Andrew Miller

June 18, 2018

My name is Andrew, and I grew up in an Old Order Amish community. Although I would describe my childhood relationship with my parents as shallow, I did appreciate the close-knit community, excellent work ethic, and down to earth homestead lifestyle that I enjoyed.

When I grew older, I got married in the Amish church and settled down. Eventually, however, I wanted to be able to drive a vehicle for work, so I started driving my work truck in plain sight of everyone in the Amish community. This went on for about six months before my wife and I ended up joining a different church.

Although we didn’t want to, eventually, we decided it was time to leave the Amish altogether. I needed to be able to drive a vehicle for work, and on top of that, the Old Order Amish community that we belonged to had many members that were not on the right track.

We went to the Amish church right up until lunch that last time we attended before leaving. It was a hard transition for us because we loved our church. Thankfully, we are still friends with some of the church members in my neighborhood. In addition, surprisingly, when we made the decision to leave, we found support in one of the ministers in the Old Order Amish church that understood our choice and didn’t condemn us for it like many others did.

I found Christ soon after I left as I was working on a church roof project for a Baptist church. Through many conversations with the pastor, I was able to finally understand how salvation works.

My wife and I have faced many difficulties since leaving. Probably the most difficult thing we have faced is my wife’s family. Even after two years, they have not shown any acceptance of us or our decision to leave.

Even though my family is only a few miles down the road from my wife’s family, they have responded in a completely different way. My dad is an old bishop, but he understands salvation through Christ and believes that you don’t have to stay in the Amish church to go to heaven.

These drastic changes between two members of the same community shows how much discord and inconsistency there is in the church.

When my wife and I first left the Amish, we faced a bit of a challenge as we struggled to adapt to a new culture especially since initially, we didn’t even want to leave the Amish. We have adjusted, though, and really love the conservative church we are a part of now.

My family and I have a very optimistic future as a Christian family. We believe in reaching out to those that don’t understand salvation and look forward to seeing how God might use us and our story for His glory!

This testimony has been published with permission from the owner.

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