Not an Easter Egg Hunt

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

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

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

God is so good with details!

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

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.