Equipping The Saints

Long awaited Gloria3 arrives

2012-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

Have you ever arrived at church hurting, depressed, wounded in spirit and been transported to the foot of the cross by the music or by the words of a hymn? Do the words and music of your favorite hymn sustain you when you are afraid, lonely, or overwhelmed? Victor Hugo says "Music expresses that which cannot be side and on which it is impossible to be silent."

What if you arrived at church and there was no choir, piano, or any music? Would you break out in spontaneous song? Or would you feel self conscious and just skip praise and worship altogether? Many small churches have no musicians and many of our fellow believers worldwide meet in homes or under a shade tree. Now it is possible to have the resources of a compact orchestra that can play any of the songs in the hymnal, in any key, at any tempo.

Gloria3 is totally self-contained and about the size of a hymnal. It runs on four D size flashlight batteries, an AC adapter, or a solar charged battery' and it has a built-in speaker and 5 watt amplifier. The sound volume is adequate for a group of 10 to 20 people. For use in larger churches, a sound system, keyboard amplifier, or guitar amplifier can be plugged into the external audio jack. Gloria 3 is a completely new model of the Gloria compact Digital Orchestra hymn player, redesigned from the bottom up to be easy to use and flexible. We would encourage you to check out their web site at www.gloriamusic.com for more information on this breakthrough instrument.

ETS has several units in stock. Each sells for $386.95 . Gloria 3 is an answer to any group of believers that want to add music to their worship service. We have been waiting for this new revision for many years and would love to see them in the hands of your missionaries. Please help us get the word out, or think of investing in one for a missionary you support.

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord"

The ETS Staff

Still Equipping With Your Help

2012-02-03T06:50:00.000-08:00

Twenty years ago, Equipping The Saints was started by Keith Jones as a way of meeting the needs of missionaries and national church leaders for equipment, materials and supplies. The need still exists and we are so thankful for your help.

This past year you have helped us send hand cranked sewing machines to Haiti, as well as supplement the cost of vitamins (shipped to Cuba, Ecuador, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti , Honduras, India, Mexico, Nepal, Northern Vietnam, Peru, Philippines, and Vietnam).

In March ETS was able to send the Digital Bible Society a check for $10,000 to help with the production of Arabic Treasures. Arabic Treasures is a computer "Chip" that contains 300 hours of video, 1000 hours of audio as well as printed materials (Bibles, books and commentaries in Arabic or Farsi). You made that happen with your giving.

In April you helped ETS buy 1440 Bibles to send Ohene Kumi (one of our ministry partners in Ghana). We were able to buy brand new Easy Reader Bibles with soft covers for about 2 dollars apiece . Ohene has a Bible discipleship ministry to thousands of school age children in Ghana, Togo, and Liberia.

We rejoice to report that ETS was able to send Ragaee A. Danial $8,612 to purchase a Daewoo Lanos. The vehicle will be used to transport children to his evangelism festivals and to transport teachers to the villages. Thank you for your generous giving .

Throughout the year you have given countless hours of your time in volunteer labor. We have seen thousands of pounds of clothing boxed up and sent worldwide. With your help we have been able to reach out, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it Me." Matthew 25:40

Thank you for giving to the Lord!

The ETS Staff

Celebrating 21 years of ministry

2012-01-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Ministry Partners,

As Equipping The Saints completes 21 years of ministry, we thank God for His faithful direction and provision. Your encouragement through your prayers and gifts has played a vital role in making this work possible. Thank you!

Over the years we have seen many changes in both expressed needs and available resources. We are traveling farther to auctions and finding fewer items that can be used in ministry. This past year we have seen increased interest in our Spanish literature ( over 1700 titles), in vitamin sales to 14 countries, in technology ( computers, video projectors, etc.) as well as in the Missionary Resource Directory (installed on the ETS website), and in our used clothing (sent to countries such as Nicaragua and North Korea).

ETS sponsored several projects this past year. We were able to send Ragaee A. Danial $8,612 to purchase a 2004 Daewoo Lanos in Egypt. Ragaee has been able to start 5 new "Good News" Clubs in 5 small villages that have never heard the gospel message. The vehicle helps him to bring teachers into these villages each week.

We rejoice that over $4,500 has been raised for the Christian Worker's Personal Manual, to be printed and distributed in Cuba. This is enough for over 2250 church leaders to each receive his own copy.

ETS bought and sent 1440 Bibles to Ohene Kumi (one of ministry partners in Ghana). Ohene has a Bible discipleship ministry to thousands of school age children in Ghana, Togo, and Liberia.

What a joy to serve our Lord by serving His people!

Keith Jones

ETS Christmas Project

2011-12-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

When you hear the word Cuba does this picture come to mind? do you think of Caribbean breezes, Cuban cigars, sugar plantations? Or do you think of economic collapse with the Soviet meltdown, US trade embargo, devastating hurricanes, corruption, poor productivity and a repressive centralized communist government?

Challenges for Prayer for Cuba according to 2010 Operation World are:

A) Bible distribution -the need remains urgent as church growth outstrips supply. Over 1 million copies of Scripture have been printed in-county on the Cuban Bible Society Press, and many thousands are imported every year.

B) Christian literature has been extremely hard to acquire for years and is an intense need. As the church and its leaders grow, more materials are needed. More can now be imported, but permission for local printing is difficult to obtain.

Did you know that for $1.94 you can have this book printed in Cuba and distributed to a Cuban pastor?

"The Christian Worker's Personal Manual" teaches what the Bible says to church leaders.

It has 272 pages taken directly from Scripture, in combination with the experience and wisdom of Godly men and women of Christian history.

It features both subject and scripture reference indices.

List Price (USA) $10.99

Printed in Cuba $1.94

The Cuban Government has given permission to print 10,000 copies. We invite you to join with Titus International, The Cuban Church and Editorial Portavoz to make this happen.

What can you buy for $1.94?

Can you make a better buy?

This $1.94 Christmas gift can change a life.

The books will be printed as paper and supplies are available throughout the year. The Manuals (published by Editorial Portavoz) will be distributed to Cuban pastors and workers at conferences sponsored by Titus International.

Equipping The Saints delights in teaming up with ministries that share our desired to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We believe that discipleship is the key to growing fully committed Christians and we endorse the ministries of Titus International and Editorial Portavoz.

Give Thanks to the Lord!

2011-11-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

November is traditionally the month for us, as a nation, to stop and give thanks for the bounty of the harvest. As Christians it is a time to stop and reflect on God's goodness and to give God the honor and glory He deserves. We have been blessed at ETS with 20 years of serving missionaries worldwide. From the humble start of an overfilled basement in Keith Jones' home, to our current buildings and storage buildings in Weyers Cave, God has always been faithful to provide for His children.

We rejoice to report that ETS was able to send Ragaee A. Danial $8,612 to purchase a 2004 Daewoo Lanos. The vehicle will be used to transport children to his evangelism festivals and to help transport teachers to the villages. ETS has never been able to raise this large amount before and we praise the Lord for each of you who gave so generously.

We also rejoice to report that the Missionary Resource Directory has been updated and installed on the ETS website. Many hours of research went into the Directory as 90% of it had changed since its last updating. Many thanks to Margaret and Jerry Baron from Tomoka Christian Church in Ormond Beach, Florida for their endless persistence and tenacity in seeing to its completion. It is our hope that the ministries represented will be able to assist countless missionaries and ministries in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.

We were also blessed by a group from Savannah Christian "Late Church". They helped us fill a container of summer clothing for Nicaragua as well as loading a truck for a container going to Liberia. While the boys loaded the 992 boxes of clothing, the girls were feverishly packing them for loading.

We are a staff of 5 people so our volunteers are our life blood and enable us to accomplish the things we do for our missionaries. We want to thank you, whether you have volunteered your time, your talent, your money or your prayers, they are greatly appreciated and we have been blessed. Thank you. The ETS Staff

God Winks and we smile!

2011-10-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

"God Winks" are events, gifts and unusual circumstances that God brings about in your life to let you know that He loves you. A wink is intimate....usually silent communication between two people who know each other well and share a history with each other. Sometimes God Winks are small, like hearing from a friend that you've been thinking about or finding an object at a flee market that you though was lost forever.

Five years ago God smiled on ETS and sent Tim and Joyce Duncan with their daughter Kathy, to live in the apartment at ETS and volunteer their time.

Tim is the Shenandoah Valley Child Evangelism Ministry Coordinator and has been very successful in starting after-school Good News Clubs, VBS programs and camp programs. Tim is very gifted with children and is excited to see more and more schools opening up from Winchester to Lexington.

God recently winked at the Duncans by enabling them to buy a bank repossessed home in Woodstock, Virginia for half of its value. The location is ideal for new clubs in Woodstock and Winchester. The house will put the Duncan right at the heart of where God is working and will definitely save Tim many hours on the road.

We rejoice for them but at the same time wonder who God will bring in to fill the void. Here's just a small sample of the gifts the Duncan's have given to us in the past 5 years:

Landscaping and yard work, building repairs, security, hospitality to overnight guests, organizing the Book Room and other areas, painting, sorting clothing, cleaning the building, checking out customers, operating the Saturday bookstore,office work, order processing, inventory, shipping, GIK receipts, processing used books and yard sale donations.

We know God is not without His resources and if you are one of them we would be glad to welcome you as a volunteer or to our staff.

Profiles in Partnership-Ragaee A. Danial

2011-09-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

For 20 years ETS has sought partnerships with national church leaders around the world. We would like to introduce you to a new partner Ragaee A. Danial. Ragaee is on the board of SSTI (Sunday School Training Institute) in El Minya, Egypt. He oversees and helps develop materials for the Institute as well as directing training events. His life verse is 2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

In addition to his work with SSTI, he is busy working with poor and needy families, to help them meet their need for food, clothing, shelter and to teach them about the love of Jesus Christ. Earlier this year ETS was able to send Ragaee a projector and 29 Christian children's videos to use his work.

According to Voice of the Martyrs, Egyptian Christians face ongoing persecution in spite that this country has the largest Christian community in the Middle East. The country's constitution gives preference to Muslims. Christians are treated as second-class citizens, denied political representation, and often discriminated against in education and employment. While the constitution allows for freedom of conversion, Muslims converting to Christianity have often been unable to change their religion or name on their identification cards. Without the freedom to make this change, Christian women remain designated as Muslims and are unable to marry Christian men. Children of those designated Muslim (even if the are, in fact, Christian) are educated as Muslims and those with Islamic names are routinely turned away from entering churches by the police.

Larry Williams, Children's Pastor of Canyon Hills Community Church in Bothell, Washington has worked with Ragaee in Egypt 5 times and has taught in several of his training programs for teaching adults how to lead children to Jesus. Larry says, "Ragaee goes to villages where there are no churches. He will bring in 380 to 500 kids for an all day program. He transports them in a rented vehicle that is used to transport animals. He packs in about 50 kids standing and transports them to the festival about 40 minutes away from the village. He feeds them, tells them Bible Stories, prays with them and does basic discipleship. He has made a significant impact and wants to ultimately plant churches in these villages. The people he works with are desperately poor and Ragaee offers them help and hope. A vehicle would be a tremendous blessing and a great help to transport the teachers to the villages and to bring the children together."

A typical Children's Evangelism Festival will have as many as 800 kids. They are put in smaller groups of 10, given a teacher a T-shirt and play 10 games that each teach a different message about Jesus. They learn songs about Jesus, hear Bible stories, and will have an opportunity to ask Jesus into their hearts. The teacher will pray for the children about any needs they have and kids are fed 3 sandwiches, juice and chips.

This festival had 74 teachers from 20 different churches and 728 children from 24 villages that are without a church. There was a village of 64 children that were not allowed to attend due to problems between Muslims and Christians.

How can help with this dynamic ministry? We are raising money so that Ragaee can buy a vehicle in Egypt to transport these children and adult leaders. I am sure that you have been reading about Egypt in the news and you know about all the changes happening in their government and society. This is an incredible chance to make a difference in a strategic Muslim nation and possible impact other states in the Middle East as well.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

Grace and peace,

The ETS Staff

Reuse, Recycle and Bless Others

2011-08-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

What has 10 wheels, drinks diesel fuel, is retired and goes up and down the east coast? If you guessed Bob Lester and his truck then were correct. Bob Lester lives in Kentucky but he will move domestic shipments for the cost of fuel and a small donation.

ETS is a drop off location for Bibles, VBS materials, Sunday School quarterlies, Christian books, Christian videos,and audio tapes. Whenever Bob is in the area, he will call us to see if we have any materials that need to be transported to Edwin L. Hodges Ministries in Decatur, Alabama. The used Bibles, literature and hymnals are shipped to Bible schools, Bible colleges, seminaries, churches, missionaries and individuals worldwide. According to Hodges' ministry one used Bible will have an impact on at least 20 people.

Charlie and Earl loaded 10,500 pounds of literature and materials on Bob's truck during his last visit. We strongly urge you to check with your church and see what happens to your Sunday School materials, VBS supplies, and other literature. Rather than throw it out, why not bless other Christians you may never meet this side of heaven?

Thank you for supporting us to we can support other ministries to proclaim the "Good News" world wide.

The ETS Staff

Volunteers Swarm ETS

2011-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

If you came by our building this past month, you would have seen a swarm of activity going on. ETS was blessed by various youth groups that participated in Massanetta Springs Middle School conferences. Each day the camp would send out groups to various ministries and outreach centers. We had youth groups from Blacksburg, Virginia, Rockville, Maryland, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Falls Church, Virginia, Newtown, Pennsylvania and Massanetta, Virginia.

The groups labeled 7 pallets of children's chewable vitamins, loaded 550 boxes of winter clothing and shoes into a truck for GAiN (Global Aid Network), boxed and sorted hundreds of pounds of used clothing and shoes, weeded, painted, sorted computer parts, moved older computers from the basement, moved stacking chairs into storage, took apart cribs and palletized them and helped unload our trucks.

ETS appreciates our volunteers and we work hard to give a good experience to each group that comes. We literally worked for days making sure that we had all the supplies we needed, enough clothing sorted to get each group started, and people available to supervise each work group.

Our only casualty was a pair of sneakers that belonged to one of the girls who had been packing boxes of shoes. Most teen-age girls love shoes, and in the mayhem of trying all of them on, her own pair got packed! We let her pick out any pair she wanted and thanked her for her donation (which will probably end up in Central Asia). We would love to have one of our missionary friends send her a thank you note “from the donated shoes” saying, “Having a wonderful time in (whatever country) . Thanks for letting me have this mission experience. Your former sneakers!

“Thank you to all our volunteers. We depend on you!

The ETS Staff

COSIM Conference

2011-06-09T13:25:00.001-07:00

COSIM—-the Coalition of Support of Indigenous Ministries—what does that mean and why is it important? (Indigenous ministries are those led by national Christians in their home countries.) Maybe an illustration will help us understand the importance of partnering with these fellow believers .

Think of the task of world evangelization as a mountain we need to climb. Now compare the workers needed for this task to mountain climbers, linked together by strong ropes. One climber is out in front, who drives a steel spike into the side of the mountain. He is linked to that spike by a rope, and to everyone behind him by another rope. If anyone should slip, the one ahead or behind will be able to stop him from falling to his death.

The “spike” is the strong truth of the Gospel, the message we want to share with the world. It anchors us to the slippery slope of our different cultures. The rope is the partnership or partnerships we develop in ministry with our co-workers in service, whether they are Americans or internationals.

When we head the same direction, in mutual dependence on each other and the Lord, then we are able to scale the difficult and dangerous “mountain” of bringing the Gospel to the world together. Will you pray for the upcoming COSIM conference?

I (Keith) will be attending it and I hope to strengthen the ties we have developed over the years with international ministries. I want to learn how ETS can be more effective in networking and providing resources to these organizations. I would like nothing better than to help new partnerships develop between international churches and Stateside ministries.These are great days of open doors for ministry. May the Lord enable us to see and seize the opportunities that are before us. The ETS STAFF

A Personal Note from Keith

2011-05-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

The Lord needed a whale (or a great fish ) to get Jonah's attention.

He only needed a chicken for me!

Jan and I arrived home late after ten days away. I ran down to Kroger to get a rotisserie chicken for supper. Jan got sick the next day. A day later that mean bird got me!

Fourteen days later, including eleven in the hospital, I was out and on the road again.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR MINISTRY FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS FOR THE CALLS, CARDS,VISITS AND PRAYERS.

Here are a few things I learned while in the hospital.

Most television programs are immoral, utterly stupid or could be used in lieu of water boarding to extract information from hardened terrorists.
The medical profession has a profound fascination with patient "outputs".
A cracker, cup of broth, green jello and red "ices" are a gourmet feast after six days without food or drink.
A cell phone and laptop make a fully functional remote office possible. I even got to listen to classical music while I worker.
"Room Service" (nursing personnel) is especially attentive at midnight, 2 A.M., 4 A.M., etc.
Medicare has its problems but is a great blessing to those of us of a certain age.

The best lessons of all:

God is good..all the time.
The ETS Staff and volunteers did a great job in my absence.
I enjoyed a good time for reading, reflection, evaluation and planning for the future.

Thanks again for your partnership with us.

Keith Jones

Not an Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

This may look like an Easter Egg Hunt but its
really a group of volunteers from Weyers Cave New Covenant Community Church (NC3) helping find and pick up glass shards from our parking area. We have been replacing windows and several glass panes were broken and shattered due to high winds and work crews on our roof. Now that the grass is starting to grow, finding the hidden glass took a lot of effort.

There was no golden egg hidden but we really appreciate their help with this project .

Our Boss is Back

2011-04-14T08:44:00.001-07:00

We rejoice at the return of our director and founder Keith Jones after a 10 day stay in the hospital for a bowel obstruction. Now a little thinner after a time of reflection and mandatory rest he is back at the office.

Please keep him in your prayers as he regains his strength. Please pray for wisdom for him that he does not overdo but will know how to pace himself.

We thank you for your prayers and many calls.

The ETS Staff

Massanutten Presbyterian Church

2011-04-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the Massanutten Presbyterian Church for their outreach day. The group worked in a Soup Kitchen, the Salvation Army, at ETS, and did home repairs through out the community. We appreciate the help of all our volunteer.

Volunteers from Blue Ridge Community College

2011-04-08T09:57:00.001-07:00

God is so good with details!

2011-04-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful baby girl born in Ghana with a deformed hand. Her father abandoned her and her mother was told to kill her. That is just what it means to be disabled in Ghana. Her grandmother was strong and decided that the the girl had a pretty face so she spared the baby's life and raised the child herself. The baby was named "Linda" which means "beautiful.

The girl grew up knowing that her life had been spared and knew that God had a purpose for her life. To everyone's great surprise she married and began a business selling Bibles from door to door. Linda's husband found work in Israel and would send money back to her. Linda would invest the money into more Bibles and little by little expanded her business. Today Linda has one of the largest Christian Bookstores in Ghana and employs 18 people. She has had 4 containers of Christian books and Bibles sent from the US in the last two years.

Meanwhile back in Weyers Cave, Virginia, ETS was busy buying 1440 Bibles to send to Ohene Kumi (one of our ministry partners in Ghana.) We were able to buy brand new Easy Reader Bibles with soft covers for about 2 dollars apiece. Ohene has a Bible discipleship ministry to thousands of school age children in Ghana, Togo and Liberia. We had no trouble securing the Bibles from our vendors but the problem was in finding economical transportation to Ghana.

ETS learned about Linda and her shipment through Biblica and arrangements were made to send the 40 boxes of Bibles to Accra. ETS willingly took on the cost of the Bibles and shipping because of the generosity of our donors and the caliber of Ohene's ministry.

The Bibles arrived in Accra March 11 and arrangements were made to pick them up from Linda's store. On March 16 we received an email from Ohene telling us that there was a $750 clearing charge which included transportation cost as well as customs duty. ETS was prepared to pay that amount till we received this email from Ohene on March 23rd.

Dear Keith,

I have received word from Steps to Christ Book Store that we do not have to pay anything on the boxes of Bibles that you put on their container. They checked us out and found the great extent of our discipleship work in the schools and phoned us that we should not send any payment and even if we have some more Bibles for the School Discipleship program that they would take it on their next shipment.

Ohene

What a might God we serve! How like our God to meet and surpass our expectations. Who knows if God spared Linda's life years ago in order to form a working relationship with Ohene to evangelize and disciple school age children of Ghana. "Far be from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you." I Samuel 12:23-24

Please continue to pray for Ohene Kumi and his ministry.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

The ETS Staff

Please Pray for Keith Jones

2011-04-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

Equipping The Saints was started by Keith Jones, a former missionary to Colombia and Venezuela with The Evangelical Alliance Mission during the 1970s and early ‘80s. Upon his return to the states he began collecting basic medical tools, books and office supplies for missionaries and national pastors .

Equipping The Saints began in Keith’s basement in 1991 . He opened an office in Staunton, VA, after his basement filled. All too quickly the office was full . He rented 17 storage units, and then filled them.

Within 5 years, the ministry needed more space. The Weyers Cave school had closed and went up for auction in 1996. What happened next can only be attributed to God’s Blessing.

Keith and some board members showed up for the auction and prayed in the parking lot for God’s wisdom on how much to bid for the building. They agreed on a price of 85 thousand dollars (twice the organization’s yearly income.)

They won the auction at their set price and after putting down $500 , had 60 days to raise the rest of the money .

The day before they were to close, the group was $37,000 short. A couple from a church Keith had pastored offered to loan the funds from their retirement account.

A year and half later ETS was debt free.

Please pray for Keith as he is currently in the hospital with a bowel blockage. The doctors are hoping it will respond to antibiotics. We miss him and pray he feels better soon.

Teen Challenge Guys to the Rescue

2011-03-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Who do you call when you need help moving over 1,000 boxes of clothing, shoes, and blankets in the middle of the week ?

We had an over abundance of clothing, all boxed and ready to go out. We knew the weather was supposed to get bad later in the week and wanted to get the clothing out as soon as possible to GAIN (Global Aid Network). The winter clothing will be going to Eastern European countries.

We are so fortunate to have the Shenandoah Valley Teen Challenge guys come help us. They made quick work moving all the boxes into a tractor trailer. It is so nice to have room again in our storage trailers and in the gym.

Thanks guys. We appreciate your muscles, and positive attitudes. Thank you for being a blessing to us and to people you will probably never meet.
What a great organization that gives these young men a second chance.

Challenger Pioneer Girls

2011-03-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

What would you do if you were eating at a Cracker Barrel restaurant and this group came in?

(A) Think they must be escapees from the mental hospital
(B) Immediately think that the circus must be in town.
(C) Decide it must be a sorority initiation.
(D) Think the Pioneer Girls have been playing in the clothing bins again.

If you said (D), give yourself 10 points. Every year for the last 10 years the Challenger Group of the Pioneer Girls from Silver Springs, Maryland have been coming to work at ETS. The girls arrive Friday night, work all day Saturday, go out to dinner in various "fashionable outfits" they have put together from our clothing bins. They leave for home Sunday, tired but with lots of work accomplished. We affectionately refer to them as our "cleaning tornadoes!"

This year the girls did a record number of clothing boxes, blankets and shoes. They boxed everything in sight and came up with a whopping number of 170 boxes. ( The most boxes ever done by a group in one day!) Thanks girls for all your help. We always look forward to your visits.

Family Reunion/Mission Experience

2011-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

What does it take to make a family reunion memorable? If you are part of the Vasey Family from Pennsylvania it takes more than good food (though their was plenty of that). It takes more than a good turn out,( but 17 people showed up.) It takes more than fun, fellowship, and lots of room though there was plenty of that also.

It takes someone with vision to say, "Why don't we combine our family reunion with a mission trip?" Tim Vasey started the annual trip to ETS three years ago and it has been growing every year.

This year the group tackled several projects. They painted the hallway and stairwell, patched a structural crack in our basement, landscaped our flower beds, and boxed clothing.

They were treated to a missionary speaker from Zambia who challenged them with, "How bout having your family reunion in Zambia next year?"

Uh oh....looks like we might have lost our work force to Zambia next year! Thank you Vasey Family for your excitement, enthusiasm and labor. We appreciate it so much.

Tis the Season

2011-03-14T13:21:00.001-07:00

Spring is here and with comes flowers, warmer weather, and the return of garage sales. If you are like us, garage sales are a form of recreation and entertainment.

Equipping The Saints would like to remind you that we are always on the look out for Sports equipment, (baseballs, gloves, bats, helmets, soccer balls,etc.) sewing machines, hand tools, gently used clothing, shoes, Bibles, Christian books, kitchen items, silverware, musical instruments as well as music stands.

We frequently leave our business cards with the people holding the sale and tell them about Equipping The Saints and the work we do supplying missions and missionaries world wide.

We would like to recruit you to help us search out these items for us. We have a big demand for baseball equipment for countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Sports ministries are an excellent way to introduce young men to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your help and donations.

The ETS Staff

A mission experience a child can understand

2011-03-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

We like to think that we have a specific job for our volunteers whenever we know we will have a group coming. We always have clothing to sort, box and weigh. Our clothing goes all over the world.

Six year old Meredith had a special job. Meredith and her mom loaded small boxes of bobbins, screwdrivers, needles, thread, a tape measure and a small bottle of oil. These boxes will accompany the 14 sewing machines going to a sewing center in Haiti.

The sewing machines are all hand cranked and many are 100 years old. They will be used to teach women to sew and provide a source of income for many families.

I was especially touched to see Meredith and her mom pray over all the boxes they prepared to go with the sewing machines. What a wonderful example teaching a child that prayer and actions do make a difference.

Is This God's Time for the Arabic People?

2011-03-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions on earth with over a billion followers, yet ministry among Muslims is by far the most neglected mission field. Over 80 percent of all Muslims have never heard the Gospel.

Some reports claim that as little as one percent of the world missionary force is working among them. This means that there is about one Christian missionary for every one million Muslims. The church has more missionaries working among Alaska’s 400,000 residents than in the entire Muslim world!

Turn on the news and you will see continuing turmoil in Tunisia, political unrest in Egypt and violence in Libya. We see and hear the political struggles but the real battle is spiritual.

God’s word will soon challenge the powers of darkness in a new way. The Digital Bible Society plans to release both Arabic and Farsi Treasures on March 21, 2011. Originally, Arabic Treasures was intended to be a down-loadable CD but will be released as a computer “chip” that will contain 300 hours of video, 1000 hours of audio as well as printed materials (Bibles, books, and commentaries) . We would encourage you to check out the website for the Digital Bible society at www.dbsbible.org. Technology can go where missionaries are not allowed and can be obtained in the privacy of one’s home without fear of persecution.

We would encourage you to become familiar with this resource and share it with everyone you know (especially Muslim friends and acquaintances). Pray without ceasing for those involved in producing and distribution. Remember this is a spiritual battle….things happen, people get hurt. Now is the time to pray, to give, “to proclaim liberty to the captives” of the Arab/Muslim world .

The ETS Staff

Happy Birthday John Starke

2011-03-07T10:55:00.001-08:00

Those of you who have visited us at ETS know "John the Baptist".... John is the person who is our cashier, light bulb expert, orders our Spanish books, set up our website, and is in charge of our shipping. John has been with Equipping the Saints almost 12 years.

Today is John's 50th birthday! We celebrate him today as one of our "unsung heroes". He had a celebratory bunch of bananas with a happy birthday balloon as well as a birthday card shower from his church, friends, family and supporters.

I know we don't tell you this very often John,.... but Good Job Buddy!

Sew in Love....Good for the Heart

2011-02-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

February is the month that most of us think about Valentines Day and what we can do to express our love to those that special in our lives.

ETS has been asked to help provide sewing machines for the countries of Haiti and Honduras. Northwest Haiti Christian Mission has been given money to set up a sewing center to teach women how to sew. A hand cranked or treadle machine can support an entire family.

We will be sending non-electric machines, mounted on treadle bases since Haiti does not have electricity. The best machines are older Singers, especially models 15, 66, 203, and 201. We can also use "electrified" machines, older Singers with an external motor that use a drive belt.

We can use the treadle bases we have and some antique treadle machines made by companies other than Singer. Please call us if you would like to donate a machine so we can make sure it is usable in another country before shipping it to us.

Another project that will "be good for the heart" is our vitamin project. ETS buys adult vitamins in bulk boxes for $9.25 per thousand. We have a large quantity of adult vitamins that are short dated. We would like to offer ministries a substantial discount or donate them so they could be used immediately.

Most countries require medications to have a shelf life of at least 6 months. These vitamins have a shelf life of 10 months. Your donation for vitamins can help supplement a poor diet and increase the health and productivity of someone you may never meet.

Let us than you in advance for your heart for ministry.

The ETS Staff

Operation World 2010

2011-01-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

Operation World 2010 edition is now available at ETS for $12.50 . Operation World is the ultimate prayer guide to every nation on the earth. If you want to have a powerful and meaningful prayer life, if you want to impact the nations for Christ through prayer - then this is the book for you.

When you hear a country mentioned in the news or in a conversation and want to know more about it and what God is doing there- this book will help you. Every fact, number and statement is checked and rechecked with global and local experts in each field.

Operation World has easy to follow summaries of every nation.

Such as:

Timely challenges for prayer and specific answers to prayer
Updates on church growth, with a focus on evangelism
Population, people groups and language statistics
Charts and maps showing global religious and demographic trends
Explanations of major currents in economics, politics and society

It is loaded with clear, concise, accurate information on peoples, languages, religions, denominations, spiritual trends and prayer needs-for every country in would, from the largest to the smallest.

If taking on the prayer needs of the entire world is too much for you, be encourage. Operation World has target countries to pray for on a daily basis. If you use it daily, you will successfully pray for the entire world in a year.

Mark 14 tells the story of the woman who anointed Jesus' head with costly perfume. Many were angry at the waste of her action and scolded her for her wastefulness. Jesus, in verse 8 said, "She has done what she could..." I can't change the would but I can pray and corporate prayer can change the world.

"When we work, we work
When we pray, God works"

January 12th marks the one year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. As you think and pray for Haiti we pray that you might use the actual information from Operation World to guide your prayers or Haiti.

Blessings,

The ETS Staff

Operation World : Haiti

2011-01-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

Geography

Area: 27,400 sq. km
Western third of the island of Hispaniola; shared with the
Dominican Republic
Population: 10,188,175
Capital: Port-au-Prince
Population under 15 years: 36%
Life Expectancy: 61 years

Economy: The poorest state in the Western Hemisphere, aggravated by overpopulation, deforestation (only 2% of original forest remain), soil erosion, pollution and hurricanes. Around 75% live on less than $2/day, and two thirds are under or unemployed. Political instability and violence prevent proper aid distribution and long-term investment. The 2010 earthquake devastated much of what little economic infrastructure did exist. After this disaster, it will take billions of dollars and many years of stability, coupled with sustained redevelopment, to see any long-term economic progress. Major source of income include remittances from expatriate Haitian and now aid, relief and development funds earmarked for earthquake recovery. Income/person $790

Answer to Prayer

The spiritual response to the tragedy of 2010 earthquake was an almost universal outpouring of prayer, repentance and calling upon God for mercy and deliverance. Out of the disaster, God appears to be doing something radical and new among the people of Haiti. Reports abound that the three days of prayer and fasting called for by the president -replacing February 2010 Mardi Gras-were attended by over one million people.

Challenge for Prayer

The earthquake of 2010 was a disaster on many levels. But it also offers hope out of tragedy It is believed that 230,000 lost their lives, 300,000 were injured and over 1,000,000 were rendered homeless. Hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings were also destroyed, including some major government buildings. Aid arrived from around the world, but coordination was difficult in the aftermath of the earthquake, and assistance will be needed for a long time to come. For a host of reasons Haiti has struggled as a nation from its very inception. This shattering disaster could be an opportunity to reshape not just the physical infrastructure of the nation, but the cultural, economic, political and societal infrastructures as well. Some points to cover in prayer include:

A) The rebuilding efforts will take years. Countless homes will need to be rebuilt or restored; the sheer scale of money and manpower needed is staggering for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Pray for the best long term development for the city and nation, rather than quick fixes.

B) The human suffering was immense in the immediate aftermath and will continue for years. The shared emotional trauma of the events, the massive loss of life and the long term injuries will all leave major scars on the Haitian population. Healing from such hurts needs time, care and the love of God.