Tears of the Silenced For the Silenced Victims... an Ex- Amish Abuse Survivors Courageous True Story

Abuse hidden under the cloak of religion: The shocking and inspiring true story of one of the very few people who have ever joined the Amish from the outside world. When Misty was four years old her mother met a brutal and psychotic mountain man.Misty and her younger sister spend the next 14 yrs secluded away from the rest of the world. They are made to work as slaves on their new step- fathers farm and everyday are subjected to brutal beatings, overexertion and sexual assault. They are not allowed to go to school or interact with anyone.Here on this isolated mountain they are also made to dress and live like the Amish. Misty vividly recalls the pain she felt when being around other people and realizing that the way she dressed completely separated her from everyone else and even separated her from possible rescue.It was through this separation that her mother and step- father were allowed to inflict unbelievable pain and torture on her and her sister without ever worrying about being reported. In this tragic account the author is able to shed light on the troubling fact that people get away with horrible abuse in the name of religion.Misty herself is afraid to tell anyone since her step-father has threatened to kill her on multiple occasions and she knows that no one will think to report her parents due to their religious appearance. After Misty turns eighteen she and her sister are taken to a rural Minnesota Amish community where they are readily accepted due to their extremely strictand harsh upbringing. They quickly learn German and soon become baptized church members. Misty begins to feel uncomfortable though when she finds out that Amish sex abuse victims are silenced and forced to forgive and continue to live with or around their rapist. The bishops wife becomes her friend and confides in her that her father raped her as well as all of her thirteen brothers and sisters. Her mother had reported him many times to the church leaders whom admonished him and shunned him for six week intervals, he was however allowed to remain the church deacon even though he was a known serial rapist. The bishops wife had been forced to remain in her fathers home until she escaped through marriage to the bishop. While working as a maid for the bishop Misty discovers the bishop is secretly poisoning his wife with rat poison. Misty is about to tell her when she finds herself confronted by the bishop who sexually assaults her and then threatens to kill her if she says anything. Misty decides she has had enough and makes a dash for the local police station. This is against church rules and she is shunned when she refuses to recant her police report. With no form of ID or social security card and only a bare second grade education she ventures out into the strange modern world. Misty returns a few months later in hopes of getting her sister out of the Amish as well. Here she is met with strict shunning, the bishop who had admitted to assaulting her had only received a light six weeks shunning and his wife remained with him since divorce is not allowed in the Amish. Misty vividly recounts the sting of being shunned as well as being forbidden to hug her only sister goodbye. Church members turn their backs to her and her pleads for justice for the many Amish rape victims falls on deaf ears. All she gets in return is " That is not the Amish way" or " It is against church rules"..... This memoir is her voice for those victims who are forced to suffer everyday in painful silence and her torch in the fight to stop child abuse and sexual violence. ....