"Amish Grace" Authors Donate Royalties

The authors of "Amish Grace," (which, by the way, is excellent) have donated their $40,000 in royalties to the Mennonite Central Committee for the benefit of children suffering due to war, poverty or natural disasters.

I used to live in Lancaster, Pa., where the MCC is headquartered, and can testify to their great work. They're also some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.

"Amish Grace," if you haven't heard of it, is the story of the forgiveness and care extended by the Amish community in Lancaster to the family of Charles Roberts, who shot and killed five Amish schoolgirls and seriously injured five others before turning the gun on himself.

Written by three seriously esteemed Anabaptist scholars, the book explores the reasons behind the Amish community's remarkable act of Christian charity, and debunks many of the popular myths perpetrated in the press after the shooting. To date, it's sold 50,000 copies.

Kraybill has said the authors had reservations about profiting from the tragedy, so they offered the royalties to Lancaster's Amish. Rather than take the money themselves, the Amish said it should be given to help children around the world.

A father who lost a daughter in the tragedy said it mean a lot to him to know the royalties will help other children, that something good could come from something terrible, according to Kraybill.