MITCHELL

October 19, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for your prayers in the past months. We have greatly experienced God's grace, faithfulness, and love, and He has revealed more of His character to us in our experiences.

Tanzi's procedure in Georgia went very well with a bright outcome. Although we, including the doctor, had feared that Tanzi had a debilitating intestinal disease the procedure showed that she does not! She has Irritable Bowel Syndrome which is painful but with diet can be greatly improved and does not destroy the intestinal wall as do other conditions of the intestine. We are so thankful to the Dr. who did this procedure at no charge, for Tanzi's parents who paid the round trip plane fair, and especially to God who is continually faithful and good in all things. We were also able to have wonderful visits with our families in Alaska and Washington, spending quality time with them is always a rich blessing and we are so thankful that we had the chance to do so.

As the school year nears coming to a close here in Nicaragua (They have school from January to November) Tanzi is realizing more and more how much she loves her kids and how much they need God's love. It is also apparent that there is a great need for solid academic and spiritual education. Many of her students have excelled in English, but more so she is pleased at their change of attitudes towards education, life, and each other. It truly has been a challenging but rewarding year.

John has also taken on teaching an English class for the last two months of school and is keeping the base in running order through his duties as director of maintenance. As part of running maintenance, John has a team of students that he mentors, helping them not only to learn life skills but also to process the content they are studying in class. It is these moments of listening and teaching that provide encouragement and purpose for our being here. It is an amazing privilege to help people understand God's heart for the world and make choices in their lives to honor His desires.

On October 4th we celebrated our one year anniversary! We both agree that although physically and emotionally this year has been difficult, relationally it has been amazing! We are much more in love today then a year ago when we said our vows and we give thanks and all the glory to God. Thank you for praying for us as we continue on this journey together.

In the coming year we plan to remain in Nicaragua to staff the Discipleship Training School (DTS) beginning in January. We are both excited about being able to staff this school because we can personally testify that it is an amazing tool that God uses to teach not only the importance of an intimate, trusting, and fearful, walk with Him but also how to achieve and maintain it.

As of now there are 2 other staff for the school who are both from Nicaragua. As a team we have begun the process of communicating with prospective students, praying and meeting together once a week, and have recently accepted our first student! Please pray for us as we discern which prospective students should take the course at this time, for our Spanish to improve by leaps and bounds, and that we continue to put God and his will and purpose first in all things.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for and supporting us. We could not be here if it were not for your faithfulness to God's calling on your life to be a part of the calling He has placed on ours. For those of you interested in financially supporting and partnering with our ministry, instructions are given at the end of this letter

In Christ,
John and Tanzi

Checks should be made out to YWAM, with no mention of our names on the check. Please place a note in the envelope indicating that the check is for us. Checks can be sent here:
YWAM Tyler
P.O. Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX 75771-3000

If you are interested in giving monthly or with a credit card, please e-mail me for more information. Thanks!