News from the Nest

Dear Friends and Family,

The thermometer tells us that it’s cold outside but we are blessed to be warm and cozy in our little nest in the country. We had a wonderful time with our children and grandchildren in New York this past month. What a thrill to have both Oscar and Emma together and to be able to take a “formal family picture”. What a good looking family we have (not that I’m the least bit biased or anything!)

January is always a month of new beginnings so we wanted to ask you to pray about some of the challenges and opportunities we will face in 2009.

Our top 10 requests for 2009

Charlie and I will be hosting and leading a small group Bible Study based on Paul’s Missionary Journeys. ( A missionary looks at Missions).

Our first Prayer Day for ETS is January 21st. We are hoping to schedule a formal prayer day once a month throughout the year.

• Pray for Jim as he works on the ETS website and shopping cart.
• Pray for good weather as our volunteers work every Tuesday at replacing the 104 windows in our building.
• Pray for increased donations of good used computers.
• Pray that the Missionary Resource Directory will get in the hands of missionaries that are looking for durable goods and services and for additional help keeping it updated.
• Pray for additional staff for ETS(….the needs are great, the workers few!)
• Pray for the logistics of Charlie and me to travel to Nicaragua in March or April to help set up a “Copy Shop” to self-fund church ministries.
• Pray for outlets for our used clothing and funding for shipping it.
• Praise that we were able to help Amazon Xpedition raise money for 400 gallons of fuel for their Christmas venture into the Amazon.
• Praise for being able to purchase new windows for the mission at an amazing price for the size of the window.
• One thousand copies each of “The Hope” and “More Than Dreams” are being sent in cooperation with the producers at the special price of $3.00 each
• Praise that these 2,000 DVDs are being sent to Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (that’s 1,000 more than we expected to send!)
• Praise for the volunteers and church groups that have already scheduled trips to ETS this year.
• Praise for the heat pumps in the book room and office area and for the floor outlets (installed by volunteers) for space heaters in the gym.
• Praise for continuing good health and for safety from accidents (other than Charlie’s broken toe!)
• Praise that as a mission we were able to donate nearly 600 thousand dollars of materials and equipment to overseas ministries.
• Praise that ETS has served 829 ministries and individuals from 71 countries this past year because of your support.
• Praise for YOU, for your help, support and prayers.

We want to thank you for blessing us with your friendship and for partnering with us as we minister to missionaries from around the world.

Charlie and Kathy