A Gillette Family Christmas Video

Fall DTS

Sorry, it's been awhile since we've posted!  We are keeping busy preparing for students who will begin arriving in a week!!!  We have 53 students so far!  We are so excited!  Lots of planning and cleaning, even some minor remodel jobs on the dorms!  The whole base is hopping!  Not only does our school, DTS have 53 students but there will be a School of Biblical Studies running at the same time with another 53 students, and I think school of worship has 8 students!  We all have high expectations of what God will do in and through the students, staff, and base as a whole!

Staff Intake

Staff intake has begun here at YWAM MT!  We are so excited for the month of August!  During Intake we are learning the basics of community living here on the base and about the history of God's work here on base!  WE have staff and students in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica whom will be returning in a couple of weeks!  We look forward to seeing them all and hearing what God has been doing in these places!  We also have 45 YWAM leaders whom will be on base for a week from various other YWAM bases.  We feel blessed to be able to host them!  Dan and I will begin working with about 10 other staff members on the 22nd to begin praying over the fall school direction and students.  We are so excited to start staffing our first school right away!  We will keep you posted as we know more!  God Bless

WE ARE HERE!

We made it back to Montana on Tuesday the 19th of July!  Since returning we are trying to get settled in and seeing everyone!  Mom and Kenny stayed with us until the 25th which was nice.  We will begin our staff intake on Monday and look forward to it.  There has been some mention of us possibly helping staff the fall school in September already!  We are just so excited to see where God leads us and will keep you posted!

Come See Us

This Sunday, July 17th at 12:30 we will be at the Vine (old Greenbriar) on corner of Pennsylvania and Jefferson.  We will have pictures from our trip and would love to sit and chat with you about what God has been doing in and through our family and the passion He has placed in us for Gillette Missions!  If you are in Ottumwa and available we would love to see you!

Next Step

First of all, let us apologize for not keeping up on our blog.  While in Taiwan I had some difficulty with the language on my blog and couldn't read it to post anything.  LOL  Then, we have been without a laptop for sometime.  So, since being back in the States we have graduated from our Discipleship Training with YWAM and are now official YWAMers!!!  Yay!  We have been back in our home town for the past 7 weeks, visiting with our loved ones and helping our local church.  We were blessed with a laptop!  Next, we believe God has called us to be fulltime with YWAM Montana and have made a 2 year commitment to the base there.  We will begin our staff training August 1.  YWAM operates out of approximately 183 countries with somewhere around 18,000 staff members.  None of YWAMs staff are paid.  All 18,000+ staff raise their own monthly support usually from local churches and individual friends and family members.  Daniel, the kids, and I are very excited to be a part of this organization and continue sharing Jesus with the world!  If you are interested in hearing more or partnering with our ministry please message us.  We would love to share our vision with you!

HOME

We made it HOME!  We were actually back in the states 2 weeks ago and had our debriefing time in Montana.  We made it to Otown Saturday afternoon, May 28!  It is good to be home and we are so excited to share our passions with you!  If you are available we are having a dessert and sharing night Saturday, June 11 @ 7pm 1932 Albia Rd, First Church of the Open Bible basement!  Please come and hear what God has been doing and where He is calling us next!  We are so excited to share this journey with all of you!

Taiwan!!!

We made it!  God wanted us in Taiwan and He exceeded our expectations!  We have made some amazing friends already and can see God's hand at work!  The Taiwanese love the kids...some have went crazy over Kobe saying he looks like Justin Bieber!!!  We have been ministering in elementary schools and universities.  We did our first performance in a local coffee shop tonight and will be performing at a church tomorrow.  We go to a smaller town about an hour from Taipei and stay there this following week.  We are expecting great things in Taiwan! God did such an amazing thing getting us here that we know He has a plan!  Can't wait to share with you all!  Blessings!

God is bigger than our Finances!

We leave for Taiwan 3am Thursday (tonight)!!!  Ahhhhh....  We still need $1,000 to come in today to meet all our expenses.  We know that God can and will provide for this.  He has brought in so much more than that over the last 8 or 9 weeks!  Let's go Team Jesus!  Woot woot!

One Week til Taiwan!

We leave for Taiwan in 1 wk and 3 days!  It is hard to believe!  Our lecture phase has went so fast and God has been doing some amazing things in us and through us!  We are still believing for $7000 this last week to pay for our airline tickets and food and housing while there!  A couple of weeks ago God kept waking me up saying Isaiah 64!  I had no idea if Isaiah even had that many chapters!  In the morning I read it but wasn't sure what God was trying to tell me.  Last night, God gave me a strong desire to dig into the scripture and I had a hard time getting past the first three verses...it just had so much meaning.  With that being said I believe Is. 64 is our prayer this week.  "O' that you would rend the heavens and come down...when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled...You act on behalf of those who wait for you...You come to the help of those who remember your ways..."  O Lord how we desire to know you more and be filled with you more...help us on this journey to fully seek your face and your ways to the glory of your kingdom!

House for sale or rent

We have recently found out that our friends who have been staying in our house are moving and will be out by April 1st.  This leaves us with questions as what we should do next.  Not only do we not have the finances to cover our mortgage but we will be out of the country for two months during this time.  We know our God is good and has the perfect plan even when we are feeling squeezed.  So we are trusting that No matter how it is worked out this situation will work out as God intends.  Let us know if you know of anyone interested in buying or renting a house in the Ottumwa area and we will see what we can do!  Blessings, Misty

Star Breather

So this week God has been showing me just how massive He is!  He is not just this man up in the clouds....He is way beyond that....our Earth is smaller than a pin dot in comparison to the largest star that He BREATHED INTO BEING!!!  Which means I am smaller than a vapor in comparison to Him and yet with all my whining and disobeying and doubting (I could go on and on)  He still loves me and wants a relationship with ME!  Wow, now that is amazing!

Mini outreach Seattle WA

We are back in Montana!  We went to Seattle for one week...it took 3 15passenger vans plus one car to get us all there and a 10hour drive!  It was amazing!  We fed the homeless, painted, cleaned, organized, put on dramas, led worship and overall just loved people and supported local ministries!  The kids were so excited to be a part of "showing the love of Jesus" in their words!  Please remember to pray for us for guidance as we move along this path God has called us to!  We love you all!  God Bless

He is big enough!

So, the last couple of days I have been wrestling with God and why we are here or even if we are spose to be.  Finances have always been a struggle for me and this season we have to fully rely on God to provide.  When things don't get paid as I feel they should I begin to struggle as in the past couple days.  So, during worship yesterday a staff member here at YWAM had a vision for us.  God was cradling our entire family within His hands and enveloped us saying "He is big enough for our finances!"  So, while I may not see it and our creditors may be knocking I want to trust that God knows the big picture and as long as we are obedient to His leading He will provide one way or another!!!  Lord help us to believe even in our unbelief!  Thank you for your redeeming love and mercy!  Blessings to all of our family and friends!  We love you all!

Piano

So I am finally really trying to learn to play piano!  Piano has always been my most favorite musical instrument and I have always dreamed of playing just never took the time!  so here it goes!  : )

First outreach opportunity!

So, we were blessed to go to a local church camp last night!  Dan and some other YWAMers in our class got to lead worship for them and we all played some games and had a good time!  We get to go back again tonight!  So excited to just spend time with the local youth!

Sickness

Ok so the kids have all been sick off and on since the week we headed here!  I am not getting much sleep and it is really wearing me down!  Please pray for my strength spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Pray for the kids that there be a healing!  Beyond that, we are all loving the missions work God has called us to!  We are making life time friendships and learning timeless principles that we can apply to our lives and hopefully those God blesses us with living life with!  Love ya all!  Blessings from the Gillette's

After 1 week of classes!

Wow!  Hard to believe we completed one full week and are half way through our 2nd week!  God is so amazing and has been doing lots this past 1 1/2!  All three kids have been sick off and on for the past 2 weeks so please keep them in your prayers!  We learned to really appreciate the redeeming grace Christ has given each believer in this first week of lectures!  We have made many new friends and are learning more each day about our individual God given talents and how to use them to minister to others and share the gospel!  We are the only family in class.  We are not the only family on base but the only students in DTS.  So, we have slowly been finding our place in that!  This week God has been asking me, Misty, specifically "what are you afraid of?"  Like the disciples in the boat....  I feel like many times I have to come back to this question.  Which in turn brings me to where do I lay my faith?  Pretty rough I know!  Lots of tears this week!  But all good!  Daniel and I had to pray about three outreach locations this week and agreed we would have to be given the same answer without talking about it!  Ahhh....I immediately felt a joy and sense of peace with Taiwan (and really no idea why. it's never been a desire of mine to go there necessarily.)  Dan got up after class ended just a couple minutes after my "revelation" and stated that he knew we already had the same answer.  I went to our room to pray or shall I say wrestle with God and the previous questions among others.  I asked Dan how he knew we had the same answer and he said as soon as God revealed the location to him He also revealed that He had given us both the same answer already.  So, I asked what was your answer and Dan said matter of factly "Taiwan."  Crazy!  I know!  We have so many of these little confirmations that God is sharing with us and through us!  And I am excited to share with everyone but beings I have already wrote a book I will share more later!  : D  Blessings to all!

First Weekend in Montana!

Wow! After a whopping 28 hour drive from Ottumwa, Iowa, to Lakeside, Montana filled with white outs and treacherous road conditions, we have arrived! We all agree that of all the places we have been, Montana is the most beautiful. The people here, on base, are amazing and have been nothing short of hospitable and helpful. Tomorrow marks the first official of WDTS 2011. We are excited and nervous all at once. As we prepare for the kids first day of school as well as ours, we have a peace knowing that God has paved the way for us and has not failed us this far. Why would he start now? Plain answer, He WON'T! There will be more blogging to come but for this first entry we really just want to thank everyone for your prayers and support and keep them coming! We need the faithful prayers and support of our friends and family in Christ. Bless you all and know that we will do our best to keep this blog updated with events and thoughts from our new adventure.

In Christ's Service Together,
The Gillettes