Mission to Amish People
P.O. Box 128, 575 US 250
•
Savannah OH 44874
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(419) 962-1515
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MapMinistry.org
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November 2012
Merry Christmas Friend:
Greetings in the name of Jesus. My name is
Jonas and my wife’s name is Mary. I grew
up in an Old Order Amish community, lo-
cated in central MO. Mary and I got married
in Feb of 1999. Since than, the Lord has
blessed us with seven beautiful children—
four boys and three girls, in that order.
In early 2004, the Lord convicted me of my
lost state of being and, in the process, al-
lowed me to get my hands on some good
biblical teaching of salvation in the book of
Romans. When we discovered that salvation
was through faith in Jesus Christ and His
finished work on the cross, we immediately
accepted that and received salvation.
In 2007, we moved to western KY and
joined a New Order Amish community. At
the time, we were searching for a church
that provided more scriptural beliefs. Be-
fore long, though, we discovered that the
New Order church group was quite similar
to the Old Order system, just on a different
level.
In 2009, much to my dismay we saw that
we only had two options: compromise our
beliefs and remain Amish or stand firm in
what we believed the Bible taught and move
on in life. Obviously we chose the latter of
the two options.
Soon after leaving the Amish system, the
Lord began to give me a burden for my peo-
ple, the Amish. However, I really had no
clue as to how I should reach out to them
since they are such a closed people. About
that time I became aware of a local prison
ministry, H.R. Ministries—HellIsReal.org.
Almost immediately, I started serving in
that ministry, going to prison once a week to
coach Malachi Dad classes. Our ultimate
goal is to help the inmates understand how
they can have salvation in Christ and be
discipled in God’s Word. We also help the
inmates rebuild relationships with their chil-
dren and prepare to re-enter society.
As I ministered among the prisoners, the
Lord continued laying on my heart the need
to reach out to my own people, the Amish.
About six months ago, I came in contact
with Joe Keim and almost immediately
there was a connection between us, due to
us both having a burden for the Amish. We
began discussing and praying about ways to
partner in ministry to the Amish.
This summer we took a weekend trip back
to MO to spend some time encouraging a
young couple that also left the Amish but
were struggling to find good fellowship
In January—2007, we mailed our first 3,000
copies of the Amish Voice. Since then, the
bi-monthly publication has grown to 7,500.
About 20-25 individuals
and churches spon-
sor a certain num-
ber of Amish
families by pay-
ing for the print-
ing and postage.
Through this publi-
cation, we have gained
many healthy and strong rela-
tionships with Amish, started a prayer
meeting, and received some powerful testi-
monies. Here is a recent testimony:
Hi Joe, I don't know if you remember,
but we met in 2003. Anyway I just want-
ed to thank you for the work you do. I
got saved and left the Amish in Febru-
ary
of 2003. No one else in my fam-
ily would have anything to do
with my newfound faith, that is
until last week. My older sister
called me and said that she
and her husband got saved
and are basically in the
same shoes that I was in
just before I left. She said
they had been getting the
Amish Voice for a long
time already, and they used to
just throw it away without reading it,
but now they look forward to getting it.
Several years ago, Jonas and Mary Yoder
from KY started receiving the Amish Voice
while they were still Amish. In time, they
both got saved and left their community.
One day, Jonas called to get more details on
MAP. From that day on, our relationship
grew quickly. As the weeks went by, it
became more and more obvious that God
was leading them in a partnership with
MAP. In October of this year, they met
before the MAP Board for a time of inter-
viewing. Both MAP and the Yoders felt
confident that God was leading. The
Yoders were approved as missionary part-
ners and are working toward raising their
support to go full time.
Below is an article that was written by Jo-
nas. Be encouraged and rejoice in the Lord!
—
Joe Keim
Jonas and Mary Yoder, Missionaries to Amish
—
by, Jonas Yoder
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