Author: Erik Wesner

Erik Wesner is the creator of amishamerica.com, and author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look At Why Amish Businesses Thrive. Erik began visiting Amish communities in 2004 – eventually meeting thousands of Amish families while selling books.

He began writing about the Amish on this website in 2006, and is often cited in national media, including USA Today, The New York Times, and others on a wide range of Amish topics. A native of North Carolina, Erik has visited dozens of Amish communities across the country, and loves spending time with Amish friends and discovering new Amish places.

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Amish Seventh-Day Adventists? A Look At The West Salem Mission

Amish Seventh-Day Adventists? A Look At The West Salem Mission

Do you remember the “Amish Seventh-Day Adventists“? Andy and Naomi Weaver, former members of a Swartzentruber Amish church, were featured in a post here two years ago. They had been interviewed for an article and Seventh-day Adventist television program, telling the story of how they left the Amish for the Adventist faith. Not long ago I came across another video on YouTube connected with the…

A Visit To Pineview Bulk Food & Deli  – Farmville, VA (30 Photos)

A Visit To Pineview Bulk Food & Deli – Farmville, VA (30 Photos)

Sometimes you just know a place is “Amish” at first sight. That was the case as we drove by and spotted Pineview Bulk Food & Deli, just a couple of miles outside the quaint town of Farmville, Virginia. I had a couple of addresses of Amish places in the community, but found my phone signal was so weak that I couldn’t get Google Maps to…

How Does An Amish Medical Aid Plan Work?

How Does An Amish Medical Aid Plan Work?

How do Amish pay medical bills, if they don’t have health insurance? We get a look at how some Amish handle this in a new piece on Cincinnatti Public Radio. Amish famously do not use commercial health insurance, opting to rely on their own churches and extended communities when the need is great. And while a “pass-the-hat” approach may have been more common in the…

Daviess County & Local Amish Work Together On Road Damage

Daviess County & Local Amish Work Together On Road Damage

I found this article in the Washington Times Herald to offer a positive example of Amish and authorities working to solve a common problem – road damage cause by horses and buggies. This is a breath of fresh air compared to the way similar conflicts seem to be addressed in some places. The Amish in Daviess County, Indiana already pay $60 for buggy licenses to…

5 Insights From Swartzentruber Amishman Sam Shetler

5 Insights From Swartzentruber Amishman Sam Shetler

I didn’t plan on this becoming a series, but we’ve had a nice run of articles lately with Amish people sharing their lives and beliefs (see posts on Indiana Amishman John Gingerich and Illinois Amishman Reuben Mast). I’ve enjoyed them, and hopefully you have too. It would be good to get a female Amish perspective soon, but men tend to do more of the talking…

Lancaster County Amish Realtor: “We have to move”

On its own, that’s a dramatic statement. There is some context, of course. First of all, who said it? This was Chet Lapp, a 37-year-old Amishman from Lancaster County. Lapp also happens to be a real estate agent in the community. From the WITF story by Rachel McDevitt: Chet Lapp, an Amish realtor, argues more of his fellow Amish should leave Lancaster County for the purpose…

Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Leads To Arrest, Conviction Of Amishman

Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Leads To Arrest, Conviction Of Amishman

An Amishman was sentenced Thursday in Dauphin County, PA for sexually abusing four girls when he was a teenager. From Penn Live: The 11 ½- to 23-month prison term President Judge Richard A. Lewis imposed on King was set in an agreement King reached when he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including aggravated indecent assault, in April. King, now 33 and a Lebanon County resident,…

25 “Secrets No One Knows” About The Amish

Dubious Amish content lists continue to pop up online. They must really be generating traffic for these sites! I debated whether to even post about this one, but I couldn’t resist. Following 20 Unique Ways Amish Raise Their Children and 15 “Insane” Rules For Amish Children, we come to “25 Little Secrets No One Knows About The Amish,” from thethings.com. You’ll have to Google this…

90 Amish Move Another Building (Video)

Plain teamwork was on display again in June, and again in the Geauga County Amish settlement. We last saw the Amish of this community picking up and moving a barn in March. In the video below, around 90 Amish lift and move a building described as a shed by video author Bill Jancsurak. Jancsurak commented the following to Global News: Bill Jancsurak told Global News…

5 Interesting Facts About Lehman’s (Kidron, Ohio)

5 Interesting Facts About Lehman’s (Kidron, Ohio)

Ever heard of Lehman’s? If you’ve been to the Holmes County Amish settlement, chances are you may have heard the place mentioned or seen it advertised. I have visited two or three times in the past. The store, technically located in the Amish area of Wayne County, has a direct connection with the Amish, dating back to its founding. It’s a really nice store, though it…