First, we would like to thank you for your interest and involvement in the MAP Ministry. We are so grateful that you are taking time out of your busy schedule to read the MAP news. We sure appreciate your prayers and your support. May God richly bless you for your faithfulness, because only with God's help and people like you are we able to do His work.

New House

Six months ago we moved into the basement of a new home that is being built. Thanks to Brother William for having a vision and a lot of ambition. His enthusiasm rubbed off on some of the other former Amish in the area and for several months straight we have had the young and old stop by to help.

It is only because of many people volunteering their time and equipment that all of this has been possible. Oh, and guess who the general contractor was for the house? You know, the person that schedules the various operations, makes sure everyone gets paid on time, works with the bank and all of that? It was Esther! All of those who had to deal with Esther know that she is a very clever individual to work for. She has done an awesome job!

When we first started this project we had many doubts whether we could do it but the Lord has been faithful and has continually brought to our mind JAMES 4:2 ….YE HAVE NOT, BECAUSE YE ASK NOT. Thanks so much to all of you who have said yes when we asked. We are looking forward to the day when we can open our home once again to house those that choose to leave the Amish religion. We fixed the basement up as an apartment with an outside entrance for this purpose. All of this couldn't happen without at least one boo-boo. Out of a hasty decision, and a desire to save on delivery charges, we chose to haul our own bath tubs on a borrowed truck. Coming down route 30 we lost both tubs. Luckily no one got hurt. Since both tubs were ruined we took them out back and set them on fire. This caused a big black smoke to go up and alarm a trucker from St Hwy 71 and before we knew it we had a visitor from the local sheriff department.

Secretary For The MAP Ministry

For many months we had prayed that God would give us a secretary to help out with the MAP Ministry. At first we prayed..."Lord, we are willing to wait for the right person no matter how long it takes." After about six months we changed our prayer to..."Lord, we need someone desperately, how much longer do we have to wait?" In August we kind of went out on our own and called several ladies from our church who we thought would make good secretaries but that kind of lead to nowhere. In September we put it in the MAP Newsletter again and several days later Joe got a call from Tina. The conversation kind of went like this…Joe, I think that I might be the person for the secretary job. I have been filling out applications and searching for work all summer and for some reason nothing seemed to work out for me. Would you consider praying about it? There was no doubt in our minds that Tina was the person for the Job. In the 16 years that we have known Tina she has been very faithful in various ministries here at Bethel. She has been a financial supporter of the MAP Ministry from day one and most of all, Tina has always had a heart to reach the lost. She has just finished her first month as secretary for MAP, and once again we have been reminded that if we can just wait on the Lord He will give you the best. Tina is doing a great job!

Joining the Church

This past Sunday several of the former Amish took up membership at our church. One was Joe's brother Johnny who accepted the Lord into his life several years ago and then made some wrong turns in life. As hopeless as it felt we continually prayed that God would spare his life and bring him back into the fold. Things began to change and recently we have seen some great changes in Johnny's life. We are proud of him for once again attending church regularly and then to top it off he made the step and joined church Sunday night.

Miriam is a young lady that has been a real encouragement to all of us. She has a heart for all of the former Amish in the area. She is a big part in planning the activity nights for the young folks in the area. One of her special ways of reaching out is to plan birthday celebrations, baby showers etc. We feel blessed to have her on our team. She moved in from Kansas a couple years ago and her family (parents) have also left the Amish and moved to Ohio. They have all been a real encouragement to us as they have faithfully attended our Tuesday night prayer meeting. This past Sunday Miriam also joined our church.

Rosie is the young lady we wrote about in our last newsletter. When she left the Amish she moved in with us and then started attending church regularly and got saved late one evening. We rejoice with her as she made the decision to also join our church this week after she gets baptized.

Our hearts are grateful to all the ones that have donated clothes, household, and personal items. We have received clothing, furniture, towels/wash cloths, and hygiene products. These things have come in from Indiana, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. So many of the former Amish have been helped and blessed because of your generous giving.

As our supplies have increased so has the need for proper storage. Several individuals have been willing to house these items in their homes for us which has saved us money but there is a need for having it all in one area and more space than what we now have available. We have had several board meetings to discuss how to improve this part of the ministry.

Some options that we have been looking at are as follows…Pump House Building: A local Christian man was donated 6-million dollars worth of office space, warehousing, and 20 homes. He has offered to help us by giving us space as well as allow us to use housing for the ones that leave the Amish. New Building: Our home church has talked about letting us built a storage building behind the church to store our items. Old Schoolhouse: There is an old school house close to the church that is giving us some offers as well. Will you help us pray that God would lead us in making this decision.

Reminder: If you donate anything to the Household Items/Clothe Closet, we can give you a tax receipt for the fair market value of the donation. Monetary donations to the ministry are always recorded by our treasurer and at the end of the year you will get a tax receipt. If you have any questions please contact our treasurer, Sam Gray at sgray@bethelchapel.com or (419) 289-2252.

Joe Performs His First Marriage Ceremony

Seven years ago we received a call from a young Amish man in Wisconsin. His name was Harvey and he haddecided that he was going to leave the Amish and wanted to know if he could stay at our place long enough to get on his feet financially. Several days later we went to the Greyhound Bus station to meet Harvey. Because we had never met Harvey we didn't know what he would look like. Would he be dressed in plain clothes? Would he have a beard and hat on? Finally the bus pulled up and several people got off the bus including a young man dressed in camouflage. But all the camouflage in the world could not hide the Amish man inside. Harvey came to live with us that day and later that week we mentioned to Harvey that we go to church and he was welcome to come with us. Harvey came to church with us that Wed night and as he puts it…"I heard a message preached like never before. I was convicted of my sin and knew that I needed a Savior." At the end of the message he came forward and got saved. Later he was baptized and joined the church.

Two years ago we received a call from a girl named Barbara who was living in Pennsylvania. We had never met her before but soon found out that we had a lot in common. We talked on the phone for over two hours that first night and then were forced to quit because our cordless phone died on us. Barbara had left the Amish right after she got saved. About a year later Barbara moved to Ohio and taught our former Amish GED classes for awhile.

Earlier this year Harvey & Barbara asked Joe if he would marry them. So with the help from our pastor Joe married his first couple. We don't know who had the most fun them or us. One thing we do know and that is we are absolutely thrilled for them. Since neither one of Harvey or Barbara's parents attended the wedding some very good friends stepped in and acted in place of their parents.

Amish/Russian Wedding

Earlier this month we made the trip to Quincy, IL where we attended a wedding of a former Amish man named Emanuel. Several years ago Joe had led Emanuel to the Lord and since then we have stayed in contact with him. Emanuel found a girl from Russia over the internet and one thing led to another and then on November 1st they had their big wedding day. We helped celebrate their big day.

Preaching The Word

After the wedding in Quincy we drove to Plymouth, IL where Joepreached in the Sunday morning service at the Mullet home. What a blessing it was to see all these families come together who had found the truth of Jesus Christ for salvation. The Amish community there in Plymouth had excommunicated these families earlier in the year for taking a stand on what they consider to be a false belief. One of the men at the morning service was explaining to us that he had gone to one of the Amish homes to talk and when he approached the house the Amish man came running out, yelling…get off my property and at the same time ordered his dog to go after him. These families have gone through so much mentally and emotionally but as we sang the worship songs in the service that morning you couldn't help but feel a little bit of heaven. They know whom they have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which they have committed unto Him against that day! We have their testimonies on tape if you are interested in having a copy.

The Lord Wins Again

Remember Ben from our last newsletter? He was the young man that was staying with us for awhile and then his dad came in and told him that he would rather see him in a coffin then where he was at now. Well Ben faithfully came to church and also to the Tuesday night prayer meetings. We did not push him at all but prayed for his salvation. One night he called Joe and they met at Wendy's for coffee. It was right there at Wendy's that Ben gave his life to Christ. Two days later he showed up at our house and the first thing he said was…"these past two days were great; I feel like a new person." That's right Ben, the Bible tells in 2 COR. 5:17, THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.