“One of the most valuable things about this clinic is we know families and patients over the long-term and we remember the unsolvable cases,” explained co-founder Holmes Morton, MD, to a visiting delegation of approximately 25 representatives from 91����Ƶ and Heartland Clinic on Feb. 9.

The ���ٰ��������ܰ�����clinic largely serves the Amish and Old Order Mennonites who have rallied around the clinic and, in a way, accepted it into their fold. This population has a relatively small genetic pool, which makes it at high-risk for certain genetic disorders. The clinic makes a special effort to catch the children with genetic conditions early in their lives, offering comprehensive care that it tries to keep affordable.

The 91����Ƶ/Heartland group came to the Strasburg clinic to explore whether the Old Order and Conservative Mennonite communities in the Shenandoah Valley might benefit from a similar research-based clinic in the vicinity of Harrisonburg.

In both Pennsylvania and Virginia, the rather insular, intentionally non-modernized Anabaptist-rooted communities have descended from small founder populations and gain few outside members, resulting in a limited genetic pool. As a result, these populations are at high-risk for certain inherited genetic disorders, such as Maple Syrup Urine Disease and Glutaric Acidemia (GA-1).

Since its founding in 1989, the Strasburg clinic has become a leader in the field of rare genetic disorders. People from all over the world come to the tiny, barnlike clinic in the middle of a cornfield to be treated.

To do this, Holmes Morton and co-founder Caroline Morton (his wife and board member) believed that they needed a space where clinical care would be supported by on-site laboratory services.

To install and run the expensive laboratory equipment, the Mortons were prepared to take out a second mortgage on their own home – a plan they got to shelve when a 1989 Wall Street Journal article thrust them in the public eye. The result was a flood of donations by readers, including a donation of equipment valued at $250,000 from Hewlett-Packard.

The clinic is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, with just over a third of the clinic’s operating budget coming from yearly auctions put on by the community. Another third comes from donations and the rest is from collaborations, an endowment and a small percentage from patient fees. The clinic’s operating budget is currently $2.6 million dollars a year.

In the Shenandoah Valley, the Heartland Clinic already serves Old Order and Conservative Mennonite populations in the Harrisonburg/Dayton area for services such as physical therapy, dental care, childbirth, and general medical checkups. Though Plain populations in Virginia are also likely suffering from inherited genetic disorders, Heartland doesn’t have the resources or facilities to do the kind of genetic testing and treatment the Clinic for Special Children is offering.

The visiting 91����Ƶ/Heartland group learned of ways that the clinic is collaborating with undergraduates from nearby Franklin & Marshall College (F&M). As they study the genetic disorders presenting at the clinic, these students are getting opportunities to see how new proteins function – an opportunity that is not even available in many medical schools, said Robert Jinks, an F&M professor of biology.

With the completion of the renovations on the Suter Science Center, 91����Ƶ will have the facilities to do genetic research, but it would need to add equipment costing as much as $100,000. However, the academic opportunities for students to study genetic diseases – some of which haven’t even been discovered yet – could be invaluable, said Roman Miller, director of the MA in biomedicine program at 91����Ƶ.

“We do have a vested interest in this in this,” he said, in that this kind of research is “academic education being expressed in practical ways.” Miller added that the project fits 91����Ƶ because it connects with the university’s mission to offer “ healing and hope in our diverse world.”

91����Ƶ, Heartland and the Clinic for Special Children are at the beginning of considering whether cooperating on this project would be desirable and possible. But as the group listened to presentations from Jinks about the current work at F&M, were given a tour of the building, and heard more about what kind of services the clinic offers, it became clear that the parties plan to continue having serious conversations.

As Morton observed, “Part of what I see in this collaboration is an opportunity for you to do for your community to do what we have done here.”

The group that explored the work of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 9, included the following (all associated with 91����Ƶ, except for the Heartland and Strasburg clinic staffers): back row, from left, philosophy/theology professor Christian Early, president Loren Swartzentruber; biology professor Jeffrey Copeland; second row, Heartland board member Jonathan Martin; MA in biomedicine consultant Joseph Longacher; nursing instructor Kate Clark; nursing professor Don Tyson; Strasburg administrator Adam Heaps; graduate dean Jim Smucker. Front row, Heartland board member Neil Beery; Heartland physician assistant Jonathan Shomo; biology professor Roman Miller; marketing director Andrea Wenger; advancement vice president Kirk Shisler. (Photo by Kara Lofton)

So, when she decided to leave her Ohio Amish community at the age of 20, that’s where she headed.

When she got there, she felt like a new person.

“I got my dream job as a waitress at Pizza Hut,” she said in the PBS documentary “The Amish,” from which Furlong showed an excerpt to a crowd of dozens at 91����Ƶ’s Martin Chapel on Thursday evening.

No more invariable black-and-white clothing, mandatory church visits and abuse from her father, whom she described as seeming to be strapped to his rocking chair at times, communicating with someone invisible to the rest of the family.

Her memories of him are dotted with visions of his intense rage.

“When he came after someone, there was no fighting back,” Furlong read from her memoir, “Why I Left the Amish.” “He was physically strong, but when he was in one of his rages, he was as strong as a bull.”

But at 20 years old, Furlong was unfettered: Free to take college courses – whereas before her schooling ended with graduation from the eighth grade – date whomever she wanted and live alone with the previously unrealized calm of privacy.

Her independence was short-lived, however; her mother soon called and said she was coming to get her.

“Something changed in me where I couldn’t say,`No,'” Furlong said. “The Amish life is not about saying `No.'”

So, she returned to the familiar farm life and abusive father.

“It was a very long two years and eight months” before she left again and married her husband, David Furlong, she said.

Thirty years after she made that second move, she hasn’t looked back. Furlong discovered that her mother had finally given in to an intervention from the local social services department. Previously, when Furlong was still living in the Amish community, her mother refused to accept the help that Furlong sought out.

Her father was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression, started taking medication and was never abusive to his family again, she said.

Furlong is still patching up relationships with her siblings, only one of whom will speak to her now – a recent development, she noted.

But she stands by the decision she made decades ago.

“I had to sacrifice community to have my personal freedom,” she said, explaining the list of goals she was able to accomplish after her move out of the Amish community. She married the love of her life, she said, raised two sons, earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and became a published author.

“These things could not have happened if I had stayed in my Amish tradition,” she said. “For me, taking this life path was worth the price I had to pay for it.”

Furlong is currently writing a sequel to her memoir.

Courtesy Daily News Record, Mar. 16, 2013

The time for these shows to stop was years ago. But Amish Mafia enters new territory. And the difference lies in what’s real and what’s fake. While the show portrays the obviously fake and clownish criminal antics of its Amish and Mennonite actors, it despicably makes use of the real-life Nickel Mines school massacre and recent violent attacks on Amish families by an Ohio cult to supplement the entertainment.

With these tragic elements of reality woven into the plot, the show’s actors, speaking in Pennsylvania Dutch and wearing Amish garb, do everything from smash up their enemies’ cars and buggies to provide viewers a glimpse of a “typical” Amish home with a three-person toilet for when “the ladies need to go at the same time.”

In an episode of the show in which they “speak out” against claims of the show being fake — that there is no Amish mafia — the actors use as evidence the presence of their names in the genealogy book Descendants of Christian Fisher (the “Fisher book” as it’s commonly known to many Amish and Mennonites interested in their ancestry). If nothing else, this scene makes clear that the show is a bigoted attack on Amish identity — one that has the audacity to use recent tragic episodes of Amish victimization while making its Amish participants look like buffoons.

More commentaries:

David George discusses how Amish Mafia exploits the Nickel Mines shooting as entertainment:

Brett Hambright exposes Amish Mafia as a fraudulent portrayal of the Amish:

Michael Shank exposes Amish Mafia as a shameful and unrealistic portrayal of the Amish:

David Weaver-Zercher examines the phenomenon of Amish-themed reality television:

Lisa Miller reviews Amish Mafia in the context of what its popularity says about society:

David George explores what mistreatment towards the Amish says about larger society:

David George expresses his views on Amish Mafia for Lancaster County readers:

Donald Kraybill is quoted in this piece,

[Editor’s note: The article above appears here courtesy of  Mennonite World Review, where it was first published on Jan. 24, 2013. The author, David George, is a 1998 graduate of 91����Ƶ who also holds an MBA from Yale University, earned in 2005. Under “more commentaries,” two of the commentators are also 91����Ƶ alumni: Michael Shank, who earned an MA in conflict transformation in 2005, and Donald Kraybill, a 1967 graduate.]

The world was stunned and outraged at the senseless, unprecedented assault on the one-room Amish school that took the lives of five children and wounded five others on Oct. 2, 2006. Forgiveness? So quickly and for such a heinous crime?

Donald Kraybill ’67

A symposium on "forgiveness" with a focus on understanding the Amish response will be held Friday, Oct. 10, 10-11:30 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium.

Two Lancaster area men who spoke on behalf of the Amish community in the aftermath of the tragedy and fielded hundreds of media queries will speak and lead a question and answer period.

Speakers

Donald B. Kraybill, distinguished professor of sociology at Elizabethtown (PA) College, and Herman Bontrager, president/CEO of Goodville Mutual Casualty Company, will reflect on Amish beliefs that prompted them to forgive, show compassion and respond graciously, despite their deep pain.

Dr. Kraybill has written 20 books, many on Amish life, including The Riddle of Amish Culture (1989/revised 2001).

He is a 1967 Bible and sociology graduate of 91����Ƶ.

Herman Bontrager ’72

Bontrager, a 1972 alumnus, is secretary-treasurer of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom and was instrumental in establishing a fund for victims of the West Nickel Mines shooting.

The program will launch homecoming and parents weekend at 91����Ƶ.

The Alumni Association will honor Kraybill as "alumnus of the year" and Bontrager will receive the annual "distinguished service" award during a worship service 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 in Lehman Auditorium.

The symposium is open to the public free of charge.

"WWLD: What Would Lloyd Do?", is a musical comedy written by and starring Ted Swartz ’89 and Trent Wagler ’02, and directed by Ingrid De Sanctis ’88). The play, with guest artist Jay Lapp and featuring music groups The Steel Wheels, Shekinah and Sons of the Day, will be presented 8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., Oct. 10-11 in Lehman Auditorium. Tickets, at $7.50 for adults and $5 for students, are available in advance at Red Front Super Market and at the door.

Ted Swartz (l.) and Trent Wagler will premiere a new theater piece, "WWLD (What Would Lloyd Do??), as part of homecoming weekend at 91����Ƶ, Oct. 10-11. Photo by Jon Styer

A symposium, "Forgiveness in the Face of Tragedy: The Amish of Nickel Mines," will take place 10-11:30 a.m. Friday in Lehman Auditorium. Featured speakers will be Donald B. Kraybill ’67 and Herman Bontrager ’72, both of whom played key roles with the Amish community following the tragic shootings in a schoolhouse October, 2006. A question and answer period will follow.

Ken J. Nafziger, professor of music, will lead a worship celebration of song and scripture 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 in Lehman Auditorium. Recipients of the alumnus of the year award, distinguished service award and lifetime of service award will participate and be recognized in the service.

Reunions and Breakfast Meetings

Traditional homecoming features will include reunions at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 11 for graduating years ending in a "3" or "8," from 1963 to 2003. The "Jubilee Alumni," persons who attended 91����Ƶ 50 years ago or more, will hold a luncheon and program at 11:30 a.m. that day in Campus Center Greeting Hall, where members of the class of 1958 will be formally inducted.

Breakfast meetings will be held Saturday morning for alumni and friends of the business and economics department; nursing, education, the sciences, athletics (Loyal Royals), Bible and religion (Haverim).

The language and literature department will host a reunion 9-10 a.m. for all staffers formerly associated with the ".

See the full Homecoming schedule for more detail.

Oakwood Gathering and Science Summit

Former residents of Oakwood residence hall are invited to gather near the site of this "once-beloved dormitory," which has been demolished to make way for a three-story, environmentally-friendly, 120-bed facility, at 11 a.m. Saturday to share stories and jog memories. Read more about the recent demolition of Oakwood and see the web-cam to track progress.

At a mini science "summit" 10 a.m. Saturday, 91����Ƶ science faculty and students in environmental classes will share research projects and give updates on plans to renovate and expand the 40-year-old facility.

Arts and Athletics

An art exhibit featuring works by 91����Ƶ visual arts and communication professors Barbara Fast, Cyndi Gusler ’93, Jerry Holsopple ’80 and Steven Johnson will be on display in the third floor gallery of Hartzler Library. Media will include mixed media fiber art, drawings, photography and digital images. A gallery talk and reception will be held 4 p.m. p.m. Saturday.

Varsity field hockey, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s soccer games are scheduled on Saturday, preceded by a Loyal Royals "fun run" 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the 91����Ƶ track.

The Paul R. Yoder, Sr., Memorial Golf Classic will be held Fri., Oct. 10 with start times at 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg.

More Information

Special activities for children (kindergarten through fifth grade) and youth (grades 6 through 9) are scheduled at various times Saturday, and childcare for infants through age 5 will be provided during reunions and at other designated times.

During the weekend, a documentary video produced by alumnae Tiffany Horst ’07 and Carrie Keagy ’07, will be shown several times, featuring historic images and interviews that help to interpret the growth and changes that 91����Ƶ has seen over the years while remaining true to its vision, according to Douglas J. Nyce ’86, director of alumi/parent relations.

The registration desk in the University Commons will be open 3-8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 10 and 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 11.

For more information, go to www.emu.edu/homecoming, call the alumni office at (540) 432-4245 or e-mail alumni@emu.edu.

Ervin R. Stutzman, dean and professor of church ministries at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, will read from his works 5:30 p.m. that day in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91����Ƶ.

Dr. Stutzman has written books that relate to his family of origin – Tobias of the Amish and Emma: A Widow Among the Amish.

Stutzman was born into an Amish home as a twin in Kalona, Iowa. After his father’s death in a traffic accident when Stutzman was 3, his mother moved her family to her home community in Hutchinson, Kan. He was baptized into the Center Amish Mennonite Church near Partridge, Kan. He later joined the Yoder Mennonite Church near Yoder, Kan.

Stutzman’s ten-year search to learn more about his entrepreneurial father revealed tangled strands of relationships, woven by Tobias J. Stutzman’s ambition through the fabric of family, church and community. It led to his writing a book, Tobias of the Amish, released by Herald Press of Scottdale, Pa., in 1995.

Stutzman notes that Tobias of the Amish is more than a book about his father – “It’s also the story of a family and faith community struggling with the challenges of a modern world.

“I hope that my story will encourage others to embark on the arduous but deeply-rewarding task of delving into their family lore,” Stutzman states. “Gazing into my father’s face has helped me to see my own.”

Emma, says Stutzman, picks up where Tobias left off.

The book, released by Herald Press in 2007, gives readers a close look at life in an Amish community, and how that society’s beliefs in the mid-20th century governed women.

“This book is about a young mother growing up alone with six children,” notes Stutzman, whose present family includes wife Bonnie and three adult children: daughter Emma and sons Daniel and Benjamin. “It’s also a story of a widow’s journey, from helplessness to independence. It’s a history and a story.”

Stutzman has three additional books published by Herald Press – Being God’s People (1986), Creating Communities of the Kingdom, co-authored with David W. Shenk (1988) and Welcome (1990).

Stutzman earned a BA in Bible and Christian ministries from Cincinnati Bible College, an MA in communication arts from the University of Cincinnati, an MA in religion from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a PhD in communication from Temple University.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $15, $7 for students. Reservations are required and should be made by noon Friday, Sept. 12, by calling the language and literature department at 540-432-4168 or email: langlit@emu.edu.

A season pass for all four Writers Read programs of the 2008-09 school year is available for $50.

Two experts in Anabaptist studies have collaborated on the first scholarly examination of pacifism during the Civil War.

“Mennonites, Amish and the American Civil War,” by James O. Lehman of Harrisonburg and Steven M. Nolt of Goshen, Ind., describes the various strategies used by the sectarian religious groups in responding to the North-South conflict and the effects of war on these communities.

Lehman is librarian emeritus at 91����Ƶ, archivist for Virginia Mennonite Conference and the author of nine congregational histories and a book on 20th century Mennonite revivalism.

Steven M. Nolt, professor of history at Goshen (Ind.) College and coauthor of two books on Amish faith and life

Nolt is professor of history at Goshen (Ind.) College and coauthor of two books on Amish faith and life, both published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bloodiest War in American History

Integrating the most recent Civil War scholarship with little-known primary sources and new information from Pennsylvania and Virginia to Illinois and Iowa, Lehman and Nolt provide a definitive account of the Anabaptist experience during the bloodiest war in American history with 620,000 dead and over a million maimed and wounded.

The authors focus on moral dilemmas Mennonites and Amish faced that that tested the very core of their faith: How to oppose both slavery and the war to end it? How to remain outside the conflict without entering the American mainstream to secure legal conscientious objector status.

The book serves as a good reminder that not all churches immersed themselves in super-charged patriotism for either the Confederacy or the Union.

“The book is an easy read, with lots of arresting stories of faith under test,” said Albert N. Keim, professor emeritus of history at 91����Ƶ. “Its amazingly thorough research makes the book convincing. After reading it, I was convinced I had just acquired an accurate understanding of my forbears response to the Civil War,” he added.

The 376-page hardback book, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, is available for $39.95 at leading bookstores and at www.amazon.com.

Of the hundreds of media queries I’ve received in the past week, the forgiveness question rose to the top. Why and how could they do such a thing so quickly? Was it a genuine gesture or just an Amish gimmick?

The world was outraged by the senseless assault on 10 Amish girls in the one-room West Nickel Mines School. Why would a killer turn his gun on the innocent of the innocent? First, questions focused on the killer’s motivations-why did he unleash his anger on the Amish?

Unprecedented Tragedy 

Then, questions shifted to the Amish. How would they cope with such an unprecedented tragedy?

In many ways the Amish are better equipped to process grief than many other Americans. First, their religious faith sees even tragic events under the canopy of divine providence-having a higher purpose or meaning that is hidden from human sight at first glance. The Amish don’t argue with God.

They have an enormous capacity to absorb adversity-a willingness to yield to divine providence in the face of hostility. Such religious resolve enables them to move forward without the endless paralysis of analysis that asks why-letting the analysis rest in the hands of God.

Habits of Mutual Aid

Secondly, their historic habits of mutual aid-such as the barn raising-arise from their understanding that Christian teaching compels them to care for each other in time of disaster. This is why they reject commercial insurance and government-funded Social Security, believing that the Bible teaches them to care for each other.

In moments of disaster the resources of this socio-spiritual capital spring into action. Meals are brought to grieving families. Neighbors milk cows and care for other daily chores. Hundreds of friends and neighbors visit the home of the bereaved to share quiet words and simply the gift of presence.

After the burial, adult women who have lost a close family member will wear a black dress in public settings for as long as a year to signal their mourning and welcome visits of support.

In all these ways Amish faith and culture provide profound resources for processing the sting of death. Make no mistake-death is painful. Many tears are shed. The pain is sharp, searing the hearts of Amish mothers and fathers like it would any other parents.

Forgive and Forget

But why forgiveness? Surely some anger – at least some grudges – are justifiable in the face of such a slaughter. A frequent phrase in Amish life is "forgive and forget." That’s the recipe for responding to Amish members who transgress Amish rules if they confess their failures. Amish forgiveness also reaches to outsiders-even to killers of their children.

Amish roots stretch back to the Anabaptist movement at the time of the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Europe. Hundreds of Anabaptists were burned at the stake, decapitated, and tortured because they contended that individuals should have the freedom to make voluntary decisions about religious faith.

This insistence that the church, not the state, had the authority to decide matters like the age of baptism laid the foundation for our modern notion of religious liberty and the separation of church and state.

Yield One’s Life to God

Anabaptist martyrs emphasized yielding one’s life completely to God – even to death in the face of torture. Songs by imprisoned Anabaptists, recorded in the Ausbund, the Amish hymnbook, are regularly used in Amish church services today. The 1200-page Martyrs Mirror, first printed in 1660, which tells the martyr stories, is found in many Amish houses and is cited by preachers in their sermons.

The martyr voice still rings loudly in Amish ears with the message of forgiveness of those who tortured them and burned their bodies at the stake.

The martyr testimony springs from the example of Jesus, the cornerstone of Amish faith. As do other Anabaptists, the Amish take the life and teachings of Jesus seriously. Without formal creeds, their simple (but not simplistic) faith accents living in the way of Jesus rather than comprehending the complexities of religious doctrine.

Their model is the suffering Jesus who carried his cross without complaint. And who, hanging on the cross, extended forgiveness to his tormentors: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Turn the Other Cheek

Beyond his example, the Amish try to practice Jesus’ admonitions to turn the other cheek, to love one’s enemies, to forgive 70 times 7, and to leave vengeance to the Lord. Retaliation and revenge are not part of their vocabulary.

As pragmatic as they are about other things, the Amish do not ask if forgiveness works; they simply seek to practice it as the Jesus way of responding to adversaries, even enemies. Rest assured, grudges are not always easily tossed aside in Amish life. Sometimes forgiveness is harder to dispense to fellow church members, whom they know too well, than to unknown strangers.

Forgiveness is woven into the fabric of Amish faith. And that is why words of forgiveness were sent to the killer’s family before the blood had dried on the schoolhouse floor. It was just the natural thing to do, the Amish way of doing things.

Such courage to forgive has jolted the watching world as much as the killing itself. The transforming power of forgiveness may be one redeeming thing that flows from the blood that was shed in Nickel Mines this week.

———
Donald B. Kraybill, distinguished professor at Elizabethtown (PA) College, has written numerous books on Amish life including "The Riddle of Amish Culture." He is a 1967 Bible and sociology graduate of 91����Ƶ, Harrisonburg, Va., and a former chair of the 91����Ƶ board of trustees.

Earl Zimmerman

It is a philosophy and way of life that permeates what is known as the Anabaptist church family

The department will hold its final “” program of second semester 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 30, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building.

Evie Yoder Miller will read from her historical novel, “Eyes at the Window,” and other works. The book examines a close-knit commuity of Amish pioneers over the decades preceding the American Civil War.

Dr. Miller, who grew up in rural Kalona, Iowa, has had short stories, essays and poems published by a variety of small presses over the years. She holds a Ph.D. degree from Ohio University and currently teaches writing and fiction writing at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $12. Registration is required, and should be made by 2:30 p.m. Friday, Mar. 24, by calling the 91����Ƶ box office at 540-432-4582.