May 2024 MAP Update
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| 575 US Highway 250 | Greenwich, OH 44837 | Office: (419) 962-1515 |
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| Beyond Measure Market - a Market with a Mission |
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What a journey! I never imagined that after semi-retiring from a local factory 9-10 years ago, I would work 40-plus hours a week, including every other Saturday. A person may plan their path, but God directs their steps (Prov 16:9). When God directs our steps, the journey is well worth taking. He has given me such a love for the girls who work at the market. It seems we have customers to serve during every conversation. Most of the time, we get interrupted before the first sentence is completed, yet we have experienced so many God-moments!
On another occasion, I just sat down in the office to wrap things up for the day. Along came one of the girls with tears in her eyes. She fidgeted and finally blurted, “I don’t know how to get saved.” What a God-moment! It took us nearly five years to experience these kinds of God-moments. It was well worth the toiling we did and will continue to do until God changes our path in a new or different direction. Little did I know when I was a young Amish girl helping my sister in her bakery and bulk food store that I would someday appreciate all I learned while my friends got to play. If you wish to support us in our mission, please come shop at Beyond Measure Market so we can support the girls that God brings to us. They love to talk and interact with our customers if you show an interest in them. However, you probably have to be the one to start the conversation. Some of them are rather shy.
Beyond Measure Market offers a huge variety. We sell lawn furniture, flowers, wind-chimes, kitchen gadgets, bulk food, home canned goods, and freshly sliced deli meats and cheeses. We make party trays for weddings, graduations, and family gatherings. We also make many homemade products, including salads and desserts, pizza, a variety of homemade bread, whoopie pies (moon pies), hand-dipped chocolates, fry pies, and more. In our café, we serve soup, haystacks (a meal in a bowl), subs, ice cream, and 12 milkshake flavors. Some people love to sit in our café just to listen to the girls chat and hear the Christian music play. Bring a friend and a card game, your laptop, or a book. We’d love to have you visit, enjoy the atmosphere, smell the food and bakery aromas. We also have a front porch and lawn furniture to sit on and listen to the melody of windchimes and birds.
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When I walked into the deli to collect cooking utensils, one of the girls exclaimed, “Esther, guess what I’m going to do? I’m going to get baptized!” My first thought was wondering if she understood salvation, so I asked her. This led to a conversation in the office to help her understand that people get baptized to picture the death, burial, and resurrection. She believed the gospel, accepted Christ, and insisted she wanted to show people that she now wants to live for Christ by following Jesus in baptism!
We have one gal who works behind the scenes baking, making chocolates, and doing a multitude of tasks. She didn’t grow up Amish, but I had the privilege of training her a little bit. She catches on quickly and always knows what to do next and how to do it. She relates very well with all the girls. I praise God for bringing her to the market!
| On the Road |
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We are on our fourth mission trip of 2024 and have truly been blessed. Our first stop was in Friendship, NY, to present an Amish Awareness Conference. David Lindsey shared how he had witnessed to Eddie Gingrich and led him to the Lord. Eddie was the first Amish man convicted of murder in 1993. Former Amish who had recently left shared their testimonies as well. Some people attended this conference out of curiosity as well as many others who had a burden to see Amish come to Christ. From there, we spent time in Fillmore, NY, with my distant cousins, about eight young families who left the Amish in the last year and a half and have great and powerful testimonies of coming to faith. It was heartbreaking, but oh, so refreshing to hear the redemption stories of how God delivered them from religion and sexual abuse. Ben and Melinda Girod, with a family of 7 children, left in 2022.
The Girods had a retail store selling dry goods, tools, and brand-new farm equipment. When they left, the Amish completely shunned them and stopped all sources of their income. Ben had to sell everything at an auction. This family was willing to give up so much for the sake of Christ. These families are hungry for fellowship because they are suffering rejection from family members and their former church as a result of leaving the Amish faith and way of life. Please pray for these young families so that they may stay strong in the Lord and be a light in their local community so more people would come to the light and get saved. We are currently in Somerville, ME, holding another Amish Awareness Conference. Let us know if your church is interested in hosting a conference! I’ve learned that people have a heart to reach the Amish but don’t know how. I am so blessed that they realize most Amish are lost and in need of a Savior. I am so glad they have a desire to reach out to the Amish around them! Blessings, Samuel Girod and Family |
| Shed for NBH!! |
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We are so thankful to have a space to keep our outdoor items. These items bring a little bit of home, as the girls who have left the Amish spent a lot of their lives working with plants, and now gardening is a relaxing activity for them. It also brings the excitement of childhood to our residents, as most of them were not allowed to ride bikes in their communities. This shed has given us a safe space to keep and take care of our bicycles and gardening tools, and we see it as a good gift from our Father's hands. Thank you, Trinity Lutheran Church Outreach Fund (Ashland, OH) for making New Beginnings a more welcoming home by giving us the grant for this storage shed! |
After you move into a new place, once all the boxes are unpacked and things are in their places, there are always some items you just don't have a place for. As I moved into 
