This article was originally published on KPCNews.com

by Grace Householder

Thursday, March 15, 2012

This week Racha Bhu, director of admissions for AFS Thailand, visited our East Noble AFS chapter. Each year Thailand sends about 700 AFS students to 34-36 nations around the world; this year about 130 Thai AFS students are in the U.S.

Founded by ambulance drivers following World War II, AFS is an international student exchange organization with the mission of promoting global understanding. AFS staff members work with students, volunteers and government leaders from 50 nations.

Some of Thailand’s AFS students are YES students, an exchange sponsored by the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, administered by the U.S. State Department and AFS. Racha came to the U.S. March 5 for the annual five-day AFS/YES conference in Washington, D.C.

Sunday Racha flew from Washington to Fort Wayne with Jo Drudge, president of East Noble AFS and a former AFS host mom, and stayed with Terry and me for four days.

This year East Noble is hosting four AFS students: Mikkel from Denmark (hosted by the Dr. Phil and Monica Corbin family), Madhu from India (hosted by the Dr. Terry and Suzie Gaff family), Yousif from Bahrain (hosted by the Corey and Nadine Kline family) and Lukas from Germany (hosted by the Fred and Cathie Kreigh family). All four students are active at East Noble, enjoying sports, show choir, theater, etc. In addition, Yousif, Madhu and Lukas are members of Mayor Suzanne Handshoe’s Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council.

Monday evening, in honor of Racha’s visit here, 25 of us (AFS students, host families and volunteers) gathered at the home of Melvin and LeAnna Yoder for an Amish “Thresher’s Dinner.”

The Yoders live in a modular home, about one mile west of Shipshewana on U.S. 20. Their one-story home sits atop a spacious, spotless basement. I contacted LeAnna a few weeks ago and had the fun task of choosing what would be served.

LeAnna made all the food by herself, except for dessert. We had homemade bread, peanut butter spread, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, salad, meatloaf and chicken, and for dessert, cherry and peanut butter pies. Many of us took home leftover pie. LeAnna’s daughter, who is married but lives nearby, helped with the pies.

During the height of the tourist season LeAnna and her husband serve meals in their home almost every day. They can handle up to 80 people.

Last fall the Yoders hosted 1,100 guests for their daughter’s wedding (their only child). The celebration lasted several days. Guests came in shifts. Some stayed in hotels. A neighbor family (non-Amish) helped by lending parts of their home.

The Yoders keep abreast of the news though communication by cell phone. Because they don’t spend time with television, radio, the Internet, etc. they have time for fishing (LeAnna’s favorite pastime), hunting (Melvin’s favorite pastime) and horseback riding. Their favorite place to ride horses is southern Indiana — sadly, in the area tornadoes ravaged two weeks ago. They have traveled extensively, going by train as far as Tijuana, Mexico.

Following the meal, while LeAnna answered our questions about the Amish lifestyle, we could hear Melvin washing the dishes. Melvin works in a trailer factory, getting up at 3:30 a.m. every day. The economic downturn hurt the Amish very hard; as hiring resumes, there is concern about the impact of high gas prices on RV sales.

The Amish don’t vote.

Upstairs, paperwork for filling out taxes was on their kitchen table. A few people in our group were surprised that the Amish pay the same taxes we do.

“I was impressed by the delicious food!” said Nadine Kline. “I was surprised the Yoders do not grow their own produce and that LeAnna was able to wear a lavender dress and use a cell phone. It’s great that her family doesn’t shun other family members if they decide not to join the church.”

Lukas said the most interesting part for him was that they spoke an old German dialect which he was able to understand. “I really liked that,” he said. “And the food was delicious!”

Racha said she had never heard of the Amish. “The U.S. is a high tech country,” she said. “This group of people can live without technology. They live with nature. I had never thought that in this country there would be groups of people who can live their own life with low tech.”

When hosting someone from another nation, often some of the lifestyles and beliefs you learn about are in your own backyard.

Racha leaves today to return to Bangkok.

For more information about AFS go online to: afs.org, yesprograms.org or East Noble AFS on Facebook.

Photo courtesy of Grace Householder. YES students Yousif and Madhu, CB student Lukas with AFS Thailand staff