Life Transition Ministry Prayer/Support Groups LivingRoom Bible Institute SonLight Club - Amish Voice Donation Center - Audio & tract Church Presentations and Workshops

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

Several weeks ago, while spending some private time with the Lord in my morning devotions, God gave me two verses in Proverbs that helped me prepare for the new year. (PRO 16:9) A MAN'S HEART DEVISETH (PLANS) HIS WAY: BUT THE LORD DIRECTETH HIS STEPS. Solomon reminds us that man can make plans and have dreams, but in the end he can do no more and no less than what God intends. (PRO 20:24) MAN'S GOINGS ARE OF THE LORD; HOW CAN A MAN THEN UNDERSTAND HIS OWN WAY? These passages really come alive when you insert your own name. Don't you feel great, knowing that God is in control of 2008!

Family Update

Esther and I celebrated 21 years of marriage last month by attending a 2-day marriage conference in Columbus OH. On the 2nd day of the conference, we were asked to take some personal time and write our spouse a love letter and then go on a date-it was hard not to look back and remember those cold, Sunday night buggy rides, over to Esther's house where we would then get to sit in a kerosene lit living room and talk/date from 11pm-2am in the morning. Esther's parents would pretend to be sound asleep in the next room, but we knew better then that, because at 2:30 Esther's mom would start pounding on the door, which meant, Joe-you are 30 minutes past your leaving time.

Jonathan turns 18 this month - for about a year he has been working for an online investment firm. Lord willing, he will be flying to Arizona in February to meet his boss for the first time. Rachel got her drivers license right after she turned 16 in October; we now have 4 drivers in the family. Her long term goal is to go to college and become a school teacher.

Thank You for Caring & Sharing in 2007

Once again, I stand in absolute amazement as I look back over 2007 and recount the faithful and generous giving of God's people. Your financial support for MAP just kept coming in, week after week, all year long. Churches gave through their missions program. Grant foundations and businesses gave because God blessed them. Families, individuals, missionary circles, Sunday school classes, and children - they all gave because they love the Lord and they wanted to see souls saved. In 2007, two people stepped up to the plate and paid for the installation of an air conditioner. And when word got out that the ministry received an overwhelming increase of SonLight Club students as a result of our contest, several new volunteers showed up to help, two Sunday school classes gave $600 and several business men gave $8,000. In December, Wal-Mart and the Ashland Community Foundation provided $12,000 toward a copy machine for MAP. The ministry was also able to purchase a 7th computer. And with that, I stand to my feet and give applause to our beloved Lord and His family. Thank you for giving and giving and giving; may God bless you richly.

SonLight Club

Early last year, many of us began to pray that God would double our SonLight Club membership of 1,200. God very clearly answered our prayers and today I am honored to tell you, the active membership has steadily climbed to 2,650-it continues to climb every week. Another great blessing from God has been the fact that He has provided the extra funds-it comes from places we would never have dreamed of.

Here are some SonLight Club numbers for all of us to praise God for... In 2007, we mailed out 37,470 Bible lessons, 14,277 newsletters/cards, 2,040 awards (awards included 914 New Testaments); the awards program is designed to be an incentive for students to enroll and stay actively involved in the SonLight Club. The total cost for Bible lessons, postage, and awards for 2007 amounted to $39,511. In return for all the dollars and all the prayers and all the hard labor, we are honored to tell you that 149 students wrote us in 2007, to tell us that they received Christ. This does not account for the hundreds of others who send us testimonies on how the SonLight Club has helped them walk closer to God.

A SonLight Club Testimony from Brian-age 12: The first lesson I got was when I was 6, I am now 11. The lessons have helped me learn to try to please God, take Jesus as my Savior and not to fear death. If it were not for the SonLight Club I would not have known to take Jesus as my Savior so I want to thank the SonLight Club for improving my life.

Mentoring That Works

When Esther and I walked away from the Amish culture, 20 years ago, we needed a place to live. We also needed someone from the English culture to teach us how to survive outside the box, called Amish; that family happened to be the Gess family. Today, we bring a similar testimony to you of how Jerry & Carol have helped another young lady named Lizzie.

Carol writes... It was Sunday night, June 24 and the phone rang. It was Joe and he wanted to know if we could house a 20 year old Amish girl called Lizzie. We opened our door to a pretty, red haired girl that changed our lives. Our prayer was that we would show her the love of God and lead her to Jesus. We eventually began to study the "Heaven" Series (a SonLight Club course) and Lizzie attended church faithfully. One day we toured the Bible Museum in Mansfield and Lizzie absorbed all she saw and the Spirit was working in her heart. A few weeks later, following a Sunday eve church service, we realized something was on Lizzie's mind. While questioning her about it, she broke and told of her desire to accept Jesus, and become a Christian. How exciting it was to see a burden lifted and we all rejoiced in her salvation. Lizzie continues to be faithful and is busy serving at Bethel Baptist Church.

Lizzie writes... On a beautiful Sunday morning I was all excited about leaving the Amish. I didn't know where I'd be when the evening would come. I went to a place to stay by a wonderful couple, Jerry-n-Carol Gess. I wanted to know more about God-n-Jesus. I attended Bethel Baptist Church and listened to the pastor and my Sunday school class. I worked on my "dating series" books and am currently working on "Heavens series" books. While doing these series, I went with a van load to the Mansfield Bible Museum and it came to my heart that I want to be saved and go to Heaven. On the Sunday morning service the pastor mentioned whoever doesn't know Jesus shall say a prayer with Him. I was one of them. In the evening I felt just like crying, cause I wanted to be saved. I am glad I got saved on October 28, 2007 and want to know more about Jesus. I am still in the same church since I left the Amish and living with the same wonderful couple. Praise God.

Schrock Family Update

This photo shows my friend Dick giving two of the Schrock boys their very first Bible. Dick was so overjoyed at the boys reaction that he gave the ministry a check to start a Bible fund.

In our previous update we shared the sad truth about Andy, a 23 year old who was asked to leave his family's home after he questioned the bishop about Colossians chapter 2 and other scriptures on salvation. Andy lived in a barn for several days before finding a home elsewhere. After several more weeks went by, Andy's parents decided to go against the churches' rules and bring him home again. At that point, the church began to threaten the parents, "if you don't ask Andy to leave immediately, we will excommunicate & shun you too". The parents did not give in and within a few weeks they too were excommunicated from the church.

The father's main income came from a small engine repair business that he ran out of his shop. And since most of his customers were Amish, he lost his business over night (the Amish came by and took all their small engines away). At about the same time, their children were no longer welcome at school and had to be pulled out. The mother was almost in tears one day as she said, Joe, "we will not even be able to go and visit our married children and grand children without getting them in trouble with the church".

It has not been all bad though. Four weeks ago, the 49 yr old mother picked up a gospel tract that someone had left laying in their living room. The tract had a picture of a present on the front cover and when she got all done reading it, she said to herself, "I really want that gift" and immediately asked God for it. I happened to stop by a couple hours later and when I asked her, did you get the gift of eternal life and she got this big smile on her face and said, "Joe, I know that I was born again". And then she said, "and the first thing that came to my mind was - I am not afraid to die any more".

I had the most wonderful privilege of coming around this young man, named Paul, and pray over him before he left for full time missionary service in Brazil. He was formerly Amish and had been living with his mom and brothers in New York state, before leaving for Brazil in November.

Paul and his family belong to a small house church and when he left for the mission field, his support level was about half of what he needed. As you think of Paul and his ministry, would you pray for him?

          Wait'n for the heavens to fold back and Jesus to break through with all of His angels -- Joe Keim, for the Team

Five Goals for 2008

GOAL #1: It is our desire to follow the heart passion of the Apostle Paul when he said in Acts 20:24."But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."

GOAL #2: Lord willing, we would like to see more doors open up for us to come and speak in 2008: There are actually two reasons why this goal is important.

Workshop Meetings: We have been busy mapping out churches who are located within a 20 mile radius of an Amish community. The next step for us is to get in contact with the pastors of these churches and schedule a meeting that would allow us to come in an teach the 2-3 hour workshop called "Amish: They Are Our Friends, But Are They Our Brothers?" The workshop involves... (1) a 13 page, fill in the blank workbook - every person gets one (2) it covers the background and beliefs of the Amish people, (3) it lists the do's and don'ts of approaching an Amish person with the gospel, and how to help the one who wants to leave the culture, etc. (4) the workshop allows for brainstorming and Q&A times. (5) in short, it prepares God's people to reach their Amish neighbors and friends with the gospel.

Raise financial support: In order to keep up with ministry growth, we will have to raise more financial support in 2008. For this reason, we are praying that God would lead us to churches who would allow us to come in and do a ministry presentation. We have packets that tell about the ministry-please don't hesitate to contact us, if you know someone who might be interested.

GOAL #3: Reach more of the 32,000 Amish households with the Amish Voice: Already, local churches and individuals have adopted whole communities throughout OH, PA, KY, IN and IL. Over 6,500 households are receiving the bi-monthly publication. It's much more then a 12-page publication-we are advertizing books, Bible studies, and the LivingRoom Bible Institute. Praise God-the ministry gets orders for materials on a constant basis. If you would like to know what it takes to become involved in adopting your community, please call Tina at (419) 962-1515.

GOAL #4: For God to raise up more prayer support groups: It takes more then a program to penetrate 8+ generations of religion. It takes God's people getting on their knees, crying out to God on behalf of the unsaved. The Scriptures tell us that an unsaved person is a child of the devil (John 8:44), under the authority of Satan (Acts 26:18), a strong man's house (Mark 3:27), prisoners of war (Isaiah 14:17) and blinded by the gospel (II Cor 4:3-4).

GOAL #5: For God to raise up more missionaries to the Amish: In 2007 the MAP board approved their very first missionary family (The Geesey's) to start raising support to go full time in the eastern parts of the US. Our prayer is that God would provide more missionaries to cover the southern and western states as well.

I debated for some time whether I should include this story in our newsletter. I was afraid that some might feel that I was doing so because of a negative attitude toward the Amish. But then as I thought about it more, I decided that most of our readers know by now that it has never been our practice to humiliate or cause emotional harm toward the Amish and their beliefs. I have said many times, people are like computers-they will only do what they are programmed to do. It is our job to use scripture and re-program the mind - not point fingers and play the blame game.

The following story is one which you would normally read about in your local newspaper or hear on the radio. It is the type of story that we have gotten used to hearing about, concerning our public school system.........BUT never in our Amish schools. Non-the-less, it is something that happened just recently in one of our local communities.

Anna is 9 years old and has been in our SonLight Club Bible study courses, for several years. While visiting her family one day, they informed me that Anna's teacher had found the two writings (bottom left) in Anna's school desk. Anna told us that her teacher made it very clear to her that this kind of writing was not to happen again on school grounds. The teacher then send the writings home with Anna, along with a note for her father, explaining what happened and that it was not to happen again.

The father who has been searching for truth himself, responded to the teacher's letter, asking her why she was having such difficulty with the writings. The teacher then responded with the letter below.

Teacher's Letter Hello, yes, to answer your note. Our concern is about to keep such stuff out of the school; we are not making fun out of it.            Matthew 6:5-7 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:19-21 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Don't mean to hurt any feelings but we had such things in school this week before the meeting, between a few scholars. Our only concern is to keep such things out of school or in school or on the way home and way to school. This was all discussed on Tue eve in the board meeting, so I warned the scholars about no more such things in school. To your concern, you would have come in meeting, and then you could hear what was discussed. So much out of love. Only your neighbor and teacher, I.Y.