Ervin R Stutzman

When Christian Hochstetler returns to the Amish after seven years in captivity, he finds that many things have shifted. Captured as a child during the French and Indian War, Christian has spent much of his life among Native Americans, who cared for him and taught him their ways. Now that Christian is home, his father wants him to settle back into their predictable Amish life of farming, and Christian's budding friendship with Orpha Rupp beckons him to stay as well.Yet Christian feels restless, and he misses his adoptive Native American family--who raised him as their own son. When faced with a life-altering decision, will Christian choose the Amish identity that his father desires for him? Or will he depart from his family and faith community yet again?Christian's Hope tells the story of the younger brother of Joseph and son of Jacob, whom readers have come to love in the first two books in the Return to Northkill series. Based on actual events and written by a descendant of the Hochstetler family, Christian's Hope brings the sweeping epic of the Return to Northkill series to a soul-stirring end.

Jacob Hochstetler was a peace-loving Amish settler on the Pennsylvania frontier when Native American warriors, goaded on by the hostilities of the French and Indian War, attacked his family one September night in 1757. Taken captive by the warriors and grieving for the family members just killed, Jacob found his beliefs about love and nonresistance severely tested.Jacob endured a hard winter as a prisoner in an Indian longhouse. Meanwhile, some members of his congregation--the first Amish settlement in America--moved away for fear of further attacks.The Hochstetler Story includes maps, photographs, family tree charts, and other historical documents to help readers enter the story and era of the Hochstetler family. Author Ervin R. Stutzman assembled this information as he wrote Jacob's Choice, a novel focused on the life of Jacob Hochstetler.

Book 2 of the Return to Northkill trilogy. Unwilling captive or adopted son? Amish teen Joseph Hochstetler is taken into captivity by Native Americans during the French and Indian War. Initially he resists the Indians attempts to help him adapt to their ways their food, games, and relaxed pace of life. In this story of forbidden love, Joseph finds himself pressed between his unfolding romance with a young Indian woman and the tug of his heritage. His eyes newly opened to the wrongs committed by the white settlers, Joseph determines never to go back to his Amish community. But the encroaching British army soon forces the Indians to give up their captives under threat of death. Based on actual events, Joseph s Dilemma traces the wrenching dilemma of a young man caught between his Amish past, his love for a woman, and an unknown future. Continues the story started in "Jacob s Choice.""

Jacob Hochstetler is a peace-loving Amish settler on the Pennsylvania frontier when Native American warriors, goaded on by the hostilities of the French and Indian War, attack his family one September night in 1757. Taken captive by the warriors and grieving for the family members just killed, Jacob finds his beliefs about love and nonresistance severely tested.Jacob endures a hard winter as a prisoner in an Indian longhouse. Meanwhile, some members of his congregation--the first Amish settlement in America--move away for fear of further attacks.Based on actual events, Jacob's Choice describes how one man's commitment to pacifism leads to a season of captivity, a complicated romance, an unrelenting search for missing family members, and an astounding act of forgiveness and reconciliation.Free downloadable study guide available here.

Jacob Hochstetler is a peace-loving Amish settler on the Pennsylvania frontier when Native American warriors, goaded on by the hostilities of the French and Indian War, attack his family one September night in 1757. Taken captive by the warriors and grieving for the family members just killed, Jacob finds his beliefs about love and nonresistance severely tested. Jacob endures a hard winter as a prisoner in an Indian longhouse. Meanwhile, some members of his congregation the first Amish settlement in America move away for fear of further attacks. Based on actual events, Jacob's Choice describes how one man's commitment to pacifism leads to a season of captivity, a complicated romance, an unrelenting search for missing family members, and an astounding act of forgiveness and reconciliation.