Mission to Amish People - September/October 2006 Newsletter

Dear Friend!

November/December 2006

Fall is here and that means two things: 1) No more mowing C 2) Start thinking abut snow shovels D. On September 20th, my wife Esther made it to the top of the hill in her life. Our Rachel did a grand job of organizing a Friday evening surprise party that brought about 50 friends in from near and far. Jonathan is home schooling again this year. He is also working 25 hrs a week at Ponderosa and has been doing exceptionally well in his computer business. The picture shows him putting his first computer together. In October he had the privilege of speaking to two different church groups made up of young people. Rachel on the other hand, completed a 4-yr quilting project with some help from mom. She turned 15 years old this month and is going to a Christian school this year. She is a people person all the way and mom says she gets it from her dad.

Thank You for Your Faithfulness

I have not kept track, but over the past few months, numerous Christians have come to us and said, I want you to know-I pray for you and the MAP ministry every single day. And each time I hear those words, my heart just melts with unspeakable joy, because I know immediately, here is another person that has the calling of God on him/her to stand in the gap and pray on our behalf. Finances were slim during August and September but a couple of special gifts got us back in the ball park. As hard as it is to accept, I have come to believe that slim times are ordained by God because it keeps us on our toes all the time. Thank you for sticking with us and giving so faithfully and generously. God bless you!

Update & Testimony

Do you remember reading in our Sept/Oct Update of the 81 year old man who got saved? It has been exciting to watch this man grow, one baby step at a time as our friend Levi disciples him in the Word about every week. Shortly after our update went out, we received a very special testimony from the Wengerd's, our good friends from the south.

Ida writes...After reading of 81 year old Daniel who put his faith alone in Jesus Christ, it really gave me a high. We know how he feels and what he is going through-we were 53 and 55 years old. Four years ago when we left a strict Amish church of man made rules it was an awful awakening to find out the truth in the Bible. My Mother was hurt when we left the Amish and said I couldn't come home unless I wear Amish clothes. This is 80% of the Amish cult religion ways! So, before I got rid of my last Amish clothes I went to see her in my Amish clothes, but being that we were from the Amish church, they said, "don't you talk about the Bible" - We did! I told her that her clothes or mine will not get us to Heaven. God said to dress modest. It's what's in our heart for Jesus Christ.

Even after writing letter after letter, I still couldn't go home without wearing Amish clothes. My brothers and sisters are so scared of man made rules. After three years of not seeing mom, she died two weeks ago-I had to find out through a friend that she died. Then I got a call saying that if I come without my Amish clothes on, I would be turned away. I was very close to my dear Mom and loved her dearly. It was heart breaking but I stayed at home. I did not think of making a scene as being a Christian. I cried, prayed, and sang songs to Jesus for what he did on the cross for us. I decided, I can go on. I had to think, Jesus would say, forgive them and I did with His help. If we carry the love for Jesus and His people, He will see us through anything. Even if we have to leave our Mother and Father to follow Jesus, we have to do it. Jesus has to be first in our lives. We were to Mom's grave yard the day after she was buried. We said our prayers. Mama, I love you.

Response from Joe: Ida, we are very moved by your testimony; we dream of a day when this will not have to be so any more. My three brothers and I went through a very similar experience 2 years ago when our grandma died. We received word on the first day of her passing that we are not allowed under any circumstances to show up for the viewing or funeral. Several months later, Dad and Mom moved to another state and once again we had to deal with the fact that they never let us know. Jesus said in Mat 10, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Searching for Freedom

Here are some of the young people that have left their families and culture behind in recent weeks. MAP is usually their first stop because they have no money and are in need of housing, English clothes, birth cert, SS cards, etc. Each one has his/her own story of why they left but it usually boils down to two things-they don't want to live the Amish ways anymore; they want to experience freedom from all the church rules and strict regulations.

Five weeks ago, Harley (4th from the left) came to our door on a Sunday afternoon. He had just arrived from KY about 2 hours earlier and this is what he told us. My hired driver told me he would bring me to OH for $240 so I told him to take me because someone would have the money for him when we got there. Sure enough, Eli (5th from left) forked over the $240 and the driver went home happy. I asked Harley how much he had in his own pocket and he said, "six bucks"! As of yesterday he has been out 5 weeks-he was over to our house to practice the cones for his upcoming driving lesson on Monday.

On the other hand, we had been helping Ervin (3rd from left) with different needs over the space of several weeks. One Tue night I asked our prayer/support group to pray because God was very clearly working in Ervin's heart. The following day we went after his Birth Cert, State ID and SS card. When that was all over with we pulled into Bob Evans and spent several more hours going over God's simple plan of salvation and in the end Ervin understood and trusted the Lord as his Savior. By Sunday night I received a phone call from Ervin to see if we could do our first Bible study-that of coarse is every soul winners dream come true. Now, I would like to invite you to partner up with us in prayer for each one of these young people because as we know, true freedom only comes when we are released from our heavy burden called sin which was placed on Jesus Christ, 2,000 years ago. Their names from left to right are, Ruben, Mattie, Ervin, Harley, Eli, Sam & Alma.

From Total Despair to Hope For the Future

I had been needing a tooth brush for several weeks and one day I came close enough to Wal-Mart that I dashed in and right back out (well not really-God had other plans). On my way through the check out line I ran into Lizzie (with her two boys) who I barely recognized from 17 years before when Esther and I had led her to the Lord, soon after she had left the Amish. After an hour of conversation with Lizzie at Wal-Mart, I invited her to come to our house because I soon realized that we were in for something that was almost to big for us to handle.

It would not be respectful for me to go into all the details of what Lizzie has been through in the last 12 months but I can say this, after four weeks of daily counseling, establishing goals, sleepless nights, tears, frustration and dealing with human services and case workers, we have finally gotten her and the boys out of the homeless shelter and into an apartment of her own. It had been close to 12 years since I "baby sat" or changed diapers, but I made up for lost time in just 4 weeks. Actually, I changed enough diapers to last me for a life time. I guess when you are called to minister, you do whatever it takes to build the Kingdom of God.

The Purpose of the MAP Ministry

This December will mark 7 years since I first met with my pastor and asked him what a man was supposed to feel like when God calls him into ministry. The journey has not always been pleasant or easy to travel but when you know you are in God's will, there is no greater joy. Since our updates go out to thousands of people, it is hard to know exactly what should or should not be said at times. At this time we would like to remind all of our readers that the MAP Ministry -(1) does not exist to change people from living the Amish lifestyle, and (2) does not exist to tear families apart. But (3) we do exist for this purpose-it is our desire to teach Amish people that salvation is a gift that cannot be earned.

Recently a former Amish man from Missouri (who is going back to the Amish after 20 years) dealt the MAP Ministry a severe blow-more specifically the SonLight Club. We have no idea how everything will end up but we know this, God knows that our hearts and motives are only sincere and passionate about making sure every Amish man, woman and child gets the opportunity to hear and accept the eternal plan of salvation, laid out by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was interesting to see how the power of God worked in the life of an Old Order minister from this same Missouri area two weeks ago. This minister had called to give us a piece of his mind. For the first 15 minutes of our phone conversation I just listened while he got everything off his chest. When he was all done, we ask him some basic questions-this always works best because people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. An hour and a half later this same man apologized for his anger and even agreed that the Amish are too caught up in their traditions and man made rules. Let's pray for this minister as well as the former Amish man who is going back to the Amish. Special note: God worked it out for me to physically pray over an Old Order Amish preacher in Southern OH a couple weeks ago. It was glorious because this same preacher had dodged me on an earlier trip!

In our next update we would like to focus mostly on the Bible studies that are happening in our groups. We have been working on doing a year end special for several weeks and I think it will be a real blessing to you. Until then, we would like to wish you a great time with your family and friends during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year season.
Love-the Keims

Remembering the Pennsylvania Tragedy

Today makes it exactly one month ago that a man walked into an Amish school house in Lancaster PA and abruptly ended five precious young lives. A person dare not ask the question "why" because there are just no answers that come close to making sense. I have wondered, does a person who constantly lives in his painful past think that it would make his own life more bearable if he could cause others to also live in pain? Regardless, we now know that many dads, moms, brothers, sisters and other family members will have to finish out the rest of their life, wondering what it might have been like to watch Naomi Rose, Anna Mae, Marian, Mae Liz and Lena grow into adulthood.

Well, it is not my desire to say a lot about what happened because we have all heard and read about it almost every day since it happened. What I do want to do, is point out some things about this tragedy that really hit home for us, here at the MAP Ministry. 13 year old Anna Mae, who fell victim to the school shooting just so happened to be one of our top students in the SonLight Club. Our records show that both she and her sister enrolled in the SonLight Club in early 2005. From the time that Edna Mae enrolled in 2005 to October 2006, she almost completed three whole courses (a total of about 30 Bible lessons). That means that she litterly did a Bible lesson every other week for almost two years straight which is the maximum amount of lessons any student can do.

Here is another astounding truth. According to earlier reports, Anna Mae was also the heroic girl that stepped out in front of all the other girls who were lined up against the wall and said to the gunman, "shoot me first and let the other ones loose".

Two weeks after the shooting took place, the MAP Ministry received a note from the girls father and it read...

Dear Friends, Anna Mae passed to her Heavenly rewards on Oct 2, 2006. Her sister Sarah Ann, age 8 is recovering from a brain injury at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Rehab Center. Please pray for us. Anna Mae's Dad

In some ways we all felt like we lost one of our own children. But what a joy to have been a part of such an incredible testimony of a young girl named Anna Mae.

Another Reason This Tragedy Hit So Close To Home

You may or may not remember us writing about Andy, Jody and Jennie Geesey in earlier newsletters. They are the family that has been working their way through our application process to go into full time ministry to the Amish people. If things continue to work out as planned they will eventually go out under the direction and leadership of Mission to Amish People. In any case, Andy Geesey and Carl Roberts (gunman) both worked for the same milk company; they both picked up milk among the Amish people in the Lancaster area.

Throughout the years of hauling milk, Andy has been able to establish some close friendships with many of the Amish families in his area-so close that he has even managed to learn how to understand and speak the Dutch language. Soon after the shooting spree occurred, Andy's (Amish) customers started turning to him for emotional support and Andy was able to open the Scriptures and share words of comfort and strength. It continues to be obvious that God's plan for the Geesey family and their ministry is unfolding and becoming more and more real as the days pass by. At this point Andy has been able to make quite a bit of in-road toward counseling the children and families that were directly involved.

Esther and I were in Lancaster this past weekend and during our stay we met up with the Geesey's and also Jonas Byler who heads up the Family Counseling Center in Gap, PA. Together, we believe several things to be true:

The Amish people in that area are not really equipped with any type of professional counseling from their own circle and with the Lord's help, we will be able to provide that for them if they are open to it.

The world has looked on with disbelieve and astonishment at how the Amish have so quickly forgiven the gunman and what he did to their families. But the question remains in our minds, is this forgiveness real or is it mechanical? Are they truly able to forgive from their hearts or are they doing what they have been taught to do and say? Obviously, only God knows and we have no right to judge but from the stand point of an Ex-Amish person this type of forgiveness often seems shallow. You see, for the most part, Amish people seem to be able to very quickly forgive the wrongs of outsiders but when it comes to one of their own leaving the fellowship, then the whole idea of forgiveness changes very quickly (even if that inside person leaves their circle and follows the Lord with all their heart).
To maybe help you better understand where I am coming from, here are some responses that were emailed to us since the tragedy took place.
Brian Williams of NBC called the act of forgiveness "towering faith." Well and good. The world needs more forgiveness in order to have peace. The Bible says to do good to our enemies, to not return evil for evil. Think of the situation in the Middle East if people were not to seek revenge. Peace would break out all over. I laud the Amish for doing this.

Now let's try another scenario. When you are born and raised Amish, you are expected to join the church in your later teen years. You have no access to teaching other than what is given from an Amish point of view. If you are taught that salvation is partly by works, and no one ever shows you otherwise, how can you come to any other conclusion? Later on when more study leads you to join for example, the Baptist or Mennonite church, the roof will cave in on you unless you give in and agree that they are right. But hold on to your convictions, and you are now in the position of never being forgiven.

When our ancestors came to America, they came for freedom of religion. State religion was the order of the day through many European countries. Our ancestors, the Amish, wanted the freedom to practice whatever religion they saw fit. While most Americans change religions without giving it much thought, ex-Amish have to consider the awful consequences of such a move. You will never be a part of family activities again. Yes, forgiveness is a good thing, but when we hear of the "towering faith" of the Amish it rings hollow for those of us who are ex-Amish since we have never experienced such forgiveness from them.
-- Eli, Canada

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this tragedy of the killings in Lancaster County. Two big words from my past in the Amish religion and culture keep popping in my brain -- submit and forgive. I think the Amish mindset is that anything that happens beyond the groups' control or individual control you submit and forgive. Because bad things that just happen are of God and so we submit and forgive. I don't know if you can follow my thoughts but as an example look at the incest and other abuse in Amish homes. The victim is not in control, so that means she needs to submit, keep her mouth shut and forgive. Other areas like excommunication are totally in control of the group. They make the rules and if you don't submit to their way, then they will not forgive you.
-- Katie, Florida

I know what you mean, when you are talking of the forgiveness of the Amish. I have been thinking on the same things and maybe I am guilty of thinking-that seems so shallow. One of my friends told me that after watching TV she almost wanted to be Amish! She said, "They have something I don't have." As someone who is ex-Amish, but now, by God's grace, has a personal relationship with Jesus that no one can control or take away from me, I told her, having been raised Amish myself, that the Amish are conditioned to forgive. I am delighted that God has rescued me and that I am not living in Amish bondage any more, but the Amish will of course not forgive me, even though they will forgive a murderer. I will not be forgiven for I have left the Amish. It would be good to see a little love in their heart towards a child of the most High God.
-- Iva, Ohio

I am having a huge problem with all I am hearing from this issue. There is no doubt that all of this talk is reinforcing Amish pride. I have concerns about all this. ...as anyone who knows anything about the Amish knows -- this is hypocritical. No real Amish would ever allow themselves to go on TV. This is a time to point out some things to outsiders who don't really know the Amish as we ex-Amish do! The Amish are far from the peace-loving people they are so often depicted as being, but in reality a harsh and oppressive religion, far from the grace of our Lord and Savior.
-- Levi, Ohio