Former Amish Testimonies

Dear Joe, I was shocked to find this website as I had no clue anything like this existed. I grew up Amish and found it extremely frustrating and left home when I was 18 and moved to Montana. I worked for an outfitter for 7 years and now I am in the University of Montana becoming a high-school teacher in English and History.

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I left the Amish, my hometown in KY, and my family in 2006. I had a really rough start. I couldn't find a job and I wasn't happy, than one day one of my friends gave me Joe and Esther Keim's phone number it took me about two weeks to gather enough courage to call them but I finally did.

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I left the Amish in 1968 and as you said, I did not want any part of any religion, not even a wedding or a funeral. I was very vulnerable; I got into drugs, parting, and that kind of life style. When I look back, I realize it was because I did not know how to live outside of the boundaries of the Amish community and "protection" I did not know how to manage money, how to have normal relationships with people, especially of the opposite sex.

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We were originally from Ohio and western PA, but left the Amish in 1990 and went thru the same things that you guys did. When I was growing up, I never agreed with the Amish rules and for the most part didn't obey them either. When I was 29, my wife and I left the Amish for a short period of time and had a lot of problems dealing with life in general.

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I was born and raised Amish. It seemed like my desires and dreams were different than most Amish girls my age. Matter of fact, I kept having thoughts of leaving the Amish and living in the English culture. At age 16, I was very shy and found it difficult to speak up and share my feelings. And it seemed that my family and friends took advantage of my shyness by constantly giving me advice on how to live my life.

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I grew up in Wayne County between Kidron and Apple Creek on a farm we farmed with horses and milked cows. Now I have to tell you, I did not like farming. I would try to get out of doing work all the time, and that caused a lot of problems between me and my Dad; we never did get along.

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I am an ex-Amish minister and if this would help you in some way in helping people understand from an ex-Amish mans view point, where he came from and how he used to look at things, then how the Lord changed his heart, and how it got turned around and how he looks at salvation today. So they can get an inside view of a person that has been changed by God, and God only, there is nobody else involved that made this change but God.

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I left the Amish on Saturday March 24, 2007 in Sullivan, OH. I had a friend of mine to pick me up. So I moved to Crestline, Oh, Lived there for a year, then I noticed that I need to do something different in my life because I was more and more getting into that sinful world stuff, and it scared me so much.

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While I was Amish, many of my Amish friends, including me, were hiding some of the things we did that were not Amish-like listening to the radio, calling someone on the phone, and other things. I always wondered why God made some people to be allowed to have cars and we were in this little Amish community-having to work hard with our hands alone.

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I am at the age of 20!! I was born and raised Amish and lived that way until I was one month away from age 17. When I was in the 6th or 7th grade my cousin Andy B. Shetler left the Amish. When I heard that he left, I knew right away that I was also going to leave when I get old enough.

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I can't really put it into words what it was like when I got saved. Brother Eli told me a lot of things about how Jesus died for our sins and that we must be born again in order to get to Heaven. I started reading my Bible and I started realizing what a sinner I was and where I would end up without Christ and salvation.

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I left the Amish when I was seventeen years old because I did not believe in all their rules, but still I did not realize the importance of salvation for some time, so I was very confused with my new life for quite a while but the more I studied the Bible, the more I realized that a person must be saved to enter the kingdom of heaven.

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I left the Amish in May of 2003 and moved in with one of my older brothers. I was 16 years old at the time and was out to explore and enjoy the world. I left with 16 dollars in my pocket, a few things such as hunting, fishing, and camping gear.

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I left the Amish "and my family" on a beautiful Sunday afternoon 10 months ago not knowing what would become of my life, not realizing what a big step I was taking.

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I left the Amish on August 18, 2007 in California, MO. We went to Wal-Mart to get some clothes, but I only had five dollars in my pockets so my brother bought my clothes.

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As an Amish teenager, I always knew there was something that I didn't understand about God, but I didn't know what it was. At age 18, I got baptized; I didn't know why, other than, just because everybody else did it.

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I'm Abraham. I grew up Amish and the Amish are very strict. It's like they think it's all the good works that lets them enter the gates of Heaven instead of trusting and believing what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. Their rules got me to realize that I have a lot of sin in my life and I got very frustrated, angry and depressed, because I thought I had to work myself into a good enough position in order to be forgiven, and I couldn't do it.

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Then, in 1993 I was at my lowest point in life. I didn't want to live anymore and suffered with deep depression; it was awful. Then one day my wife handed me the Bible and told me to read it so I started reading Romans. The light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter. God was truly working on me and for the first time I started to feel His love. I knew God was talking to me.

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As most of you know I am former Amish. I was 21 yrs. old when I converted. I felt like I got off the leash. I got into partying and drinking and had no idea where I was heading. I sure had my share of problems. At one point I was like I might as well enjoy life while I can. I couldn't figure out why things were going wrong for me.

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When Albert & I got married, the first week was so good; this was 13 years ago. Then I began to notice the anger and resentment that Albert had toward the Amish preachers and at times he would direct it toward me. So many years I lived in fear and depression; many a sleepless night, praying to God that He would help me, and to touch Albert's heart, as his heart had grown very hard.

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I joined the Amish church at the age of 18 and lived the lifestyle until I was 49 years old. For many years I wondered what was wrong with me that I dreaded going to church. The preachers always said one only gets out of church what one puts in.

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I too was raised in an Amish home and married an Amish girl, (Dorothy Stutzman). We had 3 children when we left the Amish and have had 3 more since then. I met the Lord beside my bed, through an old book when I was 16 years old. I had bought this box of old books at an auction and in it were a lot of books on the Christian life, including a couple of Bibles.

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My name is Jonas Yoder but I like to be called JD. I left the Amish on January 22, 2007. The reason I left the Amish church is because I did not like all the rules that the church put on me.Amish life was also very boring and lonely at times ----- I had nothing to live for.

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I left the Amish on Sept. 11, 2005 because I never liked the man-made rules. Sometimes (I told myself) I was born with English blood. I knew of Jesus when I was Amish but I never really learned about him until four months after I left the Amish.

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I was raised Amish, under a strict law and thought as long as I follow the rules as good as I can I could hope to be in Heaven sometime. But their were a lot of things that didn't make sense and always brought me to the Bible. I kept searching and trusting in the words "seek and you will find" till one Wednesday evening, January 2005 I put all my junk mail aside and read the Bible which was unusual cause our practice was to only read the Bible on Sunday.

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A few weeks before we left the Amish I had a few scares that I can't get to heaven! But just thought I have to be more strict in the Amish law. But then 4 weeks after we left I realized I can't get to heaven by good works and thought that saved me.

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I was born to a very Old Order Amish family in Ohio with no indoor plumbing, electric or modern conveniences. Our Ordnung was very strict; we were not even allowed to see a doctor or dentist except in cases of extreme emergency. I was born at home by a local lay-midwife, the first born to my parents John and Mary Hostettler.

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I greet you in JESUS beautiful name from our little settlement of ex-Hutterites here in central Manitoba, in western Canada, just above the North Dakota border. What a joy to hear from you and to learn more about MAP and your wonderful outreach to "our people". Although not Amish, Hutterites have always considered Amish and conservative-type Mennonites "our people", primarily because of our common origin in the Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century.

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I was born and raised in Holmes/Wayne County. Ever since I was around 10 years old I purposed to know and find the Truth, and I knew the Truth is in the Bible. I also purposed I will never leave the Amish because I'd have no chance of getting to heaven if I left them.

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My husband and I came out of the Amish 3 years ago and we accepted Christ into our hearts.

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