If you’re a birder in Ohio, this might qualify as the most exciting thing you’ve heard all week. I’m not a birder, but I still find this story neat – for a few reasons. First, what is a sage thrasher? What was it doing all the way in Ohio, when its habitat is much further west (think Colorado, Utah, Wyoming)? And what is it about…
Sam Shetler of Mercy and Truth retreat made his first court appearance Tuesday. The Amish man who led the Cooper County, Missouri retreat center was arrested March 25th, and faces charges of trafficking and sodomy. Shetler appeared by video feed, with a number of attendees including Amish people in the courtroom. In this appearance, we learn that Shetler does not yet have a lawyer. He…
The first person on the scene of last week’s explosion and fire at a Pennsylvania Amish school gives an account of what she found. We also get an update on how the girls are doing. Here’s the latest from yourerie.com: Kelsey Bova was the first on scene after a fire broke out at the Hidden View Amish School in Sparta Township last week. When she…
“A very unlikely place for Amish farmers to settle, yet they did.” That’s how David Luthy introduces one of the unlikeliest settlements in Amish history in his book The Amish in America: Settlements That Failed, 1840-1960. Today, Phoenix, Arizona is one of the largest cities in the United States — a sprawling desert metropolis with a population of over five million people in its greater…
Following the wildfire which hit the Amish in the “middle of nowhere”, a non-Amish father and son found they could relate to the community’s loss. And that motivated them to donate their time, energy and resources to helping out one particularly hard-hit Amish family in Cherry County, Nebraska. From News Channel Nebraska: KILGORE, Neb. – Wildfires across Nebraska’s Sandhills are leaving many ranchers scrambling to…
A new report at the Erie Times-News confirms the official cause of Friday’s fire and explosion at an Amish school in Crawford County, PA, which left three young girls with serious burns. The ages of the victims have also been released. The cause of the fire was as reported earlier as the wrong sort of fuel being used – but in a woodburning stove (to…
A very disturbing story out of Missouri. An Amish man named Sam Shetler, leader of a Plain community “retreat”, has been arrested following a multi-year investigation. Accounts describe appalling behaviors — including extreme control over the young people entrusted to his care, to the level of physical and even sexual abuse. Shetler is now in custody and faces several felony charges. From the report at…
A tragedy has struck an Amish community in northwestern Pennsylvania as an explosion at a schoolhouse set the building on fire this morning – leaving three Amish girls badly burned. (Story updated below) The Amish school is located in the Spartansburg, Pennsylvania community, and appears to have burned to the ground. The girls were believed to have “filled a lantern with the wrong fuel”. From…
Jim Halverson sends along this week’s Amish home – and it’s quite a contrast to what we looked at last week. Where that Maine Amish home without plumbing epitomized a plain Amish way of living, this week’s solar-powered barndominium in Millersburg, Indiana showcases an Amish lifestyle strikingly different – and you could certainly say more modern. Now, these are still considered Old Order Amish –…
In today’s guest post, Timothy L. Price (who previously gave us a look at the Amish in the “middle of nowhere”) shares his account of a recent Amish conference in northern Indiana, and his main takeaways from the event. The 2nd Church Builders Conference in Shipshewana, Indiana was put on by Old Order Amish from Shipshewana, mostly, on March 20th and 21st. As to the…