The Amish Fire Insurance Policy

  This last winter my oldest son got a volunteer fire call at 3am on a 10-degree morning. To everyone’s horror the call was to an Amish grocery store that was less than 2 weeks from its grand opening date. What you see in the top photo is all that was left when the fire was finally stopped. The building and its contents were a total loss. Three days later my wife and I decided to drive over to look at the destruction and to our amazement we instead discovered that the building was already completely reframed, and the entire shell was complete by that same evening.

  According to neighbors, while the pile of rubble was still smoldering the next day, more than 30 buggies as well as many trucks and trailers arrived to do the cleanup. Before the concrete slab had even had a chance to cool from the fire, they were framing the new building! Within 7 days the building was completely back to where it had been before a gas heater destroyed it. The Amish Store opened on time.   There is power in numbers. Every single man woman and child that helped in the reconstruction took time from regular jobs and pitched in financially, to the degree that they could. Materials and funds were sent from settlements all over the country. I heard, from a reliable source, so much was donated that they had to carefully give back what was received in excess of the need. We have observed this phenomenon within the Amish community multiple times over the years. Each case is different but the principle is always the same. Love thy neighbor as thy self.

(Three days after the fire!!! The concrete didn't have time to cool.)