This book is the story of the forgiveness extended by the Amish community in Nickel Mines, Penn. in the wake of the murder of 5 of their school girls in the fall of 2006.  Charles Roberts who killed himself after killing the girls lived nearby.  Immediately, the Amish people reached out to his wife and family.  The story of those acts of love is very inspiring.  The fact that the Amish see this type of behavior as simply what Christians should do is refreshing.

The second half of the book, deals more with the motive behind the forgiveness.  The authors are all professors who have studied the Amish for years.  They make it very clear that the Amish forgive so that God will forgive them.  This is the part that was somewhat disappointing.  As Christians, we should forgive because we have been forgiven -  out of an overflow of gratitude for our own forgiveness.  The authors also point out that security of the believer (once saved always saved) and being certain of one’s salvation is foreign to the Amish.

Even with these theological views in mind, the book is still very inspiring and a good read.