News from the Nest

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello, it has been so long since we have had an opportunity to post anything I almost need to reintroduce myself. May flew by with many, many volunteers at the mission. We had almost 600 volunteer hours! Our home church Savannah Christian sent us three volunteers...John, Sandy and Celeste that helped us tremendously. With their help we were able to sort, clean and organize several very cluttered rooms. The sports equipment room was so cluttered we couldn't even get into the room. What a difference now! I still smile whenever I go into rooms that they helped organize. It was also so much fun just to catch up on their lives and take them to our church here in Fisherville. It was hard to let them leave again but their visit made a big impact on all of us.

We were also blessed with 18 students from Grace Bible ( a local Christian High School). They helped us move chairs, build pallet racking, replace all the chairs and helped sort and box clothing. They were there for four hours one evening and with their help we were able to complete the chair racking project. Their energy and enthusiasm was amazing.....they actually thought running up and down stairs was fun!

Another group that blessed us was a group of college students from Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Mississippi. They stayed at the mission and helped us complete two containers....one to Tajikistan and another to Jordan.What a great group. They helped repair projector screens, build racks for our walkers, inventoried our medical room, lifted and moved everything from pallets of computers to indivdual boxes of personal items of the missionaries. We were sorry to see them go as they blessed us with their sweet spirit and willingness to do any and everything! ( May their tribe increase!)

Speaking of friends.....Connie and Denny Shippy just left yesterday after spending three days of working with us at the mission. They said they felt needed! Talk about an understatement! Connie sorted clothing for three days only to see a group of experienced clothes packing senior citizens go through 8 bins of sorted clothing in less than an hour....would you believe they boxed and taped up 855 pounds! Connie was very pleased at the dent she made in our clothes pile (Mt. Clothesmore)only to see 3,800 pounds of clothing arrive the next day! Her only comment was....could you have waited till after I left to bring them in? Denny was a big help to Charlie....they lifted 4 drawer files, cleaned out a big spot in the gym for Charlie to put copiers and helped go through our cassette players. All of us slept well as the work is so physically demanding!

It's good to have friends who will give up their vacation to do missionary work. Where else can you go that you don't need a passport and shots!

Our kids are on the move. Tim just graduated from Emmanuel School of Religion this month and they will be leaving Johnson City, Tennessee next week. Suzy is packing as I write. They will be moving to New York to attend seminary. Andy will be moving with them to pursue his acting career. Becky will be home from Canada for about three weeks and we are excited about having all the chicks in the nest for a short time again!

As always we are so blessed to have you as friends. God continues to supply our needs in ways we can never imagine or dream. God is blessing our ministry because of your prayers and provisions and we are so thankful for your faithfulness. My time at home is limited....but I will try to post more faithfully.
Charlie and Kathy