Amish Helpers

Among the tenets of the Amish faith are compassion, care for others and helping each other in community.

When we look at the Amish, we tend to focus on things like not using electricity and riding in horse-drawn carriages, but when talking about the Amish community, the thing I want you to pay most attention to, and the thing they value most, is helping each other.

Members of the community help others who need help, and receive help themselves when they need it. That's how they live.

If a disaster such as a flood or fire occurs in a member's house, the community immediately gathers together to remove the rubble and build a new house. Building a house literally means doing carpentry work together. This gathering together to build a house is called "Barn Rasing."

Amish burn rising is a symbol of the connections and mutual support of this community, where more than 100 people gather together to build a house or building in a day or several days. This is also depicted in the movie "John Book: Witness" starring Harrison Ford, so please take a look. The content of the movie seems to be controversial among people who actually know the Amish, but I think it's good because you can enjoy the local location.

An Amish furniture workshop that we have a relationship with said that our Amish spirit is reflected in this "Barn Rising." This is how the Amish help each other and grow their community.

Although it is not common, Amish people also travel outside of their community to help non-Amish victims of natural disasters such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

Of course, this kind of mutual assistance doesn't just apply to natural disasters.

The Amish do not have private commercial insurance. Instead, the community has mutual assistance plans in place if members need medical care or unexpected expenses. In addition, when they need extra money, they sometimes hold auctions or bake sales to raise funds for the community.

*Bake sale: An event commonly held in the United States where members of schools, churches, etc. sell baked goods to raise funds for the organization.

In addition, when the children start a new school year, the parents gather together to help prepare, and when a member's family moves, they help each other by carrying furniture. In addition, neighboring farmers help injured farmers with their harvest. When a new couple builds a house, relatives and neighboring Amish people help paint the house.

References: Amish Studies The Young Center at Elizabethtown College