This year marks 25 years since God called us into ministry, and as you are aware, our recent ministry updates have taken a different direction than usual. I’ve shared about my relationship with my father and some of the things that have happened between us in recent years. I realize we couldn’t tell the whole story all at once, and I appreciate your patience and kindness through it all.

As we continue to celebrate 25 years, I want to share another story, one that took place around the time this ministry was just getting started in 2000.

I had just surrendered to go into the ministry. We had very few details about what a ministry to the Amish would look like, but I did know one thing for sure: God was calling us to take the gospel to our people, the Amish and former Amish. One of the first places we went to speak was Community Bible Church in Mansfield, Ohio. That Wednesday evening, I shared from the depths of my heart what God was laying on my soul. After the service, I met Tom Parsons. Tom was already an older man at the time, but he had immediately gained a burden for what God was calling us to do. I didn’t fully understand it then, but over time, I began to see that while God was calling us to preach the gospel, He was also calling others, people like Tom, to come alongside and support the ministry.

God called Tom to be a donor. Just as surely as He called us to preach the gospel and disciple Amish people, He called Tom to give. Over the years, I’ve met many others like him, men and women who say, “We pray for you every single day.” Tom Raney, who lives in the state of Virginia, is one of those called-out prayer warriors. I’ve never met Tom Raney in person, but he faithfully sends me a Facebook message every couple of weeks to remind me he’s praying for us. He has for many years.

Tom Parsons was one of those faithful called of God partners. He began giving $50 a month and continued to do so year after year. A few times each year, he and his wife would visit the ministry. They often sat with me and wept, thankful that God had allowed them to play a part in reaching the Amish.

I remember visiting Tom at his home one year. We prayed together and thanked God for all He was doing through his faithfulness. Years later, when Tom’s debit card expired and a couple of monthly donations were missing, Tom came to the office right away to catch up. He said, “Joe, I’ll never let that happen again.” And he didn’t.

This past Tuesday evening, we attended Tom Parsons’ funeral service. His son, Ron, called to let us know he had finished his race and gone home to heaven. He said, “Dad really loved your ministry.”

At the funeral, I asked someone to point out Ron, and when I saw him in the back, he waved, and we hugged. We talked for a while about his father’s love for Mission to Amish People and the many souls who came to Christ through his giving. That’s when Ron said something that very much touched my heart:

“Joe, I told my father that when he stops giving, I’ll start giving. When he goes to heaven, I’ll carry on what he was doing.” And that’s exactly what Ron has done. He picked up where his father left off and has begun supporting the ministry with that same burden and calling from God.

What moves me most is not the amount of the monthly donation; it’s the calling that God places on all of us. God called both Tom and now Ron to be part of His work. And because of them, and so many others that God has called over the past 25 years, we have been able to reach tens of thousands of Amish people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thousands of Amish people have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because faithful partners like Tom and Ron answered God’s call to give, to pray, and to stand with us.

I am grateful to God first, and then to every one who has joined us on this journey. Together, we have become an army of Christian soldiers, standing strong for the cause of Christ and pressing forward until the whole world hears the message.