This week on Amish Wisdom: Who the Anabaptists? Round 2: Mennonites, Hutterites and the Amish

This week we'll be revisiting "Who Are the Anabaptists?". The first show featured Ira Wagler, Sherry Gore, Erik Wesner and Mary Ann Kirkby. On Thursday's show we'll welcome back Erik Wesner and also hear from a former Old Order Mennonite, Osiah Hoorst and a practicing Hutterite, Linda Maendel. Not sure of the differences between, Amish, Old Order Amish, Mennonite & Hutterite? Well, tune in and have all your questions answered.

For a chance to win an advanced copy of my latest book The Haven - leave a comment here (or email amy@litfusegroup.com if the comment box isn't working)! One winner will be notified via email next week.

More about our panel:

Erik Wesner: 

Erik is the author of the popular blog "Amish America." He has visited 30+ Amish communities in nearly a dozen states, and met around 5,000 Amish families.  

Erik is the author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive, and Kim sa Amisze?, the first book on the Amish in the Polish language.

He has contributed to Amish-themed articles featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other print media, and was the 2008 Snowden Fellow at the Young Center at Elizabethtown College. 

Osiah Hoorst: 

Osiah Horst grew up in an Old Order Mennonite family in Canada.  Osiah’s father Isaac wrote a column for a local newspaper which eventually grew into the book A Separate People: An Insider’s View of Old Order Mennonite Customs and Traditions, a witty and incisive look at Old Order Mennonite society.

Isaac penned 2 dozen books and many columns, before passing away in 2008.  Osiah has kindly taken some time to answer questions today about Old Order Mennonite life and his father’s work.

Linda Maendel:

Linda Maendel and was born and raised Hutterite. She lives on a colony in Manitoba, Canada and works in the local school, teaching English and German to K-6 students. During the summer months she enjoys helping with all the other colony work, cooking, gardening and canning. In her free time she loves to read, write and maintain her blog, Hutt-Write Voice. She has one published German children's book and has translated a set of Bible Stories into her language, a Carintian German dielect which they fondly call Hutterisch, and orginates from the province of Carinthia in Austria.

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Comments
  1. Linda McFarland says: Please enter me for this week's drawing to win The Haven...Thank you. dmcfarl101@juno.com

    Posted on: 08-30-2012 @ 6:01 pm EST
  2. Maxie Anderson says: I would love to win this book to go with my book, The Keeper.Your books and spotlight, and author's page are so enjoyable. Want to win. Maxie ( mac262@me.com )

    Posted on: 08-30-2012 @ 10:03 pm EST
  3. Maxie Anderson says: Please enter me to win "The Haven." I would love to have it to go with "The Keeper." Maxie ( mac262@me.com )

    Posted on: 08-30-2012 @ 10:13 pm EST
  4. Brenda Welch says: Please put my name in the hat for this weeks drawing. I love your program! Thanks bbwelch@windstream.net

    Posted on: 08-31-2012 @ 9:20 am EST
  5. amy c says: What an interesting show! Thanks Campbellamyd at gmail dot com

    Posted on: 08-31-2012 @ 10:49 am EST
  6. Emily says: I'm so sad Suzanne, the connection was so bad on the show on Thursday!!! You HAVE to get Erik back on the show when he's back in the states! =( Emreilly303(At)gmail(dot)com

    Posted on: 08-31-2012 @ 9:07 pm EST
  7. Linda says: Enjoyed being on your show with your other guests, Suzanne. But am so sorry that listening to the show and podcast was so garbled. Other people have told me the same and wondered if something could still be done to fix that. Thanks for having me and for your interest in our Hutterite way of life

    Posted on: 09-01-2012 @ 7:47 pm EST
  8. FELECIA says: I would love a copy of your new book! felecia@twinoaksfl.org

    Posted on: 09-05-2012 @ 4:25 pm EST
  9. Name Barb Abel says: Comment I would love to win abel.barb@yahoo.com

    Posted on: 09-06-2012 @ 12:58 pm EST
  10. Brenda Welch says: I would love to win your new book! Thanks bbwelch@windstream.net

    Posted on: 09-07-2012 @ 8:12 am EST
  11. Christen -- ckrumm@litfusegroup.com says: Congratulations Brenda! You are this week's winner!

    Posted on: 09-07-2012 @ 11:07 pm EST


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Schedule of Guests

May:

16: Sherry Gore guest hosts | Summer in Lancaster with Joel Cliff of www.padutchcountry.com and the Sensationalization of the Amish with Brad Igou

23: Tricia Goyer - Amish Fiction

30: Erik Wesner

June: 

6: Kate Lloyd - Amish Fiction

13: Dan Walsh - how fiction impacts with real marriages

20: Plain Weddings with Sherry Gore, Maryann Kinsinger, Sharon Lavy, & Rhonda Schrock

Suzanne's Latest Releases

A New Home for Lily (Available now!)

Book 2 in The Adventures of Lily Lapp series.

Change is all Lily faces when her family moves to an Amish community in Pennsylvania. She has to make new friends, settle into her new home—which she thinks is ugly—and adjust to another new baby brother. (Still no sisters!) Even worse, a boy at school, Aaron Yoder, enjoys tormenting poor Lily. There are some bright spots about Lily’s new home—she has a wonderful teacher, and her relatives have moved close by. But there are a few lessons Lily needs to learn about starting over. 

Be sure to visit Lily's interactive website.

The Lesson (Available now!)

Book 3 in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series

In her wildest dreams, spunky and impulsive nineteen-year-old Mary Kate Lapp never imagined herself behind a schoolteacher’s desk. A run-in (literally) with the schoolteacher compels her to act as a substitute teacher, just as her restless desire to see the world compels her to apply for a passport . . . just in case. The only thing of interest to M.K. in the sleepy Amish community of Stoney Ridge is the unexplained death of a sheep farmer that coincided with the arrival of a mysterious young man into the community. Frustrated that no one takes the crime seriously, she takes matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case for M.K., she jumps headlong into trouble.

Life with Lily 

Book 1 in The Adventures of Lily Lapp series.

Life with Lily is the first book in the ‘Adventures of Lily Lapp’ series. Lily is six in this story, just starting first grade in a one-room schoolhouse in upstate New York. Her parents are busy building a farm, and soon animals join the family—Jenny the cow and Chubby the miniature horse. A baby brother arrives, too, which Lily has mixed feelings about. (She wanted a sister!) Aside from a mischievous friend like Mandy Mast, Lily is happy at school and even happier at home. Trouble is brewing at the schoolhouse and change is on the horizon for Lily and her family.

Click the Adventures of Lily Lapp badge to visit Lily's interactive website. Geared toward children of all ages the Lily site is loaded with fun, games, downloadable coloring pages, Mama's recipes,a way to ask Lily questions...and more! Check it out by clicking on the pix...and be sure to watch the fabulous trailer about Lily!   

The Haven 

Book 2 in the 'Stoney Ridge Seasons' series

From Publisher’s Weekly:

“Popular Amish romance novelist Fisher (The Choice) continues her Stoney Ridge Seasons series with a stand-alone tale focusing on Amos Lapp’s middle daughter, Sadie. Fisher’s style is light and engaging. Her setting may be a simple Pennsylvania Amish community, but the struggles of faith, trust, and forgiveness are common to a wide-ranging audience. Moral elements are so deftly woven into the plot that most readers will learn the lesson before realizing there is one.”

When Sadie Lapp steps off the bus in Stoney Ridge after being in Ohio for the winter, she is faced with a decision–one that goes against her very essence. Yet it’s the only way she can think of to protect a loved one.

Schoolteacher Gideon Smucker has been crazy about Sadie since boyhood. But his response to her surprising decision undermines his own reputation–and his relationship with Sadie.

College student Will Stoltz is spending the spring at the Lapp farm as a guard for a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons–courtesy of the Lancaster County Game Warden. Will needs to get his life back on track, but his growing friendship with Sadie threatens his plans.

The lives of these three individuals intertwine, and then unravel as unexpected twists create ripples through the town of Stoney Ridge . . . and through Sadie’s heart.

Once again, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher intrigues and delights with a story that explores the bonds of friendship, family, and true love. Readers will enjoy every surprise in Sadie’s story as they search for the truth hidden within these pages.

Read an excerpt!

The Keeper 

Book 1 in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series

"The Stoney Ridge Season starts off with characters who are trying to make the right choices, but sometimes with unexpected results. Fisher always brings freshness to her Amish novels. The Amish culture is interesting to read and learn about, but there is also a message: God has plans and those plans may vary greatly from the plans you have." -Romantic Times, 4 Stars

Julia Lapp has planned on marrying Paul Fisher since she was a girl. Now twenty-one, she looks forward to their wedding with giddy anticipation. When Paul tells her he wants to postpone the wedding--again--she knows who is to blame. Perpetual bachelor and spreader of cold feet, Roman Troyer, the Bee Man.

Roamin' Roman travels through the Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvania with his hives full of bees, renting them out to farmers in need of pollinators. He relishes his nomadic life, which keeps him from thinking about all he has lost. He especially enjoys bringing his bees to Stoney Ridge each year. But with Julia on a mission to punish him for inspiring Paul's cold feet, the Lapp farm is looking decidedly less pleasant.

Can Julia secure the future she's always dreamed of? Or does God have something else in mind?

Full of the plot twists and surprises her fans love, The Keeper is the first in a new series by bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher. Through touching family relationships and trials of the heart, Fisher's vivid characters grapple with yielding to God's will when it doesn't match their own.

A Lancaster County Christmas 

Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do--in love and looking forwardto abright future together. But four years later they've drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.

Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for--news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn't likely to become a reality.

Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home--and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?

Amish Values for Your Family 

For readers who long for strong families that know how to truly enjoy life together, there is much to learn from the Amish. Values like community, forgiveness, simple living, obedience, and more can be your family legacy--without selling your car, changing your wardrobe, or moving out to farm country.

In Amish Values for Your Family, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher shows how you can adopt the wisdom of the Amish when it comes to family matters. In this inspiring and practical book readers will find charming true stories interlaced with solid, biblical advice about parenting, marriage, and all aspects of family life. As readers get an intimate glimpse into the everyday lives of real Amish families, they will learn to prioritize what's truly important, simplify decision-making, slow down as a family, safeguard time together, and let go when the time comes.

The Search--Book 3 in The Lancaster County Secrets Collection 

Fifteen years ago, Lainey O'Toole made a split-second decision. She couldn't have known that her choice would impact so many. Now in her mid-twenties, she is poised to go to culinary school when her car breaks down in Stoney Ridge, the very Amish town in which her long-reaching decision was made, forcing her to face the shadowed past.

Bess Reihl is less than thrilled to be spending the summer at Rose Hill Farm with her large and intimidating grandmother, Bertha. It quickly becomes clear that she is there to work the farm--and work hard. The labor is made slightly more tolerable by the time it affords Bess to spend with the handsome hired hand, Billy Lapp. But he only has eyes for a flirty and curvaceous older girl.

Lainey's and Bess's worlds are about to collide and the secrets that come to light will shock them both.

The Waiting--Book 2 in The Lancaster County Secrets Collection The Waiting

Jorie King’s life is on hold. She’s waiting for Ben Zook to return from serving in the war as a conscientious objector. Waiting for Ben to settle down and join the church. Waiting to marry him. When news arrives that Ben has been killed, Jorie finds unlikely comfort in the friendship of his brother Caleb. As friendship ripens into love, Jorie and Caleb plan for a life together filled with the promise of a fresh beginning, until the past intrudes.

A multifaceted story about complex people living the simple life, The Waiting is the second book in the Lancaster County Secrets series. Readers will find themselves transported into the world of the Amish and deeply invested in these wonderful characters.

Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World

You don't have to "go Amish" to make personal peace a reality. Organized around five central themes in Amish life, Amish Peace shows you how you can cultivate a simple life of love, gratitude, and faith in the midst of a very complicated world. It includes real-life stories and examples of Plain People, Amish proverbs, and fascinating facts about Amish communities. Each section also contains questions for reflection and action, outlining things you can do in your own life that "make for peace."