Beechdale Road: Where Mercy is More Powerful than Murder. A True Story
By Megan Shertzer and Tim Rogers (Beechdale Road)
More happened during the summer of 2020 than we might remember amid the COVID-19 pandemic and protests over George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police officers.
“On Sunday, June 21, 2020, 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos of Bird-in-Hand, Penn., never made it home from church.”
That’s where the story begins four years ago. Or so it might seem.
The story within the story is the bringing together of two families and even two communities. Linda belonged to the Amish community of Lancaster County in central Pennsylvania. Her killer was adopted into another family from a different Christian tradition. There might not be a story published four years later if it weren’t for all of those details.
Anyone who remembers brief news reports of this incident might vaguely remember the wonder of forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish community. Beechdale Road tells the story from the perspective, not of the family of the slain, but the family of the killer.
Justo Smoker was Tim Rogers’ brother-in-law and Megan Shertzer’s uncle. Tim’s wife’s family adopted Justo and his siblings from Costa Rica in 1993. Their stories are tragic, but they became beloved family members. Tim’s daughter Megan has many happy memories with her uncle. Those happy memories collided with what Justo did June 11, 2020, and all that unfolded.
Megan and Tim describe what it was like to be the family of a killer and to receive such profound mercy and love from the family of the one killed. They don’t sugarcoat their pain and struggle, which makes the love freely poured on them by the Amish community stand out all the more.
Beechdale Road is a short book. It can be read in one sitting by quick readers. Even if it takes longer, it should be read. Even if your story is nowhere near as tragic, there are powerful lessons here for our acrimonious days.
Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard
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