To whomever it may concern, Written Sept. 23, 2025

I am Elizabeth (Graber) Hilty. As I sit here and contemplate how to begin writing my testimony regarding my escape and deliverance from the Amish Cult system it reminds me of where I come from and how far God has brought me and my children from the darkness we were surrounded with for many years. God opened doors and placed people in our lives that were used to help us escape and be delivered to true freedom in Christ where we don't have to be conscious of how or what we say regarding Jesus and the horrible abuse/violence we experienced at the hands of my ex-husband as well as manipulation and intimidation at the hands of Amish bishops, ministers, family members and the Amish community. See Jesus was all I had for many years and I clung to Jesus even when I was shunned. The Amish community tried to silence me with trying to making me believe that I am mentally unstable and don't understand forgiveness. In Dec 2015 I freely went to Oaklawn/ Rest Haven in Goshen Indiana where I was diagnosed with depression ,anxiety and PTSD. For the first time I had a voice ,there were people who actually believed in me and understood that I was not insane and only trying to protect my children as well as be the mother my children so desperately deserved. I went home from Oaklawn/Haven in February 2016 and my ex-husband was admitted to Rest Haven the day I was dismissed. Fast forward; Oaklawn /Rest Haven had multiple meetings with the bishop/ministers/family members regarding our case and advised them that if Willis continues to be violent the police need to be called as the violence needs to stop ASAP. They recommended to have Willis sent to a facility called Whispering Hope in PA which works with the Amish regarding their beliefs. PLEASE NOTE ***I DO NOT RECOMMEND" Whispering Hope "OR ANY OTHER FACILITY RUN BY THE AMISH OR THAT COMPRISES WITH THE AMISH BELIEFS. *** You might ask, why? Here's why, more often than not victims are silenced and told to just forgive ,forgiveness is a must for us to be truly set free but it does not mean that it erases consequences for the perpetrator/s or that the victim needs to reconcile and be subjected to the abuse. It also doesn't mean that the perpetrator/s shouldn't have to face jail/prison time. See the Amish Cult system tried to silence me in many different ways and I knew the chains needed to be broken and I told God I will go where He leads me and bring Honor and Glory to His Name!!! God took me down a road I never thought I could go . In April 2016 ,my ex-husband Willis Hilty was dismissed from Oaklawn/Rest Haven and I went back home to live with Willis. He would tell everyone things are going great and they were not at all. See if I was quiet didn't voice my concerns or anything to him everything was going great because he did as he pleased and in Willis's narcissistic/antisocial mind he thought, I have control and full support of the Amish Cult system and she is to scared to talk so nobody will ever find out what continues to happen behind closed doors,the trauma, the violence ,the rape ,the horrible verbal, spiritual, emotional abuse my children and suffered from. In September 2016 the police were called by a friend because the children and I were so scared ,aftermath of it was a visit from the bishop ,his wife and one of the ministers telling me I had to do a confession in church right along with Willis and mine was because I talked to someone outside of the Amish cult system and I told the police way to much. I was threatened to be sent away for a minimum amount of 9 months to a facility out of state and that my children would be taken away from me and never mind the fact that I was pregnant, these Amish had one motive and that was to silence me instead of creating a safe place for me and my children and holding Willis accountable ,of course Willis had needs and in their perverted thinking the Amish believe that it's a sin to protect a woman and children from the perpetrator/s as marriage is the idol along with the ordnung and they can't have their image tainted by some woman who is trying to survive and protect her children. It was after that episode that I started planning our escape and I asked God for wisdom to lead me and my children to the correct people that would and could help us . In January 2017 I called the police early one morning and two sheriff's came and took us to a shelter for domestic violence victims. My children and I moved to Lagrange County, Indiana and lived with an Amish couple for a few months and they helped us find a place to live. My children and I will never forget the way we were helped by the two officers!!! God hand picked those two right along with the prosecutor, victim advocate and the judge . Plus the many other people that helped behind the scenes, if anyone reading this helped us in any form or way ,Thank you as you were doing God's work!!!

Willis was charged with rape a level 3 felony, Willis sentenced to prison in June 2017. The state of IN also had a No Contact Order put in place to protect us from Willis and the Amish Cultsystem community. (At the bottom of this letter I will prove case numbers )

Now Willis off to prison we get to heal and live a normal life right? Wrong, Willis was no longer in our life but now we still had to deal with all the following; I was shunned to the very extreme ;two Amish power of attorney guys;bishops and their wives; ministers and their wives along with family members and members of the Amish Cult system wanting me to go tell the prosecutor and the judge I want the no contact order dropped as well as have Willis released from prison because it was a hardship for me and my children to have him in prison!!!! Can you imagine???? A hardship??? The Amish theory was financially Willis could provide and the children needed a dad and I needed a husband ....absolutely NO thought of what we were escaping from, ##A MONSTER ##. And as far as the financial part ,I never seen money it was Willis's money, so he said yet I was claimed on taxes and what not and in 2017 and 2018 joint taxes were filed without my knowledge and somehow someone forged my name!!!! This is just an example of how these Amish people think they are above the law . The two power of attorney guys even went to the pharmacy and retrieved all my medication info and history plus made copies and sent them out to other people in Northern Indiana. They withheld my childrens and my birth certifacte and social security cards. It was through an attorney I hired that he forced them to hand over the legal documents. So now here we are almost a year later and my children and I are still dealing with the same issue, silence the victim/s reconciliation is more important than safety and well-being of children and their mom. Yes we received signed and unsigned letters ,anonymous phone messages and unexpected visits from these desperate Amish people. Yet in the midst of all the trauma, chaos, and harassment God was working in myself and my children, chains were being broken, generational curses were being broken. God was doing mighty work in setting us free from the bondage we were living under. The Amish in our new community helped, supported us and were a blessing in many ways, many did not agree with what the Adams county Amish did/were doing regarding our case but those many were not bishops or in a position of power. Finally in June 2021 a bishop in Shipshewana said this is enough and him and his church removed the shunning from me (I was still shunned in Adams County) that was a turning point for me and my children as well. We were expecting things to just be calm and now we move forward with our life. Not what happened it was far from just being calm, the Amish in Adams County once again found a loophole and started convincing the Shipshewana church and Northern Indiana Amish that it's time for reconciliation in the marriage between Willis and Elizabeth, I knew in my heart reconciliation was not an option for me. My older sons told me, "Mom if you let Dad back in the house or life we are gone we will move out as soon as we are 16 or old enough to leave. By that time God had brought me way beyond anything I could have imagined and I was ready to be totally free from the Amish Cult system. As once I was a member once again I had begun to understand the refining God had done in me those years I had been completely shunned. God wants us to Himself and when you are a member of the Amish church you are under the ordnung which is ultimately putting God underneath the ordnung.

Matthew 10:37 NIV

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Joshua 24:14-15 NIV

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. [15] But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Would the name Amish perhaps be inserted by Joshua if this were modern day?

In May 2022 was the last time I went to an Amish church. My children and I escaped the Amish Cult system completely . This is now three and half years later and my oldest son Reuben just got baptized a week ago and I rededicated my life to Christ in June by being baptized by immersion. I felt nothing but freedom a kind of freedom I never experienced before.

God once again used my sons to convict me ,we were having a conversation about being baptized and my sons asked me when I am getting baptized, my response was; I was baptized yrs ago. My son's response was; Mom that was with the Amish Cult system and you know what that consists of it was not just between you and God like God intended it was between you and the Amish Cult system. I was instantly convicted, I love how God uses my sons and the wisdom they have is from God!!!

Exodus 20:1-2,4-7 NIV

And God spoke all these words: [2] “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. [4] “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. [5] You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [6] but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. [7] “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

The Amish Cult systems ordnung, men,perpetrators all get held above God!!! I firmly believe our Lords name is misused in so many ways amongst the Amish/Plain Cult system/s.

I could write so much more ,my prayer is that God would use my sons and myself to bring Honor and Glory to His Name and people would be pointed to God and be set free in Christ Jesus!!!!

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 15:1-8 NIV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

The way the Amish Cult system practices Shunning is not from God

Proverbs 3:7 NIV

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 NIV

reject every kind of evil.

Is it evil to protect children? To escape from abuse? NO !!!!!!

Forgiveness is not about the other person either it's setting you yourself free from bondage, from being bound to the person/s,or whatever that hurt you . Sin if repented you will only find true forgiveness in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not a bishop, denomination, family name or a certain church group!

Mark 1:15-27 NIV

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” [16] As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. [17] “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” [18] At once they left their nets and followed him. [19] When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. [20] Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. [21] They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. [22] The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. [23] Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, [24] “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” [25] “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” [26] The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. [27] The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”

We have this authority in Jesus!!!!! Praise the LORD!!!

case numbers are as follows;

01C01-1701-F3-000001

01C01-2205-DC-000020

90C01-2209-CB-000063

Links to podcasts are as follows;

https://youtu.be/k1c-5qJqykE?si=oZCA1C_SrF8Le1Ch

https://youtu.be/qR8ymZQOgXs?si=u22Vv53vtiR2_xy-

https://youtu.be/s9JJBBZk584?si=LrGsmDHq6kg5xPK7

With much love in Christ Jesus,

Elizabeth (Graber)Hilty