2002 March

C
O
N
T
E
N
T
S

In Hebrews 12:22 it reads, But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God… So often we allow our thoughts to dwell on the city but think for a moment what it is going to be like to stand next to the living God. In Rev. 21:23 we are told… the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it. Rev. 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent [all ruling] reigneth.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support during January and February to the cause of reaching Amish people for Jesus Christ. Philip. 4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

In last month’s newsletter, we also gave out a Creative Giving letter and the response was just phenomenal in some of the areas. One man read the Creative Giving letter and called us right away to tell us that he had 170 cassette players that were still in their plastic wrap and we could have them as soon as we picked them up. The same brother helped us get 300 New Testaments that have the salvation verses marked out. A church in town gave us their 3-tape cassette duplicator which is still in great shape. Some of you gave postage stamps to help us out with the Sonlight Club. Others gave towards the Bible project.

It was great to see David, a young Amish boy, give his heart to Christ back in January. Another young man, Abram, who had left the Amish earlier in the year, also came forward to accept Christ at a bowling event that our church had put on as an outreach to the lost. A young girl named Patty came to the Bible study one night and before the night was over, she bowed her head and asked Jesus into her heart.

Back in the early part of the year, an Amish lady and her three sons had stopped by at my office and shared how they had come to faith in Christ. The mother also shared how she has been excommunicated and shunned from the Amish church but still lives with her husband who is an active member in the Old Order Amish Church. In February we had a church scheduled in New York to present the MAP Ministry so our family stopped in to visit them at their home as well as witness to Eli, her husband. We were invited to have dinner with them that evening but were told that Eli would not join us because of their and our excommunication from the church. The mother informed us that Eli had not eaten with them in 5 years. The church did not even allow Eli to eat from his wife's garden because of the excommunication.

After dinner, Eli asked if we would join him in the living room for some time in the Bible and prayer. Eli told us that he always just opens his Bible and which ever page it opens up at is where he reads from. Afterward he recited a 15 minute traditional prayer that he had learned by heart from his dad. Eli and I got into a 3-hour long discussion on how a person gets to heaven and in the end it felt as if neither one of us had accomplished anything.

So far this year we have been able to present the MAP Ministry to 5 churches and at this point we have 14 churches scheduled for the rest of the year. We have had some tremendous times getting to know some of the most wonderful people in the world. These are people who love the Lord and want to serve Him with all their heart.

One of the ministries that MAP has put together is the Adopt-A-Person Ministry and quiet a few families from churches we have been to have adopted people who left the Amish or are still Amish.

Please pray for Naomi, a 14 year-old girl we spoke about last month who had been molested by her father. The father is now in prison and just lately her mother ended up in a mental institute. Several weeks ago Naomi disappeared with the help of a friend. For two days our home phone rang off the hook from people calling us wanting to know if we knew anything about Naomi’s disappearance. Our hearts went out to this little girl because we knew all too well that she needed help in areas the Amish are not equipped to help. She has been found though and is at home now.

We are working very hard on a Wild Game Banquet for the Fall. It will be an evangelistic out-reach to the Amish people. We will give out more details as the time draws closer.

The Lord has truly put His blessings upon the Sonlight Club. Since January we have seen six salvation decisions! One of those salvation decisions is from a seventy-eight year old Amish woman named Katie. There was also a decision from a sixteen-year-old girl named Laura. Please pray for Katie, Laura and all of the others who have made decisions for Christ. Pray that the Lord will reveal even more truth to them.

We are also seeing more of the students referring others to the Sonlight Club. In February we had a little girl ask that we send her eighty-four year old grandmother a lesson. So Katie is no longer our oldest student. With the referrals we have increased the number of students we are sending lessons to. So far there has been an average of 20 new students a month. If the Lord keeps blessing us this way throughout the year, the Sonlight Club would have over a 100% increase in students from the year before. Which means we will see many more salvation decisions!

We have noticed that the students are gradually “opening up” in their lessons. We try to encourage them by writing little notes to them. For a while there was never any response. But we are starting to see the students write little notes to us. It was such a praise two weeks ago when I opened a lesson from a little girl named Angela. This is what she wrote: “Is there anything you would like for me to pray for?” The joy that question gave! That particular question opened a huge door for me to be able to develop a relationship with her by writing back and forth to each other. We have many notes telling us how much the student’s enjoy having the lessons sent to them. We will be sharing some of these notes in each of the newsletters. But please pray for all of the students who have made salvation decisions. Orpha, the eighty-four year old woman who has started receiving the lessons. Pray that the Lord uses these lessons to reach and touch her heart like He did with Katie. And pray that more and more students will enroll in the Sonlight Club.

The following is a testimony sent in by a 6 year old student named Gary
“I have learned a lot in this lesson. I am glad the Lord came to this earth as a baby. And that he was born of a virgin. And that he died on the cross for my sins. And he payed the price of sin for me. And that he rose on the third day. And that he is now in heaven. When I pray He hears my prayer. I am thankful the Lord came so that I will have life.”

Bridgette Carrick

The approval of the M.A.P. Board was given at the Jan. meeting to have Barbara Borkholder begin teaching/tutoring on a voluntary basis those interested in studying for their GED. The classes began on Feb. 11, 2002 with 7 former Amish guys in attendance.

The purpose of the Education Assistance Program is to provide the tutoring needed for those who leave the Amish and want to get their GED. Currently classes are being held 2 to 3 days a week depending on everyone’s schedules. Up until this point we have met at the home of one of the students while we continue our search for a better place somewhere in Ashland or the immediate surrounding area, (somewhere south of Ashland and in between Ashland and Mansfield). If anyone has any suggestions or knows of a place where this can be done please send me an email at BBorkholder@MapMinistry.org or call the ministry office at 419-962-1515.

The reason for studying for the GED varies from one person to the next. Several want to go to college; several want to be able to apply for better paying jobs; others just want to learn more and be able to have it for future plans. We also have one who wants to be able to go into the ministry.

We have purchased 10 GED workbooks to be able to have proper materials to prepare for the GED test. These were graciously provided for us through the generosity of one of the MAP board members. We are very appreciative of this offering that was made and pray the Lord will reward them openly.

We are looking for Math Textbooks (it doesn’t matter if they are outdated). The textbooks would need to cover fractions through pre-algebra and can be different types of textbooks or levels. We also need English/Language/Vocabulary materials.

In conclusion, I would like to mention the MAP website has info about the Education Assistance Program. It is located under the Ministries tab-Former Amish-Education Assistance.

Thank you and Praise the Lord!

Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. Psalms 66:5.

Barbara Borkholder