When Ben and Barbara Girod married in 1973, they had no idea their new life together would be one of shared burdens and blessings, lovely dreams and bitter disappointments. Both products of a strict and conservative Amish upbringing, they sought to know Jesus, and they wanted more than the form and tradition of their Amish upbringing. In An Amish Journey to Forgiveness, author Ben Girod tells his remarkable and unusual story of Amish life, reflecting his painstaking social and spiritual journey over many decades. His responsibilities as a bishop and church leader were manifold as he dealt with the predominant and inherent traditions of the Old Order Amish church. A divine encounter with God brought peace and joy to their lives, but this was soon followed by misunderstanding and rejection by family, church members, and leaders, ultimately ending in excommunication from their respective district. Devastated, confused, and unable to understand why this was happening, they turned to the Lord in search of meaning and purpose. An Amish Journey to Forgiveness shares their story as they began to understand that God was allowing such persecution and suffering to draw them closer to Him. It shows how God used Girod to bring about an awareness of the need for healing and reconciliation throughout the body"

An Amish Journey to Forgiveness

Discovering My Anabaptist Roots and DestinyBy Benjamin Girod

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Benjamin Girod
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-6319-9

Contents

Forward.............................................................xiiiPreface.............................................................xvAcknowledgements....................................................xixIntroduction........................................................xxiChapter 1. Beginnings on Sam Hill..................................1Chapter 2. The Risk of Reaching Out................................5Chapter 3. Living Out My Name......................................9Chapter 4. My Brother's Keeper.....................................15Chapter 5. Forgiveness Must Be Given...............................19Chapter 6. Revival and Resistance..................................23Chapter 7. The Crucible of Hope....................................27Chapter 8. Shaped for Gods Purposes................................31Chapter 9. The Suffering of Separation.............................37Chapter 10. Guilty As Charged......................................39Chapter 11. The Blessing of Open Arms..............................51Chapter 12. The Power of Forgiveness...............................57Chapter 13. Christ Our Refuge......................................63Chapter 14. Self verses The Savior.................................67Chapter 15. Standing in the Gap of Forgiveness.....................71Chapter 16. A Way in the Way in the Wilderness.....................75Chapter 17. The Gift of Blessing...................................79Chapter 18. Roots Give Wings.......................................83Chapter 19. A Legacy of Forgiveness................................87Chapter 20. Heal Our Land..........................................89Chapter 21. The Freedom of Forgiveness.............................93Chapter 22. Advancing the Kingdom of God...........................97Chapter 23. Peace in God's Purposes................................103Chapter 24. The Anabaptist Vision..................................105Conclusion..........................................................109About the Author....................................................111Endoresments........................................................113

Chapter One

Beginnings on Sam Hill

My wife, Barbara grew up in the 1950's among the beautiful hills and valleys of east central Pennsylvania, in Snyder County, where the wide, rock strewn Susquehanna River meanders nearby. Raised in a family of eleven children, five boys and six girls, Barbara was the fifth child born into a deeply, religious Amish culture.

Their farm was nestled on top of a high plateau where five roads from all directions led to the top of the hill with valleys round about. This hill, given the name Sam Hill, provided Barbara's family with an impressive vantage point of the farm fields, which bordered dense forests. Wildlife such as deer, occasional bear, raccoons, woodchucks, rabbits, quail, pheasants and squirrels were in abundance. The region was filled with an endless variety of birds and wild flowers, which filled the air with their delightful songs and the fields with brilliant color and sweet fragrance.

The old country school she attended was two and one half miles to the east, set in a green valley. Typically, Amish children attend school for eight years. And for each of their eight years, Barbara and her brothers and sisters walked the two and half mile trail from her home to the school house and back. Every day they carried with them old-fashioned 1-gallon pails containing their lunches, which generally consisting of apple butter sandwiches, an egg sandwich and a jar of milk and occasionally they enjoyed chocolate milk.

Growing up, Barbara was extremely shy and timid. Her quiet and unassuming ways often caused her to be left out as the other children played and interacted on the playground. Nevertheless, She would entertain herself with a keen connection to nature and wildlife. During the daily walks to and from school, she learned to identify many species of songbirds, which were abundant in her unspoiled region of Sam Hill. Along with study of nature, she discovered she had an artistic gift and whenever time allowed, Barbara would venture into the woods, find a suitable place to sit down on a tree stump and begin sketching the scenes before her. Sometimes a Red squirrel would become her object. Other times, wild flowers such as Rhododendrons, Black-eyed Susans and wild Daisies would come alive in her sketches. Other times, a songbird or the distant valleys and mountains were sketched out with great detail. Because she was such a friend of God's creation, wildlife seemed to have no fear in her presence.

Until recent years and the expansion of technology and media, people living outside Amish communities knew little of Amish life. We Amish wanted it that way and we worked hard to keep and maintain our privacy. On the other hand, the Amish were also isolated from the rapid advances of the modern world. Our joys and our sorrows were confined within the communities where we lived.

Sorrow and sadness entered Barbara's sheltered life at age fourteen, when her mother passed away. Barbara was deeply shaken by the death of her mother. It was a traumatic loss, taking her into an unknown and indescribable time of grief and pain and a broken heart.

Aside from the emotional heartache, her mother's household responsibilities were assigned to Barbara. This was a tremendous time of stress and pressure that a girl her age, generally knew nothing about. Most of her older brothers and sisters had grown up and left home by this time, which required that she take care of the younger children. This included cooking meals, doing laundry, mending and tailoring of clothes, washing dishes and many other things inherent with raising a family. Every night for some time, because of the loss of her mother, she would cry herself to sleep. One night in a dream, Barbara heard her mother calling her name. As she continued to call her she woke up, sat bolt upright as she heard her mother's voice calling out to her. In an amazing way, the dream was accompanied by a deep healing and peace, which filled Barbara with a comforting acceptance of the loss of her mother. From that moment on, Barbara shouldered the weight of her responsibility with supernatural grace.

The Amish have always been industrious and self-reliant people, with a strong work ethic. During the time she was growing up, many farmers in central Pennsylvania raised tomatoes for commercial sale. Late summer into autumn found gardens and farms lush with mature fruits and vegetables. The smell of late summer grasses and foliage was pungent and intoxicating. The brisk air meant it was tomato-picking time. Along with other Amish youngsters, Barbara would pick tomatoes for neighboring farmers during harvest. It was backbreaking work, often on their hands and knees, picking from morning `till night. The Amish young people harvested endless rows of tomatoes, filling hampers, one after another. Many became expert pickers, often picking over two hundred baskets a day. Even so, they had fun, from time to time, taking breaks when an occasional tomato throwing battle broke out among them. This helped unravel the monotony with some fun and laughter.

Later in the fall, the much anticipated apple harvest would begin. Snyder County was filled with apple orchards and the harvest was a popular destination for people to...