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Quarterly Newsletter September/October 2001 Dear Friend, Greetings of Christian love to you. How encouraging it was to see so many folks come through with sacrificial giving after receiving our Pastor's note in the mail last month that the MAP account was running low. For us it was a time that we had to trust God in ways we were not used to trusting before. We watched the account go all the way down to $30. We can honestly say, God helped us deal with it very well. We knew that God would pay for what He ordered. We praise God for all the folks that partnered up with MAP and helped out. And now, look what God is doing in the midst of M.A.P. 
This photo shows Jonas and Clara with their 3 children. What a marvelous story for us to share. Back in late July, Harvey (Jonas' brother), William (my brother) and I, traveled to Iowa to talk to this very frustrated and confused couple. They were prepared to leave the Amish church but were also very fearful of the consequences by doing that. Soon after we arrived we began to share with them the love of Christ and the way to heaven. After several hours of talking with them, both Jonas and Clara bowed their heads and asked Jesus to save them. What a powerful moment. We saw Harvey with tears coming down his cheeks while his brother and wife accepted Jesus into their heart. You see, Harvey had been praying for this moment for 5 years and now it was happening. About 9:00 that night we were on our way to Ponderosa to eat and we were praying that God would help us find a good church that we could connect Jonas and his family with before leaving them to go back to Ohio. We missed the Ponderosa exit (God's will) and ended up at Golden Corral. Our waiter was a born again Christian and after some discussion with him, we ended up at his church the next morning. We shared the great news with the church and immediately a member brought Bibles for them. Another said he wants to start a Bible study with them. Since then we have been in contact with the church as well as Jonas and his family and it brings tears to my eyes as I watch God at work. Jonas and Clara called this morning to say that they are coming in later this month to visit all of us here in Ohio. This counselor told Vernon that he was mentally not thinking right and was going to put him on some drug (unknown to Vernon) and if he would not immediately sever his relationship with all of us former Amish, he would have to take the next step and be sent off to some other place away from home. When Vernon called me, he said, "Joe you are going to have to stay away because they are watching our place every day." I told Vernon that we will always respect his decision but one thing we will never stop doing and that is pray for him and his family. It has been a long month since we have heard from him.
The S.L.C. ministry (correspondence Bible courses through the mail) is doing so well. Right now we have over 300 children and adults enrolled in it. Almost every month, someone writes to tell us that they asked Jesus into their heart. I have to tell you though that not every Amish community responds to our invitation to these correspondence courses. Only the more liberal communities respond. As you can see from this photo, we have a faithful group of volunteers that come out each month to help us grade all the tests that have been returned by the students. We write encouraging notes as well as test scores and put it in the next lesson to send back to them. At the end of each
course, they receive a certificate and then go on to the next level. Since
we see so many of the same names go through each month, all of us feel
like we know them and they know us. In the photo background you can see
the shelf where we keep all the courses organized. We appreciate those who
volunteer their time each month. This ministry is only possible because of
your financial gifts. Each lesson costs about $.50 (postage included). All
lessons are free to the students.
Harley (left) and Isaac (right) are two young boys who
left the Amish over the past month. We helped them get Social Security
Cards, drivers license, clothing, a job, etc. They also started coming to
our Friday night Bible study. Both of them got saved and then made a
public profession of their faith in Christ to the church. Both of them
want to get baptized. Last Friday night one of Harley's Amish friends
called him at our Bible study. He wanted Harley to buy beer for him. What
a joy it was to hear Harley say to his friend, One of the great desires of our hearts is to see our
own family come to Christ. For 14 years we have prayed for each one by
name. We have subscribed the Sword of the Lord magazine to all of them
over the past 10 years. One by one they are coming to Christ and taking
Him as their Savior. My brother, William, led one of our younger brothers
to Christ and then we saw our brother-in-law make that same decision last
month. We have split our Bible study up and my brother William has been
going to our brother-in-law's to have Bible study with them. All of this
is done in secrecy. My dad also came in twice to see us. The first time he
stayed until 4:30 in the morning. I shared the plan of salvation with him
through Bible verses, illustrations, objects on the floor, and a chalk
board. In the end I got on my knees before him and asked, "would you
like to ask this Jesus to become your Savior tonight?" He refused. He
went on to say that our day was coming, and that he had no hope for us. We
did find encouragement reading the account of Saul in Acts chapter 8-9,
where Jesus changed the hardest of hearts for His glory. We pray this for
my father as well. I would like to end by sharing an email from a
Christian brother: " Wishing God's greatest blessing on you. Joe, Esther,
Jonathan, and Rachel Keim
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| President Joe & Esther Keim Vice President John Bouquet |
Secretary Jerry & Carol Gess Treasurer Sam Gray |
Randall Collins Harvey & Mary Lou Yoder Eli & Pam Shetler Edna Knight |
You may recall reading/hearing about Vernon and Maryann.
For their own protection I had never used their photo but feel since their
faith in Christ has been revealed among the Amish community I will be able
to do that now. Both, Vernon and Maryann were saved last year. More then
once they paid a driver $50 to come to our Friday night Bible studies.
After working with them for over a year, trying to establish them in the
faith, it has come out in their community that they have been back and
forth with us and others who have left the Amish church. Some days after
the Amish found out about their relationship with us, they brought an
Amish counselor to speak to them. 
Recently, two van loads of distant relatives stopped in
from Texas to visit us. We had not seen them since they left the Amish
some 15 years ago. After dinner the first night we got to talking about
baptism and other things. I couldn't help but get some Bibles together
and have a Bible study right then. After our study of how a person gets to
heaven I gave an invitation to receive Christ as Savior right there on our
porch and five raised their hands to say that they made that decision.
