In the spring of 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Pennsylvania and spend time with an Amish family. This was all thanks to two Baptist friends of mine who built a relationship with the family many years ago (these two truly have never met a stranger). This time, my friends invited me to join them for their annual visit. Below are some of my observations and experiences in the Amish community.
Unplugged, Live
As you may know, the Amish do not have electricity in their home. But this does not mean their houses cannot be nice. Several houses in the community I visited looked similar to our own on the outside. A major outside clue to a home being Amish would be a lack of light shining through the windows. Since they do not have electricity, there are a lot of windows in their houses to provide light. (Another clue to a house being Amish – barns, silos, and clothes hanging to dry).
All of the Amish yards I saw were perfectly maintained. I saw one woman using a reel push-mower (though I suspect the Amish do have gasoline powered lawnmowers and leaf-blowers for some tasks).
Most entrances to the Amish homes have screen-doors; the main door is left open in the summertime to reduce the heat within.
While the Amish do not have electricity, they do have sinks, bathrooms, cabinets, and even a fridge inside. There is also a lighting work-around. The Amish use either propane to light their space or a lamp connected to a battery pack (which unlike propane, does not give off heat, so is perfect for the summer).
The Amish do not have phones inside their home, nor do they have cellphones. However, they might have a small structure just outside of their home where a landline phone can be located.
Typically, the Amish do not take pictures of themselves. To be respectful towards them, I did not attempt to take any pictures during my time there. Therefore, in this piece I only use stock imagery.
Dude, Where’s My Car?
Most people know that the Amish do not drive automobiles. Instead they use horse and buggy. What you may not know is that sometimes there are electronics built into the buggies. These are battery-powered and used in a simple dashboard to denote turn-signals and similar transportation necessities. The buggies also have brakes built-in to prevent the buggies from running into the horse on abrupt stops. While visiting, I did not see any Amish riding saddleback.
One day I visited a shop where the Amish build and repair buggies, carriages, and wagons. The Amish have to change their “tires” too. I was surprised to find the shop also does work outside of the community for antique carriage refinishing.
While the Amish cannot drive cars themselves, they can accept rides from the non-Amish (they call these people “the English”). When necessary, the Amish will pay a driver to come with a vehicle and drive them around. These drivers are used for local supply runs and even for trips out-of-state. There is a high demand for these drivers and a low supply.
The Circle of Life
Amish farms evoke an awareness of the circle of life. The animals are kept so they can generate milk or complete work tasks. But their value does not end there. The food given to the animals often grows from the ground. The animals consume that food and create manure. This manure is eventually collected to be spread out on the fields to help grow crops, some of which will end up feeding the animals again.
While the Amish I observed do have farms, that is not always their only work. Many Amish have part-time jobs as well. Such jobs include construction, furniture, buggy making, baking, childcare, education, etc. If a job becomes too familiar for an Amish individual, he or she may change jobs to learn a new skillset. The Amish seem to successfully weave their part-time jobs and farm work together.
Take Me To Church
Early Sunday mornings in Amish country, you might see men and women walking alongside the road to church. Their services do not occur at church buildings. Instead they rotate between various people’s homes: worshipping in barns, basements, or other areas on the properties.
For my visit, I gained special permission to visit a church service. The service was spoken in what I believed to be Pennsylvanian Dutch, a dialect of High German. Some online research since indicates that it could’ve been Standard German. I’ll never know for certain.
Two preachers preached, with songs and prayer between. For the prayer, everyone quickly turned around and kneeled at their seat to pray. I was able to move swiftly to be in sync with the others. While I did not understand a majority of the service, I did hear the words "Temptation," "Grace," "Sodom,' "Technology," and "Smartphone."
At each service, the men wear white button-up shirts, black vests, black pants, and black shoes. They do not wear ties. In the summer, you might observe the young boys and the married men wearing straw hats. The unmarried men wear black hats. The men’s hats are hung from the rafters or via hooks on the walls. Married men have beards along and below their jawline. The unmarried men are clean-shaven.
The women wear dresses to church and their outfit colors can vary. If the woman has lost a family member over the last several months, then she will wear black. Most women have their hair parted down the middle and wear bonnets.
Worshippers sit on wooden benches brought in by a bench wagon, as well as chairs found at the household. The married men sit grouped together, as do the unmarried men, and the women. The benches are later stacked together to form a long table for lunch.
I heard this joke several times that morning:
Amish Man: "Do you know why we use tablecloths?"
Me: "Why?"
Amish Man: "Because Amish bottoms have been sitting on the benches all morning."
Returning Thanks
My friends and I shared dinner several nights with our Amish family. The meals always began with everyone sitting down and saying grace. Often times, it was a silent grace. No one would leave the table until everyone had finished eating. I noticed the family members putting their silverware to the right of their plate to signify they were finished. I followed suit. Then we ‘returned grace.’
One of my favorite evenings was simply sitting in their living room after dinner. Some extended family visited and so we sat and talked. I asked questions about their faith and they asked questions about mine. Then we sang hymns (in English).
For our last night with the Amish, my friends and I bought them dinner. Earlier in the week, we also brought them a gift basket of various candies and snacks. This favor was returned when I started to leave: they gave me homemade applesauce, pepper jam, and peach jam.
I am thankful for the opportunity to visit the Amish community and for the friends I made. I hope one day to see this family again.
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