Henry works as a local mechanic in a small town of about 1200 people, while Jen works as a Pharmacist. Every morning Henry and Jen get up at 6:00 AM, do their morning chores, feed their two horses, a dozen chickens, and the pet cats, Tammy and Prince. After gulping down a quick breakfast, they jump into the old farm truck and head into town together, to put in another 8 hour shift at work.

In the evening Henry swings by and picks up Jen from the Pharmacy, and they drive home together, usually in silence. They do the chores, eat dinner, watch an hour or so of Television, and then off to bed to catch some sleep, so they can do it all over again the next day.

                                              The Lapp Family

Henry and Jen will never be blessed with children. The animals on their small 7 acre farm help to fill that void a little.

Henry and Jen are just an average American married couple, content to live the average American life, make their small mark in their small world with a handful of people that they have made acquaintances with, and when they pass on, there will be no one to leave their legacy behind.

Henry and Jen both come from rough childhoods. Both were been introduced to alcohol and drugs at an early age, and without the proper mentoring and upbringing, had both fallen into the depths of the evils of addiction. The evil drugs that have a way of making all their worries, pain, torture, and abuse somehow miraculously melt away…. for small periods at a time.

Henry and Jen met in rehab when Henry was 19 and Jen was 17. They were both outcasts, disowned by their already dysfunctional families, and trying to hang onto some form of sanity in life.

And so, Henry and Jen found each other. Although they fight a lot, and their lives are often miserable, mixed with alcohol and drugs, and the children they both want so desperately, but know that they know they can never have. Somehow, through it all, they manage to hold together jobs, a battered relationship, and some hope of a brighter future.

Every once in a while when things get too rocky, they play around with the idea of possibility going their separate ways. Somehow they always find themselves back together, knowing that they share a common ground. A common ground that no one else can take away from them. Yes, They fight, but they understand each other, and the thought of trying to live a life apart, or with other people, is too difficult to fathom.

Once every two months, on the last Sunday of the month, Henry and Jen have just enough extra money to go beyond the confines of their small town, into the large City, eat breakfast at a real restaurant, and do a little shopping. This is date weekend, the rare time when they are able to get away from the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small town, feel free to splash a little extra money around.

And so their lives go by, day after day, year after year, with never an extra dime, no money in savings, but just enough to get by, hoping for that one moment that will forever change their lives. Maybe they win the lottery. Maybe a long lost relative will die and leave some fortune to them. In the meantime, they are content to sit back and wait for that break in life that so many people sit back and wait for. The break that quite possibly will never come.

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Karen is a single Mom in her late forties. Karen works as a Writer and Editor. She enjoys her small house in the suburbs of the City. Karen is at the point in her life where she is finally at peace with herself. She is fiercely independent, is proud of the`woman she has become, and above all, Karen is a devout believer. A Christian who goes to church twice a week, studies the scripture regularly, and separates herself from, and almost scornfully looks down on anyone who doesn’t believe that God exists.

Karen has been through a lot in her life. When she was nineteen, she married her high school sweetheart. Together they bought a house, moved in together, and for the world were madly in love. They were both members of a Catholic Church, which they attended regularly. One year after their marriage, they were blessed with a wonderful baby boy. They named him Joseph.

Four months after Joseph arrived, Karen’s world was ripped apart. In stunned disbelief she watched her husband move his half of the possessions out, leaving her and little baby Joseph behind in a house too large for just Two.

Through the tears and heart break, Karen questioned her faith. Is this a punishment from God for something she may have done wrong in her life?

There were many other men who were interested in replacing her late husband, but Karen never again had a desire to find another companion. Karen had been deeply scarred!

Through those early years, the one thing Karen did have, that was a constant, that filled the much needed void, that had an endless amount of love to lavish upon her, was her son Joseph.

Over the years, Karen and Joseph formed a relationship that only a mother and son can form. A bond so strong that nothing could shake it. Karen got a job at the Daily Tribune, as a writer and editor, to support herself and Joseph. She worked her way up through the ranks, became a Manager, and finally, after years of struggles and financial difficulties, successfully made her last mortgage payment. How proud she was when she was able to buy Joseph his first car!

After years of questioning the Catholic Church, and the rules they taught, Karen was finally, once again, comfortable with herself, her role within the church, and her relationship with God. Karen was in her low forties, financially stable, had a Son who was almost marrying age, and would almost certainly give her Grandchildren sometime soon. Life was good.

Alas, but the life Karen had all figured out, took a drastic turn, and she discovered that the world she thought she had a firm grip on, was about to be turned upside down. That sometimes the life one has preplanned for herself may not be the life that her God has in mind.

Joseph broke the news to her one Saturday morning after another late night on the town. Joseph was Gay. He had no desire to marry a woman and give Karen the grandchildren she so desired.

Karen’s world was shattered! Where could she have gone wrong? How could this precious baby that she had raised so proudly, all on her own, possibly let her down like this? How could he, after all that she had devoted to him, the sacrifices she had made, turn his back on her and do such a drastic thing? How could he do this in good faith, when the bible clearly spoke strongly against homosexuality. Indeed, entire cities were burned to the ground with fire and brimstone because of it.

Karen begged and pleaded with Joseph, but her pleading fell upon deaf ears. Joseph had made his decision. Much like his father twenty years earlier, once Joseph made up his mind, he stuck with it, and refused to budge.

Joseph told Karen daily that he still loved her the same as he always had, and that his homosexuality was not her fault, but Karen couldn’t wrap her mind around that concept.

Karen felt that she had no choice. She either had to leave the church and it’s teachings, or turn her back on her son. She chose the latter. Maybe by forcing her son out into the streets, forcing him to find his own way in life, and struggling on his own, he might come to his senses. If all else failed, surely he would miss his own mother so much that he would have a change of heart, and realize the error of his ways.

After rejecting her son, the one thing she had cherished so in life, Karen began to feel a need to get out and explore a little. Occasionally during her writing, she would go to the local restaurant in town, sit in a corner and write. The chatter in her ears of the many people who passed through the Restaurant, relentlessly eating all day long.

After five miserable years of separation from her son, and still no signs of him having a change of heart, Karen began questioning her strategy. Was turning her back on her son really the right thing to do?

And than one day Karen saw a program on television that changed her life. A program that focused on teenagers who made tough decisions in life. They were shunned or rejected by their parents and communities for these decisions.

By listening to these Teenagers speaking, and hearing the child’s side of the story, Karen began to feel ashamed. Maybe her son was no different. Maybe his decision for who he had become in life wasn’t something he or she could control. Much like these kids Karen was watching on TV, who were suffering from being rejected for what Karen considered very minor decisions, maybe her own son Joseph, who she had rejected years before, was hurting somewhere, because of a decision he had to make. A decision he quite possibly had no power or control over.

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Mose and Shana are a married couple in their mid thirties living in mid Missouri with three children. For the most part, they live normal lives like other people around them. Shana has a job as a Banker, while Mose is a Car Salesman. Every day Mose and Shana get up early, get 3 sleepy children out of bed, dressed, the oldest one off to school, while the two youngest go to day care.

Shana and Mose, the early years

The one small difference between this family and most other middle class, hard working families in America is the fact that Mose has a story to tell. A background that many people know little about. Mose was born and raised Amish.

After struggling for many, many, many years, he finally broke away at the age of twenty two. Mose met Shana in the outside world, they got married, and started a family.

However, Mose had a very difficult childhood, and having been a survivor of these difficulties, Mose, from a very young age, had a burning desire to share his story. To try and make a difference in life by finding common ground for other people who may have gone through some of those same difficulties. Possibly even by sharing his story of going from the depths of despair and pain, to finding freedom and some form of closure. Maybe he could inspire someone else and give them even the slightest glimmer of hope.

Mose has an overpowering desire to help the Underdog. The person who has never had a legitimate shot in life. The person that he himself was for so many years. To help others like himself who are leaving the Amish faith to try a life on the outside. Who are facing the same rejection that he himself faces.

The one difficulty with this mission that Mose is on, is that he has no desire for fame. He doesn’t want recognition, but rather wants to tell his story, let it do what he set out for it to do, and then crawl into a hole in the ground and disappear. Mose wants to simply be the mailman who drops off the mail, but few people know his name.

But it is not to be. As the story grew, so did the people the story reached, and the amount of people who felt a strong desire to make a connection. People who felt like they had finally found someone who understood them and their lives. Someone, who if they only met in real life, they would have so much in common, that they would hit it off, and become fast friends for life.

As the children started getting older, Mose and Shana found it harder and harder to make ends meet. Between the mortgage, the daycare, and other daily bills that every growing family in America faces, Shana found herself working Saturdays, and Mose found himself usually working 80 plus hours a week on a pretty regular basis.

Alas, but when you work that many hours, there is little time for the family. For those precious children who are growing up, and so desperately need you. And finally, there is even less Mose and Shana time.

Thus, an agreement is reached, that once every two months, a baby sitter would be scheduled, the kids passed off to someone else, for one evening, while Mose and Shana have a chance to go out on the town.

Date night came after an extremely stressful day at work for Mose. Shana picked him up from work, and together they went out to eat at a local restaurant. After all this time at home with the kids, finally, the joy of getting away. The almost childish adventure of knowing you can have a private conversation between each other and no children to interrupt the conversation. Finally, a night out on the town. Finally, just the two of them, that one rare night that comes once every two months, all by themselves…. well almost.

Mose and Shana receive visits from eight or ten people who recognize this person who so openly told his story to the world. People who wanted to linger and have extended Conversations and Autographs. As the evening goes on, Mose develops a cold wall against these faces that are all starting to blend together. People who dare to continue approaching and so harshly invading the privacy of him and his Spouse. People who are using up that precious time they have together. People who want to borrow fifteen or twenty minutes of time, and then leave satisfied, feeling like someone brightened their day. Mose knows he will never see them again.

Mose has learned not to engage in conversation, but rather to say, “Thank you, Thank you”, to all the compliments, and eventually the visitors are satisfied and go back to their meal.

You see, contrary to what people believe when they see him speaking on TV, Mose is actually very reluctant to meet strangers, and even less likely to attempt to become friends. In real life, Mose is painfully reserved and private.

Mose and Shana finally make it out of the Restaurant, slightly agitated that their date night isn’t going quite as quiet and private as they had hoped for.

They randomly find themselves at a nice Country Bar on the edge of town where a local Band is playing some Country Music up on the stage.

And then it happened! The mistake one should never make after an especially stressful day at work. The mistake of trying to drown it all down with alcohol. While a very loyal Shana agreed to be the sober driver, Mose proceeds to indulge in enormous proportions of alcohol.

Sometime during the evening it was determined that Mose would leave his vehicle at his work until the next morning, at which time Shana would bring him back, a much more sober and responsible driver, and take the car home.

The scene the next morning is anything but pretty. It is quite unlike the life you might expect from a man who has crawled out of the depths of despair, now has life all figured out, and is trying to be a guiding light for others.

One would speculate that once someone has been on TV, you now live the life of a celebrity. A life where you sleep in every morning, your life is care free, and you are swimming in money. You take vacations to the beach regularly, and you have some higher authority or power that no one else possesses.

Rather, The scene is that of two very tired parents, now baby sitter less, driving to pick up Mose’s car, making an executive decision to stop and eat breakfast on the town with the three kids, and then go home. Picture then, if you would, a very guilty daddy along for the ride, last night’s liquor still on his breath, a pounding headache, walking into a crowded restaurant with the wife and three kids.

Picture a man who is holding his head in his two hands, trying to drown out the screaming noises all around him, magnified by a hangover from the depths of the deep. The kids vying to get daddy’s attention, and a man carrying the shameful guilt of knowing that he has let himself and everyone around him down, and is setting a bad example for his kids, if they were to find out.

A man who is also aware of his surroundings, and has seen several prying eyes watching him as he tried inconspicuously to meander to his seat, crunch down out of sight, and hopefully no one will recognize him.

It is in this frame of mind that this eventful morning begins. A man at his wits end, who wants three things. Food, quiet, and sleep.

That is the story, and the behind the scenes events, leading up to “The Circumstantial Encounter”, told from the side of Mose and Shana.

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Henry and Jen were sitting at their corner table, eating their bi monthly breakfast out on the town. They were eating in silence, because they were in the middle of another argument. A small disagreement that had started the night before when Henry had started complaining about how high the electricity bill was that month, and how if Jen would toughen up, she wouldn’t need the heat turned up so high.

Henry’s heart almost jumps out of his throat when he sees Mose walk across the floor following the receptionist to his table. As Henry and Jen’s eyes meet, they both realize at the same time who Mose is. They both stare, completely oblivious to fact that his family is surrounding him. Their world has stopped, for ever so briefly. That moment has arrived.

They both know it instantly. Here is that bright glimmer. That Break. Without hesitation they rise, make their way directly over to the table, hug Mose, and spill out their life story. How much watching the show has changed their perspective on life! This meeting is a dream come true. It is destiny that they meet. And finally, how they have enough room in their double wide for at least one ex Amish kid who has nowhere else to live.

Mose sits there nodding his head, a pounding migraine leaving a ringing in his ears, and hears them out, inside feeling like the world’s biggest hypocrite, for portraying such a front to the public, while he is more glaringly aware then ever before, that he is just a sinner, and completely and utterly unworthy of such admiration and praise.

Karen is sitting in her corner by the window, the morning sun is behind the maple tree outside the window, half hiding her in the shadows of the crowded restaurant. She is writing on her laptop. For some unknown reason, she has discovered that writing comes more fluently to her in a crowded restaurant, with hundreds of people all around. Maybe it keeps her motivated. At best, it is one of those unexplained things in life that, for no apparent rhyme or reason, work for her.

A strange feeling comes over Karen right in the middle of writing a sentence, and she quickly raises her eyes to scan the room full of people. Karen is a little superstitious, and she has learned to trust her instincts. She has learned to feel eyes behind her back, even when there is no sound. She is seldom wrong, so without even giving it a second thought, she scans the room, and her eyes rest on a familiar face. Karen gathers herself together as she watches a young couple go over, draw up several chairs, and chat for fifteen or twenty minutes. She is convinced she recognizes this person, but she holds back.

Years of heartache, pain, turmoil, and distrust are washing over her. Should she approach him? Yes, she must. There is no other choice.

As the young couple gets up, leave their phone numbers on a piece of paper for Mose to call, and leave their half eaten plates on their table, she watches them leave with many a wistful glance over their shoulders. Karen drifts over to the table.

A raw feeling of emotion sweeping over her like nothing she has felt in years, and she falls to her knees and weeps openly on Mose’s shoulder, pouring out her story. For so many years she has lived in denial, and finally, because of the show, has seen the error of her ways, has reconciled her relationship with her son, and Praise God, has finally accepted him for who he is. Because of the show Mose did, she found a way to forgive him. She has laid her demons to rest. She is somehow at peace with herself and God once again.

On this morning, under the most dire of circumstances, Mose finally got it. The Walls he has built that make him practically unapproachable in public, are down on this particular morning. For the first time, Mose has a Revelation. This lady and all those people mean no harm.They do not mean to pry or invade his private little world. For the first time it sank in that this is all his fault. That because of the show, the role he had in it, how he bared his heart, leaves people no choice. Like this lady, something Mose has said or done during the show, had truly changed an important part of her life, and to ignore that would be doing an injustice to everything he stood for..

How Mose felt during these two visits on this particular morning is hardly important, but besides the aforementioned guilt and unworthiness, he just wants to cry bitter tears of despair. He can’t force the words out of his mouth to Karen, “I just want to spend time alone with my family”. Instead, he listens as Karen finishes her story, wipes her red eyes filled with joyful tears, and goes back to her table to attempt to continue writing.

A deep feeling of disconnect fills Mose’s body as Karen walks away. Without knowing it, she has taken a piece of him with her. Something that he did, for better or worse. He did affect her in a much stronger manner then he could ever imagine. He feels a strong desire to go over and befriend her. Maybe it’s because he influenced such an important decision in her life.

He feels a sense of responsibility to her, to the younger couple that came over earlier, and to everyone whose lives he’s impacted somehow. The overpowering feeling of losing a part of his very being every time someone comes over and shares an emotional story is almost unbearable.

Shana, Mose, and the kids finish breakfast, and Mose begins to feel a little better. He is thinking a little more clearly. As they leave the restaurant, Mose asks himself, “So do I regret the public figure I’ve become”? “Do I regret doing the show”? “If I could take it back, or change any part of it, would I”? And he takes some comfort in knowing that he did the right thing. That there is not one thing that he would go back and change. That the show was done for the right reasons, and that it accomplished above and beyond anything he could ever have imagined. It actually impacted lives in a positive manner!

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This Blog was written in dedication to all the people who have ever walked up to me in Public, expecting a great encounter, and were let down.

This is dedicated to the thousands of people who watched as the Ex Amish kids and myself opened our most private Feelings, Secrets, and life’s to an international audience. To those who were touched by the stories about myself, Cephas Y, Michaela, and the other Ex Amish kids who participated on the show, “Amish: Out of Order”. To the thousands who feel an uncontrollable desire to send money, write, email, call, or just reach out somehow, with the best of intentions, and are repeatedly turned away and Rejected. Just know that I personally read every single Letter, Email, or Message ever sent to me.

This is for the all the wonderful people who watched the show and helped make it a success. This is for all the Henry and Jen’s, the Karen and Josephs out there. Thank You, and God Bless you.

The names and locations in this Blog have been changed for privacy purposes.

The post The Circumstantial Encounter appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

I was 9 years old. Still fresh and innocent about life. I was in that stage where Babies came down from heaven and into the bedroom on a cloud. Where if you fell down in the dirt, God would appear, literally, pick you up, brush you off, kiss your hurt spot, and then vanish into the thin air again. A time when mom and dad were my heroes, elders within the church were always right, and I fully trusted every adult I met and what they had to say, because that is what you do at that age. Aww but if only we could all hang onto the innocence of childhood for just a little longer!

Usually when supper was over, after crawling into my bed with my little brother, I would fall asleep right away. Maybe it was from the long days in the fields, or maybe falling asleep quickly is just something a 9-year-old boy does.
However, for some reason this evening I was laying in bed completely aware of my surroundings, the quiet, sultry summer night, and all the sounds in it.

And than I heard it. The distant, faint, clip clop of a horse’s hooves falling on the asphalt a mile away. A buggy traveling at midnight in the middle of the week??? I sat alertly upright in bed. Something wasn’t feeling right here. As the sound of the clip clops got closer, I glided silently from my bed to the second story window of our farmhouse. A farmhouse Built about a quarter of a mile back from the asphalt road that ran past our 255 acre farm nestled out in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. As I peeped out of the window, I watched the buggy come to a halt in the field across the road from our place next to the Amish farm half a mile away.  In the shadows of the tall trees, I watched as 3 men climbed off of the buggy with pitch forks. I slowly froze with fear as that night I watched my very first act of the something few people from the outside world know anything about. Something that lies deep within the heart of the Amish communities. Something that is only muttered in undertones for fear of getting visited by “The Amish Mafia”

I added this paragraph later, after being asked by quite a few people about why I never finished my story about the Amish men with pitchforks. That first portion of this blog was actually an attempt by me at a little mystery, mixed with just a touch of sarcasm. There had been so many people asking me whether or not there was an Amish Mafia, that when I finally decided to answer, I attempted an approach where a reader begins the blog actually believing for a short amount of time that there is an Amish Mafia, before being yanked back to the reality that there is absolutely no such thing. Most people got it, a few did not. In other words, I created those men with pitchforks just to dramatize the beginning of this Blog.

Let us stop right here in our tracks and shift gears….. Fast forward about 25 years…. How many of you that are reading this actually, truly believe that there is such a thing as an “Amish Mafia”? How many of you have questions about it, but are doubters to a certain extent? And finally, how many of you call B.S. on the whole thing, and think that the latest show, “Amish Mafia” is false, and a ploy by a handful of actors and the Discovery Channel to make a controversial show, exploiting the Amish and their core beliefs for the love of ratings and money?

In this Blog, I will try to, in fairness, go into detail about my own personal feelings and opinions related to this subject. For those of you stumbling upon this Blog for the first time, those of you who are big fans of the show, “Amish Mafia”, and you are reading this for the first time, you may ask yourself, “Who the Heck does this guy thinks he is”?

For those of you who were unable to watch some of the shows I have done in the past about my people, the Amish people, I apologize. I will probably come across as a complete fool.
I can assure you that if you haven’t seen “Amish in the City”, 2004 on UPN, or any of the “Amish: Out of Order” Series aired on the National Geographic Channel in 2012, then you won’t get me. For those of you who fall into the category that don’t know or get me, I’m Sorry. I am Sorry that I am about to get into the Meat and Bones of a show you have become a fan of.

I have been bombarded by a thousand people asking me how I felt about “Amish Mafia”. I even posted a simple post on my Facebook Fan Page about my Fantasy football League Championship that I won this year. I was congratulating myself. You know what valuable lesson I learned? I learned that the people who know me as the TV Mose, don’t give 2 hoots about my fantasy football, my random car sales, or any of my other personal daily activities. I discovered this after I posted about my fantasy football, and the only random response I got was, “What do you think of Amish Mafia”?

I posted about the Science Center in St Louis that I took my wife and kids to over the weekend. The comments I got…. well you get my point. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not by any stretch of the imagination complaining. What it did, however, is force my hand on what my opinion is of “Amish Mafia”, before I can seem to get on with my life.

I also discovered that to avoid this subject any longer, would only make me look like I am dodging a subject that needs to be addressed. Even though I will lose some credibility after posting this Blog, stooping to the level of “going there”, I will never forget how much respect I lost for Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay when Favre kept coming out of retirement and taking back his starting position, and Rodgers, who had gone through the entire training camp, got all the starting Reps, and for the world thought he was going to start under center come opening day, kept getting it yanked it out from underneath him by a Diva quarterback who couldn’t make up his mind on whether he should retire or come back. Aaron Rodgers never once stood up for himself. Instead he took the high road and was a big, fat lay down. ( It is amazing, however, how quickly he became a stand up guy in my eyes after winning a Superbowl.)

My goal here is not to make you an unfan of “Amish Mafia”, but rather to set the record straight. To let people like you, with an open, vulnerable mind to what may lie beneath the surface of the Amish, know whether or not this show is depicting the Amish truthfully, and did the Discovery Channel just make a huge breakthrough on some things deep within the Amish communities that need to be uncovered and addressed? To let you know, as best and as fairly as possible, how much truth, if any, there is to the “Amish Mafia”.

For those of you who have watched some of the Shows I have been a part of, and have contacted me asking what my thoughts are, my intentions are to either deny or confirm what you probably already know. Either way, by the end of this chitter chatter, I wish to lay to rest, any doubts about any questions you may have concerning this new show on the Discovery Channel.

Let us take a step back. The year is 2004. I have been out of the Amish for about 1 1/2 years. I am approached by UPN to be on a reality show. The three main Producers in charge of putting the show together and doing the casting are Jon Kroll, Daniel Soiseth, and Daniel Laikind. Only Laikind has had any experience with Amish or Ex Amish. He did what I think was the very first ever film/Documentary, “Devil’s Playground” Produced by Daniel Laikind and Stick Figure Productions, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Playground_(2002_film)

At the time when the early stages of “Amish in the City” were coming together, word spread like wildfire about it, and it became one of the biggest controversial reality shows of its time. It was so controversial in fact, that almost the entire series had to be filmed in private, because of the fact that the Amish actually got in contact with some high up officials, I can’t remember if it was Government, Congress, or whoever you go to try to stop something like this. They did it because of the right to their “Freedom of Religion”, and they felt that exploiting them on TV was abusing that freedom.

What I do remember is that “Amish in the City” had to be screened by some high up officials before it could be televised. We had almost no time for advertising, and the first episode aired almost as a surprise to many viewers, because of the attempt at keeping it on the down low. The idea being that once the first episode aired, and viewers seen how un controversial it was, they would let the entire season air. This is exactly what happened.

Oh, but how far it has come since then. Let me just say for starters, that there is not the slightest inkling of a doubt in my mind that if our show would have been “Amish Mafia”, only 8 short years ago, not one episode would have ever crossed the screen for the public to see. But can I blame The Discovery channel? After all, I agreed to be on the first ever, series with real Amish or Ex Amish characters on it. Maybe I am partially to blame for breaking the ground for the shows that are now airing. Let me say for the record, if that is the case, that I am not losing any sleep over that thought, since I am well aware that if I didn’t do it, someone else would have. Someone else who might have been less respectful or accurate then our cast was…. Someone like Lebanon Levi.

AMISH MAFIA:
I felt in fairness, in order for me to give my opinion on this show, I would need to watch at least one episode. So last night I pulled up a chair, a bag of popcorn, and flipped to the Discovery Channel. I noticed that there was not one, but three hours running back to back. Without doing the proper research, I would presume that it was the 3rd week of the show, and the first hour or two were re runs, and the third was a new episode.

I might also add that if you are strictly looking for entertainment, than this show will serve that purpose. I admit that I was glued to the TV, wondering exactly what they would show next. Even though I knew early on whether or not it is real, I felt somehow roped into it in some weird, sick, twisted way. Maybe it was the sympathy I felt for the Ex Amish kids who are on the show, who probably had no clue what they were getting into when they were approached about the show. Maybe it was shockingness or lack of respect for the Amish people and their privacy that held my gaze. Maybe I am a victim of the world.

Someone who is only captivated by shocking, controversial topics that make you wonder if it can possibly be true, or exactly how far these people are actually willing to go. Or maybe it was because I was trying to find an inspiration for my answer to your questions of what my opinion is concerning this show. Whatever the reason, I did make it through an entire episode, and ever so briefly considered watching the second one simply because I saw previews of a fight that Lebanon Levi supposedly had fixed.

If you can watch this series and withhold opinion about the Amish and what this show depicts them to be, and you are watching it purely for entertainment, than this show just may be a good fit for you.
If, however, you are someone who believes everything you see on TV, are easily influenced by edited reality shows and this will affect your opinion on the Amish people in a negative manner, than I am truly disappointed.

This show went where The National Geographic Channel, Stick Figure Productions, the rest of the cast of “Amish: out of Order” and myself, could have gone, but chose not to. Judging by the “monitored” Twitter feeds coming in below on the TV screen, I assume a lot of viewers really believe the show is real, and that they are just now finding out about the “Amish Mafia”. I haven’t checked the ratings, but assume the show is getting good ratings. I can only cringe at what show some network will come out with about the Amish next, in order to exceed this one.

Now I will tell you a few things that I seen in only the first episode, that may help you make a decision on whether this show is for real or if it is Fake. Keep in mind that I have a slight advantage here in that I was not only raised as an Old Order Amish for the first 22 years of my life, so I was there and lived it, but also that I have been on both sides of the camera, so I kind of know what to look for.

In the scene where the Amish lady was on her way to visit Johnny’s, and was in her words, hit by someone who was passing her in a hurry and kept right on going. What I noticed is that the front left Buggy wheel was smashed. Upon further investigating by the Right Hand Men, they found this 4 door, white sedan that she had described. What popped out to me is that the car was damaged in the exact same place. The front left fender. Now my theory, and correct me if I am wrong, is that either the Amish lady didn’t have her story straight, and the car was actually coming from the front, or they found a cheap old car that was junk anyway, so the Lebanon Levi’s right hand man can shoot a hole into it. I won’t even speculate on whether or not the whole thing was scripted from start to finish.

This Lebanon Levi, head of the Amish Mafia, that handles the insurance, and all the money for the Amish. OK. What I seen were editors who didn’t cut his clips quite quick enough. Often at the beginning or the end of a script that Levi was reading off of, I caught the beginning or the end of a doubtful look, a smile, a glance for approval from the camera guy, or plain uncertainty of what he is supposed to say. The clips were so cut together that even if it was only for a fleeting second at a time, it was quite noticeable to my eye. This leads me straight to topic three.

After reading off a teleprompter or written script only a few times, you can instantly pick up on someone else who is doing the same. Watch the eyes, not talking to you, but reading listlessly off a written script. Not only was Levi doing this, but Alvin, who seem timid, shy, and reserved, and definitely a poor fit as the man who you have to cross in order to get to Levi, could not seem to piece together a complete paragraph on his own. As a matter of fact, I never in 1 entire episode, seen Alvin say more than a one liner at a time.

Amish cast members or Actors: If you are not familiar with all the different kinds of Amish, Mennonite, New Order Amish, Beachy Mennonite, Swartzentruber Amish, and about 50 other variations of Amish, it may be difficult to know for sure if these kids have Amish ties or if they’re indeed just actors. I can say with all certainty that, although we have never been formally introduced, every one of them has been directly Amish at one point and time.

The rest of this paragraph is pure speculation, but here is what I think. I know that in PA the Amish are much more liberal with their teenagers who are exploring in the outside World. Therefore I am unable to accurately know for sure if they still live at home on their parents farm, or have officially left the Amish permanently. Gut feeling says they have officially left, and have been considered ex Amish some years ago. Either way, whether they still live at home or in their own houses on the outside, by their clothes, vehicles, language, and how they carry themselves, around here they would certainly be called ex Amish, and shunned by the Amish communities. Again, in the more Eastern States, the Amish are much more liberal with their stray children, but in the end, they are still shunned and discouraged from hanging with the kids who are still within the community. Which leads me into my next topic.

In the episode I watched, Lebanon Levi and his Men caught a respected elder of the community going with a Taxi Driver to hang with a Prostitute at a local Motel room. With the help of a camera, they got some incriminating evidence of this Elder in the room with this Prostitute of the world. Again, I won’t even spend time on what IF’S of whether or not any of this is true or if it is all scripted. Let’s assume, for the sake of this topic, that this entire scene is true, and with the evidence and pictures they collected, that Levi approaches this man in his own house, and in search of more power or leverage, confronts him with the Gospel, orders this Amish Elder to move out of the Community for a while until things settle down a bit.
Let me take a step back. Let me repeat myself to make sure I seen it correctly. And definitely correct me if I am wrong on any count. Lebanon Levi, a shunned Ex Amish kid, who has never been baptized into the Amish church, drives to a respected elder of the Old Order Amish community IN HIS VEHICLE, WITH A CAMERA CREW, confronts this man with Blackmail, IN HIS OWN HOUSE, and orders him to leave not only his own home, but also his whole family and community for a time while he, Lebanon Levi, gets him help to get back on track? Is it just me or does anyone who knows an established elder of the Amish community and their stance toward a wayward ex Amish person, see the irony of this situation?

To think that somehow Levi has manipulated not only the entire Amish community but also English people, including the local Police department, to turn their heads, to fear him, and to bow down and be ordered to move out of a community under ANY circumstances is Far Fetched beyond belief, and laughable at best.

Levi handles the Insurance and other Money for the Amish. Need I say more. Every Amish person I know works hard for a living, and is very slow to give up their money. After a few of the details I went over above, with the disregard the Amish have toward someone who refuses to become baptized, and now drives trucks, etc, the fact that the show keeps stating that Levi is well-respected among the Amish for his role as a Mafia leader, and that he is loved by some and feared by others, do I really need to go into any detail on this subject in order for the reader to form an opinion on whether or not he touches one dollar of one Amish person’s money?

And finally, last but not least, created Sex, Sex, And more Sex Scandals. I suppose if you are going to do a controversial show about Amish people, with no holds barred, and no screening before it is aired, what better way to get the ratings up high then to make it as shocking as possible. And what is more controversial to see on TV, and what captivates a viewer’s attention more than Sex Scandals, spread openly across your screen. Heaven forbid it is a show about brother Jebediah stealing a Buggy or a Cow from Brother Joseph.

In this 1 and only episode I intend to ever watch of this show, there were at minimum, 4 Sex scandalous stories in the 45 minutes of it. Is this an accurate description of the Amish and what they stand for?

After watching the episode, I feel the strongest desire imaginable, to inform any viewer of this show that I can touch, whether it be via internet or other, that this series is, in my opinion, a disaster. That it is a huge misrepresentation of the entire Amish communities and what they stand for. That by brandishing Guns at will, Boldly marching into Amish farmhouses pretending like they own the Amish, disrespecting a culture that remains one of the rare, private, secluded cultures left standing in America, and agreeing to do it all on public Television is making a mockery of the Amish.

The one thing that the show and the Amish Mafia is correct on is that the Amish do not like confrontations. When a show like this comes out, they see it as a sign from God that the end of the World is very near at hand. That all this is God’s will, and that they will let it go, because why question God.

When I did my last show, I caught mild to sometimes severe criticism from the Amish and Ex Amish alike. In comparison, right now, I am the good guy. Let there be no doubt. I believe I speak for every Amish and ex Amish when I say that every single one of them is Embarrassed and Humiliated that a show like this that misrepresents the Amish and Ex Amish in such a manner, ever got as far as being televised.

So why did I finally step out on the limb, go on record and write probably the most controversial Blog I’ve written yet, knowing full well that I will have haters and criticizers who will accuse me of everything from being jealous of the ratings, to having sour grapes that I wasn’t a part of it, to someone who simply wishes to attract attention to himself.

Here are the two main reasons.

Reason One. I do feel partially to blame that I may have been responsible for opening the flood doors to some of these other shows coming along behind. I have no control over how these Shows are edited. Trust me when I tell you that was never my intention when I agreed to do the shows I did.

Reason Two. Every one of us Ex Amish has family and friends that are still back among the Amish Communities. Amish that although we do not all have a relationship with them like we often would like to have, we still Love them. Amish who, like it or not, believe without the slightest doubt in their minds, that they are doing the right thing in life. Amish who do not have a desire to have to defend themselves to the world. Amish who for the most part are living a Wholesome, Pure life.

And finally, Amish who will be absolutely tarnished by this show and what is portraying them to be, but will never lift a finger against it to defend themselves. My Amish family and friends who will now have outside people driving past their places who will judge them, wish to spit on them for what they believe to be the truth. I write this only to make an attempt at protecting my people. In the end, blood truly runs thicker then water, and I do not care to see my own Blood used, Slighted, stepped upon, Belittled, taken Advantage of, made light of, or Misrepresented.

This is the one and only time that I will ever address the show, “Amish Mafia”, and the Cast on it. I typically refuse to stoop to these levels and open myself up to criticism concerning something like this that I am not a part of. I have now told you my opinion, even leaving out some of my feelings, out of respect for everyone involved.

So is there an Amish Mafia? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I think between the Discovery Channel running a disclosure at the beginning of the Series stating that it is Fake, and what I have posted, Hopefully your questions, fears, or concerns have been laid to rest.

The closest thing to an Amish Mafia is when you have disobeyed some of the rules within the church and the preachers come to your place to see if they can help you get your life back on track. Even then, there is no violence, money involved, Power, Manipulation, Blackmail or intimidation.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is, for once and for all, what my feelings are regarding the lack of, “The Amish Mafia”.

My name is Mose J Gingerich, and I approve this message.

The post Amish Mafia: Fact or Fiction appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

1. FOOD: Oh but the home cooked food. Although I am not by any means a picky eater, my mouth waters for a good home cooked meal. Vegetables that were grown in a garden without any chemicals, steroids, or fertilizer to make them grow. Home made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, strawberries fresh from the garden, milk straight from the udder of a cow, eggs that although not officially branded organic, might as well be since they came from a farm where the chickens ate only farm grown food.
Oh but the food the women would cook up at Weddings, Holidays, or Barn Raisings. I have never met a person with as big of an appetite as a working farmer who has eaten dust and dirt all day in the fields. I marvel at my mother who somehow managed to keep enough canned food in the basement over the winter, and plant just enough every spring to feed a growing family of 15.
Although we had to fast until noon on Holidays, by 12:00, all the married siblings, Nieces And Nephews, Aunts and Uncles, and Cousins would be there and food would be served. There are not many things that seem to bond a family together stronger than everyone gathering around before a meal while you bow your heads in silent prayer, giving thanks for this meal, and all joining together around the tables in devouring the well prepared food the Lord has Blessed you with. When I say there are not many things that bond a family more than eating together….. There is one I can think of, which leads me right into number 2.

2. SINGING: I came from a family of Gingeriches who had really good singing voices. Some of my fondest memories as a child were of the entire family out in the dairy barn milking the cows by hand. Not one sound in the barn except the cows munching down on the fresh hay. there was no sound of electricity, Milking machines, a Radio, Fans, or Tractors. Even with a herd of usually around 45 to 50 cows, 30 horses, 30 calves, cats, dogs, pigs, and the occasional goat, after the animals were all fed and content and the family was milking the cows, it was usually so quiet that you could talk in normal tones to a brother or sister milking a cow at the other end of the barn 80 feet away.
Than someone would start off singing a song. The entire family would join in, and the walls of the barn seemed to echo the joyful voices of many mouths singing a German song by the light of an oil burning lantern. Oh but if I could just go back in time to those precious childhood days! Back when life was so innocent and young and there were no problems. What I wouldn’t give to even have some recordings of a few songs from those years and listen to them just for old times sake!
Later on in years as I got older, we sang in the schools, and finally, when I turned 17 and started going to the Singens, all the teenagers between 17 and married age, would gather every Sunday night and sing songs together in the “Singens”. Possibly that is where I first started valuing music and the positive impact it can have on one’s life. To this day I sometimes drive out to an Amish community on a warm Sunday night when they have the windows open to the house, and I’ll sit half a mile away or so, and listen to several hundred voices singing together in unison.

3: CLOSE KNIT: Most Amish families have a tie that is almost impossible to break. A bond that is so strong that you will do whatever it takes to keep from breaking it. When you have spent you entire life working side by side in the fields, sawmills, woods, and even in the house with you brothers and sisters. When you sing together, pray together, cry together, share your bed with your bothers in the freezing cold upstairs of a Wisconsin farmhouse, and you lay with your backs against each other to make some body heat. When you comfort each other after a spanking, walk the 3 miles to and from school together, and ride in the buggies together to and from church every Sunday, you develop a bond that is tough to break.
Now looking back, I cherish those memories of my time spent while I was there. I wish I could go back and relive some of them. I spent a lot of my childhood impatiently awaiting the time when I would be old enough to leave the Amish. Now I wish I had spent more time cherishing my time with my brothers and sisters while I was there and had the chance.

4: A HELPING HAND:  One of the hardest things I had to get used to after I left the Amish community was how alone you are out in the world. I discovered early on that if I buy a car, insurance, an apartment, and whatever I choose to spend money on, if I fall upon hard times, or in my case, winter arrives, and construction work came to a halt, I am on my own. Even if I had a few friends who would have liked to help me out with a bill here or there, they were broke as well, because all of them did construction work and lived from paycheck to paycheck same as I did.
Two weeks after leaving the Amish, I had a bad car accident. Had I not been wearing a seat belt, It would almost surely have cost me my life. With no drivers license, auto insurance, health insurance, or money saved up, you can bet that I started off on the wrong foot immediately. With no car, a $30,000. hospital bill, and laid up in bed with broken bones for 6 weeks, I discovered really quick how important it is to have friends who will help you out.
I will say that I had some friends and relatives who were ex Amish, who came to visit, an ex Amish Uncle who allowed me to live with him and his family, and the new girlfriend who I had started dating. (She is now my wife)
So when I say that I was completely alone, that is not entirely true. I had support, and a hand full of friends. One of my ex Amish friends gave me $600. Besides that, I was on my own on from the financial aspect of it.
I am not complaining. I am simply making a comparison to the Amish life where I had just come from several weeks ago. A life where if someone had a huge doctor bill and didn’t have the financial means of paying for it, the church pitched in and helped out. If that Amish community didn’t have the money to help pay it off, word would be sent to the neighboring communities until the right amount was reached.
It was the same way when someone’s house or barn burned down. Everyone would drop what they were doing. The men would cut down logs and cut them into lumber to donate. The women would bring food. The entire community would come together and donate time, food, or money to help out and rebuild. The Amish don’t carry any kind of insurance, but this was as good or better than any kind of insurance provided in the outside world.
When you live at home on your parents’ property, you are expected to work until you turn 21 for no income, in return for room and board. All of my years growing up, I lived at home for free. I ate the food off the table for free, and after I turned 21, and was allowed to work outside our home for money, I was still allowed to live at home for free. This was not even questioned. The concept that you would charge someone to live with you in your house or to eat your food would have sounded silly where I came from.
After I left, it took me a while to grasp that no one owes me anything. If I go to Home Depot to buy some tools, and I don’t have the money to buy them, it is not OK to call someone and ask them to loan me the money until I can pay it back.

5: SIMPLICITY: As it gets closer to the end of the month, I included, like many people I know, begin to worry about the extra  expense of Christmas, and start questioning whether we will have enough money to pay all the bills. For some reason it doesn’t seem to matter where one works or how much money one makes, whether it be in teaching school, construction, training horses, or finally in Automotive sales where I am now, The amount of money you make is almost always just enough to just pay the bills for that month. Murphy’s Law is, if I have a month that is a little better, something comes up. Transmission goes out in the car, a garage door quits working, or any combination of things happen to insure that your account will be low again. This is the America we live in, and I am certain that many of you can nod your heads in agreement with my philosophy.
I know I am sounding repetitive, but where I come from, there are almost no bills. Money or bills are rarely spoken about. The focus in an Amish home is not necessarily on the Almighty dollar. Usually at the end of each month, there is the usual mortgage bill on the farm. That is all. There is no phone, electricity, internet, insurance, water, gas, credit card, or any other bills. Just one payment. The payment on the farm.
In the outside world, there is the constant concern of worrying about speaking politically correct, staying up to date on what’s in style to wear, what the latest rules are that are being passed, and do I need to go in and place my vote against or for it?
In the Amish community, they have none of those concerns. The Amish are not in the least concerned with who is the local Mayor, Senator, or even the President. They don’t care that there is a war being fought on Terror. That there is a concern about going Green because of pollution. That there are people who are preparing for the end of the world because of some man-made predicament. That Mark Sanchez got benched and the Jets are in disarray. That the world hangs in the balance on whether or not Dallas keeps or fires its head coach. (An attempt at lightening the mood alittle here)
Varily I say, if it hasn’t been made apparent to you yet, the Amish have their own set of rules. A set of rules that occasionally clash a little with the rules of the world, but for the most part, allow them to fly under the radar.

6: SAFETY: How would you like to live in an environment where no one locked their houses, you could trust your kids to play in the yard for hours while you worked in the fields or gardens, without fear of them venturing out into the street or fear of them being kidnapped?
How nice would it be if you had children who never heard the “birds and Bees” talk in school until you, as the parent, wanted them to hear it? Where the kids didn’t know that babies didn’t come down from Heaven on a cloud and into the bedroom with mom, until they are out of the eighth grade.
Where you didn’t have to worry about what company your kids are hanging out with after school, whether or not they may be out mudding with their vehicles, drinking, smoking various smokable objects. Why don’t you have to worry?  You guessed it, they are at home by your side working.
I do not wish to muddy the waters of an otherwise pleasant conversation here, but there has never to my knowledge been problems with Amish stealing from each other, violence in schools, or reasons to worry about not trusting your fellow neighbor.
Obviously after I left, I became aware of the Nickel Mines School shooting in PA, and recently the Amish beard cuttings in Ohio. Maybe they are becoming less peaceful in recent years. I remember them as peace-loving, out of the spotlight sort of people.

7: DIVORCE: I am repeating myself from PART I of this blog, but the truth of the matter is, once you marry your significant other, there is little to no fear of any cheating going on, or your spouse giving up on you and asking for a divorce. Could it be that if both sides of a relationship know that separation is not an option under any circumstances, they may just work a little harder on trying to salvage a relationship? Who knows. I certainly know of a few Amish couples that would have been happier apart or even with different people. Bottom line is, when you say your vows, for better or worse, til death do us part, that is literally exactly what you are promising, for better or worse, and with no GET OUT FREE card. This can work both ways. If you find out too late that you aren’t happy together, too bad, suck it up. If, on the other hand, you and your spouse are madly in love, good news, you are going to enjoy each others company for the rest of your lives, come hail or high piles of corn…….

8: RELIGION: Although I am just a simple man, I have made an amazing discovery in life. Every person needs something to believe in.  Something that seems to complete that person. For many people this something is religion. If you dig into almost any religion, and trust me, I have found that there are many in the World, you will find a common trend. Each and every church or religion believes they possess something that none of the others have. A little extra secret something that sets them apart from the rest. Possibly even something that may please God more than the others. There are even those that would go as far as to believe that their church or religious beliefs are the right one and the only one. The one that God wants all people to believe in. For the most part, those people actually spend a lot of time trying to convert other people, religious or not, into their belief system. This is what they feel God wants them to do. I am not casting judgement here, it probably is what God wants.
I personally am a firm believer in God. I think the world is a much better place with religion in it than without. Is it for everybody? It is not for me to say. At this point in my life, I do not feel pressured or called to be the one to go around trying to convert people. To each his own.
Imagine a world where nobody has a religious God or something to believe in. It is a sad concept, and one I hope never happens in my time here on earth.
What I started out to say is that everyone needs to believe in something. The Amish are no different. I could not imagine life among the Amish without church and religion. It is what keeps the community close. Every Sunday you were expected to attend the three or four-hour church services. If you missed it, you better had a really good excuse.
I suppose the Amish belief is a mixture of Religion, Tradition, and Superstition. What I mean by that, is that they believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, mixed in with a lot of man-made rules and tradition, and on top of that, mix that with being fiercely Superstitious about everything out of the normal that happens.
If someone dies, gets hurt, barn burns down, has a horse and buggy accident, or various other misfortunes, it was a sign from God that person was living wrong, or that God needed another angel in Heaven. The list of Superstitions that the Amish believe, are too long to list, but I remember hearing about how an Amish person, and had led a pretty decent life, died and was buried. This person had, however, done a few misdeeds that God wouldn’t have been proud of. Rumor has it that someone went past the graveyard late at night and saw this person burning above the ground. The person was in serious agony. The way the story was impressed upon me as a young child was that the person had led a good life, but had done just a few too many misdeeds that God couldn’t allow him into Heaven right away. First, before the person was allowed in, God forced him to be tortured for a time here on earth before he was allowed to enter.
Whether or not I believe this is probably not relevant here, the subject at hand is that the Amish, like many other Religions, have something to stand for, something to believe in. Agree with it or not, they are a better people because of it. I became a better person during my time as an Amish person because of the beliefs I was raised with, then if I had been raised without them.
Like it or not, respect the Amish or not, they are onto something, and that innocent, pure, belief system is one of the many things I wish I could raise my children with.
And that, my fellow readers, is why it is important for me to, while I try to educate people in the outside world to better help them understand the Amish way of life and why they believe in things the way they do, while still trying to preserve their reputation. After all, they believe with all their heart in what they do. This is the life they choose to live. Only a very small percentage of us chose to leave for various different reasons. Is it then fair to exploit  the Amish way of life. To create fictitious shows and create scripted Drama about Amish when indeed they are a peace-loving people who only wish to be left alone?

9: HONESTY: Yes, I work at a car dealership. I have been there for 2 1/2 years. I have probably heard it all in my short time there. Yes, I am also aware of the reputation a car salesman has. Rumor has it we all lie. We are all out to screw everyone that walks on the lot. We are like vultures, seeking out our prey, choosing which one makes the easiest target. trust me, I am reminded of it every day. Every time that I go out on the lot and try to talk to a new person who is passing through, and I am treated with disrespect. Each and every time it seems that they have had a bad experience at another dealership, and I am the person who will receive the brunt of their fury. Most of the time, it is my job to prove that I am not that last salesman who tried to screw them. I have to prove that I can be trusted. In short, I have to prove myself.
Sounds simple, but try doing it 4 or 5 times a day, week in and week out. After a while your patience starts running thin. After a while you just want to walk up and ask a new customer if they are a buyer, and if they say “no”, turn and walk away. If you are in sales, I strongly suggest not trying that last technique, BTW. It could end your short stint at your place of employment.
However, I want to mention that it is not nearly always the salesperson who is the liar or the bad guy. I have heard every excuse in the book, and many that aren’t in it, why the customer is not ready to commit to a sale today. At first when I was selling cars, I was easily convinced. “OK, so you need to go home and pray about it for a week”"? “I get it. Come back and see me after you have sorted it all out”. “Oh wait a minute, you left my dealership and went right down the street and bought from the next dealership the same day, without going home and praying about it”.
To this day, I am probably the least pressure sales person that I know. However, I have discovered something amazing. 100% of the customers who walk into the dealership are interested in buying a car. If not today, sometime in the near future. Trust me, with the reputation a dealership has, it is not exactly a friendly place like the mall where people go to hang out to pass the time. Rumor has it that most customers would rather go have a tooth pulled then go in and buy a car. So If I can’t do my job correctly, then I won’t be the person they buy from. However, if I listen carefully, help them find the vehicle that gives us the best chance at putting a deal together, listen to their needs on budget, etc, my chances of getting the sale, rocket up. And it is all possible without the dreaded word customers fear so much, PRESSURE.
I have also seen a customer say whatever it takes to try to get the most out of a trade-in.
I suppose if there is a negative to selling cars, it is that I have discovered not everyone can be trusted. A hand shake and a verbal commitment doesn’t always mean anything. What a surprise!
I suppose I have become somewhat more calloused. I have learned to take criticism with a grain of salt. As my manager would say, I have toughened up a little.
Take a step back in time where a man’s word was solid as a rock. Where a hand shake meant the world depended on you keeping your promise. Where if you borrowed money, there was a 100% chance that you would pay it back as soon as the financial situation got better. Where if you were told something by your Amish neighbor, you never even questioned or doubted that he was telling the truth, nothing but the truth, and the whole truth.

10: WORK ETHIC: I am by no means attempting to belittle the hard-working American laborer. Rather, in this section, I wish to speak about the physical labor of the Amish Farmer. Same as in the outside world, for many generations the value of hard work has been handed down from generation to generation. Growing up, I sometimes felt like my dad’s theory was that the harder one works, the greater the chance of entering the Kingdom of God. I won’t bore the reader with long details about how me and my siblings worked from sunup to sundown, day in and day out.
What I will say is that my dad was probably the hardest working man I have ever met in my life. He expected and demanded that each of his 8 sons become exactly as hard of a worker if not even more so then he was. As far as I know, I was the only son who resented hard work. I suppose I didn’t so much resent it, as I just craved my playtime as well. I remember how the long hours just absolutely crawled by in the sawmills. I would watch our Amish neighbors hook a gas motor to their little red wagon and go flying past our sawmill with their hair flying back in the wind, and I craved for adventure. It didn’t seem fair that there was no play for the Gingerich boys.
I don’t know if it was genetic, or extra hard work, but the Gingerich boys became known far and wide as the best wrestlers and arm wrestlers around. Every time we went to another Amish community for a wedding or to visit, we were matched up with their best wrestlers and we had to prove ourselves. There was usually one or two in every community that seemed to give me a run for my money.
At age 17, I began my 5 year stint as an Amish school teacher. I had discovered that I am much happier and feel a lot more fulfilled in front of a room full of children eager to learn. I loved to teach. I loved learning more and more about the world each year. It was there, after school, when all the children had gone home, that I would get books from the library, and their stories of the outside world would fill the empty voids of my adventurous heart.
By teaching school, I had found a way of getting out of the hard work on the farm. Although a male school teacher is rare among the Amish, I didn’t care. To me, it felt like I was doing a lot more with my role in life then I had been in the back forty plowing the exact same field year after year.
However, somehow my dad must have gotten through to me. Now, several decades later, I am the exact man my father was. I go from dawn to dusk and often late enough into the night that my family life almost suffers at times. In the end, my dad, who passed away, bless his soul, when I was 12 years old, probably had the last laugh. His strict methods of getting the most work out of me at a young age, came back to me many years later, and alas, I am no longer a shirker of hard work.
I suppose as a side note, By teaching a young child this sort of hard work at such a young age, you are also teaching it responsibility. There is a misconception among some people in the outside world that a kid with just an 8th grade education, seriously needs to further their education in order to get far in life. From my experience, most of the Amish people I know are actually sharp as a tack with math, Grammar, and the things that are important in making their lives go around. I suppose that quite  possibly they can absorb a little more in 8 years because that is all they do in school. There are no distractions. When you get home, there are no Xbox’s to play on. No TV or radio to clutter your brain and maybe lose some of the things you learned that day.
Now looking back, although I resented the hard manual labor, I have no regrets. I am the man I am today because of all the hard work and values I was so strictly brought up with. That being said, I still despise field work, the hay leafs sliding down inside the back of my shirt with the sweat combination creating an itch which could often not be reached. I still don’t miss the husking corn by hand in 2 feet of snow in 0 degree weather so our cattle had food for another evening. I still don’t miss being the one chosen to fork the straw out evenly in the haymow when thrashing time came around. You could depend on the blower from the thrashing machine creating enough dust from the force it took to blow the straw up into the haymow, to leave you with clogged lungs, a nose that doesn’t function, and eyes filled with dust and straw.
I still don’t miss twice a day, loading all the manure out of the gutters onto a manure spreader, taking it out into a wide open field, with freezing 30 below Zero Wisconsin winds making you gasp for your breath while you unloaded the cow and horse manure out in the fields on top of the snow where it would stay all winter until the spring thaw, when it would settle down onto the field and serve as fertilizer for the crops.
What I do miss are the long walks back to the back Forty to bring up the cows for their evening milking. Training a new horse that a neighbor brought over for us to train to ride. I miss the conversations me and my brothers had in the evening in bed as we dozed off to sleep. I miss the “Singens”.
It is the times when I had time to be dreamy, that I miss. The times when I had time to reflect on life, time to think about the possibilities of another life. A life on the outside. A life where I could go try my hand at being, “English for life”

In the end, the question was, could you become, “Amish for Life”. Based on my Two Part blog, with my limited information about the Amish US wide, does it help make your decision any easier one way or the other on whether you could become, “Amish for Life”?

I

The post Amish for Life: PART II appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

The top 10 reasons why becoming Amish may or may not be for you. I want to make it clear that this does not necessarily apply to every community across the board, but rather the communities in the area where I grew up in, and what I am familiar with. Every once in a while, I hear rumors that some far Eastern communities, who have been established longer, are allowed in moderation, to do some of these things.

1. Electricity: No electricity means no technology. Speaking for myself, If I go for a weekend without checking my email, Facebook, Twitter, Fox Sports, World News, my cell phone for messages, voice-mail or text, I start becoming depressed. Call me a victim of the world. It doesn’t matter how miserable you are with your life, or how much you are ready for a change, my question is, are you prepared to give up every single means of communication with the outside world, every friend you’ve ever made, including immediate family, even if you may or may not be fighting with them right now, for the rest of your life? When you, in 3 years, have a strong desire to just go visit a long lost friend in the city, and spend the day, watch some TV, just for old times sake, and you cave in because the Amish life has lost some of it’s charm and fascination, are you prepared to face the consequences of the Amish community and the church for slipping up just once?

2. Superiority: Usually it is the Female gender that is requesting to go into the Amish community. This portion is specifically for you. It is no secret that for the most part, within the Amish community, the man is the indisputable leader of the household, and the woman is expected to listen and obey him. The man decides what the money will be spent on, among most of the other decisions that are made within a household. I do want to be clear that there are many decisions where the husband and wife make decisions together. Which community to move to if you are unhappy in the community you live in. What to name your children, etc. But are you prepared to be a submissive housewife who says “yes sir” to not only your husband, but also the church and the elders in it?
For the men, although you are the man of the household, you have many superiors above you that control what you do. I will get into that later when I talk about rules to follow within the church.

3. Birth control/children: In every Amish community I knew when I was growing up in, any means of birth control were not allowed. When you think of the perfect life within the Amish, are you taking into consideration the fact that we are probably talking about having kids as fast as possibly natural, until you are beyond the child bearing age? The alternative being that you remain single to avoid having a dozen kids. This would mean no active sex life, as doing so would be punishable within the church by excommunication if it happens out of wedlock. (I have heard of birth control or forms of protection being allowed in the very upper Amish communities)

4. Personal Hygiene: In my community, specifically in my family home, we bathed once a week on Saturday nights. When I was a child, I have memories of every Saturday night, taking the aluminum tub down off the basement wall, while mom started a fire under an 80 gallon kettle. My siblings and myself would carry buckets of water to the kettle, fill it to the top, and the fire below is what heated up our bath water. After the chores were done and supper eaten, one by one, each member of the family would take their turn down in the basement, dipping 3 or 4 gallons of boiling water into the aluminum tub sitting on the cold concrete basement floor. After that you’d add cold water form the basement water spout until the water was the right temperature for you. After you had your short bath, you tipped the tub over and it went down the drain, and it was the next person in line’s turn. Sometimes the last few people in line slept until it was their turn because it may be the wee hrs of the morning until it was their turn. (there was mom and dad, and 13 children)
In an Amish community, it is frowned upon for a woman to try and impress a man. In other words, she is not allowed to shave, (anywhere) use makeup, paint fingernails, wear deodorant, wear skin tight clothing or for the most part, do anything that may look like she is taking pride in her personal appearance. To do so, probably will turn a man’s head, but you would become the talk of the community in ways that you would not be thrilled about. If you went to high school you should know the reputation of the one girl who always wants to stick out, or be the one getting all the attention.
The men, who work in the fields, milk cows, get cow manure on themselves, in the hair, beards, etc, still only bath once a week. I look back now in disbelief about how on Sunday mornings, after my Saturday night bath, we’d do all the chores in the barn, load all the cow and horse manure by hand into the manure spreader, spread it in the fields, milk cows, climb up in the silo and throw silage and ground corn down, and do numerous other activities, and after a quick breakfast, and a quick wash of hands and face, off to church we’d go, and because of my weekly bath the night before, I’d still feel sparkly clean.
Also, in most of the old order Amish communities, there is still no indoor bathrooms. Imagine in the cold winter sitting out behind the house on a frozen 2 holer Moon-house with newspapers to wipe with. This was the place for the women. The men usually used the barn as their bathroom. Sitting in a calf pen, and again the use of newspapers is the source of wiping. For a man to be caught in the outhouse behind the house, is like a man being caught using the women’s restroom in a restaurant. It is understood that the outhouses are for the women.
Although the men are allowed to use shavers to shave above the jaw line, they are not expected to shave below that area. So no mustache or cheek hair, but otherwise, let it grow.

5. Physical work: Everything is done by hand with manual labor. For the women this would mean gardening, quilting, butchering chickens, washing tons of dishes 3 times a day, by hand, with water that was warmed up by a wood burning stove, wood that was usually carried in from the woodpile behind the house by the women, doing all the laundry once a week, on Monday morning, with a gas operated washing machine, where you manually fed each piece of clothing through the ringer washing machine and than hung it on the clothes line in the yard for the wind and sun to dry it, keep the house clean, and have prepared 3 solid meals a day for the men when they come in from the fields or the barn from the chores.
Obviously there are many, many other chores, but for the most part, these are the biggest things I noticed since I was the one working in the fields and sawmill.
For the men, same as the women, the work never stops. In my entire childhood, there was never one moment, where we had all the work caught up on the farm, and we had nothing to do. With a dad and 8 of us brothers, this may seem difficult to believe, but between a large sawmill operation and a 255 acre farm, there was never a break.
Sunday, the one day of rest, was always a welcome break. Although I would now consider myself a hard worker, and am very proud of my childhood, and the values and work ethic that were instilled in me, I resented with every pore in my body, at times, how much work there was, and how little time for me, as a child to go fishing, or to play.
In an Amish community, you have no childhood. From the earliest memories I have, I was working in the sawmill, fields, and doing chores in the barn. When a lot of people think of the Amish, they have a romanticized idea of doing some work, but mostly walking dreamily around lakes, fields, riding horses, fishing, and occasionally doing some gardening, laundry, or some work in the fields. Not to dampen your spirits, but if you aren’t always getting your hands dirty and doing some form of work, you are considered lazy, and lazy is not a good reputation to have among the Amish.
On another note, do you want your kids growing up without a childhood, without hardly any toys, only an 8th grade education, with no possibility of going beyond that, not being allowed to know their relatives in the outside world, and working from their earliest childhood?

6. Freedom: A misconceived idea and a mistake often made with people who wish to become Amish is that your worries will miraculously disappear. That it is a place to start over, leave behind the people who have been bothering or mistreating you in your life. Go to a place where people will forgive everything you do as fast as it happens. A place where everyone loves God and life is carefree.
In order to best explain this one I will make a contrast. In the outside world, I discovered early on that you can be the biggest loser imaginable, and not a soul will do a thing about it. You can live in an apartment and live off the Government, and play an X Box all day and order in pizza and never leave, and as long as you are within the boundaries of the law, no one will raise a hand or force you to become somebody.
When you are Amish, everything you do, wear, drive, build, to only mention a few, gets regulated and monitored in detail. From your dress code, in detail, to the length of your hair, or beard, where you work, how much you work outside the community, how much bling is on your buggy or horse, how your house or barn is built and the belongings inside or outside of it. Besides the visible things, you are also reprimanded on how you talk, believe, and actually, believe it or not, often even how you think and feel about something. When you are Amish, you may not know better, and this may be acceptable for the majority of the people who grew up that way. However, there are always the small percentage of us that question this authority, or even resent it. Especially when it is supposedly based off the bible, but after reading the bible from cover to cover, you discover that it is more a man made tradition, and that you are actually being controlled by something often not bibically based. Couple that with a highly energetic kid with A D D, and you have a Mose…

I could do several topic on things like control, humiliation, or even child or animal abuse. Now is not the time, and also, some of them, like animal or child abuse, you are accountable for in your household, and not anything that is encouraged within a community.
The humiliation comes if and when you do something that goes against the church rules, and you have to confess your transgressions before the whole church, to see if you can be forgiven, instead of confessing to one man in private, like the Catholic people do. Again, now is not the time or place to get into that these topics.

Where I came from, I knew little to nothing of the outside world and what was in it. I didn’t know anything about American history, who is President, who famous actors or singers are, except for a handful of country singers. Because of a lack of knowledge, I had no appreciation for our troops keeping the people around me and myself free and safe. The list goes on, but the point being, the change from such a sheltered, monitored, controlled environment, to an outside world, is so drastic, that it is often impossible to remain in the outside world. Even if you like what the world has to offer, even if you hated your Amish life. The lack of support or lack of leadership if you leave, is often too much to manage.
In the same breath, I would speculate that the difficulty of changing from one such culture to another would be magnified a thousand fold if you go from the outside into the Amish community. Think of the culture you are familiar with, that has the strictest religious beliefs you know. Now take that and multiply it by about 6 or 7. If you think I am exaggerating, hear me out. The Jehovah Witness, who, bless their hearts, I have received a ton of emails from former members, feel we have a ton in common. We probably do, but I can think of about 100 things in 5 minutes that they have that would make it easier being a Jehovah Witness then being Amish.
Vehicles, Electricity, Gas heat in their houses, birth control, the freedom to come and go as they please, are just a few that come to mind.
The very fact that you have taken the independent approach of saying, “the heck with this life on the outside, I will go Amish”, already tells me that you are too independent to bow down to a culture who thrives on molding you to a good, obedient, humble, modest, “Amish for Life”.

7. Divorce: In the outside world, and I am not judging anyone even a little here, but let’s face it, the percentage of couples that get married and remain together forever, are right around the approximate 50% bracket. For whatever the reason, it would appear that the good old days are gone where couples live happily ever after…… not that I am sure they all did back then either.
Contrary to popular belief, Amish couples are not hand picked and force married to each other by parents or elders of the church. Rather, both the Amish girl and boy can decide right up until they say their I DO’S whether or not they wish to be married to each other. Both the girl and the boy can, at any point during the relationship, break up with each other and move on to another partner, and nothing much gets made of it.
However, once you become married, there is no backing out. No Annulment, no money back guaranteed. You are absolutely and certainly stuck to each other for life. Yes, there are rare instances. if one of the two decide to leave the Amish. In such a case, the one who remains home, can’t ever, EVER become married under any circumstances. However, if your spouse were to die at any point, Amish or outside, you are free to become married to another Amish person.

8. Speaking the language: Let’s face it, learning to speak another language is difficult, and I can assure you that until you learn to speak Pennsylvania Dutch fluently, you will still be somewhat of an outcast within the community.

9. Entertainment: This one is kinda lame, and I am certainly becoming repetitive, but since I already know what I have for number 10, and I am trying to fill in the last few until then, this one seemed like a good fill-in piece. So let’s say that you have even a few artists who you love, or you have even a few movies you have a soft spot for. You loved all the Batman movies, and your highlight is going to see the new release when it comes out, or you have a crush on Justin Bieber, and buy every album he has. Are you prepared to completely block out all those things forever. Yes, I know you say you can, and at the moment it may seem quite do-able, but I can assure you that after you haven’t heard a radio for 6 months, and you hear that first musical instrument coming out of those speakers, your heart is absolutely overjoyed, and even the artists you disliked the most, and always switched stations on, sounds like heaven, and move you to tears.

10. Amish for Life: And finally, I want to make myself perfectly clear on this topic. You can not go try out the Amish for a trial period, and if you decide after a month, that the life is not for you, you can run back into your old comfort zone that was the world. If you think of the military, boot camp, the grueling workouts in the rain, etc, as tough as that might be, you can still take comfort that you can always throw in the towel and drop out at any moment. Even if you choose to stay in for several deployments, and you have served our wonderful country, and come home a hero, you are still not required to remain in the forces and fight for life.
The Amish will not accept you into the community, baptize you into their church, and give you a chance, unless they are convinced that you are committed to remain, live, and uphold there every value, rule, and tradition, for better or for worse, and commit to being, “Amish for Life”.
Based upon everything I have told you above, even coming from someone who grew up within the community and was unable to make it, so you are getting a perspective from a “burnout”, are you prepared to give up your life, family, internet, phone, electricity, TV, friends, security of the law, fast food, and all the other things that at this current point in your life, you just take for granted? The things you are convinced you are done with, you are possibly sick of.
If you are convinced that God has spoken to you, and it is your destiny to become Amish. If you have Amish dreams, and wake up sad because you are still English. If you had a bad break-up with a partner, are a high school drop out with no potential in life, have fallen upon hard times in life, financially, or whatever other reason that I’ve heard, are you confident, absolutely, positively, 100% convinced that the Amish life is for you, and that your determination can prevail? Do you fall into the .001% bracket of people who grew up in the outside world who dream of becoming Amish, and actually succeed, disappear into the community, never to be heard of again, and become, “Amish for Life”?
Forgive me for being extremely blunt in this blog. I am only one person, with one opinion, and in fairness, you probably need a second or third opinion, but I shoot straight. I tell it as I see it. I have struggled more with writing this blog than any other I have written. I found my inspiration in the mass amount of emails I receive from people who wish to join, and my desire is only to educate you on what you may be in for.
I will post PART II of “Amish for Life” on Thursday, Dec 20.

To Be Continued………….

The post Amish for Life: PART I appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

I also have received a ton of emails and questions from viewers of the other show Breaking Amish on TLC. Keep in mind that I saw about exactly 10 minutes of airtime from this show, (for various reasons) so I do not necessarily have an opinion on it. Therefore, I decided, to copy and paste, word for word, several emails I read in my inbox this morning, and let you, the reader and viewer, decide what you think?                                      Amish kids going to school

I did not necessarily pick and choose which particular emails I repost, but found it rather ironic this morning when I read two emails that were so drastically different in opinions.
Yes, Vietnam Veteran lady was quite kind and generous in her opinion, but the reason I used her email, is because it was quite well written, and in light of the recent Veteran’s Day, I felt it appropriate.

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Hello Mr. Gingerich:

I think you are an unusually kind and very sincere person. In addition, you are a very frank and eloquent person of speech and demeanor. Likewise, you set a remarkable loving and domestic hard-working and religious lifestyle , which is beyond a doubt, a fervent example to your many Ex-Amish friends and cohorts who simply endeavor to attain the same. However, if I may have this privilege, I would like to take this time and opportunity to state to you what I think of the supposedly “Ex-Amish Heathens,” who go by the TV title of “Breaking Amish/Shunning Truth;”
those of whom will present themselves tonight on Cable (Chanel 55) at 9:00 p. m. These people in question are undoing all of the good that you have done and continue to strive to do, and are blasphemously portraying the Amish in a totally different limelight than what I, and others, believe the Amish to be as
follows:

Whom do these people think they are?

Their conduct, posture, language, speech, and attitude about life in general, is reprehensible! I know of no other TV show where people are paid to curse in front of the whole world, talk about their sex lives, and to ridicule the Host who interviews them.
This is the type of cheap nonsense that the Amish does not want, and yes, I agree to a certain extent of the Amish culture: If going to New York makes that big of a change in a once great society and culture such as the Amish, then yes, cavorting with such a drastic change in lifestyle apparently will lead all of them to the devil because they do not have the kind of hurtful background to handle it! The whole idea of these people having gone to New York was simply too much for them. They don’t know how to handle the confusion, hatefulness, sin, greed, lust,(and anything else that can be thought of), that exists within the English world. Thus far, these people have only cheapened themselves trying to be something they are not, and have nothing to offer themselves much-less anyone else, as far as prospering in any way.

Your very own program, Mose, is educational and reaches my heart as you continually strive to figure everything out, that is, what is good for you, what is good for your family, what is good for your friends, where do you go from here, etcetera. The people who will be on Channel 55 tonight at 9:00 p. m. have no class, no manners or respect whatsoever, nor no sense of protocol. Consequently, they have turned themselves into much of the same kind of trash that decent people, bash. All of these idiots seem to think that they are so important to the world that when they face the cameras, it is alright for them to curse and slouch within their seats as if they were in a tavern rather than in an establishment where they are getting paid to set such a vile example of their culture to the world. The English world can only hope to disrespect them such as I do.
In the English world, the girl model who will be on TV tonight can only hope to end-up being used and abused by those people whom she has no insight as to how same will eventually use and abuse her. This is the kind of world she wants, but yet has no idea of how sordid it really is. The Italian girl needs to clean up her act, be a lady, further her education, and forget about boyfriends until she is educationally and financially able to take care of herself. Rebecca, the newly married girl,is totally ignorant. The guy she married would have been alright, but once he married Rebecca, he has become totally ignorant also. He very abruptly stated on TV last Sunday to the Host, (that is, when the Host asked him where he went to when leaving the camera’s eye for a moment,that, “He had to take a pizz!” How ridiculous is that? Nobody talks like that on a family show! The guy who learned how to drive a cab is probably the one who has the most common sense, but he would be better off stress-wise, educationally, and financially, and have a better life, living on the farm which he would inherit one day.

While I enjoy sharing your many visions, Mose, if I can find out where to voice my opinion with reference to TV, I would like to see Breaking Amish/The Shunning Truth, be removed from any further viewing. It is destructive socially as well as morally.

Sincerely, Violet (a 72 year old Vietnam Veteran, Retired Government Worker, and Housewife)

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Whether or not the things that were said in the above email are true, I do not know, as again, I haven’t watched it.

Followed by an Email from another viewer with a completely different opinion. Who is right and who is wrong?

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Hi Mose, It upsets me what people are saying over at Facebook Breaking Amish page. People are saying everything was a lie and fake. I feel and believe that whatever they (the cast) said was the truth and I love them and love to learn about the Amish. It really breaks my heart that people can be filled with so much hate out there in the world!!! I also watched Amish out of order and loved it!!! If I had it my way I would live Amish!! LOL!!

A fan, Donna.

The post Amish on TV: For better or worse. appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

As an after thought. If you, as a voter, got to make your own decision, had a choice, who would you choose to be our next President? I'm talking about outside the 2 men currently running?
   I would probably vote for Brett Favre, but I am afraid he would go down the path of Bill Clinton in showing his junk to white house reporters, and I would be apprehensive about him threatening retirement all the time. Heck, I could even see him throwing a Hail Mary to the other team once in a while. But I am a fan, and would probably actually vote for him.

   I am excited to say that Tuesday, November 6, 2012, is just around the corner, and this Political Rookie is about to go and place his first vote. And may whoever gets elected, be sensitive toward the Land of the Free, the home of the Brave!

The post Amish and Politics appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

In this blog, I wish to acknowledge this, and several other questions that I get from time to time from people. I will try and answer, to my best of abilities, the top 5 questions asked recently. Many of you have read most, if not all of these questions

                                                              Breaking Amish 2012

in previous blogs, but those blogs have since moved so far down that a lot of people haven’t read them, so here goes.

Question #5. “I feel that God wants me to help these ex Amish kids. Can you hook me up with some new Amish kids who are leaving, I want to help”?

Answer #5. No. Without trying to sound rude, this is not going to happen. Over the last 10 to 15 years, there have been many ex Amish who have left, and have become established in this area. When a new kid leaves, he will continue to move in with an already established ex Amish. The chances of one from the mid western states leaving and preferring to move in with someone who has no Amish ties, VS someone who is probably their cousin or someone that they grew up with, is less then slim to none. Rarely does one of them leave, that doesn’t already have a place to go and a job to work at even before they leave. Again, there are millions of people in this world who are in much more need of help then a new Amish kid who is leaving.

Question #4. “Did Michaela ever go Amish, and if so, how is she doing”?

Answer #4. No. Michaela discovered that the change of going Amish, would be too hard to make. From my conversations with her, she has found some sort of peace in the outside world with her family, and has found a young man with whom she has found a lot of happiness.

Question #3. “Where do you stand in your salvation”?

Answer #3. I already had found Christ during the show, and have steadily grown in him. I am not sure how I came as far in life as I had, without him, but what i am sure of is this, I have found him, and I have no intentions of losing him again.

Question #2. “Will there be another season of “Amish out of Order”, and if so, when will it air”? Or even, believe it or not, for those of you who think a show just continues to run continuously forever nonstop, “Where did your show go, I haven’t seen it for a while, and wonder if they pulled it because of ratings”?

Answer # 2. I don’t know if I will do another season or not. As a matter of fact, I don’t know if I will ever be on TV again. When I do know something solid, I will let you know. There are a lot of behind the scenes scenarios that have to align, that I don’t want to bore you with. If, or when, these things align, and we are, or are not, guaranteed another season, you will be the first to know.
And for those of you who missed episodes, and assume the show is running somewhere on a mystery channel that everyone has access to except you, the show ran for all 10 weeks. It began Tuesday night, April 17, 2012, ran for 10 weeks, just like planned, and ended on Tuesday night, June 19. 2012.

Question #1. Are you a part of the new show, “Breaking Amish”? “What do you think of it”? and “Have you been watching it”?

Answer #1. No, No, and No. A little harsh? O.K. Let me explain. I was approached about this show early on in it’s production, not so much as a character in front of the camera, as a person with Amish experience behind the camera. (I might add here, also, that I get approached by probably a dozen production companies a year, who have different ideas on how to make a hit show on Amish people.) Many of these ideas never take off, or, even sadder, get filmed, but never make it to TV for various reasons.
When TLC approached me, probably about 6 months before NatGeo did, and I got very limited information about what they are trying to do, except that it would be sort of reality show, I lost interest. Not necessarily because I disagreed or disapproved of it, but because I have been there and done that.
Back in 2004, right after I left the Amish, I went on a very similar show, “Amish in the City”, that aired on UPN. It featured me and 4 other new, Amish kids who had just left, living in a huge house in the middle of LA. It followed us as we gallivanted around Hollywood and Studio City and tried many of the things the world has to offer that we would not ever have got to do had we stayed Amish.
I have done that, outgrown that, and where I am at this point in my life, and what I now aim to stand for, or am trying to accomplish, has a deeper meaning.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that I disapprove of the show, “Breaking Amish”.
That brings me to the question, “Have you been watching it”? I have not been watching it, and probably won’t. I do not know one person who is on it, or anyone who worked on it. For me, I grew up Amish, so the Amish don’t hold the captivation for me that they do for many people who grew up on the outside. Therefore, I have no opinion on this show. I am not in a position to Judge it one way or another. My approach on this show is that someone chose to do a spin off of “Amish in the City”. I chose not to be a part of it, so i wash my hands and reserve opinion on it. Might I add that this is how I would want to be treated with my shows, therefore, it is not hard to set an example.
Finally, when people send me letters or emails commenting on how this show is fake, exploitative, controversial, untruthful, or any of the other comments I have received, don’t be offended when I don’t respond or participate in the conversation. After all, I chose not to be a part of it, so who am I now to criticize it. At last, I was once, 8 years ago, that exact kid who chose to go to a big city, have my life followed with cameras as I explored the wonders of the world. I came out of it a better man because of it, and I can only encourage another to do the same. After All, there is nothing wrong with broadening one’s horizons, and if anything comes across wrong on the screen, it was probably pieced together and edited to make it look that way.
In summary, if done for the right reasons, as each and every one of my shows have been, then this show will be a success. If, on the other hand, it was done for fame, fortune, or ratings, then it will become transparent pretty fast.

Until next time…. Bleib in da eng und schmal veg. (Stay on the straight and narrow road)

I did want to mention that I am receiving a lot of emails from readers saying that they can’t leave a comment on my blogs. You have to be logged in, in order to leave a comment. If you lost your username and password, I can’t retrieve it, so you may have to create a new one. Thank you.

The post Breaking Amish appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

For the first 22 yrs of my life, I grew up on a farm. I learned early on that when you live upon the land, and all the animals on the farm live upon the land, rain is extremely important. Indeed, it seems almost unfair that what is considered stressful in my world today, is so much different then it was 15 years ago.

The driest I ever remember it being, was when I was 8 and 9 back in 1987 and 1988. We went through a drought in Wisconsin where we had to buy a lot of food from stores for the family, because the garden wasn’t producing well. We had to buy corn, hay, and even oats for the farm animals.

To this day, I find that I by default, go back to the farm in my mind when we start getting dry, and it seems almost unfair that I have a job now where I need nice weather, and don’t need the cooperation of the land much at all to make a living. Almost like I am cheating the system while millions of farmers are sitting there praying for rain.

But I didn’t exactly begin this blog to talk about the weather, the rain, or the crops. I am writing this blog to hopefully try and accomplish 2 different things. I will not reveal these 2 things this early, because I’m afraid that I am not a good enough writer to captivate your attention for the rest of the blog if I tell you what the 2 things are at the beginning.

It is my day off from work, and miraculously I may not need to even make a trip in today to meet any customers, which is almost unheard of. I will absolutely enjoy this day, all by myself, sitting in the darkness of my basement, legs propped up on my computer desk, punching the keyboard. (I have not yet mastered the art of nimbly flying through the tabs on my keyboard without looking.)

Today’s activities.

1. Wake up from natural causes, instead of an annoying alarm clock.

2. Help get the girls dressed and ready for day care, strapped in their car seats and a few blown kisses later watch them disappear over the hill as mom drops them off and she heads on to her work.

3. Jog my normal 1 mile routine. NOTE: In 2 years at the dealership, I have gained 25 lbs. Enough of that. My new goal. Lose all of that by years end. Also, for those of you who have never tried it, take a morning jog. Breath in the fresh air. Yes, it takes discipline, but is well worth it. Amazing how much one can sort out in one’s mind during a morning run.

4. Take the trash out.

5. Shower.

6. Go out and have some breakfast. That’s right. I never learned to cook. I would much rather eat someone’s cooking. One Big Pig Omelet, 3 cups of coffee and 4 pieces of toast later, and back to the house it is.

7. Start my random blog, with no real game plan, inspiration, or definitive ending in mind.

8. 9:20 AM. Contact the wife to see if we can hook up for lunch somewhere. Again, a lunch someone made for us.

9. Finish and post my blog, and pick out a good movie.

10. Pretty much watch movies and let my brain rest for the rest of the afternoon so I can be fresh for the rest of the week at work. Not a very creative day, or very eventful, but when you work so many long, grinding days, it is very rewarding for one little man.

In Sept of 2005, when we got married, while Shana was planning the wedding, I was planning the honeymoon. You guessed it. A 3 day trip to Lambeau Field to watch a Packers game. Yes, I even planned the wedding date and Honeymoon around the Packers schedule. I chose what had been one of the worst teams in the league the year before to watch them play the Packers because I didn’t want to see a loss on our honeymoon. The Cleveland Browns, 4 and 12 record the year before.

Guess what? They smoked Brett Favre and the Packers that day largely due to a rookie named Braylon Edwards, and some guy named Steve Heiden.

That was the last true vacation we have taken. Granted, we went to the St Louis Zoo on a Sunday Afternoon, a Football game at the Edward Jones Dome, several at Arrowhead Stadium, etc, but never a real vacation.

THAT BRINGS ME TO MY FIRST SUBJECT.

With me pretty much sheltered for the first 22 yrs of my life, and pretty much working none stop here in little ole Mid Missouri, my wife really not that much more experienced in the field of vacations and where to go, I would like to hear different opinions.

Here is what we have in mind. We will be taking the 2 girls with us. Ella is 4, Anna is almost 2. We do not want the city life for this one. Rather, what we prefer, is about 8 or 9 days of nothing. Preferably west. Mountains, lots of woods with tall trees, lakes or rivers, and lodging in cabins. Sights that are breath taking. High altitudes, wildlife, etc. Maybe even some boat rides every so often.

We can take a vacation to a large city some other time. At this point, we want a quiet peaceful getaway from it all. So quiet that I can hear a bear walking from a mile away, a fish jump from 2 lakes away, and possibly even snow flakes touching down on the mountain tops high above.                                                                 Dream Vacation

It will have to be within the U.S. and we’re thinking somewhere in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, etc. Any ideas are welcome.

This vacation would probably be sometime in November or December of this year, and although everyone tells us we need at least one a year, it will probably last us for 5 or 6 more years.

With the heat letting up a little, and the smell of the leaves turning to rich colors, the nip of the chilly air in the mornings, comes the familiarities of something else. FOOTBALL. That’s right. That time of the year when Training camps open, cuts get made, hold outs hold out, free agents get picked up for one last chance in the NFL, undrafted players get a chance to shine, and all the boredom of the last 7 months during the off season washes away with the first kickoff of the 2012 NFL season. It is during this time that I ever so slightly put things like my job, family, and many other things on the back burner during Sunday afternoons, pop some popcorn, sit back on my recliner, and watch the magic happen. It is during this 4 or 5 month magical time that all is forgotten.

Who cares about the the political votings, the Todd Akin (talking with his foot in his mouth) incident, or the health care topic? I got football, and that’s what makes everything balance out right.

In short, my love for football, dates back to when I was still Amish, on the farm, was not supposed to have a radio, but somehow always did, and through this, on a small farm out in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, with the introduction of our “English” milkman, acquired my first radio, heard Brett Favre’s first comeback, and became hooked for life.

If there is any reader who wishes to convert me to any other team, give up. I may have been raised Amish, but my football roots go deep. Besides, the Bears, Lions, and Vikings, don’t give anyone a reason to like them. As a matter of fact, are they still playing? If they are, I heard the Bears are thinking of Cutlering their QB, cleaning out Ur’s locker, and replacing Lovies Myth.

I will do my usual predictions for the upcoming season of football. For the teams or players who are sorta in the middle, nothing too spectacular, I won’t even contemplate on them. My predictions are based upon my gut feeling. My second sight. Or my intuition. Last year I didn’t get a chance to blog my predictions, because I was in the thick of filming the show, Amish: out of Order, but if you wish to see how I did the year before, it was posted back in the fall of 2010.

THIS BRINGS ME TO MY SECOND SUBJECT.

I am in 5 different Fantasy Football Leagues this year. Down from 8 last year. (All 8 suffered, BTW, because of the amount of filming I was doing during the season) I have owned my own League now for 7 years. My point here is this.

If for just this one blog, I can get your undivided attention off of me personally, the Show, “Amish: Out of Order”, and whether or not it is coming back on, and discuss with me, the game of football, I would be dearly entitled to you! As a matter of fact, I will probably take a lot of your advice on who to start in my leagues this year. I even have visions of next year having another league with strictly just my most active football fanatics that I meet because of this blog.

So here we go. My BOLD predictions for the 2011/2012 NFL season.

The Redskins. There is a lot of chatter coming out of the Redskins camp about RG3. Yes, from what I have seen, I do think he is talented. As a matter of fact, the difference between a HOF QB and an average one, oftentimes is not that big. Dedication, determination, will power, Mental state of mind, competitiveness, Discipline, and work ethic. Often it is not nearly as huge of a difference between a Tom Brady vs. a Matt Leinart, (Many people compared Leinart to Brady when he was coming out of college) As it might appear on paper. One is disciplined and has committed to this game and perfecting it for a very long time, and quite possibly, one has a back up plan just in case being a QB in the Pro’s doesn’t work out.
Long story short, It is way too early to tell how RG3 will do, but for this year, I predict a 7 and 9 season at best, probably 6 and 10.

The Patriots. Despite the New England’s woes in the last 2 Superbowls against the same team, the Giants, you could look at history of Superbowl losing teams, and assume that NE will be a dismal 9-7 team this year, barely squeaking into the playoffs, and losing in the first round. I, however, predict that this will be one of the best, if not the best, New England Patriot’s teams we have seen yet. I would be shocked if Brady doesn’t throw 40+ TD’s, around 4800 yards, the Patriots go 13-3, possibly even 14-2, and make it to the Superbowl again. (I will have my Superbowl predictions later)

The Colts. A lot of people are counting the Colts out for this season. Assuming that Luck needs at least a year under his belt to start meshing in Indy. (Sorta like I predicted for his fellow Rookie, RG3 above) I, however, think he has a stellar year, throwing about 26ish TD’s, the colts make the playoffs as a wildcard team at 10-6, and win the first wild card round.

The Jets. There is not more chatter in any one teams facilities then the New York Jets. Who will be their starting QB? How will they use Tebow. First and foremost, let me say that I love this guy. I would go see him play anytime if he was in this area and the starting QB. He is entertaining to watch, has more compassion when he plays then almost the whole league put together, and is competitive on top of that. Unfortunately, this is also probably why he is still in the league playing, and has a current roster spot with the Jets. Let’s face it. This guy was absolutely horrible most of last year. Without the Bronco’s defense, he would have Gone something like 3-8 instead of 7-4.

I do feel that because he is entertaining, stands up for what he believes in, and has a ton of followers, is largely why he is in the running as a QB for the Jets. Make no mistake about it, I love this guy and what he stands for. However, with him, Rex Ryan, and all the media distractions in New York, can they win? Tough one. I figure they go somewhere around 8-8, miss the playoffs, and rumors will start in NY about getting rid of the REX. Normally, I would predict that midway through this season, Tebow gets released, and his name fades out, but I’m not exactly sure he is the sort of person to just fade out. In other words, he doesn’t follow the “Normal” pattern. I, however, predict he stays all season, but if Rex Ryan goes, so does Tebow.

The Lions. Why couldn’t the lions repeat their success from last year? Not much has changed on their roster or and major coaching changes. For the world they should be a 12-4 team. Not so fast there you Band Wagon Jumpers of Motor City. Without having any statistical backing, or any justification, I simply think it will be much harder for the Lions to play up to expectations then it was last year playing from behind, and exceeding what they were projected to do. In other words, Pressure catches up to them, and although Stafford has another great season, they fall to a 8-8 or if they’re lucky, 9-7 record, and miss the playoffs.

The Broncos. With Peyton Manning, a stiff defense, a good offensive line, several good WR, all signs point to the Broncos being the team to watch. I’m not buying it. Although Manning is back, shoulder surgery a thing of the past, I do not ever again anticipate seeing Manning being what he was in Indy. Make no mistake about it, He will be great. Peyton Manning is the epitome of the QB I was talking about earlier when I mentioned the little that separates a HOF QB from a Matt Leinart.
I think, if Manning can stay healthy, the Broncos go 10-6, make the playoffs in a wild card tie breaker, and get demolished in the first round of the playoffs, causing the Bronco faithful to question if Manning might have gotten slightly over paid.

Bears. I do think the Bears will have a good season. As much as it hurts me to say so, I wouldn’t be shocked if they went 2-0 against the Packers, going into the playoffs with a 11-5 record and winning the division. Sleeper alert. Jay Cutler.

Packers. Look for the Packers to start off slow, possibly starting the season 3-4, because of a lack of running game, because of too many changes on defense, DB’s leaving a lot to be desired, and a pass rush that’s non existent. I see them after the midway point starting to mesh on defense, and riding into the playoffs as the NFC north’s second seed behind the Bears with a 10-6 record. Of Course, when have I ever been correct on the Packers. I also thought when they replaced Favre with Rodgers, Rodgers would be a bust, McCarthy would be laughed out of town, and they would bring Favre back as a hero. Partly kidding. However, when I try to decipher the Packers, I can’t predict them logically, because of my love for them, so here I’m wrong more times then not.

The Cowboys. This is arguably the toughest division in the NFL. However, I predict that if Romo can stay healthy, the Cowboys could be someone to be reckoned with this year. Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett begin to Gel, figuring out who is running the team, etc, and they squeak into the playoffs and actually win a playoff game for the first time in a while. 11-5.

The Seahawks. This team is my “Gamble” pick for this season. I honestly am on the rocks here. Largely because Pete Carrol’s history in the NFL isn’t that great, and they are already having a QB controversy in Seattle right after nabbing Flynn from GB and giving him a huge payday. I honestly think this team can go either way, with little chance of landing in the middle. Either they lose the first 3 games or so, and Carrol loses control of the team, which means they lose the season, and go 4-12, or they come out of the gate swinging, win 4 out of 5, and never look back. Because of their stiff defense, I will go with the latter, saying that they come out strong, win 4 out of the first 5, settle upon Flynn because he is winning, and Mesh well together. I will put them in at 10-6 beating out the 49ers for the division title. I know this is a huge stretch, considering the 49ers look as good as ever, and this is probably the biggest gamble I predict for 2012. (This obviously was written before they announced Russel Wilson as Starting QB, so if I may, I predict He makes it for 7 games before being replaced by Flynn)

Now for my 2 sleeper teams. I predict that the Houston Texans will win their division, probably with a 12-4 record, and make it all the way to the AFC Championship game, where they will be beat out narrowly by the Patriots.

In the NFC, it will be the Eagles. Much is riding on this theory. Like Vick staying healthy, and Andy Reed making the team play as a team instead of individuals. However, I put the Eagles in the NFC Championship with a wild card Packers team, where a strong defense by the Packers shows through and rolls past the Eagles. (Again, wishful thinking. Feeling a need for revenge here after being forced out of the NFC playoffs so many times by Reed, McNabb, and the Eagles.

Players set for a big year. Quarterbacks. Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, and Jay Cutler.

Running Backs. Matt Forte, Arian Foster, Reggie Bush, Steven Jackson.

Wide Receivers. Desean Jackson, Jordy Nelson, Pierre Garcon, Steve Smith. Carolina.

And now for the division winners.
AFC:
Patriots, Texans, (bye weeks)
Chargers, Ravens. (wildcard) Colts and Broncos. Sorry Steelers Fans, but 9-7 won’t make the wildcard round.

NFC: Cowboys and Falcons (Bye Week)
Bears, Seahawks. (Wildcard) Packers and Eagles.

And for my Superbowl pick. Same as last time, will be the Packers and Patriots. I have the Packers going into the Playoffs with all the momentum, much like in the 2010/2011 season, rolling into the Superbowl, and with all the momentum, Brady and the Patriots lose their 3rd Superbowl in a row to the Packers 28 to 36.

I feel non too confident in some of them, mainly looking over it, do I actually think the giants, Steelers, Saints, and the 49ers will miss the playoffs. Guess we’ll see.

However, I make my bold predictions and will certainly be proven wrong in some of them. And of course, there are always break out players that nobody, not even there own coaches seen coming.
In practice, a player may look barely average, barely squeak his way onto a starting roster, but when the real game starts, that is what separates the average player from a Hall of Fame player.That is where unforeseen, undrafted stars are born. That is only a small portion of what captivates me during football season.

The post I have a Fantasy, do you? appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

Speaking for the rest of the cast in general, it was extremely difficult to get them on board to do any filming simply because every Amish or ex Amish I know, loves their privacy. Try and take someone who has no desire to be in the spotlight, be famous, or socialize with people outside of their circle, and then try to take this person and convince them to participate in a TV show for the world to see.

That alone is a huge undertaking! Then take this person after the show is over, and expect them to open their life’s to all the people who seen it and were touched by it, probably just won’t happen. It should not be too hard to understand that the cast has a right to their privacy.

Speaking for myself, after doing “Amish in the City” back in 2004 1 1/2 yrs after leaving the Amish, I was that guy. The guy who had no internet, no Facebook profile, no email, etc. Therefore I was never contacted by anyone. Seldom was I even recognized in the streets or at the County fair. This was exactly how I wanted it, and looking back, I would not have been able at that time to handle the publicity.

It goes without saying that since then, I have become more open minded and social to the public, but I will never in my life get to a point where I am comfortable embracing publicity or fame.

When you see the films I have been involved with, if you see me speaking in a sincere tone of voice, and you hear something you can relate to, that touches you, or you even convince yourself that if we have tons in common, and that if we only met, we could be lifelong friends, I want to tell you how I think that happened.

                                                    My fried brain turning to Mush

In order for myself to open myself up that broadly on TV, this is the only way I could do it. I have to get on a complete and personal comfort level with each and every camera man, sound guy, and producer person. The person that I am talking to next to the camera, knows every stitch of my life, has met my family, and I know a lot about him. Only then can I sit there and open up to that person asking me questions, and I can speak freely. Understand this. If there is a stranger standing in the background staring, (if you notice, there were never any scenes where I was talking in public with many people walking around) I am useless. If they bring in a new sound guy, a new face powder girl, or even a new run person (the person who gets batteries when the mic runs out) I am useless. Before I can freely open up and talk or do anything, I have to go over, introduce myself, and get on a personal comfort level with that person. I can’t explain this very well. Part of the reason may be that all my life I have been harshly judged for everything I have done, and I have not only quit trying to associate with these people, I have completely cut them out of my life. I have not given up, I am just at a point in my life where I have absolutely no patience with someone judging me or trying to monitor or control my life.

So when I am speaking sincerely to you across the screen, It was actually that I was, at the time this was filmed, having a passionate conversation with the person who had asked me a question that I was passionate about. I in return was answering this question in a passionate manner to the person beside the camera. The person who had managed to somehow become someone I trust with my complicated life. The person who I now consider a close enough friend that I can share anything with.

Knowing this, it only goes without saying, that I was often taken aback a little when I was sitting watching the show come across the TV, and heard myself saying something, and shuddered at how I was able to say something that personal for the world to hear.

Another reason is that, contrary to popular belief, I make friends very slowly. I by default, will err on the side of not letting my wall down for some time after I first meet someone. I will even come across as rude and self centered to many who don’t know me well. However, once we become friends, if we become friends, this is a friendship that usually lasts and I will go a long way to maintain it. I can’t explain this. I can’t even make an excuse that it has to do with my upbringing or that it is an event or events from my childhood that shaped me that way. Let’s just say that I have actually come a long way in life in this regard, but it is a working progress, and we can leave it at that. However, if you ever barge into my office at work expecting a huge, warm hug, because you have envisioned me as being a person who welcomes any stranger into my life, or if you meet me on the street, at the fair, or any other place we may meet, please don’t take to seriously if I may seem distant or even cold. In all reality, it probably would be no different then if you were sitting in the privacy of your front lawn, and perfect strangers kept stopping, running over, and shoving pieces of paper in your face to sign, smiling, touching you, and expecting you, who are just wanting to spend this day privately with the family in your home, to understand and bond instantly with them, because they saw you on TV and they felt like you have things in common.

I did not ever hope to write this Blog, but write it I will, and over the next few paragraphs, I will make it clear why I’m writing it.

I have several idols in the TV world who I would love to meet. There have been times in my life where I would have driven to any corner of the earth just to meet them and talk to them, have my picture taken, and get an autograph from them. It never registered in my mind that they probably have a very busy life already and that there probably is nothing about me that separates me apart from the previous million people who came to seek them out. Apparently this is the cost price you pay for being in the spotlight. Although I am not and hopefully never will be someone’s idol, I do receive a lot of fan mail, emails, phone calls, and even people coming into my office unannounced at my work just to meet me. People who drove from every corner of the United States. This should be flattering to me.

However, knowing what you know now after reading my social skills above, it is anything but flattering.

I will take this opportunity to say that I appreciate the fact that my mission was accomplished in “Amish: out of Order” of doing a show that is different from anything else. My mission was accomplished in doing an inspirational film instead of the normal controversial show with a lot of quarreling, sex, cheating, and the usual stuff you see on TV.

I do appreciate each and every one of you that viewed it and helped make it a success. In a perfect world, I would meet up and take each and every one of you out to lunch or dinner, and we would become those lifelong friends like I spoke about earlier. As a matter of fact, I would much enjoy doing that.

However, it is not a perfect world. I am not a rich celebrity who sits at home all day trying to figure out what I can do to pass the time. And this is the part where I get to the reason why I can’t get to all the people who have tried to contact me. In my inbox, tied in with my personal website, www.amishinthecitymose.com. I have over 50,000 emails of which I’ve had a chance to read maybe 300. On my facebook that has been max ed out with 5000 friends, there is no way to get a count that I know of, but I speculate there are probably close to that many on there as well. This is awesome! Again, in a perfect world, I would be sitting patiently at home with nothing to do, answering each and every message with the utmost care. I would have by now been involved and started 300 ministries, be attending 2000 churches with probably that many different religious beliefs.

The reality is, documentaries as a rule, don’t pay much money. I could have made as much or more money had I stayed back at the car dealership instead of doing the film. I chose to do the film for anything but money. (If you read some of my earlier blogs, you will see why I chose to do the show). The reality is, I am a husband, father of 3, with a large mortgage, 2 vehicle payments, daycare for 2 little girls, and every bill any normal person in this country filled with debt has. I literally have to work on my day off, which is on Tuesday, just to have enough money at the end of each month to pay my bills. From the time I leave my house at 6:45 am til I get back home (on an average 9:15 pm, which is, doing accurate math, 14.5 hrs a day) I am running 100 miles an hr at one of the largest car dealerships in the mid western states at Joe Machens Toyota in Columbia.

Make no mistake, I am a workaholic. I could just Mosey along and be an average sales person. However, not only did I learn how to work until I drop from fatigue a young age, again, I am also motivated by trying to make enough money to keep food on the table for my kids. I am proud to say that in this very large dealership, I am one of the very top sales people. The very concept that I could at this stage in my families life, quit my job, even for a few days, to get into ministry, pastoring, counseling centers, etc, is absurd. If I quit the dealership for 2 weeks, I would be broke and living in an apartment in 2 months.

This is not an Blog asking for sympathy or money. I have the life I want, and I am happy with it. I just want you as a viewer of the show, to be aware of why I can’t do all these impossible things that GOD SO CLEARLY CALLED ME TO DO..

Knowing now that I work an average of 14.5 hrs a day, 6 days a week, where I do not have access to be on facebook or checking my emails constantly, does it make some form of sense that when I get home from work, completely exhausted mentally from work, that I only ask to spend that precious little time with my family before they go to bed.

                 Me and my Family

The last thing I wish to do after they are in bed, for that hf hr or so before my eyelids close, is to start calling or emailing people back. On Sunday, that one day of rest, that I refuse to work, Is my 1 day of the week, where I can hang with the family all day. This day has become GOLD precious.

I want to explain why I even have a web site, facebook, and other contact methods.

I began these means of contact because I do like to interact to a certain degree with people. I do like to blog, and hear the feedback from readers. I do like to know that something I did or said or wrote somewhere, made a difference in someone’s life. This is the fulfilling part of my life. I do wish to make a difference. I do want to make the world a better place. And last of all, I want to have a way for people contact me that I was never able to get with Garth Brooks and Brett Favre. However, I am a little outnumbered here. It is probably easy for you as the reader to send an email, letter, or phone call, take 10 to 15 minutes of your life to do so, and expect me to return the courtesy. Now however, take that 10 minutes and multiply it by 100,000. That is my side of the story.

Again, I enjoy the feedback very much, and please don’t quit posting and sending it. The reason I am writing this Blog against all my better instincts is this. This Blog is not written for the casual viewer who watched the show and wished to send me an email telling me he or she enjoyed the show. This is not written for the people who send me facebook requests. It is not written for those who subscribe to my website and send me an email or two.

This Blog is written for those of you who have sent me multiple emails, called my place of work numerous times, and I’ve never been able to get back to you. This is written for those who feel sure that God himself came to them and told them to come seek me out personally and have me take time off from work to start a ministry with them. God spoke to them and told them to come sit down with me and help me with all these questions I may have in my life that no one else has the answer to but them personally. This is to those people who have become so frustrated with me that I have been unable to take the time out of my day to call and speak with each of them individually, that I have received threats to myself and my family from anything ranging to coming to our house, to God striking me with lightening for not listening to them and the calling God has so clearly given them the controls to help me start, to actual death threats for how I could be so very rude and self centered as to never return an email after they so clearly found that one person who can come to them and help them change their life.

This Blog is for the Man currently sitting in a hotel room in Columbia, Mo, who drove here from Somewhere in South Dakota, because God came to him in a vision and told him to come talk to me. Yes, the man who has been sitting there at that same hotel for 2 weeks waiting for my heart to open, so he can come back here to the dealership and fulfill the mission God sent him here to complete. Only after 3 visits and a mention of taking necessary legal action, did he quit coming in every day with boxes of DVD’s and books that he had bought for me to read to help change my life. How long he will sit over there waiting, I am not sure, but who am I to run him back to South Dakota? Let him enjoy the beautiful city of Columbia. Population around 110,000.

This is for the woman in Tennessee who lost the custody battle with her children, the law has her in a Mental center, and the fact that I won’t personally come to TN and testify on her behalf when God has clearly called me to do so, will be a reason for me and my family to watch our backs when she gets out of that place.

This is for the suicidal man in KY who somehow found my home phone, (which has since become restricted) and called it over 50 times trying to manipulate me to let him move in with us so I can spend my spare time helping him change his life around, and eventually help him convert to the Amish faith. The same person who, after the 5th call, when I put a restraining order against him, he promised me one of 2 things would happen. Option 1. He would either come hunt down me and my family and “eliminate” us all, (because back in the bible if someone disobeyed God’s commands, they were stoned to death) to option 2, he would commit suicide. Hmmmm. Me and my family, or him? Hmmm. Tough choice.

If you detect just a hint of sarcasm, burnt outness, or stressed outness, it is because I feel overwhelmed with people who feel like I owe them a piece of myself. Whether it is my time, money, home, help mentally, church, or whatever it may be, when in all reality, I agreed to do a TV show. I chose to have several public sites where people can send me feedback, and I made the mistake of giving people a place where I work. I am just after all an average JOE who lives in good ole Mid Missouri who is not any more special then any of the other people around him. The difference being that I agreed to put my personal life and my families out there for viewers to see.

Again, for the normal person who viewed the show and was touched by it. I hope in due time, to answer each and all emails. At the pace I am going, it may take 30 yrs, but I am patient. In the meantime, I will continue to work long hrs, value quality family time, and hopefully this blog will answer some questions to people who wonder why I left them hanging.

I will also in this Blog try and answer some of the most frequently asked questions that people have for me.

1. Will there be another season of Amish: out of Order?
Probably not. Although there are many reasons that factor into this decision, I have my personal reasons for saying probably not. Without bringing any attention to myself, I don’t think that they can successfully do another season without me. The reason I say that isn’t because I think that my on screen appearance is great. It is because my assistance behind the scenes on getting others on board and keeping them on board is a big deal.

So this is the part where I explain why I probably am not interested in doing another season. I did the first season for a greater good. Again, read some of my earlier Blogs, and you’ll see why. I feel like in the first season, I covered what I wanted to cover. I said what I had to say. The show did what I wanted it to do. For me to do another season, what could I do that hasn’t already been done. I can’t take another spiritual journey in my life. What could I do that would be a greater good that I haven’t already done.

Also, I would have to quit my normal job that is currently paying my bills. The reason being that there is not enough here in good old Columbia, Mo to put together anther whole season. I would have to travel abroad to put the next season together. I have been looking for a job like this ever since I left the Amish. I am fiercely loyal to this job, my fellow employees and managers, and last of all, to my customer base I have worked so very hard to build. If I were to quit the dealership for even 6 months, I would lose that customer base, and if I were forced to go back to the dealership, I would have to start all over at the bottom once again.

And let’s face it. I didn’t have a family life for over a year while we were filming. For anyone who sits and sees the finished product come across the screen and has a revelation that it would be easy to do what I did, let me explain in a brief detail what level of commitment it actually takes.

Once I finally, after 2 yrs of saying “no”, agreed to say “yes” to this project, this is how my schedule became. From 6:30 am to 7:00 PM I worked at the dealership 6 days a week. from the time I got off work, (usually with my brain completely fried) We filmed until midnight. Many times I sat up until 2 am brain storming ideas for the film crew to be filming the next day while I was at work.

We discovered early on that I can’t do interviews or scenes at my house because the kids will keep running over to crawl up on my lap, so we kept having to rent houses etc where we could film in private. Many many times the footage would get back to the office, and we would get the feedback that I didn’t look refreshed enough to use it, and that we had to re-do the whole scene again.

And then there was football. That one time of the year where I can engulf myself into something so completely that I get lost for those 5 or 6 months. I truly have recorded every Green Bay Packer game ever since I left the Amish in 2002. In the summer when there is no football, I will pull out the old games and re watch them. I hadn’t ever missed even 1 game in 9 yrs. Needless to say, that changed during the filming of this show. It might go without saying that each and every Sunday was loaded to the hilt with filming. My fantasy football leagues suffered. While we were sitting upstairs trying to film a bible study at our house on a fall afternoon, the New York Giants were battling the Packers downstairs on my big screen TV. Oh, but wait a minute, I didn’t know until about midnight that night that it was only by the strong leg of Mason Crosby as time expired that we pulled out that win to remain undefeated.

Wisconsin. 2006. Home of the Green Bay Packers. Time to go to a game again.

And finally, my family. If any of you have children, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Try being that guy that works 6 days a week and by the time I got home each night the kids had long been tucked in bed. I was gone the next morning for work before they were up. On Sunday morning, that one day when I sometimes rose a little later, try to get ready for a day of filming, have the kids crawling all over you, and then walk out the front door trying to erase their looks of disappointment or tears running down their faces from your memory while you grind out another day of filming.

And then there is the wife. Enough said, I am proud to say that she was my rock throughout this process. It truly takes a strong woman to raise 3 children on her own for over a year while her man is gallivanting all over the place filming a project which may or may not even make it on screen.

When I hear people criticize the show, something I said, or in any way belittle the show, I take no offense to it at all. I just sit back, relax, and realize that, in all fairness, I was that person before I got on the other side of the camera.

However, the biggest reason for my doubtfulness for another season is not the hard work. It is the fact that there is more involved then just sitting in front of a camera and opening up yourself and your personal life for a few days. The biggest reason is that a new season would entail many changes in my and my family’s life. Changes that I am not at this point in my life comfortable making. Quitting my job, moving to a big city with my family, and most of all, the uncertainty of never knowing if you will have a job from day to day to support a growing family in the filming and writing world.

Although a decision hasn’t been reached by the Network, myself or my family, it is probably not going to happen. If anything changes,

you will know.

2. Did Michaela ever join the Amish family, and how is she doing?

The answer is NO. She is still living in St Peters, Mo, hanging with her old high school friends, and has since found a boyfriend that seems like a good fit for her. At this time in her life, she seems happy with her decision. If anything changes in the future on this topic, I’ll let you know.

3. How is the Counseling Center coming?

It is a distant dream of mine at this time. Again, knowing now what you do, after reading how many hrs I work above, you will already have your answer. I do not at this time have the resources or the time to begin a Family Counseling Center. However, at some point in my life, I will. The one promise I can and will make is this. At one point in my life, probably after the kids are out of college, I will have established a large Family Counseling Center here in Mid Missouri. The time is not now for me, but the dream burns within me.

4. How is the Cephas Yoder Foundation coming?

Apparently it takes around a year for this process to become legalized and everything to become complete. I am currently taking donations, largely because I can’t stop people from sending money. With myself, my wife, and 3 ex Amish in this area on the board, we have an account set up, into which all the money is going. There is already a significant amount of money in this account, but we have agreed that not a dollar will be spent until the Foundation is complete and finalized.

Again, the goal with this foundation is to use this money for future kids that leave the Amish community, so as to help them to get established in the outside world.

5. How am I doing these days? How is my spirituality? Are we now going to a church, etc.

Let me just say that again, between family and my job, that takes everything I have. The answer is “No”. We are not going to a church. However, I have a 40 minute drive to and from work each day. A drive where I have found a strong connection with God and spend a lot of time talking to him. Maybe for now, that will have to do.

Please don’t be one of the thousands who come to my work, emails or calls me trying to get me to come to your church because your church and religion has that one true ingredient that none of the others does. At some point in my life, my family and myself will be attending a church, and it will be a small local church, but the time is not right now.

6. Can I come help you in your marital relationship, give your teenage child advice, speak at your political event, hold a bible study with you at your house, let you take me on a trip around the world, or rescue you from whatever problems you have encountered in life.

I will say this. I do absolutely have a heart for these things, and would definitely love to do these things. Yes, I often feel quite guilty that I cannot take off from work and family, travel to wherever to see if I can help. Bottom line is, however, if you’ve read the above writing so far, I don’t just sit at home waiting for these emails and phone calls to come in. I have a full time job. A job that I probably put in twice as many hours as most people in America. So again, no, at this point in my life, whether or not these things are what I am destined to do, I just can’t do them. I hope you understand.

7. How is the book coming, and when will it hit the shelves?

My writer has been out here for several months now, and it is a working progress. After stating repeatedly how I have not any time to do anything else in my life besides work and family, my writer and myself have made a schedule where we sit after the family is in bed for 2 nights a week until midnight, and half of a Sunday, and just put together material for the book. Currently there is not really an estimated time of publication, but I’ll keep you updated.

No, there is not a title yet, but I would be interested in hearing ideas for one.

8. Will I ever do any more filming in the future?

Although a second season of Amish: out of Order looks rather unlikely these days, I absolutely believe that in the not so near future something else will come up that maybe works more around my schedule. Something that I can see myself doing for some greater good, where I will once again disappear into the underground world of filming for a while.

9. (Email example) I am a huge fan of your show, and I want you to know that I admire what you are doing. Me and my other half have spoken at length, and we have decided that if you ever have any kids that leave, we would be willing to take them in, give them a home, love, support, etc.

If I have received this email or phone call at work once, I’ve received it 10,000 times. Let me explain to you that I am very grateful for the offers, and if this were a possibility, I would take you up on this offer. Here is the problem. There are no kids leaving in this area of America that wish to leave the sheltered confines of the Amish community and move directly into an English home.

I tried this personally when I was 16 yrs old. At that time there was not any ex Amish in Wisconsin that I knew of. I made it for 4 months, but I was so perfectly miserable it was unbearable! The change from Amish teen to English world is so dramatic that it is impossible to write it out in a Blog. All you want when you leave, is to move in with someone who grew up like you, get’s you, and understands you. Someone who can relate to you.

I don’t care who you are, or how easy it looks from the outside looking in, or how many years you have been associated with the Amish,if you weren’t born and raised within their communities, the chances of adopting one of their kids straight out of the community is slim to none. These kids will leave, move into a house that already has 10 other ex Amish kids living in it, have no job, money, opportunities, and have a very unfulfilling life, but they would still rather do that and live with people who ‘GET THEM” then someone who doesn’t understand them. Sure, there will always be the occasional case where it worked. However, here in the midwestern states, I know of less then 2% that worked out with living in an English home.
Also, keep in mind that I am not nearly the only person who takes in and helps kids when they leave. There are probably 40 to 50 ex Amish in and around Columbia, Mo. who were out long before I was, and have become more established then I have. Each and every one of these are opening their doors to new ones that leave and helping them get started in life.
The reason you don’t know this is because I am the only one who chose to tell my story on TV. It would not have worked for me to tell my story about how I help these kids, and after my story say,’ However, there are many more who do as much or more then I do.” The reason this part didn’t make it to TV, is because in order to tell a story, you need faces and homes to show. These other ex Amish were not as willing as myself to tell their stories.

10 Why are you no longer on TV, and did they pull the series, because when I tune in on Tuesday nights I can’t find you anymore?

Well, my dear reader, The series began Tuesday, April 17, 2012. It ran for all 10 episodes, and the last one crossed the screen on Tuesday night, June 19, 2012. There were only 10 episodes. It got very good ratings, but once you run through the 10 episodes, that’s all there are.

11. I missed an episode because I went out shopping and didn’t have time to watch it and forgot to record it. Or I missed the first half of the series. Can you please send me links, or DVDs so I can watch the whole thing? Sorry folks, I can’t by legal copyrights send you links or DVDs if you missed 1 or more episodes. I suggest contacting The National Geographic Channel. You will probably have better luck there.

Again, I did not want to ever write a straight forward, rather rude/hinting around the sarcastic edges blog, but I hope you as the reader can see why myself and my family need and deserve the rights to some form of privacy, and why if you’ve sent me several or more emails, left messages repeatedly, or even sent me snail mail, why I haven’t had a chance to get back to you.

The quiz: As I get ready to wrap up this blob, I had a sudden thought. I suppose the fact that I used to teach school, and still often have a teacher’s mindset, may explain this notion I have. I thought it interesting to do a quiz to see how well you paid attention to what I wrote.

1. At this point, how would you rate the chances of another season of Amish: out of Order, with me participating? Great. Good. Or unlikely?

2. If we met by careful planning or just randomly, how big were your chances of hitting it off instantly with me and becoming lifelong friends? Great, Good, or Unlikely?

3. Is Michaela currently living in the underground world of the Amish community in Pinecraft, FL. Yes or NO?

4. Are my family and myself currently attending a church? Yes or No?

5. Would I love to have you come and try to get me to start attending your church? Yes or No?

6. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being charred black, how burned out am I from the lack of privacy and all the attention. 10 or 10?

7. Based on my information and a calculator, how many hours a week am I gone from my home for work? [A. 40 to 45] [B. 55 to 65] [C. 70 to 75] [D 85 to 90]

8. What is the latest project that I am currently working on?

9. If you had to choose between the person who gave you a choice to “eliminate either you and your family, or himself, which would you prefer? Him or you?

10. Is there a chance that I will eventually open my heart or welcome into my life the man buying hotel rooms here in Columbia, who claims God spoke to him directly to help change my life, when you consider he is only one example of thousands who have come and used God’s name to try and manipulate me into a passion they have or believe in in their life? yes or No?

11. Do I currently seem to value my family and my Job more then the TV side of it? Yes or No

12. After reading my blog, do I seem like the dad and husband who will drop job and family, travel to any corner of the United States to start some organization with some complete stranger, because this stranger saw an edited version of me on TV and feels like I am that one missing ingredient he or she needs to make this organization work for them in their life? Yes or No.

13. How big are your chances of ever adopting a new kid that leaves the Amish if you are “English” Great, Good, Slim to None?

14. Based on my Blog, Why do I choose to do things in the public (like filming, Blogs, writing books, etc.) when we were taught from childhood that being in the spotlight is evil. Money, Fame, or a Greater Good?

15. Which 2 of these 7 artists would I love to Meet? George Bush, Mariah Carey, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Ben Affleck, Brett Favre, or Lovie Smith?

16. What term do I use to describe my brain after a hard, stressful day at work? Smoking, intelligent, non existent, fried, massive, or one of a kind?

17. When I watch some of the things I do or say, come across the screen, am I always proud of everything I say for the world to see? Yes or No?

18. Does agreeing to participate to film a season of 10 episodes for The National Geographic Channel, while you are maintaining a high level in sales and raising a Family, take a high level of commitment? Yes or NO?

19. Is the series still coming on regularly every Tuesday night at the usual time? Yes or No?

20. If you missed an episode, is it my responsibility, or am I even allowed to send you a copy of it? Yes Or No?

After going back and reading over this Blog, it is certainly the most outspoken I’ve gotten yet, but one I felt I needed to write for several reasons. If you have read it, and still wish to be my facebook or website friend, I say welcome. Climb Aboard. I am honored to have you as a viewer and a friend.

If you are 20 years old, have tried contacting me, and don’t hear back from me until you are in a nursing home, Now I hope you know and understand why.

God Bless you and yours until we meet again.

The post My Life and some Excuses appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.

Heck, until we were about 13 and 14, we even shared the same bed. A bed where when it was 25 or 30 below zero in Frigid Wisconsin, we would curl up under the double quilt in the cold, unheated upstairs and put our backs against each other for warmth until the shivering went down enough for us to doze off to sleep.                                            Me in the Middle, with 2 younger brothers

Later on in years, we went hunting and fishing together, and finally, even went to the Singens together. However, somewhere along the way, I started getting into the radios and music, and the world truly began calling in a much stronger way. My younger brother, on the other hand, was completely happy with staying at home on the farm and sawmill, working from dawn to dusk by the sweat of his brow, possibly eventually starting a family, and remaining in the Amish community forever.

If we grew apart ever so slightly toward the very end, it was only because our interests were going in completely different directions. Mine were toward a more adventurous nature. A life on the outside. His were exactly opposite. Establishing a construction business and a lumber yard inside the community. While I was sneaking over to the neighbor to listen to his radio in his barn and catch up on the latest news, he spent that time begging with me to settle down and change my ways.

As I sit here in the basement of my home in Holts Summit, Mo, writing out these words, and I watch my 4 yr old daughter as she keeps coming downstairs with different costumes she’s trying on to get my approval, and I hear my 20 month old daughter chattering aimlessly as she plays with a doll, some words clear, and other words she seems to invent as she goes along. In the background I hear my wife of almost 7 years laughing out loud while watching an episode of her favorite cooking show, and I realize that it has been quite a ride.

However, if I hadn’t taken that one turn at that one crucial crossroads in my life when I was 22 yrs old, I would almost surely be a married Amish man these days with a wife and probably 5 or 6 kids. Today, I would have been cultivating the corn one last time with a team of horses before it gets too tall to cultivate. Tomorrow I just might be greasing up the oats binder to begin the first field of oats cutting and shocking. This weekend I would be getting a growing family together and trying to squeeze a family of 7 or 8 into a buggy for church.
If, like so many who knew me well, predicted, had I remained, I would become an Amish preacher. Right now, I might be studying the German “New Testament” in preparation for this Sunday’s sermon.
Truly it is hard to imagine a life like this among my people, the Amish! However, it takes only a small amount of imagination to visualize me and my Amish family getting together with all my siblings and their kids, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc tonight, like we did for every 4th of July in Wisconsin, and sit outside in the yard and watch the fireworks in the distance of the town of Greenwood, Wi. 5 miles away.
We would be eating the homemade strawberries and ice cream, from ice preserved in an Icehouse. Ice that we had cut last winter and covered with layers of sawdust. While we ate this delicious treat we would be waiting for the half hr it took for the people of Greenwood to travel the distance to Neillsville, Wi and watch the firework display there.

The earliest Pic ever of me. 17 yrs old

Today in this life, a life I chose on the outside world, I worked in a stressful environment at my regular job at the local car dealership in Columbia, Mo. After a day of work, I come home and eat dinner with my “English” family. I spend some time with the wife kids. I spend some time with my ghost rider of my book that I am working on. And I write out these my words that come to my mind.

This is the life I chose. Did I make the right decisions? Am I where I am needed? Does God truly still have a bigger plan for me on the outside? I am impatient to find out exactly what that plan is. I am impatient in my life to be further. It is not enough to realize that I have a beautiful family, home, and a job. I am impatient to be out of debt. Impatient to see what the future holds for me.

It is not good enough for me to compare myself to others my age and find comfort in that I am truly blessed with what I have. I have a gnawing inside to do more. What is it? I can’t quite place my finger on it.
Tomorrow my life goes on. I can’t go back. I can’t really even afford to look back. I made my decision, and besides Holidays like this, when I know full well that my Amish family is gathered together and I am not there, I seldom regret my decision to leave. Nevertheless, if I said I don’t miss the old life during Holidays, I’d be lying. These times are truly the hardest part about being on the outside looking in.

When the look on my little brother’s face haunts me, when I wake up in the middle of the night in a sweat and am preaching in front of several room fulls of Amish people, and when Holidays come and go, I briefly have to take a step back and remind myself why, on this day, 10 years ago today, I left all I ever knew for a new life.

A life that I was very unsure of. A life where I had no idea if I would survive or not. A life where I had only suspicions, not proof, that one could worship freely in his own way. And finally, a life where I had heard that a dreamer like myself could go as far as one pleased without the chains of a sect of people binding one down.

The first 10 years of my life on the outside have come and gone. I can only hope that the next 5 or 6 decades can be as rewarding as the first has been! As I watch the Marvelous firework display with my family and neighbors in Holts Summit, Mo. I realize that my new life really is not that much different then the old one was. All it really takes is family and friends around me to make me feel complete.

The post The First Ten Years appeared first on The Blog of Mose Gingerich.