News from the Nest

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from the Bennetch “Nest”...nestled in the Shenandoah Valley in the small rural town of New Hope, Virginia. The last three months have been exhilarating, exhausting, exasperating, exciting, and filled with expectation. We have gone through tremendous highs and extreme lows and yet through it all God has always been faithful.

Our new home is a 1940's farm house with lots of charm and years of neglect. Since the house was in less than perfect condition, we have spent many hours on home improvements and remodeling, as well as trying to find a place for everything. We have been so blessed to have talented children who gave up vacation time to help us with painting, tiling, plumbing, shoveling (5 tons of gravel for the driveway), moving boxes into the attic, and decorating . Our country charmer is really starting to look and feel like home, and we invite you one and all to come by and visit.

Things at the mission have never been busier. We have had back to back containers to fill in the last few weeks. Two containers went to Tajikistan and another is going to Bolivia. Filling a container is very hard physical work and demands talent in packing items tightly, weighing every item, and keeping accurate records of all the contents. The slogan at ETS (Equipping the Saints) that we have heard over and over is “We don’t ship junk and we don’t ship air so pack it wisely and pack it tighter”.

Charlie went to his first auction a few weeks ago. He bought desks, file cabinets , chairs, delivery tables, baby scales. and office machines. He was surprised at how quickly the bidding goes and how much work it takes to load the items and bring them back. He did very well with the items he purchased and many have already been sent out on the Bolivia and Tajikistan containers and to other parts of the world.

It is not unusual to have many national church leaders and missionaries visiting on any given day to pick up supplies . One morning Charlie counted representatives from 6 different countries at the mission before 11 a.m. It is delightful to see their faces and the utter excitement they have as they are able to get what they need for their ministries.


Our warehouse is full to overflowing ( as you who have already visited have noted), so we have the continuing task of evaluating , sorting, storing, selling, giving away, and/or eliminating volumes of clothing, office machines, computers, books, medical equipment, and building supplies. The task is never ending as other items from auctions and donations come in daily and it seems what little space we have generated is quickly claimed .

So .....how can you pray for us?

1. Pray for physical strength and endurance. Charlie and I are not spring chickens anymore, and we are struggling to keep up with the physical demands of lifting and loading boxes, machinery, books, and blankets.



2. Pray for our finances. Equipping ministries are vital and necessary but unfortunately not many churches see the need to support them with their missionary dollars. We have been so blessed to be supported monthly by Savannah Christian Church and many of you.



3. Pray for wisdom and clarity. Being the “new kids” we need wisdom in how to bring about change in non-threatening ways to the staff and mission. We are seeing thing change for the better , but we need prayer that we don’t get impatient or try to change things in our own strength and burn out.



4. Keep in touch with us.....believe it or not....we miss you and are lonesome for news about you. Better yet, come and see us! We would love for you to see our work in person!

Thank you for your prayers, love and support in what has been the hardest move of our lives. We are slowly adjusting and every day we are getting physically stronger. We have found a good church and are beginning to make some new friends but we still miss all of you.

In Christian Love,

Charlie and Kathy Bennetch