.

As difficult as it was for me to give up my horses and to move to a new home, the move really opened my eyes to the fact that I had so much freedom now! I had worked hard to please the church and my family, but when I gave my big decisions over to God and trusted in Him instead, He took great care of me and made sure that my needs were met. I felt that a load had been lifted off my shoulders!

When we moved to our new house, instead of going to an Amish church, we decided to take a leap of faith and begin attending a new, non-Amish church in the area as the Lord led. To this day, we are still attending the same church and have not missed a Sunday yet!

As we gradually transitioned from an Amish life to a non-Amish life, we have lost a lot of contact with family. Some family initially came to visit after they noticed we weren’t attending the Amish church, and they weren’t happy at first. After we shared about the new church we were attending, however, things settled down a little bit. I have two brothers and two sisters that I have not heard from since I left, but three of my sisters still call to wish me a happy birthday each year, and I did receive a phone call when one of my brothers had a baby, so I am still in the family loop to an extent.

Today, I am so happy to be serving Christ and living a life in service for Him. I feel a great burden for those who are lost and want to help reach them with the gospel. I would love to be able to go to other countries and help those in need, as well. My life is in God’s hands, and I am excited and willing to follow Him wherever He takes me!

This testimony has been published with permission from the owner.

Note to the reader:

We would like to encourage you to leave a message for Laura below. God bless you!