Food for the Body, Mind, and Spirit

FOOD FOR THE BODY

      I've bought a lot of unusual things over the years.  This one I had never seen before.  Five  pallets of "heater" meals were up for auction.  (A "heater" meal is a complete meal that  includes a chemical pouch that gets super hot when water is added to it.)

     The menus sounded good even though they were months out of date.  A quick call confirmed that they could still be used.  Our bid of $511 won almost 5,000 lbs of ready to eat meals for hungry people in Mexico.

   FOOD FOR THE MIND
    Thanks to our volunteer, Dave Snyder, we are now able to provide quantities of refurbished computers with Windows 7 at very low cost. However, sometimes the demand outstrips the supply. Then we need to buy computers with Dave's guidance.     Last month we had to buy two new  laptops for a missionary to hand carry to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 Thanks to Dave's counsel and another volunteer, Scott Mahanes  we were able to purchase and prepare the computers just in time to make the flight.  We received this message back

. “Thank you for the lap tops, the pastors were elated to receive these tools for ministry! This is just one more way that ETS  does what the name says.  You have helped equip these two leaders. The blessings flow to them and back to you.. Thank you again.”

  FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT
     About a month ago, a young missionary, Ian Fry, presented the need for Bibles for           Zimbabwe.  I  just "happened" to see a special deal on 2,000 "Mission of God Study Bibles “ a few days before.  The list price for the Bible was $39.99.  The asking price was $5.00.  Was Ian interested?  Yes!  A few phone calls later the Bibles we purchased at $4.00 each!  The  Bibles were delivered to the container loading site this past week.

It gives us great joy to be able to help meet all sorts of needs.  Your gifts to our "Where Most Needed" account make timely responses possible.  Thank you for helping us help others!   

 Keith Jones 

Watching it leave the Building

April was a very busy month for us.  We were able to send out a container of clothing and office chairs to Operation Mobilization .  The clothing will be used in Peru.  We are very thankful for the many groups, churches, and individuals that help sort, box and move the 880 boxes of clothing.  We are especially thankful to the youth group from New Covenant Community Church in Weyers Cave for all their hard work loading the truck and packing the items.

     ETS was able to send volunteer Dave Synder to the TECH (Technical Exchange for Christian Health) conference held at Samaritan's Purse in Boone, North Carolina.  Dave came back with lots of good information and enthusiasm.

      We have been blessed with volunteer groups from Blue Ridge Christian school, the “Fun Bunch”  and 20 people from Blue Ridge Christian Church for their “Compassion in Action” outreach week. They were able to sort OTC (over the counter) medications, box coats, linens, shoes and blankets and do baby bundles as well as our seasonal clothing.

       It’s always an exciting time to see the works of our hands leave the building going out to “Equip the Saints.”       

Hooray for Volunteers!

     ETS loves our volunteers.  The majority of our work is done by volunteers.  Imagine our delight to have a group of adults and college students who gave up their spring break to travel to Virginia to help us.

    Savannah Christian Late Church and collegeAGE group helped us recycle computers, sort books, clothing, Christian literature, researched items on the computer, take pictures of Ebay items that needed listing and even helped create a new logo, Facebook page and volunteer recruitment video.   The group stayed in our building and camped out for 3 days.  We made sure they got to taste some of our Mennonite delicacies as well as Ethiopian food in a local restaurant

.

     We also appreciated Laurel Hills Baptist Church women’s group that made a considerable dent in our sorted used clothing bins.  As well as the 20 youths from Calvary Baptist Church Staunton that shifted gears from a roofing project and helped us move clothing boxes, vitamins, and worked in our warehouse. The inclement weather didn’t dampen their spirit and they blessed us with their enthusiasm and hard work.

The ETS STAFF

Prayer Requests:

· Please pray about  the visit of a  potential  staff family for ETS later this month.

· Please pray for a reliable vendor to produce our children’s  vitamins.

· Continue to pray for various vehicles we need to sell.

 

Love those Pioneer Girls

     Every year we are so blessed to have the Challenger Pioneer Girls from Silver Springs, Maryland  invade our building.  I like to refer to them as “cleaning tornados.”  True to form they took on three major tasks we gave them to do.  One was working in our clothing pile boxing and sorting used clothing.   They enjoy finding and mixing up outrageous outfits for an evening out on the town (our local Cracker Barrel). 

     They also were very helpful boxing and sorting supplies from a doctor’s office that was donated to ETS.  The girls boxed like items together and made an inventory so we can list them for other ministries that may be looking for  medical supplies.

     They also worked on counting and sorting a tractor trailer load of Spanish educational materials .  They inventoried them writing down the title, number of copies and their location.  

       None of the tasks were hard but all are definitely time consuming. We appreciate groups that are as highly motivated as these teens.  The girls drive to ETS Friday night, work all day Saturday and go back Sunday morning.  Some of the original girls are now leaders.

     Most of our projects are completed by volunteers.  

The ETS STAFF

Prayer Requests:

· Please pray for several vehicles that we would like to sell for ministry use.

· Pray for regular weekly volunteers especially since the weather is improving.

· Pray for Keith as he travels picking  up and delivering items.

Serving God Together

“ The family that prays together, stays together.”  But what about the family that serves together?  They get extra special blessings, not just in the good time they have working with each other, but also in knowing that they have made a difference in the Kingdom of God.

     We had a tractor trailer of Spanish literature to unload, and then reload with hospital mattresses, Bibles, and medical clinic furniture. It’s not ever easy to get volunteers to do this difficult work, especially when scheduling is delayed due to winter storms.  One of our weekly volunteers, Gordon Batey, was willing to direct this job, and even recruited his family to help.  We had 3  generations of Bateys helping...his daughter, son-in-law and 2 granddaughters!  Two of our other weekly volunteers, Vernon Browning and Dave Snyder, joined us as well as a friend from the community.

   With all this help the job was done by noon.  What could have been an overwhelming task was completed, and the truck was sent on its way to bless ministries in Mexico and south Texas.

     How about your family?  Have you considered what you can do as a family together to make a difference in God’s Kingdom?  Maybe you can come here to ETS to help us or you can approach your church leaders and find a ministry to serve that is closer to home.  You will be blessed as you and your family work together in service to the Lord. 

  

The ETS STAFF

2013 Our Year in Review (January 2014)

     It is always good to look back over the year and thank God for His faithful direction and     provisions.  Your encouragement through your prayers, gifts and volunteering has been vital to the health of this ministry and its outreaches.  Because of your faithfulness ETS was able to help 1886 clients in 48 different countries this past year.  We were able to send 3 tractor trailer loads of used clothing and medical supplies to Jezreel Ministries International, a ministry that works in Eastern Europe with Jewish refugees.

         ETS sponsored several projects this past year.  We were able to send $5,000 to Galcom International who is partnering with Far East Broadcasting Company to provide low power     Christian FM  radio stations and solar powered fixed tuned radios to give to victims of the      Philippines super typhoon Haiyan.

    ETS teamed up with Christ for All Peoples to supply the Jesus Video DVD and a trained volunteer to go door to door welcoming immigrants and giving them a DVD in their language.  We were able to donate $7500 to this ministry because of your giving.

     The Milton Driver Memorial fund for the purchase of Bibles for Ohene Kumi’s ministry raised $1220 .  ETS  will be applying this money for the purchase of the Daily Walk Bible New Living Translation to this  ministry of school age children in Ghana, Togo and Liberia. The Daily Walk Bible  offers a simple daily reading plan and tools to  see how the Bible fits together.

     Thank you for your time, money, prayers and support.  We look forward to partnering with you in 2014.          The ETS STAFF