Dear Friends and family,
As we finish this month of thankfulness, we are constantly reminded of our thankfulness for your prayers, support and encouragement. November, a blur really, has brought us many joys and blessings. It began with Ryan and the DTS (Discipleship Training School) students truly overcoming as they finished their NIKO experience. This five day event pushes everyone beyond what they can do on their own, teaching them to rely on one another and draw on God's strength to truly be victorious. As Joel (age 19) states "During NIKO I found out that I can do far more than I ever thought was possible. It taught me how to believe more in myself and hear God's voice."
We continued to rejoice as Ryan's parents visited us and shared in the vision for what God is doing in our lives. For the first time, the boys and Sarah ventured with them to enjoy the raw beauty of this nation. Traveling to an active volcano, spending time with family, and of course true grandparent spoiling of little ones brought us a little taste of God's love for us.
Ryan continued to walk in his calling by completing a training to help others discover their destiny in Christ. This training's, Destiny by Design, purpose is to help people catch a biblical understanding of God's purposes for their lives and also gives them a tool to release others into their destiny. We are excited to see how God will use Ryan to bless many lives through this teaching as he has accepted a role on the Destiny by Design team, to take this teaching to the nations. We can only imagine how many lives will be forever changed as they realize and embrace what God has for them.
Returning from this training, he came home to find Sarah Dawn preparing to teach in our DTS. The scheduled teacher was unable to come and God asked me to step in and teach. I only had a day's notice and each night after tucking the boys into bed, prepared for the next day's teaching. I taught on spiritual warfare, allowing God to use me to equip his warriors for battle. I was honored to be a part of God's plan for these students and to simply watch his hand move in so many areas of their lives. As Jade (age 18) said "I know it was not a mistake that our teacher didn't come this week. God has used every word you've said to speak directly into my heart and mind. I know that I have been freed from many things the enemy has had a hold of in my life. This has been a very powerful week ."
We are honored to play our part in discipling this generation, allowing God to use our family for his glory. Your prayers and support enable this type of real ministry to happen. Without the faithful knees of those that pray and the faithful hands of those that give we could never be the feet to go.
If you would like to learn more about this amazing thing called a DTS, you can watch a video and see how God uses this tool to change lives. Simply click on the following link to catch a glimpse of why we serve in DTS!
As we enter into a new month, we would be blessed by your prayers for
· A strong finish for the lecture phase of DTS - the team heads to Colombia Dec. 10th
· Continued creativity for Sarah as she homeschools and writes the lessons
· That our family would continue to willingly serve wherever and however God leads.
All our love,
Ryan, Sarah, Joshua, and Caleb
