Levi and Kelly Hoyt

The Beauty of God

2009-05-07T09:29:00.003-06:00

Hey All!

I am excited to share with you that we recently celebrated our one year anniversary at Celebrate Recovery in Faribault! Last week we enjoyed that time with a BBQ and great fellowship. It has been absolutely amazing to see the quick transformation in people's hearts and families slowly being restored. God makes everything beautiful! I love that about Him. I plan on sharing my testimony this Friday with the CR group, and have not done this since Mexico so I am a little nervous. Although, I am excited about finishing with a few songs I've written.

This morning I dropped Levi off at the airport to LA where he will be picking up a motorcycle for a friends of ours, and plans on riding it home to MN. It is quite a life experience and I am excited for him.

Anyways, I am finishing up the spring semester and plan on taking summer classes as well. Levi is still working on both flight and pastoral classes. We have been increasing our prays in the area of His will for our lives. We feel like we are in a stage of being stagnant. Certainly we are equipping ourselves, although we are not sure if we should settle at just that.

~WE HOPE ALL IS WELL AND THANK YOU~

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-30T12:24:00.004-06:00

Okay, Okay! After many requests for a recent update....Here it is!

Honestly, I thought many have forgotten this page, but I have seen there are quit a few that check it weekly.

Since the last post, we have moved to Faribault, MN to support the second campus of River Valley Church (RVC). The previous church was falling through the cracks and decided to give it to a growing church and in November 2007 RVC was given all rights!

After our return in March 08', we were asked to lead a Celebrate Recovery in Faribault, and now have a core group of people that consistently come. Each week Levi prepares a message and I lead worship, and it is nice to practice our gifts in this way.

Currently, Levi works part-time at RVC in Faribault and part-time at Northfield Retirement Center. Both jobs he works in maintenance. I returned back at the Retirement center as an aide working part-time and recently was offered a job at Dakota County Technical College as a teacher's aide. I love it because I am being challenged in such a way where I can grow in my leadership skills.

I will start Nursing school in January, and Levi will start flight school in the coming Spring. Flying has been a goal for Levi for the past year and he desires to use his pilot's license for missions. Since we've returned Levi also has been working on his pastoral credentials and should finish in a few years.

So much to catch up on....I will write more at a later date.

We love you all! Thank you for checking up on us! :)

JUNE UPDATE!

2008-05-29T22:26:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the length of time that it has taken us to update our site.

We sent out a letter to our close supporters that we will be staying in MN until God tells us otherwise. Since then we were given the opportunity to lead and start a Celebrate Recovery at the River Valley Faribault campus, and we have been for the past couple weeks. It has been awesome and as the weeks progress we have been seeing a huge need in Faribault for recovery issues.

We have been consistently attending Inner City Church of Minneapolis (ICCM) for their weekly adult service. We felt God leading us there for a reason and it is cool to see where it may lead us through building lasting relationships. We absolutely LOVE it there!

We both are working part time jobs at Kelly's old work, Northfield Retirement Center.

Our goal is to be working somewhere full time and move to the Faribault/Northfield area by August 1st.

We know and have seen God moving in our lives since we have been back and we are excited to see where we are going. Our strength and wisdom is solely on God right now and don't desire more.

FUTURE: In July we will be gone for a week, working at a camp with at risk youth in Iowa. We are super excited and cannot wait until we get there! We will make sure and have pictures posted next month! Thank you and love you all for the support and prayers!

Levi and Kelly Hoyt

Prayer Request

2008-04-03T13:08:00.004-06:00

It has been so surreal being home and reuniting with our family, friends, the church, and our old life here in Minnesota. We have found it difficult returning as changed people who are trying to fit back in to where we used to be before we left for Mexico 7 months ago. God has deeply worked in our character and molded us, and we don't want to lose what we experienced.

We have been back now for a 2 1/2 weeks and have been constantly seeking God's will in our lives. We are sort of in limbo right now because initially the plan was to start the base in Cuernavaca, Mexico in January 09'. Unfortunately, those plans have been postponed and we will not be taking part in pioneering that base.

We have many different opportunities in Mexico, The United States, and Minnesota. Right now while we are praying about which path God wants us to take we will be participating in some local ministries, such as working with autistic children, inner city programs, car ministry, starting a new celebrate recovery, and helping our local churches.

We are asking for lots of prayer from our friends and family to ask God to speak clearly. Our heart is to do His will and we are open to what that is in our lives.

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-18T22:19:00.006-06:00

Hey Everyone!!

We just arrived to MN this evening!! It was weird seeing our old apartment building, old streets we use to drive on, our cats, etc. We can't seem to grasp really being here, in the flesh, and then sometimes it really hits us with a flood of emotions. Today, I found myself laughing with our family and getting excited about being home but then within in minutes I would be in tears for no reason. Culture shock is intense but so unpredictable, and hard to put into words.

(Levi really excited filling up for the first time in 7 months in TX on our way home (In Mexico it's full service at gas stations))

We are also unsure how to feel about returning home earlier than expected. Of course, it's human nature to try and plan out our life but God has his perfect way of rewriting the script. We are really seeking the Lord as to what our next move is. We have a slight tugging in a certain direction but have tons of options and are open and willing to do whatever God wants for our lives. We plan on spending some days in prayer and truly seeking His direction.

We appreciate all of our supporters, financially and in prayer! We love you all, and ask to keep us in your prayers especially these upcoming weeks.

CULTURE SHOCK
HEARING GOD'S VOICE
FINANCES
SPIRITUAL ATTACK

DTS Lecture Phase

2008-03-09T13:31:00.003-06:00

This is a slideshow of our experience of our first 3 months of DTS. Classroom, teachers, teachings, and our mini outreach to the landfill in Monterrey and to the west coast in Tepic. We are working on the other slideshow that will show our 6 six week outreach to southern Mexico. We would love to hear comments and hope you enjoy!

Last weeks construction video

2008-02-27T16:45:00.004-06:00

Hey Everyone! Thanks for checking out our blog! Last week we worked with a team from Virginia and had such a blast! Kelly made a video of the pictures taken from the construction site. For the past few years they have taken groups of people and have built this church from the ground up, and they plan to keep coming to YWAM Monterrey until they are finished.

To the Virginia team- Thank you guys for the blessing of being able to work with you. You really show teamwork and a servant's heart. We love you, and God Bless!

Wild Week of Changes...

2008-02-23T20:08:00.004-06:00

This past week we had the opportunity to help a construction team from Virginia to put a roof onto a church. We had a blast and feel very blessed to have been able to work with them.

Wow, have we been going through lots of changes here in Monterrey!

Our plan is to be back around Easter Sunday. We have a lot of mixed emotions on returning, especially earlier than we had planned. Sometimes, we get excited about the thought of seeing our families, friends, church (a new one too!) and even the streets we used to drive on. (The roads here are crazy!) But at the same time, we feel nervous about experiencing the intense culture shock that every missionary goes through during re-entry. We are scared of possible rejection and worried we won't fit in where we used to because we have grown SO much! Most of the worries are from the enemy but I think some is natural too.

We have lots of ministry options in southern Mexico from all of the relationships established during our outreach. Even while we will be back in Minnesota, we have options for ministry. We have an opportunity in RVC South to help in starting a Celebrate Recovery ministry there. We will be able to focus on ministry while we are back in the States, and it will better equip us for leadership for our future. Levi will be working on his pastoral credentials too.

We believe God has orchestrated all of this to happen. We are going to use this time to seek His will, to pray, to heal, work on selling the rest of our things, raise finances, and to regroup while spending time with family and friends.

Please pray for us:

Preparation for re-entry

A safe drive home

Kelly's family

God's Blessings

2008-02-15T18:21:00.008-06:00

Friday, we flew out of Monterrey to Acapulco. We were a little nervous because we were meeting a family who we never had met. During our outreach to Cuernavaca we stayed with a great couple that had good friends on Acapulco and arranged for us to stay with him for a few days. We ended up connecting very well with the whole family. They had two sons around our age and it was fun spending time with them as well.

Saturday, we picked up Levi's parents from the airport and that was a thrill to re-connect with them after months apart. We all attended the family's church and met some missionaries that worked at an orphanage in Acapulco. It was nice seeing other missionaries in Mexico.

One day we drove to Cuernavaca, which is about 2 1/2 hours N of Acapulco. We really wanted to show them the "real" Mexico, experience where we did some of our ministry during outreach, and where our possible home might be.

The last few days we spent staying in Paul and Kammi's hotel room. We enjoyed spending quality time on the beach and lounging by the pool. Except I think we got a little too much sun because we are definetly feeling it now.

Overall, we felt very blessed to have the chance to relax after our very busy and intesne 5 months of DTS. We thank God for the way He worked out all the details to make it possible to see Levi's parents as well making new friendships.

P.S.- Our winter newsletter should be out soon!

Bittersweet Ending...

2008-02-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

This last week of DTS has been bittersweet. Friday was graduation night and it was a lot of fun and rewarding. It was so weird to hold the certificate in our hands because it felt so surreal. Thinking back to the beginning of the school year, it feels like years ago, but at the same time, it has been slow too.

Then we had a nice dinner after the program. We had tomales and beans, yummy! Then, to our surprise 6 Mexican mariachi men came into the room and started to play their instruments! It was so fun!! After a few songs, they started to get a little wild and started to dance. It was really funny. We all had a really nice time. The next day we hung out with the group and we all went to the River downtown. It was a nice way to spend our last days with them. They all left Monday morning back to their hometowns.

A worship team from the states arrived tonight and they will be here for a month. This week there is not much work to be done so we will be doing little things here and there. On Friday we leave to Acapulco to celebrate finishing DTS and also as a way to see Levi's parents. We are using all of our Christmas money and Kelly's birthday money to go. We are so excited to see his parents and show them Mexico. One of the days we arranged to go to Cuernavaca (3 hours north) so they can see where we will be moving too. God really orchestrated everything to fall into place so nicely.

Thank you Jesus for all the blessings you have showered us with.

Home Sweet Home...

2008-01-28T17:38:00.000-06:00

On Friday, our last day in Cuernavaca, we went to the market and said “Good-Bye” to Pastor Felix and his family at the downtown market. We had preached there every Wednesday and Sunday service so we have gotten pretty close with his whole family. They have 3 daughters and 1 son , all around our age. Then we did our last program that evening at a apartment complex for the kids in the park. Our whole team had a fun time playing with the children.

We made it back to Monterrey on Saturday evening. It was so strange to see all the old familiar places, the roads the base, and our room. It slightly felt like we were dreaming, but it felt very nice to be back “home”. It went by so fast, but so slow at the same time. It’s quite a strange feeling to experience.

We celebrated Kelly’s 21st birthday during our drive home from Cuernavaca. Mexico has many beautiful mountains so it was a treat for her to relax and enjoy all the beauty around her. The next day we went out for lunch and ice cream to celebrate her birthday. We start the last week of class on Tuesday. We will be having a good-bye party for all the staff and students on Friday. It’s going to be strange not having a routine to follow and not have our classmates around us.

Last Stretch....

2008-01-20T22:45:00.000-06:00

We are coming up on our last week of Outreach. Our team was reflecting on our past weeks and were astonished by how fast it had gone by. Which I think is a good thing because it means that we were keeping busy, but it really does feel like at least 3 months ago since we have been in Monterrey. We have had a great time traveling around Mexico and learning more about the culture and the heart of God. (Levi preaching on Identity in Christ)

Anyways, we have been keeping busy with painting at the church that we have been staying with. We have done some messages at a few different churches and we did a few street programs for kids in the neighborhood.

Today we just got back from visiting the only Christian church in Calmeca, Mexico. This city is a very small town with a very small world view. The pastor of the church used to be the towns drunk. Everyone in town knows the change that has happened in his life and it really shows God's power. It is probably the closest to feeling in an closed country, except were are not. We walked around the city and went to the center, where the main catholic church and government buildings are. It was really awkward and we felt really unwelcomed. (Levi as Jesus at our street program)
This next week we are going to Mexico City for ministry!

(Levi and Kelly hanging out with a cute little baby like always! We just can't seem to get enough! :) )

Please pray for our:

HEALTH- We are still battling colds

MARRIAGE- To keep it strong and healthly

FUTURE- Plans for Cuernavaca and God's timing

Opening Doors in Cuernavaca

2008-01-14T21:43:00.000-06:00

Outreach has gone by so fast!! Less than two weeks to go and we will be heading back to Monterrey on Kelly's 21st birthday the 26th of January. This past week we have been staying with such an awesome pastor and his family. They have so much love for each other and have very good values. We loved staying in their beautiful home and developing friendships with their sons that are around our age. Kelly preached at the downtown market on Wednesday, and we both shared our testiomony at the youth group of their church.

On Friday, we were asked to perform only dramas at the main mall in Cuernavaca which is about the same size as the Burnsville, MN mall. It was cool because we were right in the center plaza and also next to Starbucks so a lot of youth hung around and watched. We performed at two different times and at the end of the program Levi shared from his testiomony and Kelly finished by singing her song. It was such an awesome experience,and it's something that we will probably never have chance to do again. God is really opening doors for us here in Cuernavaca.

Today was free day. We decided to go to Taxco which is well known in Mexico for their silver. They have tons of cheap solid silver jewelry there and anything else you can make out of silver. They have tiny little cobblestone roads and cute little cafes and shops everywhere. It really felt like Italy or Spain. We really needed this free day. We both have been fighting a nasty head cold this week and are finally getting over it today. Plus we even went to a cafe that over looked the city from the belcony.

We are currently at a different church, and will be staying and working with them this week.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-07T19:37:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! We celebrated the New Year by watching a movie in the church we were staying with. All night long we heard fiesta music, fireworks, and an occasional gunshot. Very different than the states, but we enjoyed it. (Levi and Kelly at the orphange)

A week ago we worked on painting areas of an orphanage for a few days. We have been working with an awesome pastor and his family where they have bought a space in the downtown market. Every Wednesday and Sunday we will be preaching at the market.

On Saturday, we woke up extra early so Levi could share our testimony on a secular radio station. It was super cool and a lot of fun. A man from one of the many churches we have been working with has a 10 minute slot to share Christians inspired stories with the listeners.

The past couple of days we have been doing programs at various churches. We shared our testimony, Kelly preached on inner healing a few times, and we have been doing dramas and dances everywhere we go. It is a lot of work, but through all of this we are being stretched. We have learned more on the outreach phase than in the lecture phase because we are putting into practice all we have learned from classroom.

It has been a lot of fun building friendships with the people here in Cuernavaca. Almost everywhere we serve the people want to prepare a meal for us and open their homes. There is a saying here in Mexico, “Mi casa es tu casa.” It is so true! As we are blessing others, we are also being blessed. God is really taking care of our team this outreach.

Right now we are staying with a pastor and his family for a week and will be working with his church.

Second stop....Temixco

2007-12-27T21:32:00.000-06:00

Temixco is a town outside of Cuernavaca.

I thought we were growing a lot during our lecture phase, but compared to the first week and a half of outreach phase it feels like we are completely different people!

God is really working in each of our lives in deep ways. The culture and food are so much different here in Southern Mexico compared to the North. We went through another culture shock when we arrived.

We have been staying in the parsonage at the church which we have been working with this week. It has been a lit bit slower than we have been used to because of the holidays. The pastor at the church is very mission orientated and last Saturday we went to a place where he started a mission church about a year ago. It's sort of like a little village in the city because about 20 families live in old boxcars. It was amazing to see because all of the children have been attending which have inspired their parents to attend. The kids broke our hearts because right as we got out of our cars they chased after us and gave a a huge hug. We noticed some of the kids were deaf and blind and afterwards the pastor shared that the families don't have enough money for Tylenol so they suffer mental problems. They were so excited that we came. We put on a little Christmas program, did dramas, dances, games, had a pinata and had a short message for them. We handed out food and cake at the end. We plan on going the next few Saturdays.

Thursday we went to the downtown market when a pastor has bought a space for a mission church. It was really cool and have a good feeling that God is going to do some awesome things there. Levi preached for the first time that night and it was a really good night.

Today we went to a camp with Ministerios de Amor and worked with 250 orphans of all ages. We even were able to talk to the women who started this orphanage, she is really gifted and it was a huge blessing for our team. It was such an amazing time. The kids are so fun to work with and very respectful. We are excited to work with them tomorrow again!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Homesickness during the seasons
Upcoming plans with starting the Cuernavaca base
Health and well being for our team during outreach phase
Our marriage to stay healthy and strong

first stop....Valle de Bravo!

2007-12-19T23:45:00.000-06:00

We made it safely from Monterrey to Valle de Bravo which is 2 hours west of Mexico city and 3 hours from Cuernavaca. We are staying with a very anointed veteran missionary couple. They have such a cute and cozy home and have been very welcoming to our whole team. They have done tons of ministry work, and have been working in Mexcio for 30 years now.
The first night we arrived a director of a movie called "Dreams and Visions" was visiting them. It was such a coincidence because the week prior we just had learned about the muslim faith and how God has been working through peoples dreams and receiving Christ through them. Chrisabol Krusen was the director of that film and he was very interesting to listen to and our whole group learned so much from him. What a blessing!
The next day we went to a village where only a few people had accepted Christ. We showed a film about the power of pray in cities and how God can change the hearts of the whole city through prayer. Although hardly anyone showed up, one man accepted Christ, and a young 14 year old girl also. God really put it in my heart that the seeds that we are planting will harvest many.
Tuesday, in the morning we went to see the monarch butterflies that swarm to one part in Mexico. It was absolutely amazing to see! It's something that everyone needs to see because pictures can't capture it! In the evening we did dramas and dances with the kids at a different village similar to the first but they were more accepting of us. Kelly was able to share her testimony with them and we had a pinata for the children.

Today was the most intense so far. We went to the city prison to put on a little christmas program. We served about 200 inmates. At first I was very very scared as a young American blonde haired women but I was surpirsed at how respectful most of them were. It really felt like a movie being in there with the wires on top of the high walls, and the guards with machine guns. We did three programs first the inmates that were sentenced, then those that were waiting trial, and the third were the women. Levi shared his testimony to the men while Kelly shared hers with the women. We were very blessed by all of them, and we will never be the same.
Tonight, we went with a youth group and had a bonfire. We had worhship and Kelly shared a message about having a heart of a worshipper. It was her first time preaching and was not prepared to share but really felt God was working through her. She played one of her songs she had written at the end and one girl was very touched. She came up to her afterwards and just held onto her for several minutes, it was a very sweet moment. We also taught them a drama to share with their church. God was doing a lot tonight. Before outreach Levi felt like we were going to meet a girl named Sarah, and we we did meet a Sarah tonight. It turned out she had a lot of problems and Levi really spoke into her life. Very cool!
I know this was a long blog, but we have been doing so much! This outreach is off to a good start and we hope God keeps leading us to where His spirit is. Keep checking for updates, thank you for all your prayers!!

Last Lecture Week

2007-12-12T17:36:00.000-06:00

To sum this week up in one word it would be OVERWHELMED!

We had 25 memory verses to recite on Friday, we need to have two 15 minute sermons ready before outreach, and had a spanish final on Wednesday.

But who cares! On Sunday early morning at 4am we leave for outreach to Cuernavaca and Mexico City! It is going to be a small team. Ron and Sandra plus another male student (Casey) and ourselves. So we are going to be taking on a lot more weight but I know if we just keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we will have strength beyond understanding. We are going to try our best keeping you all updated throughout these next six weeks.

Today is our first day of outreach and we spent it with "Ministeros de Amor", which is an all girls orphanage here in Monterrey and all over Mexico. We had a fun time at their big Christmas event, and helped wherever they needed. Helped hand out clothes, sound system, and picked up alot of trash.

Please pray for us as and our team as we take off. We appreciate all of you and wish you a very merry Chirstmas.

Cosmovision

2007-12-08T13:11:00.000-06:00

This week we are learning about the different worldviews that people have, and how to effectively evangelize to different religions and the secular world. It was very very interesting and we both learned a ton. On Wednesday our group went to a park to pray over the city and asked God what stronghold Monterrey had. I believe God put it on my heart for the prostitutes and drug users and if we reached out to these people the city would change. Later, we heard that prostitution rates nearly tripled this year in Monterrey! It gives us a renewed excitement to start these Celebrate Recoveries in Mexico, and know it will greatly change people's lives, like it has for us.

On Friday our classroom went to a church service, that worships the Virgin Guadalupe. It is believed by the Mexican culture that she appeared to a young boy in a field hundreds of years ago, and is now worshipped as the Virgin Mary. It is to be believed that Mary's birthday is on Dec. 13th so this week they are celebrating. At the church, people in fancy colorful costumes danced through the streets and up to the church doors with feathered hats and maracas, while people followed with big banners with the pictures of Guadalupe. They had a shrine using all sorts of flowers and golden chains to decorate it. It felt almost like a mix between Native American Indians and the Aztec culture in Mexico. It was very interesting to watch but I felt bad for the people worshipping this god.

Next week our teaching is on missions and hearing different missionaries testimonies.

Back to Normal

2007-12-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

We are still recooping from our two very busy weeks in Tepic.

This week we are learning about Relationships. I think God totally ordained this week to happen because relationships are key in the mission field. The #1 reason missionaries leave the mission field is because of damaged relationships with people.

God is really really stetching us in this area of our christian walk. He really is sharpening us to be strong in relationshsips and handeling frusterating and hard situations. God has put it on our hearts to read 1 Peter and it has been our daily devotional this week.

In a few weeks we are heading out to start our outreach phase. We will be working in Cuernavaca and we are very excited.

Experincing a REAL Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T18:53:00.000-06:00

The second week of outreach we went to a different church in Tepic. The first evening our team was in charge of the youth service, I played a song a wrote then we did a dance and a student finished with great message. It was cool because it was her first time preaching. The next day a different student preached for his first time in a rough area of the town that this church took under their wing. They held a service in someones backyard.

The church we were staying at does a television program and asked if they could film some of our dramas and dances. It was very fun watching us on the screens.

On Wednesday we left for the mountain indigenous tribe called Huicholes. It really took us out of our comfort zone and we have learned that that's when you learn the most. There was no running water or electricity. Each night we held a movie in the town hall building and during the day we held a mini clinic. A doctor came with us and lots of medicine for the Huicholes, and I helped take the blood pressures. Kelly loved using my nursing skills again, it stirred up her passion. She would love to get more school for administering shots and medicine. We also did dramas and dances in the evening for the children.

On Thanksgiving it really felt like it was the first thanksgiving. The Huichole women each made either handmade tortillas, beans, eggs, or fish and brought it to the church and we shared our tuna and crackers with them. It was a very unique experience. The men brought out their handmade guitars and sung songs in their native language. Most of them also speak Spanish so it wouldn't different to communicate. We hope to go back their and lead a team their sometime in Cuernavaca.

It's nice being home except for the extreme cold here! I know it's hard to imagine Mexico being cold but honestly it is 45 degrees! BRR!

Wild and crazy week in Tepic

2007-11-18T14:58:00.001-06:00

Wow! What a crazy, busy week we have had in Tepic.

We arrived Saturday night and attended the youth service. It was very powerful. We loved watching the youth worship with all of their hearts. We really liked the church and it felt almost like River Valley! We felt at home with the contemporary music and the upbeat friendly people.

Monday through Wednesday we had awesome teachings on Leadership. The church has their own discipleship school and we were able to attend class with them. Then Thursday the whole class set out for Bucerias, MX which is about 15 minutes from Puerto Vallerta. We worked with a large grade school for two days and did dramas, dances, testimonies and fun activies for the children. The group I was in went out to the neighborhood and did evangelism while Levi's group helped paint an orphanage. It was really fun working with another group of young adults and worked well together.

Saturday we arrived back in Tepic that afternoon and that evening we were in charge of a whole youth service at a different church in Tepic. So it has been very hectic from moving from place to place and doing ministry work back to back but at the end of the day we both feel privileged to be able to work for God. After being in the classroom and learning about becoming a true disciple of Christ it is fun to put into practice some of these teachings.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Tonight we lead another church service, Wednesday we go to a indigenous mountain village, Saturday we leave from Tepic, MX.

Some prayer requests are :

Stay strong during our hectic schedule

God's provision in finances for our next years budget in Cuernavaca

Against homesickness during the Holiday seasons

New Celebrate Recovery ministry

Leaving for Tepic!

2007-11-08T19:08:00.000-06:00

This week has been extremely busy in our DTS. The founder's of this YWAM base has been here teaching and we have been doing lots of ministry work. Today we went to a neighborhood where the people pretty much live in a garbage site. It was very sad to see at times, but the people were always smiling. We handed out very elaborate quilts that women made in WI and gave them to families of this church. The pastor was very sweet and they were very appreciative. We prayed for lots of people and blessed the church as well.

On Saturday we will be leaving at 4am to Tepic Nayarit, Mexico and we will be there for two weeks. The city is located by the pacific coast and will be working with two different churches. Helping them start another church plant by the ocean, and even going into indigenous mountain villages where they don't even speak Spanish. We will be staying overnight a few days so please be praying for our health and safety.

If you don't hear from us, that's where we will be!! We love you all very much. Thank you.

Father Heart Of God

2007-11-04T17:24:00.001-06:00

This week was another good teaching on the "Father Heart Of God". The pastor who taught this week was the perfect example of a loving caring father. He had a very gentle spirit about him.

On Thursday we had a footwashing where Edgar (a DTS leader) and Pastor Brian washed our feet, prophesied, and prayed over us. It was very intense and both us of us were confirmed that we are in the right place.

Friday, Levi and I with two other DTS students went to go visit Eusavio. (Remember, a week ago Levi and his group prayed with him and he accepted Christ) Well, we drove over to the mall he is currently doing construction at, and visited with him. He was very excited to see us. It was a time of simply planting seeds, but we are praying that he gets stronger in his walk.

Saturday we stopped over at Pastor Abraham's house to fix his car. We had bought a certain part for the car at the boarder the past weekend. It ended up working out perfectly and Levi was able to put it in without any trouble. Abraham asked if we would stay for a small group, we did and Ron Wilson ended up speaking for that night! It was a good message even though we couldn't understand all of it. It worked out well because we were able to have our first Celebrate Recovery meeting with most of the elders of the church. They were very receptive to the idea, and lots of them even shared about addictions in their past and addictions in their family. We have a good feeling about it, and the need is so great in this neighborhood. Ron has a Celebrate Recovery leader's handbook so he can start translating everything we need.

Keep praying for us! At times we feel discouraged but keep relying on His strength to get us through the hard times.

"Get outta here!"

2007-10-29T18:15:00.000-06:00

On Thursday for part of our class we broke up into groups of four and went to a near by mall to do evangelism. We had 45 min to greet people and ask questions about their views on God. In Kelly's group they prayed with two women and one man, they were able to lead the man to Christ! It was so cool to connect with this man and answer some questions he had about faith and religion. He actually works at a kiosk at the mall and plan on revisiting him in a few weeks. Levi's group was cool too. They talked to a man working on the side of a busy road, and stopped to ask him how his life was going. At the end of it he accepted Christ, Levi bought him a bible and the man replied, " I was blind, but now I see." It was very powerful.

Friday we had a "October Fiesta" in the evening. We all had to come up with a character from a movie. Levi was Wolverine from X-Men and Kelly was Barbie. It was a fun night to fellowship and have a good time.

Saturday we went up to McAllen, TX for a boarder run. We left early Saturday morning and did some shopping during the day. We need to send out thank you cards and get some Christmas presents for Pastor Abraham's family. We brought some sensors for his car, two coloring kits for his cute little daughters, a candle for his wife Anna and some peanut butter and jelly. Surprisingly peanut butter is very expensive here along with a few other items. Kraft macaroni and cheese doesn't taste anything like it in Mexico so we stocked up on stuff like that.

Sunday we went to Palm Valley a church much like River Valley back in MN. It was a great message and it was fun meeting Chris Manthey's cousin Nate who is a pastor there.

Today was a miracle! On our way to school today we got pulled over for speeding in a school zone that we were unaware of. It was frustrating because we unable to understand everything he was saying, but we knew that the ticket was for 760 pesos (roughly 76 American dollars) We were thankful that he didn't ask for our car permit because we had brought it with us for the boarder and forgot to put it back in the car. If we didn't have that then our car would have been impounded. The officer told us to follow him to the police station that was 40 mins away. As we followed the officer pulled over and another "transito" pulled along side him and came up to our window and demanded our car permit! Hear came upon us and were definitely frazzled. We tried to explain that it was at our house. He said "no, your car will be impounded!" We tried and pleaded with him for about 10 minutes. The men walked away, chatted for a minute while our hearts were racing (and praying out to God) and he returned and said in English "Get outta here!"

Thank you God for answering prayers! We love you!!

P.S.- This is a picture of a sweet girl whose mom cooks for us at the Quinta. As you can tell, we LOVE kids!

Holy Spirit

2007-10-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, our friend's (Leo and Carolyn) cousin Laura, came to stay
with us so she can renew her visa to the United States. She is very sweet and nice and we have been showing her around the city a little, and we are having a good time enjoying her company. She has been coming to school with us and she is also learning a lot about the Holy Spirit.

Thursday, we had a time to invite the Holy Spirit to come. It was so amazing on how it happened. We prayed for Levi's back and a staff members kidneys, and afterwards his back felt 100% better! Four different people came up to Kelly with a word/vision about worshiping and how she will be used by God in that way.
(Our new church!)
On Saturday, we worked on our book reports and then went to Pastor Abrahm's house so Levi could help work on his car that is having problems. While we were there his wife Anna, who is 1 month pregnant, came back from the Dr. with health concerns. We prayed over her and had a time of worship. It was so amazing on how the spirit filled the place and especially since we were not planning on it. We feel very close with this family. They have such great hearts for God. Levi was unable to fix the problem but had a few possibilities. We would rather raise money to get him a nicer used car that is more reliable. Afterwards we went to the market which is much like a fair with food and trinkets. Here are pictures of us and the pastors two girls and Bianca (Ron's daughter). Very Sweet!

This week we are learning about spiritual warfare and intercession. On Thursday we will be going out onto the streets and evangelising to people! We can't wait!