2001 March

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It is time! Did you know that God talks about “time” over 550 times in the Bible? Gods whole creation is all very timely. In time past, the scientists have stood amazed at the timeliness of all the movement of planets within our universe. I believe that everything our God does happens right on the second He intended for it to happen. God is never early nor late. God is always on time.

Humanly speaking it does not seem possible, but we are going to trust God on March 30, of this month and leave Newman Technology behind and go full time into the ministry where God has called us to serve. It is a time of sadness in that friends will be missed but exciting as we step out in faith believing that it is God’s time for us. But what about all the faith and trusting that is needed? The apostles said, Lord, increase our faith. The Hebrew writer said, without faith it is impossible to please God. As a child I remember getting on top of a high piece of furniture, walk all the way to the edge and fling myself out into the air, trusting that my dad who was 6 feet from the edge of the table, would catch me before I hit the floor. Looking back – I remember the faith and trusting part of that whole ordeal always seemed to be so great and yet it came almost naturally, somehow because I knew my dad loved me and he would never do anything to let me get hurt on purpose. Well, 30 years later I find myself standing on the edge of a high cliff preparing to fling myself out into the air, trusting that our Heavenly Father is there to catch us. What a thought! But how rewarding!

We held our semi annual MAP Advisory/Support Team meeting February 24th in Ashland. What an honor it is for us to have such a great team of folks surrounding us with advice and support. We discussed everything from “Ministry in Action”, “Financial Status”, and “Future Goals for the MAP Ministry”.

We are trying to get churches and individuals involved in several different ways by organizing out-reaches through “Adopt a family Ministry” and “Care Package Ministry”.

We have had some of the Gideon’s wanting to become involved in getting English Bibles into their hands.

We are also working on getting a video put together of the MAP ministry that we can send around to churches.

Friend, it just doesn’t get much better then that and we just praise God that He would allow us to be a small part of reaching out with the full gospel of Jesus Christ to precious people like the Amish. Our love for them multiplies and we are reminded of the Prophet Jeremiah when he said in chapter 9:1, Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for … my people!

We are looking forward to spending a week at the Missionary Training School in Spencer, Ohio on April 8-13. This will be a challenging week for the whole family with fifty, forty–minute sessions of class room instruction and workshops. We believe this will be very helpful in preparing us for the present and future. They offer classes for children as well as for missionaries and their spouses.

We sure had a lot of responses in the last month with our through the mail Bible study. We have a lady in Wellington helping us out by getting these studies into the hands of the Amish people. She does this through an Amish directory of the entire Holmes County area. Kari sends out the first lesson to students. If the students complete the lesson and return them, we then grade them and send them the next lesson. We currently have seventy students enrolled. One salvation decision made. Many asking for lessons for their friends and families as well.

Our Friday evening Bible study is going well. They last from 3-4 hours on most nights. The hunger keeps increasing for more truth. God is truly blessing all of us as we learn together of His Majesty and great Power.

So far this year, two young men (formerly Amish) accepted Christ in our Friday night Bible studies.

Joe:
Joe has enjoyed his work and the friends that he has made over the years at Newman Technology but is excited about the fact that he will be able to spent more time with those whom the Lord has given us to minister too.

Esther:
Esther is rejoicing over the fact that the cookbook she has been working on in the past year is being printed by Morris Press. A lot of good home made eat’n packed between those pages. See note on the back of this page for more information in getting one.

Jonathan & Rachel:
Jonathan and Rachel are busy baking cupcakes, cookies, and making hard tack in hopes to have some spending money for vacation at the end of March. We are all pretty excited about getting away for some relaxation before we make the plunge to go full time in April.

Recent sharing of the M.A.P. Ministry

January 7, Trinity Baptist—Ashland
January 9, Diamond Hill Baptist—Mansfield
January 28, Pleasant Valley Baptist—Mansfield
January 30, Community Baptist Bible [Senior Class] - Mansfield
February 4, Liberty Baptist—Ganges
February 16, First Baptist—New London
February 18, Stiving Road Freewill Baptist—Mansfield

Future sharing of the M.A.P. Ministry

March 3, Christian Missionary Alliance —New London
March 11, Laver Road Freewill Baptist—Mansfield
March 18, Open Door—West Salem
June 17, Calvary Baptist—Shelby
July 1, First Baptist—Wellington

Praises:

• We praise God for our pastor and church for standing behind us and for allowing us to work out of an office at the home church .
• Two churches chose to take the MAP ministry on for financial support so far this year
• Several more individuals made commitments to support MAP financially and in prayer
• For the many opportunities to share MAP with area churches.
• Recent salvation decisions, and the great success with the growing numbers in the Son Light Club.
• For our great AdvisorySupport Team.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for us as we take the step of faith to go full time. Pray that God would help us to be able to trust Him each day.
• For our financial support to come in—we are at 50%.
• Pray for those churches who are prayerfully considering to make the commitment to support MAP financially
• Pray for Elam and Aden—spiritual growth in there new relationship in Christ, and for salvation for those that have hardened their hearts.
• Pray for a young Amish couple who is seeking Gods will and direction for their lives
• Pray for the Son Light Club students

Home Made Goodies

Esther has just finished putting together a cook book that has about 300 recipes in it. This recipe book covers everything from Appetizers, Salads, Main Dishes, Casseroles, Breads, Pies, Cookies, Cakes, Candies, Deserts, and even some Fun Kids Crafts. You will definitely want to get one for yourself . They would also make a great gift.

The cookbook will be printed and ready for distribution by April 30, 2001. The price for each cookbook is $10 (we pay the postage). You can order yours now by writing to the following address with your return address and payment included.

M.A.P. Ministries, P.O. Box 128, Savannah, Ohio 44874

For every cookbook you buy, it provides six “Son Light Club” Bible study lessons to be send out to Amish homes.