It is our prayer that this ministry update finds you serving God with all of your heart. There is just nothing that feels better and brings greater joy then to know that we are serving the living God. David tells us in Psalms 42:2, MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD, FOR THE LIVING GOD: WHEN SHALL I COME AND APPEAR BEFORE GOD? Well we know that David got his turn and so will we. I like what 1st John 3:2 tells us. BELOVED, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE: BUT WE KNOW THAT, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; FOR WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS. I don't know about you but I get more and more excited as my turn approaches. Wouldn't it be a terrible thing if God made a surprise visit to us today and we were caught off guard? 1 John 2:28 says, AND NOW, LITTLE CHILDREN, ABIDE IN HIM; THAT, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE MAY HAVE CONFIDENCE, AND NOT BE ASHAMED BEFORE HIM AT HIS COMING.

Our family took some time out in August and went on a much needed vacation. We took our tent along and set it up at a campground near Niagara Falls and for seven days did nothing but stay out late, sleep in, eat, and have fun. We spent time at the falls each day, done a lot of the tourist activities around the area and then ended our vacation at the Cleveland Zoo.

In July of this year, Sam Gray who was the MAP treasurer for over 3 years moved to Georgia, so we had to find some one else to do the treasurers job. In the July board meeting Judy Williams was voted in as the MAP treasurer. If you should see the need to contact her you can do so by emailing her at jawilliams87@aol.com.

We have some other exciting news for you. God really burdened some of His family members to help the ministry financially. One check was in the amount of $6,000. When I called the people who gave it I was almost brought to tears to hear how God had worked through them. Another person sent the ministry a check and in a letter he shared how he had tried to sell a personal item in hopes that he could give the ministry $500. He said, Satan intervened and he got very little out of the sale so he said, I stepped out on my own and decided to double the amount and send the ministry $1,000 instead. The letter went on to say that we are praying for the salvation of a soul for every dollar that was given. Let's join him in prayer!

At this time we would like to thank you personally for your financial help and times you spend in prayer for the MAP Ministry. For the first time in a long time the ministry is all caught up on expenses and once again we have a financial cushion under us. Lord, help us to be wise in spending your money. It is a real blessing to work along side of you.

Donation Center (update)

You may recall from previous newsletters that the ministry was awarded $8,100 in grants by the local Ford Foundation. It was given so that we could fix up the old elementary school where we have our donations stored for the ones who leave the Amish. Well, after some discussion with the home church and the Ford Foundation it was decided to use the grant money towards a new building which sets directly behind the home church. This building is being made up into 3 sections. It includes a bus garage, a pavilion for church use and then 2,000 sq. ft. for the Donation Center which will be our part. We appreciate all the volunteer workers.

Several month ago we were notified through email that a Christian man from Indianapolis had some printing equipment that he was wanting to give away to a ministry for a tax receipt. Immediately my mind began to turn in all directions because I had always thought that we might get into some of our own printing if it ever worked out that way. We sent some emails and made some phone calls and would you believe it, by the end of the week we were in direct contact with Richard the owner. Richard explained to us that a number of ministries had already contacted him about the equipment but he would give it some thought and get back with us. Several days later we were informed by Richard that he felt God was leading him to give all the printing equipment to the MAP Ministry. We took all the information to our wise board members and they agreed to go ahead and get it. Once again we felt blessed beyond words.

The Former Amish Reunion in July was once again a time of strength and spiritual renewal for so many of us. One person after the other went forward and shared how God saved them and changed their life. The story for so many was the same-I followed my Savior and lost my family, friends and everything I was used to in life. The man on the right along with some others had come all the way from Montana. He shared how some of them had come to the truth of salvation and later traveled all the way to Switzerland where the Amish got their start in the late 1600's. They had gone over there to pray and ask for forgiveness with some of the local people in Switzerland in hopes that the spirit of bondage would be broken amongst the Amish people. They have a professional video tape recording which shows a lot of the things that went on while they were in Switzerland.

Special Day

July 24th was an extra special day for many of us. My brother Johnny got married to Miriam Gingerich. What really made this wedding so special-it was the first of 9 weddings in my family that I was invited to. None of our Amish family accepted their invitation to Johnny's wedding. Esther and I had taken Johnny and Miriam through 6 weeks of premarital counseling and then I had the privilege of marrying them. Esther's nephew and his fiancée just finished their 6 weeks of premarital counseling as well and they will be getting married in October.

It has never been our intent to ridicule the Amish people for their behavior but we would like to say this, one of the leverages that the Amish church has used from the beginning is to keep their people under control by not allowing them to further their education past the 8th grade. When they leave we try to encourage them to get their GED and further their education skills. As you can see in these photo's we had a time of celebration at our house for Ruth and Rosie after they received their GED. You may recognize Ruth from the show, 'Amish in the City'. These celebrations always seem to have an effect on the ones who are considering a higher education.

Eli

Ivan

Mary

Esther

Church Service

Esther's Class

In the July Newsletter we shared some of the exciting things that were happening in Mt Gilead, OH. It has been over 4 months now that our family has been going to the Schwartz's home for Wednesday and Sunday services. Donnie, Levi and Sam are considered the church elders; Sarah is the church secretary; Levi and Emma serve as treasurer; Sam is our song leader; Joyce is our fiddle player; Esther (my wife) is our Jr. church teacher. Levi and I do the preaching. The church has been averaging about 30 people on Sunday mornings. I should add that we consider this church to be somewhat of an extension of the MAP Ministry. During the week our family is still very involved in the other ministries of Mission to Amish People. Our desire is to help this church become organized and established in the Faith and then maybe start another church. We will just have to wait and see what God has for us. So far we have kept all of our church appointments and will continue to do so but at a lesser pace.

Singing in English & German	Testimonies of Salvation	Each Church prays for the other	Levi's (Baptism)	Susie's (Baptism)	Mary's (Baptism)	Rachel's (Baptism)
Singing	Bethel presents $2500 gift	Foot washing	Foot washing	Hugging	Hugging some more

July 25th was a big day for many of us in our home church as well as the church in Mt Gilead. Because of limited space I will not be able to go into all the details but it is a day that we will not soon forget. For many years I dreamed of being part of a church service where Amish and English believers could fellowship in the Lord together as one. The Bible does tell us in Galatians 3:28 THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, THERE IS NEITHER BOND NOR FREE, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE: FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. Eph 4:13 goes on to say, TILL WE ALL COME IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF CHRIST: On Sunday July 25th both churches met together at our home church for the morning service and then later, everyone went to the Schwartz home where we had put up a tent for the evening service. The services kind of went in the following order.

AM Service: (1) Mt Gilead Church sang songs and shared testimonies of their salvation (2) Both churches prayed over each other (3) Pastor John baptized Levi, Susie, Mary, and Rachel (4) Pastor John gave a message on the early church in Acts. (5) Both churches had a special meal together

PM Service: (1) Sam Kline presented the Mt Gilead Church a $2500 gift to help them get started as a church (2) Pastor John preached a message on communion and foot washing (3) Both churches participated in communion and foot washing. (4) We ended the service with testimonies from both churches

The services were recorded on DVD. For a donation of $7 we will send you a copy. Here are some photo's of the day.

Ivan

Reuben

Joyce

Sarah

Esther

We have said this before but I would just like to say it again, hardly ever is it easy for an Amish person to get baptized but when they do get baptized it is clear that they have decided to follow God no matter the cost. When Ivan Mast got saved he said, Joe, I need to be baptized this Sunday. Rueben Schwartz got saved at his bed side one night and he wanted to be baptized as well. Please notice the last three photos. It was not so long ago that Levi and Sam were baptized and now they are the ones baptizing the new converts. Isn't that exactly what Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 28 when he said, GO YE THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST: TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU… Joyce Mink has a Catholic background, Sarah Kuhns is from Pennsylvania, and Esther Schlabach comes from our home area.

Every now and then we like to put a testimony in here from families who adopt a person. In this case the Hollen family from Wellington, OH adopted Susie Schwartz. By the way, here lately we have been getting lots of requests for adoption. Wow! What a blessing!

My wife and I have recently been lead to help the M.A.P ministry. We heard about the sometimes powerful results of the "Adopt-a-Person" program. Joe told me of a (former) Amish girl named Susie (who is close to the same age as my daughter), who wanted to be adopted. It was very clear to me at that point that we needed to become involved in this. I wanted to make certain that this was of God, so I went home and my family and I prayed about it. We all had fears and reservations, but agreed that this was definitely what the Lord wanted us to do.
We found out that Susie wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with this, so… we waited for God to work. [After a period of waiting and praying the Hollen family asked Susie if she would go to Geauga Lake with them] Susie said yes. Mark continues: We picked her up at her Dad's house, and the first thing I noticed were all the eyes looking out from the windows in the house. We were very nervous; did I mention that we were very nervous? We brought Susie home and she spent the night with us. The next morning we got up early and went to Geauga Lake, where we all had a blast. By the end of the day, Susie had ridden all the biggest roller coasters and loved every one of them. We had a hard time saying goodbye when we took her home.
A few days later we picked Susie up again and brought her up to spend the night and to come to my daughter's birthday party. Susie was part of the party surprise. When we took her home she tried to teach us some Amish. We butchered it quite nicely, and laughed a lot. After dropping her off we all agreed it felt like she belonged with us, and we wished we didn't have to take her home.
Shortly after that our daughter Izabella went down to spend 5 days with Susie's family. They had a wonderful time, and they dressed her in Amish clothes (only for pictures). When we dropped off Izabella we went to their prayer meeting, which was very powerful. After the prayer meeting we had the best cookies and the absolutely most fabulous peach pie known to man.
One Tuesday this month Kellie will be going down to have "noodle day" with Susie & her family. After that she might be coming up here to stay a week. The Lord keeps building and we keep growing. Mark, Kellie & Izabella Hollen

Prayer Meetings

Two years ago 5 or 6 of us really had a burden to get together and pray on a weekly basis. Since then we have grown to two prayer meetings. We have one on Tues. and one on Wed. night. In this photo we had over 40 people in the Tuesday night prayer meeting at our house. There is no doubt in our minds that we were able to fill this newsletter up with God's glory because of the prayer ministry.