A Stirring in an Amish Valley--and a Possible Move for Us

 When Timmy called to talk to me a couple days ago (which he did for 45 minutes!), he said that Sunday morning an Amish family with seven children showed up at church! The parents had been converted, and consequently were excommunicated from their Amish church. 

But another man in church who is involved with the Amish up "in the valley" near that area says he feels there is a stirring of the Spirit in that valley.

And this Amish family at church, converted and excommunicated, are a testimony to that stirring!  

We have been hearing the same thing about Native American ministry, into which we are traveling in just a few days, down to New Mexico to head up a crew remodeling an empty office building into a school for missionaries to the Navajo near Grant,

since the present school building is bursting at its seams.

Despite the inroads and waves of c o v i d decimating some of the Native American population,

it may be creating more openness and hunger for God

as people look at unexpected losses, death, and eternity

straight in the eye. 

A stirring among the Native Americans...

                                          and a stirring in our own hearts in relation to that.

It looks like there may be some upcoming changes in our lives. In recent years, we've been making  Mission Helps trips to South Dakota to work at various missions under Society of Indian Missions. SIM used to have seven missions, and another mission under All Tribes in New Mexico just joined. We visited that one in New Mexico a year and a half ago, a mission founded by our friend Ward French back in the 1960's. Ward and Naomi French are on one or more boards in these missions.

The President of SIM, Keith Lavery, is son-in-law to Dale and Judy Sherman who used to be president of SIM till Dale died of cancer two years ago. Keith became president after that and had been after Jonathan for years about coming up and being maintenance director for the mission. And every time we'd go up there, I would wonder if we were a fit there.

When Jonathan first brought this possibility up to me, I was both shocked and not at all surprised. I had been feeling restless, like a change was coming, and had long been wondering about moving to South Dakota and helping SIM up there. I was shocked because I didn't think Jonathan would ever move or sell this house that he worked a year and a half to build, but I was not surprised to hear him ask me about going back into missions again.

 

Without hesitation, my answer was yes.

 

We drove up to South Dakota a couple weeks ago to meet with staff and spend the weekend helping, and I loved the native American colors even in the towels and wash cloths of one of the missionary's homes. Keith Lavery gave us applications to fill out. Those were sent in this week, and we are waiting for approval.

 

Although Jonathan wishes we could move right away, he has a contract of sorts to finish four stick-built houses, and so we wouldn't be able to move until late this year. Still, we are starting to make plans that direction. I have already sold a heavy armoire (a huge cabinet with doors and shelves and drawers) that I didn't want to take with us, but the only trouble is that now I am running all over the house trying to find the things I used to have safely stowed in that armoire!

Some of our family is leaving Saturday, Lord willing, for a week in New Mexico heading up a crew remodeling an empty office building into a school for a little Navajo mission school that Seth and Melody Yates said was bursting at the seams. 

 

There is a stirring in Amish valleys, among native Americans, and in our own hearts.

Stir on, precious Wind of the Spirit of God!

Stir on!