November 2018 MAP Update
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| P.O. Box 128 | 575 US Highway 250 | Savannah OH 44874 | Office: (419) 962-1515 |
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God Has Been Hard at Work Serving God in their Youth Keep Praying From Bible Study to Branson Life and Death Christmas with the Keims |
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| God Has Been Hard at Work, By Joe Keim |
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On Thursday, September 6, Velda Miller, formerly Amish, moved into New Beginnings Homestead and took on the responsibilities of caring for single women who come to the MAP Ministry for a fresh start—see Velda’s testimony on the back cover. Two days later, God sent Esther to us—she came in from WI. Next came Sadie from MI, followed by Maria and her little boy, Caleb, from Middlefield, OH. By October, Rebecca, from MO, moved in, followed by Ellen from PA. At least one or two others are wanting to move in. Of the five women who moved into New Beginnings, one had left the Amish seven years ago. It all started when she got connected with a non-Amish salesperson who had come to her dad’s farm to sell farm gates. Even though the man was twenty years older than her, she was looking for a way out of the Amish. As a result, the man took her back to his home and, for the most part, held her in captivity for seven years. The young lady was not allowed to get a driver’s license, have a cell phone, or get a job. She was also forbidden from talking to any of her neighbors. When this precious woman finally got out of her situation, a relative connected her with MAP and asked if we could help. We helped her find a job and get started in counseling. She is currently saving up money for a car. As much as is possible, we want to provide jobs at Beyond Measure Market. However, with this many women coming out at once, it made it impossible to provide each girl with a job. Therefore, we have been reaching out to local businesses and also trying to find house cleaning jobs. I can’t help but thank all the folks who helped fund and/or volunteer their time building the New Beginnings Homestead. Together, with God, we are making a huge difference in our generation. The ministry has already spent several thousand dollars in counseling. If God lays it on your heart to help with some of the financial expenses, please click HERE.
MATCHMAKING AT MAP: Congratulations to Bob and MaryAnn Huffman, who met at MAP in January of 2018. On September 8 they tied the knot. As Bob and MaryAnn discovered, there are many rewards from volunteering at MAP!
INTERNSHIP: In September, our ministry welcomed Stephanie Walter from West Virginia as a three-month intern. During her time with our ministry, she is learning about how to minister to Amish and former Amish people. She has a burden and a calling to go to the Amish, and once her internship is complete, she will be moving to Lancaster, PA to work with a local church in starting up her own ministry. In addition, at the beginning of this year, Magda Adriana from the Netherlands traveled to the Unites States to work with MAP. She went back to the Netherlands as planned, but now she is filling out her paperwork to come back to the US as a more permanent partner of our ministry.
LEAVING THEIR AMISH CULTURE BEHIND: BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Someone was beating against our bedroom window. It was 1:30 a.m. Five minutes later, I opened the door and showed Ezra his bedroom. He was a young teenage boy who had run away from his community that very night and needed a place to live and a job. Two weeks later, I was preaching in eastern Ohio and the phone rang (vibrates) back to back—five times. It was Eli, another teenager from Ezra’s community: “Hey, I’m turning 18 on December 1. Will you give me a place to live and help me find a job?” — Joe and Esther Keim |
| Keep Praying, By Samuel Girod |
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Greetings from the Girod Family to yours. We have had a busy year presenting the ministry to many churches, traveling more than 4,300 miles. We have been blessed with churches letting us come and share our burden. If you are interested in having us come share MAP Ministry with your church, please contact us. Joanna is now on a home care service so that when she gets sick we can have a nurse here 24/7, if need be. The staff can do everything here at home except surgery, so we are very thankful to have that convenience, and Joanna is much happier. In October we went on a mini-trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and northern Indiana. We delivered a child-size casket that I built for a child who has the same disease as our daughters. The child is still alive, but is not expected to live much longer. In northern Indiana we met a young lady named Elaine who recently left the Amish. She is working on getting her driver’s license and she needs a car for transportation, so if you know of anyone with one please contact the office or me.
As we close out this year, here are some ways you can pray for us: * Those leaving the Amish would come to MAP so they can be helped—especially spiritually. * Churches and individuals to have a burden to minister to Amish people and support MAP Ministry. * That we can continue to present the ministry and get the awareness out. Thank you for your prayers and support. May God bless you! — Samuel Girod and family |
Then we had heard there was a young lady and her sister in the Lagrange area who just left the Amish and is a second cousin to us. We looked them up and had a great visit. This was the most exciting part of the trip, as Polly and I had prayed recently that God would bring more of our relatives out of bondage. These young women are on fire for the Lord and are serving God. They also need some transportation, so if anyone has a car to sell or donate, please contact me.| Life and Death, By Jonas Yoder |
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Dear Friends and Supporters: I want to apologize for not having an update in the last newsletter. Life has a way of getting extremely busy and sometimes almost running us over. I would like to ask you to remember in prayer one of my best friends and mentors in ministry for the last eight years. Harrell and Debra Riley lost their twenty-one-year-old daughter, Emma Grace, in a tragic car accident on October 10. Due to the tragedy and to allow them time to grieve, I took over some of the HR Ministries responsibilities for a little while. Although I have worked with HR Ministries for the last eight years, it was definitely a challenge to keep everything running smoothly—but we made it through with God’s grace. 
We just traveled back to Kentucky from Middlefield, Ohio, where we held a five-night revival meeting in the heart of the Amish community there. This was the second in a series of revival meetings being held in the Middlefield community. The Lord is moving in a mighty way in some very dark places. Over the course of the week, we had five or six families attend, all of whom have been recently saved and are in the process of transitioning to the English world. Please pray for them as they continue to seek God‘s will for their lives. They have a great desire to share the gospel with their families, but they will face much rejection for it. Thank you for your continued prayers and support for us as a family as we seek to follow the will of God for our lives. —Jonas Yoder and family Breaking News: Congratulations to the Yoders! Rosanna Janae Yoder was born on October 29: 7 lbs., 3 oz.!
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| Moving Up to Glory, By Tina Duffield |
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Linda lost her battle with cancer, and even though we prayed much for her, the Lord had other plans. She was a computer operator in the Bible Club, and we were blessed to have had her on our team.
Our volunteers and donors are very dear to us, and part of our family. Thanks to each one of you who give so sacrificially! — Tina Duffield |
The month of September was a sad time here at MAP. We have the blessing of getting to know some very special people, and it is always sad when the Lord calls them home to heaven to be with Him. Two very dear ladies were taken from us, and they are truly missed.
Millie came with our “every-other-Thursday group” to do the folding and taping of the Bible lessons. She was always smiling and was a joy to be around. The Pleasant Hill group has been coming for ten years or more to get the Bible lessons ready to go out into the mail. Millie, we miss you.| Serving God in their Youth, By Tina Duffield |
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During the summer we usually have a couple extra workers who come once a week to help out wherever they are needed. Those extra workers always turn out to be a blessing from the Lord. What makes these extra workers so special is that they are ten, eleven, and twelve years old, and they give up one day a week during their summer vacation to help us with the Bible Club. 
This year we had the privilege of having Zoe, LoriAnn, and John William. They graded Bible lessons, put certificates together, taped envelopes, and did anything else that needed to be done. They worked from 9–5 with a smile and a pleasant attitude, taking a break only for lunch. Zoe, LoriAnn, and John William—you were excellent workers and we were very glad to have you. We are looking forward to having you back next summer. *Update from John and LoriAnn’s mom: John and LoriAnn chose to start their school work at six this morning so they could volunteer at MAP for the day. They absolutely love volunteering, and during the school year they still spend one day every other week at MAP during mailing week. Several weeks ago, they thought it was great that while grading between 850–1,000 lessons for the day, LoriAnn got to grade Michelle's paper (Michelle is one of her friends from Kansas)! — Tina Duffield |
| From Bible Study to Branson, By Joe Keim |
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In September, Esther and I and our daughter and her family traveled to Branson MO, where I officiated Levi and Samantha Shetler’s wedding. Levi is one of those young men I had the privilege of discipling when he left the Amish in New York and came to our ministry. Also, in 2014, Levi and I participated in The Amish Shunned, a PBS documentary. — Joe and Esther Keim |
| Christmas with the Keims |
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Are you wondering what to get your family members, neighbors, pastor and pastor’s wife, employer/employees, or anyone else? What about having a MAP Christmas?
Then, order Esther Keim’s Taste of Amish Cooking—treasured recipes from the Keim family. Special: $14 (includes shipping). Order both for $25. Call for bulk pricing. To order, call (419) 962-1515, or send check to MAP, PO Box 128, Savannah, OH 44874 Both items can be purchased from our Online Store. |
Order My People, the Amish—the true story of Joe and Esther Keim, and the history of Mission to Amish People. Special: $14 (includes shipping).| Amish Awareness Conference |
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Come be part of our Amish Awareness Conference at Black Creek Baptist Church in Black Creek, NY. Learn about Anabaptist History, Value of Community, How to Evangelize and Disciple, Amish Beliefs, and more. There is no cost to attend this conference, but registration is required. For more information or to register, contact MAP at (419) 962-1515 or visit AmishAwareness.com. |
February 22–February 24| Velda's New Beginning, By Velda Miller |
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Even though I hated God, I knew that there had to be more to Him than rules and harshness. I searched for truth during my teen years, never dreaming that my search would lead me to where it did. One morning in April of 2014, I was sitting in the office of my counselor, and we started praying about all the things in my heart: the pain, the hurt, the anger, the bitterness, the sins of others against me, my own sins, and most importantly, we prayed for my salvation. When I walked away from the office that day, I was a new person. I knew I had met Jesus for the first time in my life, and it was beautiful. Even though I was now a new person, I did not then consider leaving the Amish. While I did not necessarily like all the Amish rules and inconsistencies, I figured that staying was still just the thing to do. I realized what would happen if I left, and I knew it would not be very pleasant. During this time, I was working as a caretaker for a wonderful Christian lady who was physically weak but spiritually strong. During the two years I took care of her, she always exemplified Christ. Her pastor, who would often come to visit her, was also a big influence in my life. I had many conversations with him, and I realized there was much more to life than following rules and being Amish. These things did not and could not save me. About four and a half months after I got saved, I left the Amish and moved in with my pastor’s sister and her husband. It was a struggle to experience the shunning, as well as adjusting to a new life. However, my new family, my pastor and his wife, and my church family all stood behind me to offer support and encouragement. When I left the Amish, I knew that I wanted to further my education, so I started on my GED right away. A year later, I attended a small Bible college in Kentucky. During my first year at college, God reaffirmed a call He had placed on my life shortly after I got saved—a desire to help young women find freedom and rest in Jesus Christ. During my second month at college, God spoke to my heart from Acts 26:17-18: Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. I did not appreciate it very much at that time, because I thought God wanted me to go back to the Amish. I pushed those verses as far back in my mind as possible. In early 2018, I connected with MAP through watching a video series called “Breaking the Silence.” I contacted Joe, and we kept in contact for the next few months. God brought me back to Acts 26:17-18, and this time I was ready to listen. I visited MAP Ministry in June and had an interview with them in August. I followed God’s call and was accepted to work with the young women in the New Beginnings apartments. In the short time that I have been at New Beginnings, there have been both challenges and rewards. Not all the girls who have come have stayed. I have seen bad choices being made, but I have also seen good choices and progress. At the time of this writing, there are three girls, a baby, and an intern occupying the apartments. Please pray for the girls, their salvation, their Christian growth, and for me as I work with them. — Velda Miller |
I grew up in an Amish community in LaGrange, Indiana. Outwardly, I appeared to be a pretty good kid, but my heart and soul were anything but good. I hated life, myself, my parents, and especially God. Depression and darkness were some of my closest friends during my late childhood and teenage years.
