In Hebrews 12:22 it reads, But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God… So often we allow our thoughts to dwell on the city but think for a moment what it is going to be like to stand next to the living God. In Rev. 21:23 we are told… the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it. Rev. 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent [all ruling] reigneth.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support during January and February to the cause of reaching Amish people for Jesus Christ. Philip. 4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

In last month's newsletter, we also gave out a Creative Giving letter and the response was just phenomenal in some of the areas. One man read the Creative Giving letter and called us right away to tell us that he had 170 cassette players that were still in their plastic wrap and we could have them as soon as we picked them up. The same brother helped us get 300 New Testaments that have the salvation verses marked out. A church in town gave us their 3-tape cassette duplicator which is still in great shape. Some of you gave postage stamps to help us out with the Sonlight Club. Others gave towards the Bible project.

It was great to see David, a young Amish boy, give his heart to Christ back in January. Another young man, Abram, who had left the Amish earlier in the year, also came forward to accept Christ at a bowling event that our church had put on as an outreach to the lost. A young girl named Patty came to the Bible study one night and before the night was over, she bowed her head and asked Jesus into her heart.

Back in the early part of the year, an Amish lady and her three sons had stopped by at my office and shared how they had come to faith in Christ. The mother also shared how she has been excommunicated and shunned from the Amish church but still lives with her husband who is an active member in the Old Order Amish Church. In February we had a church scheduled in New York to present the MAP Ministry so our family stopped in to visit them at their home as well as witness to Eli, her husband. We were invited to have dinner with them that evening but were told that Eli would not join us because of their and our excommunication from the church. The mother informed us that Eli had not eaten with them in 5 years. The church did not even allow Eli to eat from his wife's garden because of the excommunication.

After dinner, Eli asked if we would join him in the living room for some time in the Bible and prayer. Eli told us that he always just opens his Bible and which ever page it opens up at is where he reads from. Afterward he recited a 15 minute traditional prayer that he had learned by heart from his dad. Eli and I got into a 3-hour long discussion on how a person gets to heaven and in the end it felt as if neither one of us had accomplished anything.

So far this year we have been able to present the MAP Ministry to 5 churches and at this point we have 14 churches scheduled for the rest of the year. We have had some tremendous times getting to know some of the most wonderful people in the world. These are people who love the Lord and want to serve Him with all their heart.

One of the ministries that MAP has put together is the Adopt-A-Person Ministry and quiet a few families from churches we have been to have adopted people who left the Amish or are still Amish.

Update on Naomi

Please pray for Naomi, a 14 year-old girl we spoke about last month who had been molested by her father. The father is now in prison and just lately her mother ended up in a mental institute. Several weeks ago Naomi disappeared with the help of a friend. For two days our home phone rang off the hook from people calling us wanting to know if we knew anything about Naomi's disappearance. Our hearts went out to this little girl because we knew all too well that she needed help in areas the Amish are not equipped to help. She has been found though and is at home now.

We are working very hard on a Wild Game Banquet for the Fall. It will be an evangelistic out-reach to the Amish people. We will give out more details as the time draws closer.

May all of us continue to bless God!
Joe, Esther, Jonathan, & Rachel

The approval of the M.A.P. Board was given at the Jan. meeting to have Barbara Borkholder begin teaching/tutoring on a voluntary basis those interested in studying for their GED. The classes began on Feb. 11, 2002 with 7 former Amish guys in attendance.