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Mission to Amish People — (419) 962-1515 Page 3
Plain New Life Promotional Banquet
—by Joe Keim
In March, I
had an op-
portunity to
speak
to
three hundred
people who
turned out for the Plain New Life Promotional Ban-
quet in Lancaster PA. The banquet was put on by one
of our missionary partners, Andy Geesey, and fo-
cused on promoting his ministry to the plain culture
as well as raise more funds for ministry activity.
We were both excited and blessed to see a large num-
ber of Amish turn out for the event. Some shared
their testimonies and others sang. One of Andy’s
goals is to teach and equip those within the culture to
evangelize and disciple their own people. This would
of course not work in most communities, but does
seem to be working in Lancaster County. MAP con-
siders it an honor to work alongside Plain New Life.
Recently, Andy Geesey got a group of 10 individuals
together and went from door to door, sharing the
gospel with Amish people in New York state. This is
something no one had ever attempted be-
fore and I found it quite interesting to read
Andy’s results.
The first thing Andy did was take his students
through the seminar class, “Amish: Our Friends, But
Are They Fellow believers?” Next they did some role
playing and finally they put into practice what they
had been taught in the classroom.
As they traveled from house to house, they found that
the majority of Amish did not want to discuss spiritu-
al matters. However, Andy writes: “from the 39
homes/farms that the mission team visited, 6 were
not home, leaving us with 33 contacts of various
types. From the 12 completed surveys 3 were born
again individuals, and 2 of those three came to Christ
in connection with our Underground fellowship
groups or other members from the Amish. The other
is the daughter of an Amish minister who had been
enrolled in the Son-Light Club (
Bible lessons – done
entirely by mail
).”
Web Site: PlainNewLife.org
This is Iva
Miller. She
was
born
and raised in
an
Amish
community
in IN. Two
years ago,
she had an
opportunity
to enroll in a
Bible school
in PA. She said, “I could not turn
it down.” While in her second
year of Bible school, the Lord
revealed to her that she needs to
take the gospel back to her own
people.
During a brief visit at our office,
she said, “Joe, I am planning on
putting my Amish clothes back
on and staying with my parents
during the summer and than re-
turning back to Bible school in
the fall.”
When I asked Iva if she would
attend the Amish church with her
parents this summer, she in-
formed me that she is not sure
how that will all work yet but she
does not have any intentions on
doing so if she can help it.
Iva Miller
On March 6, I was on my way to work with
John Miller, the driver, and Wayne Miller. We
lost control and hit a tree. John got killed.
Wayne was taken to Mansfield Hospital with
chest injuries. I was in the back seat, and my
head got caught in the trunk. It took the emer-
gency workers, using the Jaws of Life, an hour
and a half to get me out of the car. They took
me to Mansfield Hospital then sent me by Life
Flight to Akron General Hospital. My left leg
was broken pretty bad, my right hip and pelvis
was broken, my right arm was broken, and my
neck was broken. That is when God really
opened my eyes, and I saw what a poor sinner
I am. Two days after the accident, I finally
accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. It was only
through the mercy of God
that I was allowed another
chance to accept Jesus as
my savior.
I was in the hospital for a
week and then went to
rehab. I was discharged
from rehab on March 31.
It is now 6 weeks after the
accident, and I’m allowed
to start walking today.
I’m able to use my right
arm almost like normal. I still have a Halo on
my neck, and I will have to keep
that on for 8 weeks. They put a
rod in my arm and leg. I’m stay-
ing with William Keim, my
boss, for now. I’m studying for
my GED, and I’m hoping to go
to college afterwards.
I just want to thank Joe Keim
and Eric Able for bringing me to Christ, and
also William and Jenica Keim for taking care
of me, and all my friends
that helped to encourage
me through these hard
times since my family
doesn’t want anything to
do with me. I also want to
thank MAP Ministry for
all they have done for me.
They are a blessing from
God. I also want to thank
everyone who prayed for
me and sent me cards.
May GOD BLESS YOU.
Note:
Marvin is preparing to get baptized,
along with two other young men. We will
have more in the next MAP Update.
——————————————
To comment and encourage Marvin, please
go to: mapministry.org/news/former-amish-
testimonies/2012/05/01/marvin-schlabach
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