Widespread Abuse and Massive Coverup in Amish Country

“The Amish are not exempt from an independent investigation, and yet as soon as the CCI gets involved, it is no longer an independent investigation.” ~ Fellow Pennsylvania Advocate Recently there was a report about an Amish mother reclaiming her children in the York Daily Record after the children had been separated from her for…

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Building a Cultural Bridge in Lancaster

Photo by Saloma Furlong

Several weeks ago, I started a part-time volunteer job at Safe Communities. I wrote about the restorative experience here on this blog of being a participant at the retreat led by Linda Crockett and Mark Harris in the spring. I was already in awe of Linda and her leadership skills, and at the retreat I…

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Sounds and Reflections from Pennsylvania Amish Country

I should write, “from Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonite Country.” Until I moved here, I had no idea how many Old Order Mennonites live in the county. On the road one can tell the difference by the buggies. The Amish in this county have gray (or open) buggies, while the Old Order Mennonites have black ones.…

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My Journey, Part 2

By Aleta Schrock Continued from Part 1. After I had returned home from teaching at the Old Order Mennonite church school in Ohio, I worked as a nurse’s aide in a local nursing home. I enjoyed my new job, but my heart longed to be back in the classroom teaching children. One day I drove…

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My Journey

By Aleta Schrock, Part 1 I hated to see the end of my eighth-grade school year. Learning was fun, but the expectation was that after the eighth grade my formal education would end and I would either work at home or get a job. I worked up the courage to ask my mom if I…

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Making Space for the Unforeseen

It seems our five-year-old friend was wise in giving his advice. We landed in a small apartment on Main Street in Ephrata, five minutes from his house. His dad and a friend of theirs helped us move our furniture into the apartment on Saturday, July 15. Then it took David and me three days to…

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