13 Evergreen Road, Lebanon, PA 17042-7422
Phone: (717)273-4832, Fax: (717)273-0132
E-mail: midway_cob@juno.com, Web site: www.midwaycob.net
_______Senior Pastor: Rev. Charles L. Ilyes_______
_____Associate Pastor: Rev. Carl L. Brubaker_____
from our Pastor
Better Than A Thousand Sermons
I recently read a book that made me stop and think. The book is titled,
“The Happening,” written by Harvey Yoder. If you
haven’t guessed what this book is about, it recounts the horrible
events of October 2, 2006 at the Nickel Mines Amish School. It is
written through the eyes of one of the little girls that survived the
shooting. If you haven’t read this book, I would strongly
encourage you to do so. It will touch your heart. As I read what this young lady went through, not only the horror of that hour in the classroom, but beyond the shooting, the healing processes both physically and mentally. This book forces you to think about what you would do in similar circumstances or if this was my child or grandchild. Through it all you see the struggles the Amish community faced, but what stands out clearer than anything else is their deep love of the Lord and the willingness to love others and forgive others.
I could preach a thousand sermons on forgiveness and never come close to the impact the Amish community had on the world by the way they forgave Charles Roberts, the one who hurt them so, for still no known reason. But more than that how they loved and were concerned about his wife and children.
There were many things in this book that touched my heart, but one in particular was after this little girl’s returns home and emotionally works through all that happened to her and her friends, she is visited by her school teacher. It is now close to Christmas and she shares how she wants to go to Mrs. Roberts’s house to Christmas carol to her. Can you imagine a little girl who suffered so much wanting to go and sing to the wife of the man who killed five of her classmates and wounded five others? That kind of love and forgiveness can only be found in and through Jesus Christ.
Our lives are also messages to the world. We either demonstrate the love of Jesus and the peace that comes from Him or we act and live like everyone else. The Amish community lived out what they believed. May each of us be willing to do the same.
- Pastor Charlie