Teen Challenge Guys to the Rescue

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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!