Barns are burning in the Lancaster County’s Amish community, and no one knows who’s doing it or why.
Sarah Beiler’s barn was the first to burn and it was quickly followed by two other barn fires. The
community is on edge and wrestling with how they should respond to these seemingly random crimes. Sarah thinks Ashley from the local farmers market knows more about the fires than she’ll admit, but Sarah can’t convince her to share secrets. Should the Amish consider police protection as Sarah’s cousin, Melvin, insists, or should the community continue to follow their traditional peaceful approach to violence as Sarah’s father, Davey, the local minister, counsels?
Then another barn burns, this one more devastating than any other, and the community again rallies around the distressed family. Even in the midst of this chaos, life must go on for Sarah and her family. But now it feels as if nothing is normal. The local Amish school board asks Sarah to take over teaching a school where the students are out of control. How will she handle obstinate Amish kids and their defensive parents? Matthew is asking if the Amish church is the right fit for him. Will Sarah follow him if he decides to leave the community? Sarah’s mother can’t stay out of it and keeps urging Sarah to pay more attention to Lee, the well-behaved Amish man, who helps anyone in the community in need. How will Sarah respond to all of the forces that are pulling her in different directions? She is Davey’s daughter, after all, raised to love and respect the long-held traditions of her people. But will outside forces become so great that she gives up her parents’ ways and leaves her community? Will her father agree to police protection for the vulnerable Amish farmers especially for those who are widowed—or continue to insist that God will provide?