Hello! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years!! Let’s talk about everything that has happened the past couple months!
November Highlights!
- November 8th was our Thanksgiving Dinner at CMTS. Sam Mechler, one of our E1 students, made Thai food for everyone…..it was amazing! Sam was born in Mongolia, was adopted by a missionary family, and his parents were missionaries in Thailand for the majority of his life. They didn’t come to America until a few years ago.
- November 15th – 17th Wyatt, my sister, and I took my brother camping for his 16th birthday. We went away for the weekend to Hickory Run state park. It was such a fun getaway! The guys went fishing, while Isabella and I went on a nice hike. The weather was really nice! There was a burn ban during this time so unfortunately we couldn’t have a campfire, but the cabin had a stove top so we were able to cook our meals. The boulder field was also really cool!
- November 18th we packed a shipping container for Belize. We had less than a week to prepare for this. Typically it takes a few months to be ready to pack a container. When we ship overseas we don’t ship air! The container costs thousands of dollars to ship, so we do our absolute best to fill every space with something. We often fill the small spaces with bags of clothes! They are easy to squish into tiny spaces without getting ruined. This container was going to Belize for Andy Merrick who was the previous director of CMTS in Bernville. He and his wife Nancy are now full time in Belize starting another CMTS there. Having the funding for a container was a huge blessing for them, and helps get more of their things to them!
- November 20th we packed another container! This one was going to Ghana for Douglass Yeboah. I got to spend time with him and his sweet wife Esther! They are just amazing and so is their ministry! If you would like to find out more about what they do here is a link to their website: www.africas1hope.com. In Ghana they have dug many wells to make fresh water a possibility, they have a hospital dedicated to providing affordable or even free healthcare for people who can’t afford it, they have an orphanage, a school feeding program, they do outreach to different prisons, and many other things.
My part in shipments is serving the people who are packing the container. They usually start at 8am so I’m there with drinks, snacks, and coffee of course! On packing days we have lunch at the main house and lunch at the Warehouse Distribution Center. We are so blessed with volunteer help in the kitchen! Each day of the week is someone different that comes in to cook lunch. So while someone is in the main house cooking lunch, I can focus on the Warehouse and the people working there. Honestly I’m not sure how I could possibly juggle doing lunch in both places at once, the ladies that come are such a blessing to me and the ministry. They have all become dear friends of mine too! 🙂
Why do we do lunch in two separate places on packing days? In order to get food to the people packing the container it has to be done that way. When the container arrives at the Warehouse we have two hours to pack it. Any more time and we are charged extra money per hour. The container could arrive anywhere from 9am – 1pm. It has an estimated time of arrival, but depending on traffic and the weather conditions it can vary. With the arrival time up in the air it is best to have an easy lunch that you can grab and go with. Something like pizza or premade sandwiches, and Jen Darnell’s brownies!
December Highlights!
- December 2nd – 6th we had the EQUIP gingerbread competition! Aidan was paired with Isaac, and Caleb was paired with Sam. They all did a great job and worked hard on their creations. The score was very close! We do this competition the week of our Christmas dinner. So before we eat all the staff vote based on taste, stability, and creativity. Aidan and Isaac were the winners! Their creation was Walmart with a parking lot and everything! The man sitting outside represents someone who got kicked out of Walmart!
- December 8th – 15th, Joel Smith, Peyton Smith, and Justin Darnell went with some other people to Mayreau! Mayreau is an Island in the Grenadines that got hit with a bad hurricane in the summer of 2024. They went to help repair buildings, and to spend time with people of the community. The Island of Mayreau is about a mile and a half wide, so not very big! There’s about 300 people living there.
Wyatt and I are so excited for Mayreau in February! Wyatt works in construction, and also went to vocational school for building construction. He has so many skills he can use to help these people! We are excited to just be able to love the people there! I’m praying God would give us His heart and love for them so that our lives would display who God is.
December Work Group!
December 13th – 15th we had a work group come! The Boys Brigade from Maryland. They arrived later Friday evening and settled in where they were staying. They stayed at a house down the road from CMTS. The owners are very generous to us! They let missionaries, and work groups stay in the house for free of charge. This makes it possible for work groups to come for a very low cost and serve alongside the people here. Saturday they went to Reading with Mike Miller, Caleb Hall, and Ray Pete. They served at One Luv for the day. One Luv had an outreach event they ran twice. One round at 11am, and the last at 2pm. So many people come! They come to hear the Gospel, and receive prayer. After the message is done they go home with things like clothes, food, household items, etc. Last year when the Boys Brigade came they helped clean the church building that One Luv uses. This year they got to be a part of an outreach event that was held in that same building! That evening Danielle Smith and Hannah Noecker made them dinner at the mission. It was fun hearing about their day, and their ministry for young men. Caleb Hall, Mike Miller, and Ray Pete did an awesome job! They led so well by example, and were super flexible even with car trouble! Saturday morning the group’s van broke down so they had to change plans and drive the group to Reading themselves. And then our shop manager Nick VanWert said he would fix their van so that they could use it the next day to go home. I am truly so blessed to serve alongside this team of people. People who love to serve and put others first. People who are flexible and have the ability to roll with what comes and still have joy. People who love God and want to be His hands and feet. I love our community, and the way our team works together! Things aren’t always perfect, we deal with conflict here and there. But our relationships are better for it. None of this is even remotely possible without the Holy Spirit! So praise God for His amazing work in our lives to make the impossible possible, to multiply the work of our hands, to unite people who are so different, to give such love and joy in our service, to be making us more like Him, to give us such a wonderful family, and to want us as His friends!
We got a new box truck!
December 17th……This was such an exciting day! A Penski employee saw a need for ours, a new box truck! The old one was not safe. The lift gate was too small to safely get a pallet off the truck without a forklift. There were a few times our Warehouse personnel almost got seriously injured making deliveries. Having a box truck is such an important tool. Because we don’t do as many overseas shipments since Covid it makes it possible to give so much more! We can deliver resources to ministries who don’t have the ability to take as much at one time. This sweet lady worked it out so we could get her employee discount, and then some off the price of a new box truck! She also found a couple churches who would buy it for us! December 17th was the day we picked up! God is so good and so big! It’s amazing!
Coming up!
March 7th we have a fundraising event…waahooo!! We will have different types of food from the countries that CMTS has impacted, and a silent auction. Come join us and be encouraged from all that God is doing!
Prayer Requests
- Please pray for Wyatt and I and the upcoming trip to Mayreau. We are so excited for what God is going to do! We also need to raise $2,000 for Wyatt and I to go. If you feel led to support us financially for this trip first of all thank you so much! You can do that by mailing a check with an attached note stating who it’s for, or by going to our website. Pray for everyone else going too that God would work in their hearts and use them to display who He is to the people on the island.
- Pray for the students in the EQUIP program! This is the second half of the year, also the busiest part of the year. Pray that the Lord would lead them and give them wisdom as they start thinking about what’s next for them. And pray they wouldn’t “check out”, but would stay diligent, and get everything they can from the program.
Thank you all so much for your support and prayers, Wyatt and I greatly appreciate you!
Would you join Sandra as a monthly supporter so she can continue the work God has started? She would be honored to be able to share the experience with you and make you part of the team. As she shares how God is working and the impact she is having on His Kingdom, please pray and ask God if you should partner with her as a monthly donor/supporter.
