Quarterly Newsletter                                                                                             May  2003

Dear Friend,

We will start off with an email from a young lady named Martha. Martha left the Amish back in January and soon found a job at one of the local nursing homes. Before long, she had enough money saved up to think about a car but as she soon found out, life is not always greener on the other side. She writes...Good evening, Esther. I rode my bike 2 miles tonight. Talked with First Merit about the car loan. Think it is easier to buy a horse. At least you don't have to buy a license and insurance. And you can just buy it and take it home with you. No fuss or muss. :)

Thank You

In April our family finished the second year in full-time ministry. It seems that for each day that goes by, it becomes even more apparent that there is such a need for Mission to Amish People. Without your gifts, it would never have been possible. God bless you for giving. We would have you to know that not one gift passes through our hands without a moment of thanks to our God for it.

Aaron

It was about a year ago that this young man left the Amish for awhile to see what it was like to live in the English world. While he was out of the Amish, he went with us to church several times and then one Saturday night he decided it was time that he made Jesus his Savior. Soon after this event he went back to the Amish and we did not hear from him for a long time. It is kind of hard to forget about a person that you had a part in seeing come to Christ and so we prayed for him, hoping that he fully understood salvation. A month ago Aaron called and he said, "Joe could you swing by my place, I just really need to talk to you." Later that afternoon as Aaron poured his heart out to me, I knew that he had found the Savior for sure. He had not been able to forget what happened to him a year earlier. At this time he is struggling whether he should leave the Amish and go to a church that preaches all the truth or stay with his family. I was reminded what Jesus said in Matthew 19:29, … every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Eli

We received a call from a 15-year-old boy that wanted to leave the Amish so bad that he would have done almost anything to get us to come out and pick him up. After questioning him for a while over the phone he informed us that his dad had put some checks in the mailbox to send to the bank for deposit. After his dad had left the envelope of checks in the mailbox, Eli and his brother decided to take 3 of the checks out of the envelope, re-seal it, and put it back in the mailbox. Later they went and cashed them and everything seemed to go fine until the bank contacted dad to say some of his checks were missing. I had to remind the poor lad that the Bible tells us in Numbers 32:23 …be sure your sin will find you out.

Sam

About 8 years ago I ran into a former Amish fellow that had left the Amish and with a little bit of work on our part we saw him come to our church several times. Then one day I heard the bad news that he had gotten into some trouble and was now in prison. After doing everything possible to see him at the prison I finally gave up and just figured that I would probably never see him again. Two months ago I received a call from a good friend of mine saying that he had a guy named Sam working for him at his business that knows me and wants to talk to me. Needless to say, for the past several weeks I have poured my life into this man. Will you help us pray that he puts his trust in the Savior for salvation? He lost his wife, his child, his house, and all his friends and still he sees no need for the Savior. Why? The Bible tells us in Acts 26 that before we were saved we too were blind; in darkness; and in the power of Satan.

The Mullet and Borntrager Families

Late April a couple of the fellows from our area and I took off for Indiana where we spent a couple of days at a Bible conference. At the conference we met up with some of our friends from Missouri and what a blast we had. After the conference we drove on up to Illinois where we met up with several Amish families that had found the truth of Jesus Christ and were being attacked emotionally by the Amish church for their so called "new belief." One of the families had been ousted by the church for a time and the others were scared of what would happen to them if they continued on with their new found treasure: Life in Christ.

While we were their the first night I pulled out some Sonlight Club lessons that the MAP Ministry now mails into some 14 States and all of a sudden I saw these big smiles coming over the adults and the kids. They informed me that all their kids have been doing the Sonlight Club lessons for some time and how they are such a blessing to them. The kids looked at me and I looked at them and boy, did it ever feel great to see people at the other end of the mail route. The total number of Amish people enrolled in the Sonlight Club is 1,136. They range from age 3 through 79.

On Friday night we stayed up until 2:00 am talking about the Bible and by 7:00 am the next morning we were back at it. We talked all day and at the end of the day (Saturday night) we got in the car and traveled about a 100 miles to Missouri. One of the Amish couples (Amos and Sadie) went with us to Missouri and then also to church at Pastor Glen Yoder's on Sunday morning. They had such a great time at church that they stayed for the evening service.

About a week after our visit I got a (cell phone) call one night about 10:00 pm from Amos saying, "We are driving around on the back roads in Missouri looking for Glen Yoders house. We have another Amish couple with us and we want Glen to tell them how to get saved too." The next day we were told that the young husband had also accepted Christ as his Savior.

I would like to take this time and thank our good friends Emanuel Shrock, Mary Ann Kerley, Sam & Barbara Burkholder, and Glen & Ida Yoder for all they have done and are doing to be of support to these Amish families.

Evangelistic Mailing

We are getting more and more excited as we get closer to the end of organizing our evangelistic mailing outreach to the Amish. People have entered thousands of Amish addresses into the computer for us. In our June board meeting it is our plan to spend a good deal of our time putting structure to this whole ministry. I am praying for three very important things: #1—God would burden people to pray for the Amish people to get saved through this ministry. #2—God would begin to burden people to help finance this (ongoing) ministry. (Sam Gray, our treasurer has set aside a special account for this ministry if you are burdened to join others in giving) #3—That God would give us a godly person that would help us head this ministry up. Will you join me in making this a weekly prayer in your house?

Anna

A year ago we found out about a young lady that had left the Amish and was living in New York and it seemed that everywhere she went people were taking advantage of her. Six month ago she moved to Illinois only to find herself in the midst of people that were again taking advantage of her. And then one day she called us and in our conversation we told her that if she ever hit the bottom of the barrel she was to call us and we would be right there to help however we could. That day came last week one day when she called and said, "I lost my job, my boyfriend, and my apartment." She said, "I don't have any money for gas but if you send me some in the mail I promise I will use it for gas to move to your area. She ended with, "As soon as I get there I am going to need a job and some help getting my life straightened out." Lets pray for her because (if we were honest) we all have been in the pig pen. Jesus is always there, waiting on our return. What a great picture He showed us when he shared the story about the prodigal son and the return to his father. He said in Luke 15:22-24 Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Our Family

At the end of March our family moved into town. Here is our new HOME address and phone number...538 West Main St, Ashland, OH 44805. Home Phone: (419) 207-1478. The Office phone and address continues to be the same.

Jonathan & Rachel

Jonathan hung up some signs around town saying that he would mow lawns and before we knew it he had received so many calls that he had to turn people down. Rachel's mind is on baby sitting. She has had several opportunities to do just that. She will make a great mom some day—to soon! 

Running the race with you...Joe, Esther, Jonathan, and Rachel Keim

The $.37 Postage Stamp Drive

A Real Ministry Opportunity for individuals and Sunday school classes of all ages!

Over the past 6 weeks the Sonlight Club ministry has gone through well over 2500 postage stamps. That amounts to roughly a $1,000. Would you consider joining other individuals and Sunday school classes in raising postage stamps during the next several weeks and months?

Send all postage stamps to: MAP Ministry – P.O. Box 128 – Savannah, OH 44874