Kristy Van Wyhe
Ivanrest Impact Ministries – Guatemala
June 26 – July 3, 2007
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Blog Stats
- 49,627 hits
Pages
- 1st Day Pictures
- 2nd Day Pictures
- 3rd Day Pictures
- 4th Day Pictures
- AJ Bredeweg
- Alan Jurgens
- Alexa Berens
- Amber Degraaf
- Amber Fennema
- BJ Maas
- Brandon Goeman
- Brittany Eisma
- Chad Buchholz
- Christina Weller
- Heather Ring
- Jason Door
- Jillian Maas
- Joni Holsem
- Jordan Dooley
- Jordan Greiner
- Kelly Berens
- Kelsey McInnis
- Kevin Van Wyhe
- Kevin Vanden Bosch
- Kimberly Smits
- Kristy Van Wyhe
- Lara Rosema
- Larry Molegraaf
- Lauren Duimstra
- Lori Decator
- Marijke Stob
- Nate Door
- Rachel Van Dyken
- Ross Vander Lugt
- Sandra Van Enk
- Spencer Vanderheide
Ivanrest Impact Ministries - Guatemala 
I just want to thank all of you who have made it possible for me to go on this trip again! Without your support it could not have happened! Please pray that we have a safe trip and that all goes well with the team. Love you tons! Zoot Zoot!
Kristy Van Wyhe
Kristy,
I’ll be praying for you. This time you know what all the excitement is about regarding Paradise Bound.
Have a great week, stay safe and healthy.
Kristy,
I will be praying for you and your team all week! I can’t wait to get you back here safe and sound to hear about how the Lord used you to do His work! I also can’t wait for the end of July! Wahoo!
God’s blessings on you!
Julie
Kristy, It was so great to see you this morning, and to once again see the excitement in your eyes and to hear it in your voice! I am so thankful that God has been at work and made it possible for you to travel to Guate with Kevin once again! I’m slowly understanding what it is like to be in your shoes as a youth pastor’s wife, and I know how wonderful it is to serve alongside your husband! May God bless you and give you what is needed each day as you serve Him. I will be praying specifically for you for no migraines. Please, say hello to Heidi for me! I can’t wait to hear how the trip goes! Hope all has been great with the travel so far! Love ya! Dawn
Kristy! Oh how I wish I could be with you all in Guatemala right now..but I will just have to trust that you will play with all of the kids for me…and hold the babies! I hope you have a wonderful trip-I can’t wait to hear all of the stories and to see how God is going to work through another group 🙂
Kristy:
How good it was to see you off this a.m.! You have got the entire process down now…even as to how to put the wheels of the cart back in the machine!! Thanks for teaching that to me, now I’ll now how to do it if (when) I get to go to Guatemala! The joy on your face and in your entire being was evident at the airport today–it’s because you know the blessings that await you in serving the Lord and His children in Guatemala. I trust that to be the case. We will be praying for your family up here and your “family” down there. I hope you are showered with love by all your new kids–American and Guatemalen! We look forward to hearing all your stories and seeing all the pictures!
Love,
The Dooleys
I John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
We have made it and it is so good to be back! We actually had time to relax and I took a couple hours of sleep. I feel fantastic and can’t wait to start building tomorrow. Thank you for the prayers we feel them! Love all of you!! Zoot Zoot
i miss you…hope you have new roommates that won’t wake you up screaming when they hear fireworks! i love you kristy, and i am glad you got your migraine out of the way already…but i will keep praying for you anyway!
singing was powerful again!!! What an amazing start of an incredible journey! Josh, Chris and Katie I know you are having a great time with Grandma & Grandpa. I love you tons!!!
Kristy –
Have a wonderful week! I’ll be thinking of you often, praying for you, and glad that you’ll be our veteran in January!! 🙂
Be careful with those “orange tool thingees”. Seriously, praying for health, safety, open hearts, and changed lives.
Love ya!
Karen
Blessings to you and Kevin! So glad to hear all went well getting there. Stay strong and healthy. Have an awesome day tomorrow!
Doug and Shelly Rosema
We got a good night’s sleep and are up ready to eat a yummy breakfast and get going to the village to start building! I have a great team (Kevin Vanden Bosh, Lara Rosema, Lori Decator, Alexa Berens, Joni Holsem and Spencer Vander HEide) I can’t wait to see their reactions to the children and village. Keep praying that all will go well. So far no one is sick and please pray that continues. Have a blessed day!
zoot zoot
Kristy,
So glad to hear that you have made it safely and that you are already starting to get busy! We are all missing you up here. I hope you are blessed by all you see and experience while you are there. I know you are sharing God’s love with all those moms and kids. How awesome! We love you and will be sure to keep you updated on what’s going on with your team while you are away! 🙂 Can’t wait to see read about your adventures!
Hi Kristy,
Sounds like you are starting out great. Isn’t God GOOD. Have a good day with your team, we hope all goes well with the building, weather, health etc. You’re in our thoughts and prayers. (as well as your kids are while you are away) Take care, Love,
Greg and Kathy
Hey Kristy!! I’m loving the updates on this blog! I will be sure to check them often! I am praying for you and am so excited to hear all of your awesome stories when you get home!! Zoot zoot zoot!!! ~Anna
Kristy,
I’m glad to see that you are well rested and ready to hit it! Goooooooo team Guatamala! The Shining Stars are doing well and praying for you! I’m not sure if you can access the HQOL website, but there’s a fun incentive for September!!! Have a great day!
Blessings,
Julie
Hi Krisy,
Glad to hear everyone is well rested and ready to work! What a great team you have =) I cant wait to hear about the village and the people. I am so happy for you that Guatemala is now such a part of you too, along with Kevin, that is so awesome. You belong there, Jesus is so evident in you and I know you will have such an impact on people. Im praying for you all!
love,
Leah
Kristy- I’m glad to hear that you made it safe and sound. I’ll continue to keep you and your team in my prayers this week. Have a very blessed day. Remember keep workin for the Lord!! Heather
Hi Kristy,
Glad to hear you made it safely and it sounds like you’re off to a wonderful start. Have a wonderful time and I truly hope all those girls don’t give you a run for your money!! Remember that you are all in our prayers and we will also include your kids as I’m sure they miss their parents – at least a little bit! Hope all goes well for them with their grandparents as well. It was wonderful to see all your excitement Tuesday morning and pray all of the team has that same wonderful experience!
Take care and love you all!
Jodi
Kristy,
Gald to hear that things are going well. I know that you and your team are going to be such a blessing to all you touch. I will continue to pray for all of you.
Candace Bennett
Dear Kristy,
You and your team from Ivanrest remain in our prayers. May God bless you with good sleep and good food so that you have energy to do the work that he has called you to do. “Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” I John 4: 7 Know that you are loved Kristy! Enjoying sharing God’s love. Love,Alison
Hello there, my friend! Glad to hear you are catching sleep while you can to avoid those migraines! How awesome that everyone arrived healthy…I will pray that you all stay that way! I can only imagine the people in the village when they see you drive up in the vans! To show love to them and share Jesus is why God put you right there at this time and place! stay healthy and safe and know you are prayed for! Love, Kris
Kristy–So glad you are there safe and sound and that everyone remains in good health. God Bless you for your work with the wonderful people of Guatamala. Take care–
Stacey
Dear Kristy, Sending you off yesterday morning was such a blessing to all of us. To see the faith and desire to lead and minister to our kids and the people of Guatemala are an inspiration to us all. The Love of Christ radiates from you both! It is a bonus to know that you are with Joni this week – she considers you and Kevin to be very special people in her life. I pray that you will have the necessary energy and health to reach your full potential to serve. Blessings and prayer cover to all of you this week. In Christ, Judy
Hi Kristy!
This is your prayer partner, Sheri. Prayers of safe travel have been answered. You made it there with no problems.Good way to start the trip. Hope your first day went well. Just read
I miss you!
I can’t wait to hear all about everything…by the way…the Blake above was my mom accidently…she didn’t liek the dark colors of the site : ) Oh well, prayjng for yo uguys
Dear Kristy,
I am glad you are back in Guatemala, I am sure your smile is lighting up the whole country! I am praying for you as you lead your team everyday! I am sure this will be a very special trip! I think your team will have special bonds that will be powerful, and life lasting! Thank you for working so hard! I know you are blessed!
Shelly Rosema
Hi!! I hope that you are having a great time and I’m happy that you all made it there!! Are you working hard? I’ll be praying for you :]
Love,
Hannah
Hi Mom, I’m having a great time. How are you doing? Grandma and I played a game of Uncle Wiggily tonight. I won the game. I love you, Mom! I miss you a lot. What are you doing there? Now I have to go to bed. Good night, Mom! Hugs and Kisses to you. Katie
Hi Mom, how are you? I can’t wait till I get to go! Remember that God is watching over you and taking care of you. Also keep in mind this verse,”For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,£ neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
God bless you.
Your loving son,
Josh
How can I even begin putting into words what we experienced yesterday? It was simply amazing. It started off with great food again (you all know how much that means to me!), then our personal devos (why do we not take the time when we are home to plug into the power of God’s word, I know it is such a struggle for me to stay consistent with my devos and that is going to change!), and then it was off to our village!
I had such a great time riding with Dan in one of the brand new vans. What a blessing those have been already to the mission!! They have saved them so much money just from gas alone and the power! WOW! It makes the stress of that week that Kevin & Dan drove down here, all worth it!! We had a great time talking as we drowe up. He is very excited about our women’s trip out here in January! When I told him about our team, he began to start talking about what he hopes to have us do. He asked that we start praying for the women we will be building for. He hopes to do 3 homes for single moms and he can’t wait to see how we will be able to minister to them. Renee R. I told him about your desire to bring sewing machines and he got a great BIG GRIN on his face!!!!! That has been one of his dreams for YEARS to start a sewing Co-op. Where they could have several machines at the base and teach the women to sew specific items that the mission could sell for them, it would provide a safe place for these women where they can learn a trade!!! Wahoo Renee!! They are going to have a container shipped down in Oct/Nov/or Dec and he would like to have several sewing machines. We can start putting out the word for that need!
We also talked about my Tastefully Simple Tastebuds from around the country who are helping the women’s trip by paying for all the homes we are building in january. He is so excited about that! He even brought up the idea about doing a TS serve project down here!! We will begin looking at dates for sometime in the next year or two for a TS trip down here.
WE got to the village and were once again blown away with the beauty of the country and the precious people and the abject poverty that they live in! We got to work right away and even though we didn’t know what we were doing we started putting up a house. My team is incredible and I am so thankful for each one! Everyone of them were working hard but no one worked harder than Kevin VandenBosch!! Hi single handlly put up all the walls with his muscles!! 🙂 The children were precious, although there is one who slapped Lori in the face when she said “No mas” when she started a riot with candy!! 🙂 But little Gloria made it all better! SHe attached herself to our team, specifically to Lori and Spencer. It was so much fun watching Lori laugh out loud while she was ickling Gloria! Spencer was awesome! His obvious love for these kids was contagious. I could write so much more but there is aline up for the computer.
To all my SHining Stars thankyou for your prayers and support! I can’t check our website so now all of you know an incentive I don’t! 🙂 I can’t wait to see where we end up this month with sales. I know you are rocking up there!
I love you all!
In His loving grip!
Kristy
Dear Kristy,
Kevin let us know that you are on his “smaller” team. He is totally thrilled with your team. Please know that I will be praying for each person on your team individually two times a day. I will be praying for you specifically at 9 AM and 9 PM. Kevin also gave a little background on the Grandpa and Grandma that you are building your house for. We will be praying that they open their hearts to you guys to build a relationship and then that they open their hearts to God’s gift of salvation – we so desire them to have their eternal “house” in heaven!! Stucco away today – stay safe, healthy, cool, and strong! Keep a close eye on Kevin for us – hopefully, he won’t be too dramatic for ya!
Our God Reigns!
Beth Vanden Bosch
Hi Kristy, Well now you’re going to get to know Spencer really well. Hopefully he behaves in front of all the ladies. I’m so excited to hear what is going on every day and will continue to pray for you and the team.
Today was a wonderful day, yet again! I am so excited to let all of you know that your prayers are working in powerful ways. Lives are being changed, hearts are being broken and none of us will ever be the same! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!!! Love you tons!
Josh & Chris, we can’t wait until you can join us! It will be so much fun!!! Katie, I am so glad that you are having fun with Grandma & Grandpa! Art & Joanne thank you so much for taking care of our kids and having fun with them! Love you so much! ~ Kristy
Kristy, I’m happy to read that all is going great and you are being blessed with health and joy. I pray for you often, and I will continue to praise God for you, and for your needs. Have a wonderful week. Enjoy, and rejoice.
Dirk
Kristy:
You made me cry with your note. Boy, I may as well go to Guatemala…I cry here, I cry there…. Your note of tonight assures me that prayers are being answered as lives are being changed. I expected it, but it’s just great to hear it. And most of all, I just can’t wait to SEE it!
Love you,
Lynette
I Cor 13:3
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Tomorrow will be a great day for an outpouring of love!
Hey Kristy, It sounds incredible, as it does each time a group goes. Some day… I know you are a great encouragement to all the team members down there, and I’m sure your enthusiasm is contagious. Thank you for the nurturing touch you add. God is using each of you there in incredible ways. Your are constantly in our prayers. In His Love, Lynn
Hi there! Could not wait to get on and see what you all accomplished and experienced today! What amazing things God does when people come together in his name!
Julie activated–does that give you enough for Gung Ho recruiting award at Nationals! Wow! After 8 years of doing TS, you are still making waves! I can’t check your team sales without a password, but mine are up so I’m sure yours are too! 🙂 Anyway, so glad that TS has given you an even bigger mission field then you ever imagined possible! Keep reading that Bible and falling more and more in love!
Wow Kristy! It sounds like you are really making a difference! The kids sound so special and grateful for all you are doing! I have to tell you that Josh’s comment just before your longer one brought me to tears! What a loving and caring son! I can’t wait to have my boys (and girl) grow up and be so …hmmm…what’s the word…so wholesome! He seems to be headed in the right direction: loving his family, loving God, and sharing His word with you when you realllllly need it! I’m headed for Cheboygan tomorrow and probably won’t get to post again before you get home. Have a safe trip and try not to get sick!
Love you!
Julie
Hi Kristy
Just wanted to touch base with you even though you know that us prayer warriors are always connected. WOW! Everything sounds like it is going so well without any troubles or unexpected turns. Praise the Lord for we know that he is in ultimate control. It is so fun reading the updates and seeing the pictures, we can feel God presence thru the words and pictures. Thank you for all that you are doing for the team, for the people of Guatemala and for our Lord. You are such a blessing to all those you meet. Say hi to Kevin for us as I will send him a note later on in the week. Take care Kristy and we send our Love to you all! Sincerely, Bill and Lisa Van Dyken
Once again God has brought us to our knees in praise and awe! We worked really hard this morning as we sanded and re-mudded the interiors (Karen aren’t you impressed I am learning some technical verbiage?!) then began the fun job of stucco! As a whole group we go from house to house and putting the beautiful trademark pink stucco on the walls. It is extremely messy but very rewarding as we laugh together as a team and as the kids from the village run back and forth bringing us more mud! Everyone works so hard, whether it is putting the stucco on or playing with the kids. It is an incredible time as we try to get everything done before lunch. It is critical that we do that because this is the rainy season and if it rains before the stucco dries, it will all fall off and we will have to re-do it, which is a huge cost of time and money that we do not have! We finished in time and began eating one of my favorite lunches of veggies, rice and homemade tortillas!!! YUMMY!! They even had chicken, which is a week’s wages for these families! As we began eating it started to rain…just a bit…Kevin called us to prayer and God answered! The rain cleared up and the sun came out! We serve such an amazing God!
The afternoon was spent walking around the hills seeing the homes that Kevin and his team from two years ago built, playing with the kids and building relationships. As we were walking from the house that Kevin built, a little girl (the sister of the cleft pallet baby that Sheri Jurgens helped in January) came running up to us and said her mom wants us to come to her home and visit the baby. She was so excited to show us the baby. Oh Sheri, you would be so amazed at the size of him!!! He has grown so much and is healthy and very happy!!! He was swinging in this bed that they have hanging from the ceiling, and laughing at me. It was the highlight of my day. The mother shared with me the pain and sorrow she once felt, is no longer there! Her baby is alive and doing well, thanks to God’s gentle tug on Sheri’s heart when He had the baby’s sister place him in Sheri’s arms. The formula is working and the baby is alive but the most important thing is that this family has peace. The mother is a Christian and has been for about 7 years, and during that time she has been persecuted from the other villagers. When her baby was born with a cleft pallet they told her that the reason that happened was because she was a Christian. Today she proudly proclaims that her baby is alive because of God! She is so grateful to you Sheri. We took lots of pictures and I know that Nate was going to post at least one of them so you could see how big he has gotten.
After much laughing, singing, dancing, running after tennis balls, throwing out of candy we packed it up to leave…however God was not done with us. While one of the vans was coming up slowly, a small boy darted out after a soccer ball and got run over. The 8000 lb van rolled over his leg, which happened to be directly over a concrete manhole cover. Dan just knew that the leg was going to be crushed! There was no way it could be anything else. They loaded the boy and his father (who happened to be someone Dan has been trying to help for years) into the van to take him to the hospital. We all began praying earnestly for healing! When Dan returned several hours after us, we were anxious to hear what had happened, but we were never prepared to hear the news that NOTHING WAS BROKEN!! Even the doctors could not explain it, of course we can…God performed yet another miracle! This gave Dan and Margarita (our incredible cook and missionary) a chance to talk about this miracle in front of this hardened father. Many inroads have been made today and I am sure we will see the fruit of it tomorrow and in the years to come. Oh yeah…I almost forgot another sign of God’s power. It began raining as soon as we returned and it poured and poured. We were all concerned again about our stucco! When will stop worrying and learn to trust? Dan said that when he brought the boy and his dad back home, the roads were dry and they had no rain!!
Thank you for your continued prayers. We feel them and are very grateful for each and every one! Please pray for the families as we dedicate their homes tomorrow. These are some precious people. Our team is building for an 84 year old couple. They had to be talked into letting us build them a home because they said, “what’s the use we will be dying soon?” There son finally convinced them to let us. They are very shy and we have only seen the grandma once. Pray that their hearts will be open. We are putting Psalm 121 on all four walls. This has become our teams verse. When we were talking about what verse to put on our walls, Alexa said let’s do the one we just sang, “I will lift my eyes to the mountains…” I said that is Psalm 121 and Kevin VandenBosch immediately said, “that’s the one I looked up!” Neither of them realized the importance of this chapter to Lori and to myself. The last verse is the one Melissa had on a 3X5 card in her car. “…the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” We are putting that one right above the door. We have all felt Melissa’s presence here this week and I am so grateful that we are in the same village that she was 2 years ago. God has His fingerprints all over this week and He is sustaining us all.
I am the last one up. Everyone else is in bed and I need to get there. My headaches are gone. I have had one each morning but have not had any major spells. Thank you for your prayers. So far everyone is healthy, tomorrow is usually the day we begin to see something so I ask that you pray that we will continue to have great health. I love you all! In His Grip, Kristy
Kristy, I have mainly been praying for you and the headaches, so what an answer to not have anything major. Thanks for all the updates, it just sounds like God is at work in such a major way there, a true testimony to the power of prayer. We will continue to pray today, and we just love knowing a bit about the families that we are praying for. Just think how God can change and impact the lives of people even in their 80’s, they may be the ones that he has chosen specifically to be HIS at this day and this time, so wow, we can sit back and watch his power. Take care of Lori, and get her some D.C. today. love to all, Carole and the P family.
I Hi Kristy and Kevin, We made it safely to GR and had a good night’s sleep. Yesterday we went to pick up the kids and Art and Joanne had a picnic lunch all ready which we took to Holland Beach. It was extremly windy and I have never seen such huge waves on Lake Michigan. The kids and Grandma went into the water but stayed very close to shore becuse the red flags were out. The water was realy warm and they had a great time. Dad and I were chickens and stayed on beach with Art. But I had a very good reason to stay ashorewhich I willexplain later! I was just dying to get into the water. The kids are home with us now and we are having a wonderful time. We are going to the movies today. Wee are having so much funwith them. They havve grown sooo much! Katie looks so grown-up in her new haircut. I love it. I am so intrigued by your letters and the work you are doing there. I would like to go with you nextyear if at all possible. I m going towork towards that goal. Katie woke up this morning and said she had a nightmare that you were not doing so good. We came right to the computer and read your notes. She was perfectly satisfied with that and went on her happy way. Be assured that our God is always faithful and he is blessing us tremeendously as we are here loving up your dear children and our very bright and beautiful grandchildren. You know our prayers are with you and you both know how much we love you both! You have always been our joy in life and I thank God he placed you in our arms to love and cherish you. What an amazing God we have! I have had to call Josh home from Cody’s to help me with the computer so I’d better sigh off and get this sent. May God go with you all today. We love you both so much! Please continue to be blessed by Him during this trip and may He bring you home safely nexxt Tuesday. I will be just as anxious as the kids to see you home again. We can hardly wait to see you. God bless you all! We love you MORE! Mom and Dad Sorry I took up so much of your time with this note. Love you!
Hi Kristy,
It sounds like you are having another great week in Guatemala. I wish I was there with you. I have been praying for you, specifically that you don’t have any migraines like you did last year(sorry I am not there to help). I am sure that today was amazing and this weekend will be great too. I want to hear all about it when you get back. You and the team are always in my thoughts and prayers.
Michelle Bruinsma
Hi Kristy
Thank you for the message that you left for us this morning about Rachel. We appreciated the heads up so that we could right away start to pray for her. We were very surprised to hear about it because the last posting from her was so very,very good and things couldn’t of been any better. What I have prayed the most for today is for a speedy recovery and that she did not miss out on the powerful dedication of the homes that you have worked so hard to build! I know that the Lord is in control and the he will give her the strength that she needs. Once again we love you all and we will continue to lift you up in prayer. Love, Lisa
Today the dedications were incredible! My post tonight will be much shorter because my amazing team, TEAMO SUPREMO will be doing the team update!! But suffice it to say, that I was humbled by God once again as I saw what He did in the lives of the villagers and the team!!
Mom & Dad, I am so glad that you are there taking care of our kids! It sounds like you are having a wonderful time with them, just as I knew you would. I am so glad that Katie’s mind was put to ease and that she knows we are both doing great! Today I have felt fantastic and had so much fun playing with the kids. I got very homesick for you guys and showed everyone the pictures of you. They all thought it was so funny that my 12 yearold son was bigger than me! They loved the picture of Chris and his fish from Ludington and they thought Katie was so beautiful! Josh, Chris and Katie I love you so very much! Thank you once again Mom and Dad! I can’t wait to tell you more.
In His Grip!!
Kristy
Kristy,
Hey girl! How’s your week been going? I see your building in the village I built in this winter. I saw the picture of Al with my baby and almost cried. Not cool when your sitting at the Library checking out the pictures. Did you get to see him and his mother too? I’ve been praying for you and thinking about you daily and what your doing each day and night. I know Guatemala has not only touched Kevin’s heart but has now touched your heart too. Don’t let Al give you a hard time. See you at the airport Tuesday. Sheri
Hey Kristy,
I hope you are having a great time in Guate. I know it’s an amazing experience. You are in my thoughts and prayers this week. I can’t wait to see you guys when you get back.
Kristy I am so happy you were able to go to Guat again this summer! it sounds like you are having an awesome time and really feeling the power of the holy spirit in action! It is so weird not watching the kids this year 😦 I miss them!! Tim and I will definitely have to come and hang out at some point when you guys get back.
Tim and I are moving furniture around and cleaning the house today and trying to get the babies room ready for when the time comes 🙂 What a busy day but also super exciting b/c it just means that the time is fast approaching.
I hope the rest of your time is just as awesome as the first part has been Tim and I will be praying for you all
Love
Sara and Tim Muilenburg
Kristy,
I am so sorry to hear that you and Kevin are not feeling well. I will be praying for VERY quick recoveries and that no one else is stricken. I have to tell you that you amaze me! Not only sacrificing time with your children to love on the kids down in Guate, but you are also building homes, and still checking up on your team back home! We love you Kristy and can’t wait til you get home and tell us all about your adventures. I know we will have a ton of celebrating to do when you get back! So hurry! 🙂 Zoot Zoot! Love ya!
Thank you everyone for your prayers. I am feeling soooo much better! I am still a bit weak but my fever has broken and I have kept some crackers down! 🙂 Kevin is up and around as well. He got it a lot worse than I did, but I am so proud of him that he has stayed in bed and let the meds and prayers do their thing. Please pray for the team today as they are 3hours away near the coast in a very remote village. Pray that many lives will be saved! thanks again and I love you all!
Kristy
ps Sheri thank you so much for the daily notes (& to Blake for making the envelopes!!) They have been one of my highlights of the trip. I got to see your baby and the mom brought me to her home twice! Yesterday we gave them some shoes and I found a cute and very soft stuffed baby rattle. It was so fun to see how happy the whole family was. Your baby is doing so well and he laughed and laughed as I played with him. You have saved that baby’s life and have made all the differance in the world to that family!
Dear Kristy,
Thank you for being Amber’s mom for the week! So glad that you caught her fever. We are thinking of all of you and keeping you in our prayers. We are praying for your kids at home. What a blessing it is that you can be there serving our wonderful Lord!
Take care
Love,
Amy and David DeGraaf
hey kristy~
how are you doing? I hope guate is going well. I miss you. I cant wait to see you when u get back! You are amazing and i love you. Im praying for you!!!
love,
ashley
Dear Kristy,
We are praying for you sooooo much – even more than the 9AM and 9PM that I committed to. So glad that you guys are starting to feel a little bit better! The house/dedication/family pics are awesome! It has been so fun to watch slabs of cement turn into actual houses! These five houses are no longer just houses – each is now a HOME!!! Continue to serve God, showing His love in so many different ways. Love you all, Beth Vanden Bosch
Dear Kristy –
No volcanoes, but there is a beautiful full moon in the Michigan sky tonight – what an awesome reminder of our great God!! Love, Beth
Hi Kristy,
I am so glad to hear that you are feeling much better than before. We have a army of people praying for all of those who are not feeling well here back home and so we rejoice with answered prayers! We pray that everyone from this point on will continue to stay healthy. Sounds lke another wonderful God and Spirit filled trip. It is so fun to read the reports and see the pictures of what God is doing thru all of you. He is alive and working thru all of you and we can feel and see that. May you continue to shine for Jesus today in all that you do for him. Love Lisa
P.S Give Kevin a hug from us also,as I hope he is feeling alot better too!Love Ya!
Hi everyone,
Thank you for the prayers yesterday! it was hard to stay back but it was the right decision. both Kevin and I are feeling great this morning! In fact he decided he needed to go for a little run. He’s a bit nuts! 🙂 We are the only ones up. The rest of the team came back after midnight so they are all sleeping in. Lauren and Brandon are also feeling a lot better!! tHANK you for your prayers, they have made all the differance in the world.
To Steve & Carol, Kevin and I are going to buy the shoes this morning. We were not to sure what we were going to do with that much money for shoes but we trusted that God had a plan. When we told Dan what we needed to do, he got real silent and began thinking about how this would work best. He finally said, “I feel like we are supposed to bring shoes to the village on Sunday night! It is a small village, only 50 families and with that money we can provide shoes for every child that needs a pair!” God is soooo good!
Kevin was a little frustrated before we left because he was looking for the list from last year that his favorite little girl wrote out for him. It contained the names and shoes sizes of her brothers, sisters and cousins. He thought we could use that and buy one size larger for them. Yesterday, he found it here in Guatemala! It was in a zippered part of his shaving kit! God is amazing! So we will also be buying them their shoes. Thank you once again for listening to God’s still quiet voice and honoring his nudges. I will take lots of pictures!! Many blessings to you!
I’m am sooooooooo glad to hear that you and Kevin are feeling better!! I love all of your updates Kristy! Love ya!! Zoot zoot zoot!!
Praise God for everyone feeling better. I am loving reading all the updates and see the pictures. You are doing such amazing work Kristy. No wonder you speak of these trips the way you do! Can’t wait to have you home soon! Take care. Zoot zoot!
So glad to read that you are better today! Shoes…at home I decide which ones I want to wear and which ones look best. We have so much. Thanks for the reminders of how good we have it and how much we are needed in the world.
Your dad was going to go fishing with my dad…I think they might try later on in the week! Looks like the kids are having fun.
Hi Kristi!
What an awesome God we serve! Your messages are so full of praises, it’s really given me a much-needed hit over the head to be thankful. I am praying for you, and for all the people whose lives you are shining Christ’s love into right now. Thank you for your love for Him, and your loving and generous spirit!
Hey Mom. We’re having so much fun with Nana and Papa. We’re a lot of Rummikub. We’re also going to do a lot of crafts tomorrow. It is amazing what you can do in just a few days.
It is amazing how a lot of people will be saved through faith because of what you are doing in Gutemala. I can’t believe how many people have been saved in the past Guatemala trips. Also keep in mind that God loves you and watches over you.
God bless you.
Your loving son,
Josh
Kristy –
I am SO glad that you and the rest of the team are feeling better!! What an answer to prayer!
Don’t worry about learning any technical language….we’ll never be in Al’s League! 🙂 (although I’m a great euchre player….)
Kirk and I were in Chicago this weekend with some family from Sweden. We worshiped at Willow Creek this morning and heard Efrem Smith’s message “Friends on a Mission”. I am very much looking forward to being a friend to the brothers and sisters in Guatemala in January. Can’t wait to sing “I am a friend of God” in Guate in 2008!
Love you!
Karen
Dear friends and family,
Words can not begin to be enough to tell you about last night! The pictures will help and I can’t wait until Nate gets them put up! After an extremely looooooooong drive we arrived in a gorgeous location filled with beautiful, yet very poor people. Thank you to all who donated toys ,tennis balls, soccer balls, finger nail polish, hair bands, crayons, coloring books and so much more. Those items became God’s special tools that empowered us to do His will. Ramblewood Tennis had donated hundreds of tennis balls and it was incredible what that did. Those balls broke the ice and we spent many hours throwing the balls back and forth. The nail polish was used by everyone and even the big guys (Bosch, AJ and Chad) got their fingers painted. The villagers thought that was hilarious! I had an incredible time learning Spanish with a group of adults and children. I am definitely going to learn more before I come back with the women in January!!
The biggest hit though for the villagers were the hundreds of shoes we brought to give away. In fact several families didn’t even want the medicine when they saw the shoes! (They did get their medicine as well but they were sooooo excited about those shoes!) This village is in such a beautiful spot, volcanos surround it and it was amazing as this huge thunder storm came up! Just as the clinic got done the rain came!! Once again perfect timing. It forced all of us, team members and villagers under the tarps and tents. We had fun playing with them and talking with them as we waited for the movie to begin.
After the movie we had several team members give their testimonies. Kevin VanderBosch gave an incredibly moving one that had us all in tears. God has used this team to once again bring many people to Him. I can not wait to see them in Heaven.
The van ride back was another testimony of God. I can’t wait until you see the pictures of the huge tree that blocked our way. Satan tried but failed as he always does!!!
To all the parents, I want to say THANK YOU for your son and daughter! These kids have changed lives both theirs and everyone they came in contact with. They are so special and I can’t wait for you to hear more from them about how God has touched their hearts.
Please pray for tonight as there are still several that are holding back. Pray that they will let go and let God take control. Pray for the health of the team members that are sick.
Pray for Dan and Heidi as they are tired and yet they need to get ready for the next group.
In His Grip,
Kristy
Keeping you in my prayers Kristy! I am so amazed by all that you and this organization is doing! I am trying to raise some funds for you to keep at this incredible work! I’ll see you at Nationals!
Donna Morin – NH TS TMT
Kristy,
We’ve enjoyed keeping up with your news and we’ve enjoyed your kids. They were here for a couple of hours this afternoon while your mom and dad went shopping. Enjoy what they want to do for you.
Looking forward to seeing you back in Michigan.
Love, Mom VW
Praying for safe travels and complete health for the team before you all fly home. What an amazing journey! I’m praying for your whole team right now as you are probably all together for your final night.
Kristy,
We are wondering when you are coming home today. We have had a wonderful time with thekids. I want to do some crafts wit them today but Dad wants to go to Lake michigan to see Bud Ipema and today is our only dayto see them. Forgive us if we don’t have something ready for both of you when you get home. Maybe the kids can take thier suits with them and swim and play in the Lake as Bud lives on Lake Michigan. Chris is still sleeping nd I am heading for the shower. Won’t it feel good to sleep in your own beds tonight? I love you both so much and the kids have been awesome. Josh made us french fries yesterday for breakfast and they were delicious! Not to good on the diet, though. We are looking forward to seeing you today sometime.
Love you more! Mom