Mission Work

And here goes another Equip year!!! Woohoo! We have 3 awesome students: Robbie, Malaki, and Charles. I really love the guys and all their quirks and challenges they bring, and man, are they a joy to have on the property!

As you can see from the picture above with all the students in their class, their classroom is completed! The teacher of this class, not pictured, is Pastor John from Grace Church in Allentown! Also a board member and Nick, our mechanic’s, father in law! You will also notice Donny in there with the students; he is no longer a student, but a leader in training and the dorm R.A. He helps to uphold the rules and do life with the guys. Each year as Equip becomes more and more solidified we hit a few challenges, but overall Donny & the guys are all learning, growing, and seeking Christ more than they have before they came here. That’s something to really celebrate!

The parking Lot in front of mechanic shop is paved!! Yes! We did not meet our goal to complete the entire renovations needed on the exterior of the building, but we did raise enough to pave the entire parking lot! Thank you Martin Paving for doing such a wonderful job!!

As a lot of you know, we have been going to South Texas for over a year, with God’s guidance, to plant another CMTS base. This is the property, another ministry told us, that they believe God has intended for CMTS.

Joel went down alone this time, as I was just starting school back up and needed to focus on our children and getting back into a school-year rhythm. Joel was given a key and access to the entire property by the owners to really look through the property, see the work needed, see if it was feasible for us and a good fit, and really just to pray over the property to see if he felt at peace with how we were moving forward.

Moses had a conversation with God in Exodus 33:13-15 (NASB version) “‘Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please let me know Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.’ And He said, ‘My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then he said to Him, ‘If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.’“ This is how Joel and I feel about base planting. We DO NOT want to go where God is not leading us or opening doors. We cannot and do not want to do this in our own strength or determination; we want ALL OF THIS to glorify and honor God and be from Him. We are excited to see where God is taking us, and after talking with our board and praying a lot, we all feel this is the property. It makes sense price-wise, what the buildings already offer, the logistics of where the border crossing is, and how close our friends in Monterrey & Reynosa, Mexico, are. It is a great area that is quiet and safe, and ok with all that we would like to do. All great things.

The next thing to do is raise $60,000 as a down payment to be able to do owner financing on the building from the other ministry. We have had interest from Sullivan City residents and PA residents to help be a part of the team in South Texas, but we need guidance in how to structure the base plant, how to get them together as a team to start building bonds, and more people. So people and finances are the BIG NEEDS right now.

Our website page for CMTS South Texas is live! You can visit it now and see how to sign up if you are interested in joining the base plant team! Or how to donate if you want to see this become a reality.

After a few days around the property, Joel went over the border and visited the ministry that is helping us with the property, and then took a bus a day later to visit our friends in Monterrey, Mexico. Joel got to take his first Mexican bus across the country. He really enjoyed it. It also helped Joel understand how to get supplies from the Mexican border to Monterrey more. There are checkpoints, and some people get searched. It was interesting. Joel will also be posting this adventure on our YouTube channel, and you can see more of the property and his travels!

Home Life

We did our bi-annual clothes shopping and started getting ready for colder weather!

We also did our annual Knoebels family trip! Parker is no longer a fan of getting her picture taken as you can see by her face! lol

Homeschool Corner

We have restarted school!

• Peyton 11th grade
• Kylie 10th grade
• Jett 8th grade
• Parker 7th grade
• Jase 5th grade

We are bombarded by a ton of experiments in the first few weeks, keeps us on our toes! LOL I do love starting in the early/mid August to end earlier after winter again!By the time the weather is really warm again, we are all getting stir crazy!

Prayer Requests

• Support: We are still not fully supported and are actively raising support.
• Homeschool: that is an ever going prayer
• Guidance, wisdom, and discernment as God leads us as we lead the ministry.

Ministry Prayer Requests

• Mission Trips: Prayer for getting connected with people to match needs for teams
• Shipping: We have many shipping containers going out soon full of supplies to help ministries share the gospel around the world!
• Staff: We are in need of another front office staff member and another mechanic to meet our growing needs in those areas.

Family Needs

Support

We are very grateful for the team of supporters we have. Thank you! We are currently at $2,200 monthly and where we need to be is $4,000. This covers what we need to live each month as this is our only income. It has been by the grace and provision of God that we are making it. We could really use your help. Prayers and awareness of this need to others is much appreciated!

Would you like to join our team? We need your help to continue to accomplish God’s vision for us at the ministry. Would you join us as a monthly supporter so we can continue the work God has started? We want to take you along for the journey and we would be honored to be able to share the experience with you. You would become part of the team and we would share how God is working and the impact it is having on His Kingdom. Please pray and ask God if you should join us.