Nathan O. Miller - Out of Deception: The True Story of an Amish Youth Entangled in the Web of a Cult

Nathan Miller

Ridgeway Publishing
Medina, New York

OUT OF DECEPTION

Copyright 2010 Ridgeway Publishing

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Medina, NY 14103
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Cover design by: M. Gagarin Design

ISBN# 978-0-9840985-3-8

Printed in the United States of America

To my faithful wife Mattie and our precious children,
Sharon Marie, Martha Sue, and Emilee Hope.

And also to Wilbur and Joann Hochstetler
and their family.

Thank you, Wilbur and Joann. When you agreed to this project, you and I had no idea how tough it would be. This book really is our book, not my book. Wilbur, for sharing your heart. You spent many hours working on timelines, gathering information, interviewing, dredging up memories, adding here and changing there. None of this was easy, but you shared the vision of reaching others with your experiences. Your cooperation and dedication made this possible. And Joann, for your support and motivation. Im sure it would have taken much longer and maybe even stopped altogether without your persistence. Your assistance in editing and critiquing was appreciated.

Thank you, Mattie, for providing loving support as only a wife can during the three years of working on this book. Your patience, commitment, and vision were critical factors in completing it. If readers see quality in here, it is because of your recurrent advice, Now, take your time and do it right!

Thank you, Norman Miller and the entire team at Ridgeway Publishing, for being the gears behind this book. Your tireless enthusiasm and encouragement were very important to us. You put in many hours of behind-the-scenes work to get this to the reader. Norman and Marlena, you even joined us on a retreat for a week to help work on it. What a blessing that was! The deadlines werent exactly easy, but were important nonetheless. It takes a lot of organizing to publish a book.

Thank you, Kristy Wadsworth, for the hours you spent editing the manuscript. Your experience was a real blessing. Your encouragement, frank criticism, and challenging questions were invaluable. Your gift of taking a manuscript and making it readable really shone in this project. You made a great lead editor!

Thank you, Jacinto Yoder, for the hours you spent in the jungles of Nicaragua going through the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, making sure all the is were dotted and the ts were crossed. People enjoy reading a clean book. Copyediting is tedious, but someone has to do the dirty work, and you certainly did an outstanding job! You and Kristy made a great editing team!

Thank you to the Clarence Hochstetler family for sharing your stories and providing so many important details. You also spent many hours reviewing the manuscript. Your support was really appreciated.

Nathan Miller

Though Out of Deception is an unusual story, the locations, the people, and the experiences are real. It is an extraordinary tale, but the purpose in telling it is not entertainment. Nor is it to lift up some people while belittling others. The purpose is to point the reader to God.

The story is told through the eyes of Wilbur Hochstetler, known as Wil in the story. Many hours were spent interviewing Wil while he relived events and reconstructed details that happened more than twenty years ago. Others were also interviewed to insure accuracy and clarify details.

Undoubtedly, there are other perspectives. This book is about Wils experiences and may not reflect those of the other members of Wilbur Lee Eashs group. Some things in this book may seem unbelievable, even bizarre. But they are true, nonetheless. In fact, some of the worst and weirdest incidents were left out. This book is an expos of a searching heart gone awry, deceived and under Satans control. Lest you think these were unusually ignorant or gullible people, they were not. They were normal people, just like you and me. No one deliberately becomes ensnared. Let he who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.

Unfortunately, the greater part of this book is negative. Such entanglements, brainwashing, and devotion to a leader come gradually, while deliverance through Christ is simple and instant. Complete healing and changing of thought patterns take time, but salvation is immediate; hence, Wils deliverance takes a much shorter section of the book.

Most of the names in this book, including Wil Hochstetler and Wilbur Lee Eash, are real, though some writers liberty has been taken to protect certain peoples identities and privacy. Other details have been added to provide a backdrop for particular episodes. Conversations have been reconstructed as accurately as possible, although some have been created for flow and readability. The locations where the experiences took place are authentic. The settings, the people, and their actions have been kept as authentic as possible.

Our goal is to create an awareness of the dangers of cults and the potential of becoming thoroughly deceived when one is searching and looks in the wrong places. We also hope readers can learn to help those who may be ensnared as Wil was or who may be heading in that direction. May God receive all the glory.

The Publishers

I ambled down the farm lane in search of solitude. The sun had already set, and a slight chill was in the air. An old barn came into view in the closing darkness, its graveled driveway overgrown with soft grass. Not knowing where else to go, I sank down on the step and leaned against the sturdy door frame. I bowed my head in my hands and heaved a deep, sad, lonely sigh.

Oh, for rest! For peace! my troubled soul agonized. Where, oh, where is help for me?

What shall I do? Oh, what shall I do? I cried aloud. I felt trapped. Caught. If I stay, Im ruined. If I leave, Im ruined. My chest tightened as I weighed my desperate situation. Where am I headed? Is there any hope? Is there a God? Is there really a God who loves me? If I only knew there was a God who loved me, it might help. I sighed, utterly discouraged.

An owl hooted into the dark night. The lonely sound echoed in my heart. I shivered. Lonely, depressed, and unloved. What a joyless, purposeless existence, I moaned. If I ever needed a sign, if I ever needed a God bigger than Wilbur Lee, it is right now.

I recalled that impious gleam in his dark brown eyes. My stomach turned. My body felt used, dirty, and drained. I was spent emotionally and physically. And I was only nineteen.

Suddenly, on impulse, I looked up into the clear starspangled night sky. It was my moment, my decision, my destiny. My heart cried out in deepest desperation. I have to know. I just have to know! I tilted my head back, gazing at the stars, and cried, If there is a God who loves me, show me!

Flash! A meteorite blitzed across the black sky before my mouth had closed.

Oh! I whispered as my heart raced. What did that mean? I had prayed the most earnest, desperate prayer of my life, but I had not expected an answer so soon. I wasnt even sure whom I was praying to.