In an effort to highlight the many Anabaptists engaged in important work and ministry across the country and around the world, we’re starting a new series. Each Thursday, we’ll publish a seven question interview with a different Mennonite talking about their life, work, spiritual disciplines and influences. You can view past interviews here. 

Name: Galen Lehman
Lives in: Kidron, Ohio
Home congregation: Kidron Mennonite Church
Work: Owner of Lehman’s Hardware

Hannah Heinzekehr: How did Lehman’s Hardware come to be? What’s the story behind its founding?

My father, Jay Lehman, started the store in 1955 with the objective of supplying local Amish families with simple, non-electric solutions for the challenges they faced in living their unique lifestyles.  But he likes to tease us that he started the store only because “no one would hire me.”  He did it with a loan from my grandfather.  Within two years, he had made grandpa his first employee.

HH: How has your Christian (and specifically Mennonite) faith impacted the ways that you approach your business?

Our first Amish customers were surprised by our willingness to at least try to get the unusual products they needed. It was widely assumed that many of these items, such as kerosene cookstoves, were no longer produced. Our faith made us go the extra mile to track down suppliers. To this day, we try hard not to tell a customer “no.” It’s about caring for the needs of others, no matter how hard it is to understand those needs. It’s those values that led us to produce a hand-cranked butter churn and a cistern pump, or to rescue the manufacturer of a 19th century apple peeler or America’s leading oil lamp manufacturer from closing. In many cases, there was little evidence that those moves would pay off.  But, in most cases they have, as we’ve become known as the source for hard-to-find items of every stripe (but most especially those that don’t need electricity).

HH: Lehman hardware is a business, but I know you also consider it a ministry. What does this look like for you? How has the business opened doors for connections with people?

The greatest gift my work has given me is the people I’ve gotten to know along the way. It widened the horizons of my understanding of the needs of others. I met so many interesting people. Our customer list includes missionaries deep in the Amazon basin, renowned creative people like the late Andrew Wyeth, professional athletes, soldiers in Afghanistan, hard-bitten ranchers in Wyoming and local Amish farmers. The only thing they had in common was a need for something that was hard to find or that ran on non-conventional fuel (like kerosene, propane or hand-cranking) or that enabled them to cut their ties to “the grid.

HH: Who are the mentors or people that you’ve looked to for help and guidance over the years?

I’ve always looked up to people that are older than me for insight. My father, Jay, and mother, Ella Mae, are the most important of these. Dad taught me to think outside the box and consider the unintended outcomes of decisions I make. Mom guided the development of my faith and taught me to value and develop my Anabaptist heritage. Together, they showed me, rather than only telling me, the importance of considering how my actions impacted others. To be honest, I haven’t always succeeded in living out that call, but I’m trying.

HH: What do you think makes someone a good leader? What skills or gifts do you look for?

Everyone has different gifts. And anyone can use those gifts to lead others. Every gift delivers benefits along with challenges. For example, the person who acts quickly to protect others from harm may end up hurting others by not taking time to think through their actions. The best leaders pay attention to the needs of others (emotional, spiritual and physical).  Then, they work to find solutions that deliver to those needs. This requires hard work, because it requires every leader to step outside their comfort zone and to develop new gifts besides the ones they were born with.

HH: What is the craziest thing that has ever happened during your tenure with Lehman’s?

It was most definitely the panic over the Y2K computer bug in the late 1990’s. Lots of people worried about it, and the truth is that disaster was only avoided by investing untold millions in new software code. During that time, I often heard people who were preparing for the worst compare themselves to Noah before the flood. Sadly, some talked about the predicted disaster as God’s punishment falling on ethnic or religious groups different from themselves. One told me “frozen bodies would be stacked up like cordwood” and invoked images of Leningrad during World War II.  Another eschewed any sort of preparation except one: she wanted an old fashioned push mower without a gas engine so the snakes couldn’t get close to her house. I personally believe in the wisdom of being prepared for disasters, and Lehman’s specializes in helping people prepare for “off-the-grid” living.  But I could have done without the “bodies like cordwood” mental image.

HH: What would be your hopes for the future of Mennonite Church USA?

It seems clear to me that the world is sliding inexorably away from God. At a time when the message of God’s love is more relevant than ever, many are falling instead for the siren call of self-centeredness and thoughtless judgement of others. The Kingdom of God is crying out for our church to keep swimming against the tide and delivering a message based on Jesus’ words.