Who are those people driving horse powered buggies?(2)

Last time, I wrote about being with a group that experienced a meal provided by an Amish family here on Prince Edward Island.  In this edition, I want to explore what I found out about the Amish faith.  First, I must confess that I didn’t know much about the Amish faith beyond what I had seen in movies.  I had been aware that they were like old order Mennonites in terms of how they lived eschewing modernity.  They don’t drive motor vehicles and use horse powered vehicles i.e. horse and buddies and horse powered machinery for farming.  I had encountered them on the roads near us here riding in their horse drawn buggies and had seen Amish children riding bicycles without pedals.  I was also aware of their distinctive black clothing – the distinctive hats worn by men and bonnets for women. 

At the meal, I was further enlightened about the Amish lifestyle – actually, the Amish way of life would be a better term.  There was no electricity in the house and wood was used as a source of heat and cooking – not a surprise.  Oil lamps were used for light - I mentioned last time that a lamp was hanging from an old electric light fixture.   

The first indication of their faith life was the blessing at the beginning of the meal.  I discovered on-line later that this is a common way of praying for the Amish.  I enquired after the meal about the Amish religious life of that community.  I was informed that the community of nineteen families had three ministers and one bishop.  The worship service on Sundays was held at different homes – no church building.  The worship had hymns at the beginning and end of the worship service which were sung acapella in German.  There was silent prayer as well as spoken prayers including the Lord’s Prayer and a sermon by one of the ministers or the bishop and readings of scripture.  I neglected to find out it the bible they used was also in German.  However, research online notes that the Amish typically use a German version of the Martin Luther Bible. 

Putting the Amish faith in the context of the Christian religion - according to Wikipedia, “The Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish.”  Below is a wonderful illustration of the Christian Family Tree with all its many branches which was provided by Murray Watson who teaches courses in Religion at Huron University College.  Note that the Amish are on the Radical/Anabaptist branch of the tree which is comprised of the Hutterites, the Amish and the Mennonites.  The chart shows the membership of the Anabaptist branch has an estimated membership of five million in 2014. 

There is much about the Amish way of life that is commendable in this day and age.  The people who hosted the meal were jovial and upbeat and seemed to be very content in the life they have.  They appear to live their faith which is something which many Chirstian don’t do in my estimation.  We would be blessed to follow their example and live out our faith – whatever it is – more fully. 

    

Who are those people driving horse powered buggies?

Last week, the Tuesday morning coffee group that Lorna and I attend, had lunch at an Amish farm near us.  We have been aware of the presence of Amish families on Prince Edward Island – Canada’s island province.  for the last ten years or so but we have never had a lot of contact with them.  We have encountered the buggies at various times in our travels and have bought a few things from them but had little contact otherwise.  We were looking forward to this experience as a way of getting to know them and know more about the Amish. 

A group of seventeen members of the coffee group carpooled to the farm and our expectations were more than met.  The dinner was hosted by a woman and her two adult daughters.  The man of the house – a farrier (blacksmith) – was away for work.  The main course of chicken was on a large BBQ operated by one of the women - apparently BBQing is not men’s work for the Amish as it is in my family. 

The meal – definitely not a lunch – consisted of BBQ chicken, unique potato salad (the recipe available) and other salads, water and lemonade, with coffee and tea along with huge portions of strawberry upside-down cake with cream for dessert.  Most of the food was raised by the host family or the community with a few things such as salad dressing was store bought.  The hostess noted that they  raise as much produce as possible as food prices in stores are incredibly expensive – no argument here from the person who does most of the shopping for Lorna and me.  We were seated indoor at a large table (two actually pushed together) in very comfortable conditions.  It was interesting that the original fluorescent light fixture had an oil lamp hanging from it. 

 It was a case of loaves and fishes as the quantity of food was limitless with more left over than we consumed - the quality matches the quantity  The hostess noted that this would be shared with other families in their community.

There are three young sons in the family who gave us a demonstration of the buggy they have which is powered by a pony named Judy who is twenty plus years old but very lively.  It is not driven on the roads because the pony is not shoed – perhaps a case of the cobbler’s children going barefoot.  We also got a tour of the barn and saw a new litter of bunnies – more than cute – we didn’t question what lay in store for them in the future.

A member of our group gave an account of how the Amish came to P.E.I.  She got to know Amish people back in Ontario due to her love and experience with draught horses.  The Amish were looking for new opportunities to farm and the land in Southern Ontario was too expensive.  They tried Northern Ontario, but the Canadian Shield defeated them as the land was too rocky to plow with horsepower.  Our group member has been visiting our Island province and was aware that there was good farmland available at very reasonable prices.  She assisted Amish families to relocate to P.E.I. starting about ten years ago.  There are now nineteen families who are purchased existing farm some of which had fallen into a state of disrepair and revitalized them. 

I inquired of one of the Amish ladies about their community life and worship life.  I will delve into what I was told and what I subsequently found out about the Amish religious life in the next edition.  I am very grateful to have had this introduction to the Amish community.  Our hosts were very gracious and welcoming and jovial and seem to fully embrace their lives. 

I believe they are truly blessed as I hope we can all be on our journey.