September MAP Update 2013

First, we would like to thank those of you who have recently given above and beyond. Your giving meant more than you know. In this issue of the Ministry Update, we want to focus on only one topic—housing. This has been a matter of prayer and concern for us for many years, and we want to devote this update to share with you our thoughts, prayers, and concerns in this specific area. This is, God willing, the first of more updates on this topic of housing. We hope that you will continue praying about this as we share with you What, Why, When, Where, and How.

We feel burdened to pursue the need for housing for the Amish and former Amish. We would ideally prefer a one or two-story apartment-type building with some extra land so we can build on in the future if needed.

We need a place for singles and families to stay temporarily while we help them adjust to the outside culture. It would also be helpful if there was an area for someone to live while overseeing the apartments, and a space where we could provide computer training, counseling, GED instruction, job training, and other life skills.

A simple recreation area such as a place to play volleyball or softball for these young Amish and former Amish would provide them with a way to have a little fun, relief, and relaxation while they are in the midst of transition.

                
Listen to an example common here at Mission to Amish People. Not too long ago, we had a phone call from a young Amish man from Missouri who was going to leave the Amish and had nowhere to go. He had bought his bus ticket and was arriving in a few days. That same weekend, a young man from Wisconsin with whom we had been communicating for a few months was scheduled to arrive, and he, too, needed a place to stay for awhile. In addition, that same week an Amish family called and let us know they were all planning to leave their Amish community and needed help—the husband, wife, and five children would be arriving the next morning.

What could we do? We did not have the heart to inform this family and the two young men that we could not help them. We began praying and making phone calls. One young man was able to stay with a former Amish family here in our area. We found a place for the other young man in the home of someone in Indiana. As for the family of seven, we had to rent a small house so that they had a place to stay.

Have you ever been to another country? Have you experienced culture shock?
How wonderful it is and how relieved you are, if you find a friendly person or family there who speaks your language and is ready to help you!

That is precisely how it is for these former Amish people. They leave their familiar communities out of necessity and immediately enter an entirely different culture.

Imagine if you were thrown into our society, where English was your second language; you had no job, no driver’s license, no place to stay, no GED, no vehicle, no way to earn money, no Social Security card, no birth certificate, no computer skills, and only the clothes and possessions that you could fit in a suitcase. If you could make a phone call and find help, you would gladly make that call.

These Amish and former Amish people often make that call to us, and we need to help them.

We want to provide these people with more than just a temporary hotel room, but with a transitional place to rest, learn life skills, and be ready to face the new “English” world—rather than send one person to Indiana, another to a different county in Ohio, rent a house for another family, and then try to help these people in different places who feel all alone and helpless.

We could be so much more efficient if we had a place right here where they could stay—a place where they would have former Amish neighbors who were going through their same situations; a place where they could stay and receive life skills training, GED testing, driver’s education, computer training, job interview skills, counseling, Bible studies, financial skills, recreation, a nearby church, and more—all until they had adjusted to our “English” culture and were ready to move on.

As you can see from our real-life examples, we would love to begin this today!
We have been seeking God regarding this for years, and we continue to wait for His timing, but the need is great. If we had housing, we could begin using it immediately.

Unless God has other plans, we hope to have this housing in the Ashland, Ohio area, where Mission to Amish People is located. This will enable us to utilize our resources and contacts more efficiently and be able to better help those in need.

 Honestly, we are not quite sure how God will provide for this need. We may need to raise funds for several years. Maybe God has been preparing one or more of you to help meet this need much sooner. Maybe you already have the land for this, or maybe you know of buildings that God has already prepared for this use.

We are content, though, knowing that we can wait upon God. As Jehoshaphat prayed, “O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? . . . neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee” (2 Chronicles 20:6, 12).

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon God. Keep your eyes upon Him, too. Look up. Join us in seeking God so this need can be met and God be glorified. We appreciate all of you, our friends, and we find comfort knowing that you will help us lift up this need before our Father’s throne.