Comment on Abner the bookbinder by Rich Stevick.
Having been overseas for five weeks, I have been working back through your recent Amish America postings and came upon Brad Igou’s wonderful tribute to Abner B. Abner was indeed special to everyone he met. He was the man who arranged home stays with Amish families the first time we taught the Amish cross-cultural course at Messiah College. He befriended one of our graduates, Mark Wassler, who became, according to Abner, one of his dearest friends. Of course, he encouraged Brad in his Family Life project. While I was working on my book, he talked with me about his adolescence in Lancaster County in the 1940s and his experience with the Chow-chow gang: “We were really a mixture,” he explained. We were all saddened by his death, reputedly from the West Nile virus. Hundreds gathered to mourn his passing. I feel privileged to have known Abner also–a wonderful, grace-filled Christian brother. Richard Stevick rstevick@messiah.edu P.S. Brad’s tribute was also spot-on and lovely. BTW, Brad is the only English person I know who has ever attended an Amish ordination service. Ask him about it if you see him at Amish Experience in Lancaster County.
More Comments by Rich Stevick
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Continue Reading Donald Kraybill on the 2013 Amish Tech Conference
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Continue Reading Valerie Weaver-Zercher interview & book giveaway
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Continue Reading Thrill of the Chaste giveaway: Submit your Questions
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Continue Reading Thrill of the Chaste giveaway: Submit your Questions
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Continue Reading 3-book giveaway and Q-and-A with authors of The Amish