Mission to Amish People - January/February 2007 Newsletter

P.O. Box 128 Savannah, Ohio 44874 (419) 962-1515 WWW.MapMinistry.org JKeim@MapMinistry.org

Dear Friend...

January/February 2007

It is said that "God has no grandchildren - there are only children of God." Therefore, Christianity is always one generation from extinction! - So for this update we would like to reflect back on 2006 and be reminded of all that the Lord and His people did through Mission to Amish People. Our family really appreciates all the cards, special notes and gifts that came to us personally during the Christmas season - it was more then we deserved.

White Elephant Exchange

The Amish celebrate January 6 as Old Christmas Day. Why? I am not sure. This year some of our ladies decided that we need to keep the tradition and sent out invitations to all the former Amish in our area. About 70 people showed up for some good, old fashion, down on the farm, home cooking and fellowship. In the end we did the White Elephant Exchange and every person went home with a gift, a smile and lots of sweet memories. We are thankful to our home church for letting us use the fellowship hall.

2006 Bible Studies

2006 will be remembered as one of our greatest years for discipleship and mentoring among the former Amish. All together we have 8 different groups that meet to study God's Word. God has blessed us with some of the most passionate Bible teachers that any man could ever hope or ask for. So without saying a whole lot more, here are some of the people and testimonies from those who are serious about growing in their relationship with Christ.

Chris and Debbie - Bible Study Group

Deb - Teacher... At prayer meeting in June, Joe Keim mentioned that he felt their was a need for a ladies Bible study. I grew up around the Amish and have the desire to help them learn, know the truth and have a life fulfilled in Jesus Christ. I felt the Lord leading me to volunteer for this ministry. I have been totally blessed by these women and this ministry. We have nine women that faithfully attend. We have discussed scriptures to help us with raising children in a Godly home and to help us when we go through hard times and struggles in life. The last three months we have been doing a study focus on the family called, Women With A Purpose. Through this Bible study we have built close friendships with each other, and this has been a real blessing to me.

Chris - Teacher... What the Ladies Bible Study means to me: Sharing from the heart - Drawing closer to God as we study His word - Feeling His love and the power of His spirit present as we pray and learn - Laughter and tears - New friendships that are precious and eternal because of our bond in Christ - Yummy treats - A very special time that we all look forward to and which will bring eternal rewards. I wouldn't't miss it for anything.

K - (1) The main reason I got involved was to learn more about the Bible and other ideas, and the fellowship with the other women is great too. (2) It gave me more faith and confidence in myself, to help an unsaved person. (3) I'm always looking forward for the studies.

Laura - Ever since I got saved, my desire and prayers were for a women's Bible study. When I thought it is just not meant to be at the time, God came through in a total different way, which I am very grateful for. I thank God for the things we have learned and the friendships we ladies have.

L - My main reason was to learn more of the Bible and to get the right meaning out of it. The thing that stood out the most to me was what Abraham and Sarah did and God still did not destroy them, they were forgiven. Shows us how God really loves us if we truly love Him. I would love to see more women come to our studies.

Levi - Bible Study Group (Schwartz Construction Crew)

Levi - Teacher...I am very grateful to be part of this Bible study group. I appreciate everyone that is involved. My hope and prayer is that as we study together and learn more about our wonderful Lord and Savior, we could apply these truths to our life and with His help become more firmly rooted in Him. Being very aware of James 3:1, I would ask you to pray for me that the Lord would help me to rightly divide His Word of Truth. Romans 11:36 says, For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Sam - Owner...We get together as a business Bible Study every two weeks and Levi Yoder teaches. I am so drawn to Levi's teaching. He has such a nice way to explain the Word of God, it makes you want to hear more and more. I really like how it seems to bring us closer together and everyone seems to get along better at work. Thanks to Joe, Levi and the MAP crew for all the spiritual encouragement you have been.

Andy - The Bible study I attend is a great study and is involved with the job I have. Not necessarily talking about that the Bible study focuses on our job but that our job focuses on the word of God. My teacher (Levi Yoder) will always have more prepared than what we take time to go through because he breaks it down, looking for apples under every leaf. The study has been about - can we trust the Bible to be true or is it just another book. We found out that it is real; we can apply the truth to our lives today. I would like to see myself applying more of God in my everyday decisions as I go on in the study and in life. The one other thing that impacted me was the little words in the scripture as in "He that hath the Son hath life" not, will have, or might have, that's just an example. It excites me!! Thanks to you, Joe and tell Levi what a great teacher he is. You guys are awesome! Praise the Lord for our salvation.

Levi Jr. - The main reason I got involved in our Bible was about work and I really like putting work and the Word of God together. It really helps me to have a real Godly focus or attitude all the time. It also helps me financially because I do better work because of God. I hope to keep it growing and maybe some day birth some more, all for God. Praise the Lord!

Peter - I had never been at a Bible study before and I was wanting to see how was. I liked it so good that I had to go back for more. It just surprises me how it hit me like the Amish always say that I will go to hell but I learned that they take the Bible in a way that it looks like, if we leave them, we go to hell, but the Bible study tells me that you go to Heaven if you believe in Jesus.

Jenica - Bible Study

Jenica - Teacher...When Joe told me that his heart was burdened to see small Bible studies among the ex-Amish, I told him that I would love to help and be part of making his burden happen. After praying about it, I was so excited, and I felt God telling me that I need to lead a Bible study with the ladies my age. Since my Bible study has started, I have been spending more time with God (through His Word and prayer), and have gotten to know the girls in the study. I thank God for the work that He is doing within the Bible study. I also want to say "thank you" to Miriam M and Miriam K for their faithful dedication of being at every Bible study. I would love to see the Bible study grow. If you would be interested in coming to a Bible study, please come - we meet every other Thursday!

Miriam - The main reason I got involved in a Bible study was to study God's Word and try to better understand all the wonderful things He has done and is still doing. Also, I would like to see more people join, that way I could learn from them. I am hoping to build friendships with the girls in the Bible study and be a better person.

Wayne - Bible Study

Wayne - Teacher...When God presented the opportunity to have a Bible study with Eli I jumped at the opportunity to study scripture and to mentor this young man. I now have been doubly blessed since Eli's brother, Abe, has joined us. Two things have impacted my life while doing this Bible study. One, the simplicity of the material and the way the gospel and the basics of our faith are presented. And two, Eli and Abe's desire to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Their desire has not only challenged me but strengthened my faith.

Eli - The reasons I joined this Bible study was (1) It was the right time in my life. I felt like I was called to join a program like this. (2) God's tremendous power, love and grace. (3) Gaining the confidence to go out and witness to people.

Joe - Bible Studies

Joe - Teacher... These are the people I personally tried to hang out with during 2006. We have more fun together then any person should be allowed to have. All of us are better people because of one another. Pray for Ben (middle picture) - since he started driving truck, it has been hard for him to be home for a Bible study.

Sam - Joe and I meet almost every Wednesday morning to have a short Bible study. I really enjoy it because it helps me to slow down and focus on God in the middle of a busy week. The time we spend together has been very valuable to me, even if we don't have time to get to our study it still helps so much to fellowship and share struggles with someone that cares.

Harley - The ABC's of Christian Growth (26 lesson Bible study) has really inspired me to live more spiritual conscious during the day. I have learned some simple things like, how many books are in the Bible, why we pray in Jesus' Name.

Ervin - When I was Amish I always thought that God loved the Amish more then the outside world but our Bible study has helped me to see differently. I have also learned that we can have assurance of our salvation which goes against the Amish teaching.

Esther - Bible Study

Esther - Teacher...It's has been my desire to draw closer in relationship to Barbara as we travel the spiritual journey of the ABC's for Christian growth together. It's been a pleasure to see Barbara adapt to the "English culture" and a delight to see her openness to spiritual truths. (She has lived in our basement apartment for almost a year). Barbara is one of those girls that does not waste any time. She has a very good job working at the Ashland University, while also working very hard and faithfully in getting her GED.

SonLight Club Update

Tina (Map Secretary) writes... 2006 began as a very difficult year for the SonLight Club. In order to get a better bulk mailing rate we had to go to "bar-coding" our lessons and because of this, there is more work to getting the lessons out. We offer 28 Bible lesson courses and each course has between 7 & 15 lessons in each course. We have 8,150 students enrolled, all from 35 different states and Africa. We always get excited when we gain a new state and this year it was Maine. We recorded 123 salvation decisions. $7,000.00 was spent on buying Bible lessons, certificates, gold seals and envelopes to mail the certificates with. It took $9,450.00 to mail out 35,612 Bible lessons, 2,197 certificates, 3,011 newsletters and re-enrollment cards. Our Points & Awards Program cost $2,800.00 dollars. The combined and total cost of our two programs came close to $20,000.00 dollars.

We are so blessed with wonderful, faithful volunteers who give 100% plus of their time to the SonLight Club: They are, Norma, Esther, Levi & Miriam, Jo Anne, Freda, Edna, Debbie, Rosie, Fannie and Laura. Most of these come on a weekly basis to help Amber (SonLight Club Coordinator), with the Bible lessons. We also thank Esther, Wilma, Rachel and Mary for the many hours that they have helped out. These volunteers are worth their weight in "Gold" - we could not do the SonLight Club Program without them. "Thank you volunteers from the bottom of our hearts."

Mary works out of her home in Missouri and writes... The awards program is designed to be an incentive for students to enroll and stay actively involved in the SonLight Club. A student can earn 100 points for each set of Bible lesson answers that he/she answers and returns to the SonLight Club. When they reach 1,000 points their award is a New Testament. At 2,000 points they receive the next award. They can continue to receive an award for each additional 1,000 points they earn, up to 12,000 points. Some awards vary according to the student's age.

A total of 1,001 New Testaments were sent out as first level awards in 2006. An additional 1,004 various awards have been awarded to students at other levels. Some of them are nearing the 6,000-point level already, and are very excited about the SonLight Club and awards program. What a blessings it is to receive notes from the students telling us that they have received the Lord as their Savior, or what a difference the Bible lessons have made in their lives. Only our Almighty, Merciful Lord and Savior can bring about these results! Being involved in the MAP Ministry is truly a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

In March we will tell you about a beautiful SonLight Club story that is unfolding as I write --- Joe for the MAP Ministry