We’ve got a winner of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women by Judy Stavisky today. If you didn’t catch last week’s Q&A with Judy, you can find that here. She has done a nice job of answering a number of your questions in the comments there. But first here’s an excerpt of […]

Continue Reading In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women Book Winner & Excerpt

Jim Halverson recently visited the Kalona, Iowa Amish community. We’ll have some photo sets from this visit to Iowa’s largest Amish community. Here’s the first one, from the local produce auction. Jim first visited the Kalona Creamery where he talked to an Amish girl working there: The girl at the Creamery directed us to a […]

Continue Reading Visiting the Kalona Produce Auction (12 Photos)

In this video, I look at three common mistakes people make when talking about the Amish. I have probably been guilty of all of these at some points as well. If you’d like to read the article version of this video, you can find that here. What do you think? Are there other examples that […]

Continue Reading 3 Mistakes We Make About The Amish

For years now, Judy Stavisky has been driving and accompanying Amish women on shopping trips, building friendships with them and learning firsthand about their lives. Judy has compiled her experiences and insights in a new book called In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women. Here’s the description via Herald Press: What does the […]

Continue Reading Judy Stavisky on In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women (Book Giveaway)

In a new column by Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder, she recalls some painful “firsts” she has lately gone through without her husband Daniel, who died tragically in a logging accident in April. I found this column particularly moving…for anyone who has lost a close loved one you’ll probably recognize the sentiment here. An excerpt: […]

Continue Reading Gloria Yoder Recounts “Firsts” Without Husband Daniel

In this video I give the origins of the Anabaptist movement in brief, and describe how the Amish emerged from that movement at the end of the 17th century. I also explain who Jakob Ammann and Menno Simons were. Contrary to what some might suppose, the two never crossed paths, with Ammann arriving on the […]

Continue Reading Where do the names “Amish” and “Mennonite” come from?

Here is a literal feel-good story. Amish teen Daniel Troyer (of Jamesport, MO) needs a heart transplant. His condition (cardiomyopathy) had made it difficult for him to do even basic tasks like eating. He still needs a transplant – but a special implant has given him new energy and hope. From KCTV 5: At 17-years […]

Continue Reading Feel-Good Story: Amish Teen Gets New Lease On Life

Some Amish have a neat thing they do when they need to move a structure like a pole barn. They marshall the community’s arms and legs and, deploying a bit of sweat and maybe a few tears, they simply pick up the structure in unison and carry it to wherever it needs to be. We’ve […]

Continue Reading 300 Amish Move 10-Ton Barn 900 Feet In 20 Minutes

“Amish don’t read the Bible.” You might have heard this claim before. But is it true? I covered this question in a video. I based a good chunk of it on what’s covered in Chapter 3 of The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World on that subject. Here are a few excerpts from […]

Continue Reading Do Amish Read The Bible?

The Post Bulletin has a story on a man named Eddie Swartzentruber, who has been providing the perspective of someone who left a strict Swartzentruber Amish community. He’s using social media to share his former life and answer questions about the Amish on the TikTok platform. I find the article of interest in that it […]

Continue Reading Swartzentruber Amish-Raised Man Shares The Bad Sides Of His Amish Life