September 2024 MAP Update
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| 575 US Highway 250 | Greenwich, OH 44837 | Office: (419) 962-1515 |
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Adoption into the Amish Culture Linda's Adoption
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| Adoption into the Amish Culture |
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Since 1990, the ministry has taken in a dozen or more adults who were adopted by Amish families. As you might imagine, most deal with a very deep sense of rejection that began in the womb and followed them, even in the strongest of family structures. Pretty much all of the adopted children who have left their Amish families and have come to the ministry for a hand have what I have always called a hole in their soul. While it sounds brutal to say, that hole in their soul is bottomless. No amount of affirmation, approval, or acceptance will reach deep enough to fill that void. In many ways, they live a life of torment. I will always remember when Claudia (not her real name) moved into our home. She had come from the state of California and was adopted by an Amish family in Michigan. Claudia was adopted when she was just a couple of days old and raised in a home where she was loved and cared for. While she did not understand the gospel, she did know about God. When Claudia came to our home, we helped her get a job at a local business, working third shift. We taxied her back and forth to work daily. About a month after she moved into our home, we suddenly realized that she had made arrangements to meet someone at a motel in town. As time went on, she would slip out after work and meet more men at motels. When we would approach her, she would cry and beg us to forgive her. She would read her Bible, draw close to God, and share her love for the Lord. It was a never ending cycle. I don’t recall how things played out, but over time, we were able to find out some details about her mom in California. We learned that the mother was a prostitute, and that Claudia was the result of prostitution. I’d guess that it was at this point that I began to put some dots together. That is, it did not matter how Claudia was raised from a baby up, given the right time and place she would revert to her mother’s lifestyle. She couldn't seem to help it. No amount of love, care, Bible studies, and support helped her overcome. While you may not believe in the thought of generational curses being passed on, the reality of that idea seemed very obvious to us. As you will see in Abigail's article (below), the majority of adopted children in Amish homes grow up and leave the culture. Wearing Amish clothes and driving horse and buggy do not make a person Amish. Nor does being raised in an Amish home and taught Amish values and traditions make one Amish. We first met Linda when she came to our house in December of 2023. Later, she came to work at Beyond Measure Market and then moved into New Beginnings. Immediately, the MAP staff came around her, loved on her, and did everything they could to make her feel special. On March 21st of this year, Linda got saved. In April, she was baptized, and last month, she became a member of our home church. In October, she is going with us to Germany. While Linda may not have had a very rosy start in life, and while she may not have chosen to live out the traditions and beliefs of her adopted parents, she loves the Lord and has grown so much in her walk with God. If you come to Beyond Measure Market, you will most likely see Linda first. She works the cash register and is always smiling. She is our little non-stop chatterbox, and loved by all. |
It is not uncommon for Amish families to adopt children who were born outside their culture. Some choose to do so because they are unable to have children. Other’s like the idea of providing unwanted babies a safe home. It is also not uncommon for Amish families to adopt children of color and different nationalities.| Linda's Adoption |
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Some Amish couples cannot have biological children of their own and choose to adopt children from outside of the community. What happens when children are adopted into an Amish community? Linda was born in Utah and adopted as an infant into an Old Order Amish community in Ohio. She grew up knowing that she was adopted and always felt like she was on the outside. Linda was treated differently because of this, and endured much during her years spent among the Amish. She knew she didn’t fit in and wanted to leave the community. Linda was pressured to be baptized into the Amish church, but she chose to leave the Amish before she could be baptized. Since she was not yet baptized, Linda was shunned, but not excommunicated. Shunning and excommunication can look different from community to community and family to family. Shunning occurs when the Amish treat you differently because you are living in ways that conflict with the Amish lifestyle, rules, or way of being. If you are shunned, manipulation tactics are used at every possible moment to drive home the point that you are not living in accordance with the community. Excommunication can only occur to a baptized member of the Amish church. A vote would be taken to remove the person from their community unless they changed their ways and conformed with the laws of the church community. Though only shunned, Linda was keenly aware that she was living in conflict with the ways of the community. It was clear that she would have to do what her family and community wanted for her to be treated as she was before she made the decision to leave. Of the thirteen children who Linda knows who were adopted into the Amish, only two have remained when they came of legal age. Though not born Amish but grafted in, the adopted Amish still will face excommunication and shunning if they choose to leave. It is a complex issue with many factors, worldviews, and cultures coming into play. MAP is so grateful to have Linda stay at New Beginnings Homestead, where she is learning practical skills to become integrated into an English lifestyle while learning more about who she is, who God made her to be, how to follow God fully, and where He is leading her from here. Linda’s adoption story, was recorded in a book of collected stories from children outside the Amish being adopted into the communities. If you are interested in reading more, you can purchase the book A Journey of Hope by John Hochstetler by ordering it from Ridgeway Books. |
The Amish believe that if you were born Amish, God predestined you to be Amish. Some Amish would also say that if you’re born English, that’s what God chose for you, and you should stay English. This is mostly an implied belief that many Amish hold but are reluctant to verbalize.| Leave a Legacy |
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Will you consider leaving a legacy by taking advantage of one of these opportunities to support the ongoing ministry of Mission to Amish People?
For more information, go to: /get-involved/legacy-giving |
