Winter 2019 Volume 8

Purpose and Vision To bring girls who are struggling into purpose and fulfillment in Jesus Christ To help them work through and deal with life dominating problems To help them learn and value discipline and focus through a structured home setting To give them vision and understanding of the joy of blessing and serving others

Aquila Villa is structured to minister to girls from homes that believe and adhere to the 1963 Mennonite Confession of Faith.

We desire to see hurting girls brought into spiritual freedom and life in Jesus Christ. Please pray for this ministry to our Anabaptist community.

Aquila Villa is operating under a Board of Directors, and also has an

advisory committee.

Craft projects

Discipleship time

Restoring LivesBy Mark King

Have you ever watched as a crew of skilled masons worked hour after hour to remove old mortar joints, plaster, paint, and whatever else was obscuring the beauty of the natural stone wall? Then upon completion of the restoration project, those who observe are amazed at the renewed beauty now evident as a result of the hard work, and diligent persistence of the skilled craftsmen.

What about the old rusty car that someone pulls out of an over grown field with the goal in mind to work countless hours and invest whatever it takes to bring back it’s original beauty? This process is known as restoration.

What about us? Do we ever need any restoration? In Psalms 23:3 David mentions that “the Lord restoreth my soul.” So it’s obvious that David knew something about the need for restoration; and yes, it is inevitable that we all need a bit of renewal from time to time. While on this journey called “LIFE” we have many “still water” and “green pasture” experiences. However we also encounter times when it seems the cool still water has become stagnate, and as far as we can see there is nothing but desert.

Asaph writes about his experiences in Psalms 73. In the beginning of the chapter he says, “My feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” Until in verse 17, when he went into the sanctuary of God; then he understood how awful the end would be for the wicked. A few verses later he says he was grieved and pricked in his heart when he thought about how the wicked would be brought to destruction. He then contemplates for a few verses the near presence of God and how precious that is to him! He ends with saying, “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.”

After all, God himself is the Master Craftsman when it comes to restoring lives!! He sent Jesus, His Son, so that we might have life abundantly! Jesus Himself said,” I am the way, the truth, and the life…” and also He extends that beautiful invitation to, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus knows all about what it takes to bring about “renewal” in our hearts and lives. He has all the experience and insight needed to do any restoration project; and yet amazingly enough, isn’t it true that God calls us who have experienced his restoring work in our lives, to then join in and help bring about restoration in the lives of others?!

This is largely the purpose and ministry of Aquila Villa; however let us all be willing to join in this great work of restoring lives for the glory of God as we have opportunity.

“We are so thankful for all you supporters...”

ADMINISTRATOR’S UPDATE BY MELVIN ESH

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I am also on our local mission board, so quite often we have a family over who has just come home

from the field or is home on furlough. The girls love the interaction they have with these families, and at

times their young people.

In regards to ministry, things are going well. As of January 4 th, a resident girl graduated from our

home. She had been with us for a whole year. God is delivering these girls from sin, and healing them of

painful experiences in their lives. Truly the power of Jesus Christ is real. It’s also such a blessing to see

them understand who they are in Christ. Oh the security this brings, when they realize that they are

dead to the dominion of sin in their lives, and alive unto God. What freedom, what joy this brings!

This month of January we also received a new matron into our home. Rosie Zimmerman’s term of

service was completed and a new matron came in to take her place. She is from our local area, and her

name is Lydia Mae Fisher. She found her place quickly, and is already a real blessing.

Our business continues to do well. Our product does well in variety stores, bulk food stores, and gift

shops. If you know of someone who might be interested in our product, feel free to send us their address

and we’ll send them a brochure. The girls involve themselves in the production of this product during

their afternoon project times.

We are so thankful for all you supporters who pray, show interest, or support our ministry in some

way. We feel privileged and blessed to be able to be a part of these girls’ lives in helping them to

freedom, and liberty, and life in Jesus Christ. It i such a joy to behold! All honor, glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain!

Tuition Benevolence Fund: Tuition

is intentionally lower than the cost of

service to increase accessibility, but,

there are many among us seeking help

that do not have the means or support

to afford the full tuition. If you desire to

help in this area please earmark your

contribution: “Tuition Benevolence

Fund”. May God bless you for sharing.

WELCOME

Lydia Mae Fisher joins us as a

matron. She is from Ronks, PA

Greetings in Jesus’ name. Oh, how wonderful and lovely the name of Jesus! He is altogether lovely,

wonderful and awesome. What a blessing it is to serve Him! We continue to be amazed at the power of

God to deliver, set free, and bring lives into a place of peace and joy in our Lord Jesus Christ.

These past three months have been somewhat normal in activity at Aquila Villa. In October we had a

pizza drive as a fundraiser for the ministry. A local business makes the pizzas and also hired the girls to

help out. They enjoyed this, as well as helping to distribute them. Fund drives are always a fun family

activity together.Also during the autumn months and even this winter we’ve done quite a lot of family time together

outside. We are doing a special kind of gardening this year called Garden of Eden which takes a lot of

mulching in preparation for that. This we did, as well as cleaning up the yard of leaves, and also doing

some woodcutting. We love doing these things together. They only draw us closer to each other as a

home.

We also had so many good times together during Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

Sometimes we just spent time together as a family and other times we had visitors.

Matron Rosie Zimmerman

FAREWELL

RESIDENT’S CORNER BY PRISCILLA

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go; some stay for awhile, and leave footprints on our heart and we are never ever the same.” (-Flavia Weedn)

I’ve often written this quote for when I’ve had to say good-bye to dear friends; which we just said farewell to Rosie, a dear friend and matron. But here at Aquila Villa many footprints have been left on my heart.

Now for some introduction to myself. “I am Priscilla at Aquila Villa.” I like that ring. The neat thing is that the kitchen here is named “Priscilla’s kitchen”.

I came during a very dark, confused time in my life, but God has been so faithful, and I am praising God to be walking in newness of life! It has truly been a work God has done.

I have been very blessed to be here. Mel and Barbie and the matrons have given of themselves in so many ways. It has touched my heart to see how they reach around to all of us. It has inspired and encouraged me in so many ways.

I also enjoy being here along with other girls; it’s like we’re all on a journey together. I like the way Mel often put it, “We’re family”. That’s the warmth I feel; these are the footprints that are being left on my heart.

Because of Jesus, - Priscilla

PRAYER REQUESTS

For God’s continued wisdom

and strength for the

matrons in our home.

For new girls who will be

coming into our home in

the future.

The Lord’s continued

guidance and counsel to

us as administrators.

PRAISE REPORT

For a recent resident girl

who successfully

graduated.

For Rosie Zimmerman’s

blessed term of service

in our home.

For the many happy family

times together.

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RESIDENT’S CORNER BY TWILA

Greetings! I want to share with you a little about life at Aquila Villa. Mel

and Barb have a cow, a sheep, and three goats. So in the morning it’s us girls

who feed them. We sometimes take walks in the woods. Sometimes in the

evenings we sit around the fireplace and play games, just talk, or someone plays

the piano. I enjoy our quiet evenings. Sometimes we have company, and I

enjoy that, too. For New Year’s Eve, we had about 50 people over, and we

stayed up late and shared goals for the new year. We did a lot of singing, and I

really liked that.

One thing I’ve enjoyed doing here was the pizza fundraiser. We went from

door to door selling pizzas. It was really fun when I’d sell more than one!

I think some highlights have been a couple of trips we took. One was

sightseeing a few hours away from here, and the other was to Indiana and

Michigan. My brother and his wife from Quebec have been here, so that was

pretty special. I really like all my phone calls.

I really appreciate all that Mel and Barb have done, and I don’t believe I’d

be where I am today without them. I praise God for the miracles He has

wrought in my life.

May God bless you! - Twila

Cookie Fundraiser New Years Eve time

with numerous friends

Project Time

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Leroy Smucker, Chairman

Old Order Amish 717.629.3915

Cleason Sensenig, Secretary

Mid-Atlantic Fellowship 717.278.0364

Nathaniel Gingrich

Mid-Atlantic Fellowship 717.572.7150

Daniel Leid

Charity Christian Fellowship 717-682-8596

Mark King

Bethel Christian Fellowship 717.278.9287

STAFF

Mel & Barbie Esh, Administrators

717.687.8057 | 717.471.9374

melbarbesh@comcast.net

Mary Esh, Matron

Lydia Mae Fisher, Matron

Sadie Smucker, Domestics

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT

6 Happy Hoof Lane Ronks, PA 17572-9578

Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Give anonymously. Send and make checks payable to: Aquila Villa, 340 Rose Hill Rd, Ephrata, PA 17522 A tax-deductible receipt will be provided annually or upon request (e-mail needed) when a name and address is provided. God bless you for sharing!

Learn more at www.AquilaVilla.org

NOTICE: We will be having a booth and two 20 minute presentations at the REACH 2019 conference. We, our staff, and the resident girls will be there. This conference is hosted by Faith Builders and is in our local area of

Lancaster. You will need to register to attend the conference. The dates are March 21st and 22nd.