God bless you all, I hope that you are all doing well.  Though it was nice to be on the island ministering with Lalo and Andrew, it’s been kind of hard to keep up with the BLOG since there’s no internet on the island.  But now that we’re in El Higo, we can keep ya’ll up to date a little better.  This past Monday (May 10^th) we loaded up the van and the trailer and made the 9 hour drive from the island to the orphanage where Marcus, Vero and Joelito were waiting for us.  Our time on the island and in the city of Tuxtepec was a really good time and we pray that the seeds that we sowed will one day give lots of fruit.  Here in El Higo, our plan is to revisit the homes that we visited last year with the students.  We hope to find everyone growing in the Lord and encouraged to see us again.  We ask that you pray that God would give us many words of encouragement to share with them.  We also ask that you would especially pray for Andrew and Juanita who’ve started a new life together this past Saturday (May 8^th).  They plan on staying on the island for a few more months and then want to head to Reynosa to work with a good friend of Roger’s named, Dale Ackey, who runs a children’s ministry there.  So keep us all in your prayers and check out what Michelle and my wife have to say about these last few weeks!  God bless!                Joel

Well, we’ve had an exciting and busy week and a half.  We spent 4 days with Pastor Pascual and his family, which is always a blessing.  While we were there, we visited a couple of the missions that we went to last year, to visit some of the brothers and sisters and give them encouragement as well as lead some services.  We had a fun week of bathing and swimming in the beautiful river that was near, spending time getting to know the family and eating their delicious food!  One of the best part of this week was Sunday morning.  The service wasn’t until afternoon, and one of the youth had asked us to visit some people she knew.  The second house we went to, there was a couple brothers in their late teens and early 20’s, and one cousin.  The cousin has been a Christian for about 1 year, but the other two were not.  So Lalo began talking to them and their mom came to listen.  All three accepted Christ that morning!  And later the mom, her sister and their mom all came to the service!  The next day we left for the island where we spent the week getting ready for Andrew and Juanita’s wedding, along with some time spent evangelizing.  While we were visiting, my group of Lalo, Gaby and I talked with 2 women who were interested in learning more about Jesus!  Neither one reads very well, so Lalo will be returning every Tuesday to read to them more from the Bible and to teach them more about Jesus.  Please pray for these women, that they may be open to God’s Word and salvation!  Andrew and Juanita’s wedding was simple and beautiful.  We had set up the tent the night before, and in the morning everyone was getting ready for the wedding.  It was fun to see everyone dressed up for the occasion, and one of my favorite things was to see the island kids who came to sit down on the ground in the tent to watch the wedding-it was so cute.  Well, that’s all for now- God bless!       Michelle

After x amount of months, now have the opportunity to write something for the BLOG.  Two weeks ago we were in Tuxtepec, Oaxaca and we were with Pastor Pascual, ministering in his church and also in a few of the Pastor’s missions. We also evangelized in a few other places.  While we evangelizing we got to see a mother and her sons accept Jesus in their hearts.  We had a great week with the Pastor and his family, who all took really good care of us.  Last week was the our last week on the island, but wow, our time there was different for me; having to cook for the students over an open fire was something really different than cooking on a stove, but thanks to God I didn’t burn any of the meals!  We also went to Andrew and Juanita’s wedding.  The wedding day was a really hot day and we all finished the day really tired, but thanks to God, the wedding ended up being a really great wedding.  Andrew and Juanita are married and very happy.  The next day we climbed up the mountain to Juanita’s parent’s house, so that we could take the big revival tent down the mountain to a boat…wow, it was really a lot of work to get it down…and I hope to never have to carry it up or down there again!  Monday we left the island and we headed to El Higo, Veracruz, where we will be helping out one of the pastors in the area.  We’re hoping that God will do big things in the lives of the people here and that we’ll be a blessing too.  We hope that these DMT students will leave a great impact upon the people here.  God bless you all, it’s a pleasure to share a little bit of what we’re doing here.  As well, taking the opportunity that I have being that I’m writing something for the BLOG, I ask that you would pray a lot for the DMT students, my husband Joel and me, and Chely and Michelle, that God would daily give us strength during these next months ahead.  I love you all in the love of the Lord.            Ruth Bel Miller

Sorry that we haven’t gotten anything up on the BLOG in the last few weeks, but thank that Lord, we’re all still alive and kicking.  We now are entering into week three of Outreach and I would have to say that we all would say that it seems like it’s been a lot longer than that.  During this short time, some students have learned how to wash their clothes on a rock, others are learning to swim.  Some are learning Mazateco and others are eating wild boar for the first time…ha.  Since we haven’t put up a BLOG since before we left La Haciendita, Ruthy and I figured that it would be good to have them all write something about what we’ve been doing on Outreach.  We simply ask that you all would continue to pray for our Outreach; that we would take advantage of every opportunity that God gives us to share His Word with every open heart and ultimately, that He would do His will, whatever it takes!  God bless.  Joel and Ruthy

The time that we’ve spent here in the south has been a very tiring time but also a time full of blessings.  The two weeks that we’ve spent working with Lalo we’ve gotten to know many of the brothers and sisters from the island.  We also went to another island called Agua Escondida where we had an adult and children’s service, both of which were blessings.  Sunday we had a service with aaaaaalllllll of the brothers and sisters (there’s a lot) as Lalo’s done a very good job with them, and seeing that, has encouraged me to continue to work with my team; this is what we’ve done the most of on the island.  We now are going to spend a week in Tuxtepec and I hope that it’ll be a great blessing and wherever we’re going to go, we all are going to give it all that we’ve got.  We ask that you pray for us so that this DMT continues strong and doesn’t give up.  I also want to thank Don Aarón for letting us stay in his house on the island.  Jesús

The time that we’ve spent on the island, Lalo’s been our leader.  We’ve had many children’s activities through out the week, both on top of the island and also at the property where many kids showed up.  We’ve been working on building some shower rooms, which aren’t done yet, but once we get back we’ll finish what’s left to finish.  While we were visiting homes on the island, one person in particular surprised me: an older man, who he was very sick and without any strength.  At first, when we started to share words of encouragement with him and his wife, he couldn’t understand us too well, but we to prayed for him and sang songs and he began to comprehend better.  When we finished praying, Ruth read some Bibles verses, Don Lorenzo began to cry and I could see that those words were touching his heart.  I believe that God’s going to do great things in his life.  God bless you all.  Omar

Hello, we’ve now been a week on the island and we’ve worked a lot with the kids.  We also spent some time evangelizing, visiting the brothers and sisters.  One sister in particular that we visited had diabetes.  We prayed for her and God moved in a very special way in her life.  We went to Agua Escondida and the brothers and sisters were very encouraged to have us.  We had some teachings for the kids too.  Now we’re in Tuxtepec and it’s really, really hot.  We attended the youth service Saturday.  This morning we went to visit Brother Pascual and then attended Sunday service where God was moving in all of us as well.  Afterwards, we ate Cuban-style chicken with Brother Lucindo.  God bless you all.  Gaby

Hey!  We now have 2 weeks since we started Outreach.  The first place where we’ve been has been on the island.  We’ve been working with Lalo to minister to the kids while he’s been giving Bible classes to the church members.  We’ve been to Agua Escondida to visit the brothers and sisters there and we also visited one of the church members home’s, sister Magdalena and her daughter, Laurdes, where we spent a while with them.  Each one of my group shared something of encouragement with them.  I also have been helping Ruthy out the cooking duties…weelllll, she cooks and I just chop the tomatoes….  But it’s good helping her, because I’m learning my way around the kitchen more.  I’m glad that we’ve been able to see Juanita (DMT-2009) who’s going to be getting married (to Andrew Pratt, DMT-2007).  That’s basically what we’ve been doing on the island.  Now we’re in Tuxtepec and it’s good to see old friends again.  Blessings!  Chely

We’ve been on Outreach for about 2 weeks now and it’s been good.  I know it has been a time of growing and learning for all of us.  We spent the last 11 days on the island in Oaxaca.  We planned and held many children’s services, visited and built relationships with individuals and families there, and helped the full-time missionaries on the island, Lalo and Andrew with their work there.  Please pray that God will continue to make His glory and power known to the people there and that the missionaries there along with us will be able to listen to God and fallow His will in everything we do.  Thank you all for your support and prayers.  Jake

Hello again from Mexico!  Josh and I have been enjoying Outreach.  So far we have ministered on Island and in Tuxtepec.  On the Island stayed in the cabañas on the Dayspring property.   Some slept in hammocks hung from various places to accommodate all.  We did various kids services, visited with church members, evangelized, began building a showering area and more.  In Tuxtepec we have been staying on the 2^nd story of Brother Pancho’s home.  They are a great family who have welcomed us with open arms.  In Tuxtepec we are helping with services and doing some street ministry.  We look forward to the ministry ahead and hope to keep everyone updated about what is going on here.  Hopefully while we are in Tuxtepec we can get some missed internet time and give some more updates.  Until next time, God bless.  Cathy

Well, hello again.  We are on Outreach right now.  The past week and a half we spent on the island.  We did a bunch of kid’s services which really enjoy.  The weather was very nice until the last day, Friday, when it got hot.  Fortunately, my foot was healed enough by that point that I felt comfortable putting it in the lake.  The water felt wonderful!  God has really been blessing us with wonderful weather this year.  Saturday was really hot but today has been cloudy with a cool breeze!  I am so thankful!  Saturday we arrived here in Tuxtepec.  Some of us helped with worship at the youth service last night.  I have really enjoyed seeing God move in people’s lives and especially all He has been doing in me.  I look forward to what He has waiting for us in the future.  Thank you for your prayers.  Rachel

We arrived in Tuxtepec.  Apparently we got here just in time to enjoy the 112 degrees heat index accompanied by the plethora of different flesh eating, blood sucking insects.  On the good side of things, we are getting to minister tin Tuxtepec.  We work with a few churches here.  Right now we are doing services nearby.  Later this week we will be working with Pastor Pascaul.  I am excited about that.  He lives outside of Tuxtepec and works with many missions.  Tuxtepec is an interesting town with many needs here.  There seems to be a handful of really good churches.  Most of the work here for us lies in the surrounding country side.  Pray for us as we finish this part of our Outreach.  We have been at for a few weeks now.  We need strength, unity and most of all more love to accomplish God’s will on Outreach.  I thank God for creating such a great team to accomplish His will.  Keep us all in your prayers.  Josh

OK, here’s week 10. The photos are up. I wasn’t with the students last week, so I don’t know a lot of the details. I know that they had services on Friday and Saturday at Chely & Jesus’ church in Monterrey. They left Monday and went to Doctor Arroyo for the rest of the week and came back Sunday. For more details check out the photos and the newsletters from Jesus, Rachel & Joel posted below this one. Only two more weeks of school left and then they all go on outreach.
God Bless
Dennis

     Hello. Well, it’s me again. This week has been a great blessing. We went to my church this week and the services were cool. We also went to Doctor Arroyo and the Lord accompanied us as we went to various towns and had a concert in the plaza downtown. Both worship teams played and played well. We were a great blessing to the town of Doctor Arroyo.
God Bless You All
Jesus

     Hi again! Last week we stayed in Doctor Arroyo. We arrived on Monday the 22nd and stayed until Sunday the 29th. This was my very first time in Doctor Arroyo, but everybody else had been there at least once before. I really enjoyed it. The drive was beautiful, the town was nice and the people were friendly.
     We had a lot of troubles this week, but God helped us get through them. I can’t thank everyone enough for all your prayers. They are needed and helpful! This week the van was having a problem that took several tries to fix. The van gave out on the way to our Wednesday night service, so we waited for the Pastor to drive by and then most of us were able to squish in his van. Joel and a couple others took the van back to the mechanic.
     We also had some tense, frustrating moments with each other and some people got sick, but it was still a really awesome week. My favorite part was our Friday night service in the plaza, “La Plaza de Principal”. From 6 until 10 in the evening we played music, Josh preached, Joel & Jesus shared their testimonies and we did two dramas. It was a really good evening. I got the chance to talk with two girls. One was vacationing in Doctor Arroyo, but actually lives in Monterrey. It was one of the first times I really talked with someone outside of the DMTers. It’s a lot easier talking with kids because you don’t always have to completely understand what they are saying. They just enjoy the fact that you are listening to them.
     This week we talked about connection in our devotionals. I realized I need to be more intentional about truly connecting with the people we come into contact with, especially in a couple weeks when we begin outreach.
     There are so many other things I wish I could tell you all, like how Gaby & I spend probably 75% of our time together “fighting” with each other, but we both know it is solely in fun and out of love for each other, and all the times when Omar taps my shoulder and pretends he didn’t do it. All those fun moments that make this feel more like home, that make these people more my family.
More next time. God Bless!
Rachel

     This last week in Arroyo was, I believe, really good for all of us. What had originally been planned as only a Monday through Friday turned into a Monday through Sunday week. Tavo was glad to see us all “viejos amigos” and we were glad to be able to hang out with him. Since Chely came here to DMT in mid-January, Tavo has been up in Arroyo doing a lot of ministry alone, so we wanted to go to encourage him and give him a sort of break.
     So, Tuesday we started it off with a bang, visiting the church members’ homes and then with a youth service in El Refugio. Wednesday we again visited the church members in the morning and then as we were travelling out to La Palma Gorda, my van, which had already been giving us problems, decided to start acting up again. So Pastor “E” took all he could in his van (some 20+ people) and the rest of us coasted the van back down the mountain to Arroyo.
     Thursday & Friday we visited in the mornings and Thursday attended church in Arroyo and then Friday we held a concert/youth event in the main plaza, which was a rockin’ time. We had a lot of young people show up and had a good time jammin’ out.
     Saturday our plans to head to Real de Catorce were once again changed, since the van again started having problems with the fuel pump… so we had to turn around and limp back to Arroyo again. Nuts!
     Sunday morning service was a real good time, with the benches full and everyone having a great time in God’s presence. After lunch we loaded up all the students and all of our dirty clothes (ha) and we headed down the mountain back to La Haciendita.
     All in all it was a great week with everyone from Arroyo, as it was good to get to know them up there so that this summer we’ll be welcomed back from outreach by familiar faces.
Keep praying for us all and God bless! Ruthy says hi, too!
Joel

     OK, here’s the scoop on week 9, sorry it’s so late. I was in Veracruz this week visiting Elda’s family and we just got back. We had no teacher for week 9, so it was a week of work projects and cleaning, mostly. Cathy’s brother David and his girlfriend Jenny were with us all week as well. All the buildings on the property got painted. The old church a couple blocks away that we used to use, but don’t anymore got cleaned up inside and out. We also broke up and removed the concrete in the large area in front of the new duplex where they mixed the concrete on the ground last year. We had most of our normal services, Sunday morning and Tuesday night at the school and Thursday night in Los Sabinos. Elda and I left there on Friday, so that’s why the photos end after Thursday.
    

     This week the students have been in Doctor Arroyo. Elda & I were in Veracruz visiting her family and we helped out a couple days with the group that Roger & Marcus had down there as well. When I get back to the school, probably on Monday, I’ll get whatever photos Chely got in Doctor Arroyo and get them up muy pronto.
See y’all again then
Dennis

     Hi, my name is Omar. Last week Lalo was our teacher. He taught us how to evangelize. For me it was very difficult because I thought I wouldn’t be able to do this. Friday when we went to evangelize I was very nervous and didn’t think I would be able to do it, but with God’s help I was able to evangelize and my nervousness left me. The people here in La Haciendita have a lot of hunger for the word of God.
God Bless
Omar

     This week has flown by. My brother David and his girlfriend Jenny came down this week to help out. Jenny learned how to be a bullfighter this week (well, not really).
     We worked on various special projects for the spring break time. We painted the Dayspring dorms, classrooms and house. Then we broke cement and hauled it to fill up holes in the street. We also helped clean a building and property that will be used for a soup kitchen.
     Of course we took time to chill out and have some fun. We played some serious games of Spades, Phase 10 & Jenga. Things are going well here and we are looking forward to next week (by the way, David cheats at Jenga).
Cathy

     Wow! 8 weeks have gone by already. The pictures are up, now. Our teacher for the week was our own missionary Eduardo Diaz (Lalo for short). He’s been with Dayspring since 2005 and for the past two years has been living and working on the island. He’s heading back there, probably as you are reading this, but the student s will be seeing him a lot more when they get to the island this spring on their outreach.
    

     The weather has been terrific. The orange trees are all popping with white flowers and the whole world smells great (at least in the vicinity of La Haciendita). We did a bunch of spring cleaning on the property this week and it looks like we’ll be continuing that theme this next week as well. I’m gonna leave it at that and get this stuff posted.
See Y’all Next Week
Dios les bendiga
Dennis

     Hello! It’s me again. Well, this week was very good. Our teacher was brother Sandy, whom I met last year at a convention, and this year I know him as my teacher. He spoke to us about spiritual warfare, and even though I had never listened to anything on this theme, I liked it a lot. We also helped Roger dig in order to fix the drain pipes. It was hard, but turned out good. This week we also went to many services, and in one service I sang with Chely and it went well. I don’t have much to say, just that this week was a lot of fun.
Bye
Gaby

     This week Lalo, who is a missionary with Dayspring on the island, came and spoke about evangelizing and having conversations with others about Christ. It was a good week because we will have many opportunities to share the gospel with people when we go on outreach in three weeks. Next week we have a spring break group coming down, so we will be working with them to hold a VBS for the children and services for the adults. The weather has finally improved and the last two weeks have been warm and sunny. We would love to hear your comments and questions if you have any.
Thanks for your support and prayers
Jake

     Hello all. The pictures for week 7 are up. I’m in Texas right now and I left the school without getting any student newsletters… again. Sorry about all that. Right now I’m about to head back in to the school, so I’ll make this quick. The weather was great all week, not real hot and not rainy. Our teacher for the week was Pastor Sandy Shaw from Missouri. Dale Achey came along with him to visit for the week. You may remember, he was our teacher in week 2, a missionary from Reynosa. We had our usual services, Tuesday night at the school, Thursday night in Los Sabinos and Friday night in Las Alazanas.
    

     The only other thing of note that I can think of right now is our sewer problems. The whole thing is documented in the photos. We had several of the dorm rooms as well as the kitchen drains all backed up. We ended up having to replace a large chunk of the sewer plumbing. It was a big project with a lot of digging, but the weather was great and we had a lot of people working on it so it wasn’t too bad. The orange trees are all starting to bloom and everything is starting to smell good around here (other than the sewer smell, that is). It’s really starting to look like spring is here. We have a group coming from Oklahoma next week, so the students will get a chance to work with a group before they head off on outreach, but that’s probably a story for next week.
Right, off I go
God Bless
Dennis

     Week 6 was pre-outreach week. Everyone went to our orphanage in El Higo, Veracruz for a couple days and then on to the island. I didn’t go with them, but here’s what I know. They arrived at the new orphanage on Saturday evening. Roger was already there with a small group of four guys from Scott City, Kansas. They were putting up the walls for what will eventually be the rooms for the kids. Sunday they all went to Laurita’s house in La Palma and had a service. Monday they had another service in San Andres and then Tuesday the students and staff headed on south to the island. They were on the island until Saturday, when they went back to the orphanage for one night and then they came back to the school on Sunday.
    

     The weather here is great now. Spring is finally here. One more week approximately until the orange trees are in bloom. A couple more weeks of classes and then we’ll have our first spring break group here. Not much else to say. Since I wasn’t with the students last week, I’ll let their letters and pictures speak for themselves.
God Bless, until next week
Dennis

     Well we just got back from pre-outreach. On our pre-outreach we go to the different areas that we will be spending our outreach part of our DMT. We visit the area ministries and just get a feel for the environments in which we will be ministering in. This year we will be spending our outreach time in El Higo, Veracruz (where the orphanage is) and on la Isla de Viejo Soyaltepec. For Cathy and I, this was not necessarily a new experience. We had both visited the orphanage many times and had lived on the island for several months. It was however a different experience to do this with our DMT family. When you are part of a team, your daily experience is very different in any location. It was good to see what things will be like when we will be in these locations with the team.

     Our first day of travel took us down to El Higo, Veracruz. It only takes around 7 or 8 hours to get there from la Haciendita, and the driving was nice. We got into the orphanage that evening and set up house. Marcus and Vero Palmer are the American side co-directors of the orphanage and they live in the upstairs portion. Laura and Marcelo are the Mexican side co-directors and they live in nearby San Andres. Laura is the mother of one of this year’s students, Gaby. The rest of the team set up hammocks in the part of the orphanage that was under construction. The bare stud walls were easy to attach hammocks to. Marcus and Vero gave us a room off of the dining room to ourselves. We slept in sleeping bags on mats on the floor. It was not too bad at all.

     During our time there we helped out with a work team that was there. I took the guys out to the dirt piles and we worked on fixing various drainage problems on the property. Cathy and the girls painted and cleaned. While we did this the work crew was sheet rocking in the orphanage. We worked hard in the heat and our hands had the scars to show it. In the afternoons we would clean up and minister in one of the local churches. It was busy but fun. After a few days we headed farther south, about 11 hours south to the island. On the way we stopped at Costa Esmeralda and took a break by the gulf. For some of our group it was their first time to see the ocean. We made great time down to the island, got all of our stuff on the boat, and got everything set up before night had fully set in.

     On the island we showed the other DMT students around and let them just get accustomed to the environment. It is a harsher life on the island and most people need time just to get their daily rhythms down. You have to bath in the lake, wash clothes in the lake, and build a fire for a meal for more than a few people. When we got there the weather turned very cold. Most of us were expecting warmer weather, so we shared what warm clothes we had. We looked like even more of a rag tag bunch. Fortunately the cold weather enabled us to fudge on daily showers here and there. We visited homes while we were there. One of the families which Cathy had visited with many times during our time on the island accepted Christ! We also had a church service, where Cathy and I were able to see many of the people we had not seen since we were there last. We passed out baptism pics that I had taken in November and they were so happy to have them. One family’s mother told me “thank you” in English with tears in her eyes. Those were the only English words that she knew. That alone was worth the whole trip.

     At the end of the week we pulled up our stakes took the boat across and packed the van up again. This time we were headed north. That evening we were back in El Higo where the work team had finished most of the sheet rocking, so we all slept in the dining hall. One more day in the van and we were all very glad to be back home in La Haciendita. God blessed us greatly during the trip and brought us even closer as a family. I am praying and looking forward to our outreach time coming up. I hope that you are as well. Thanks for reading this and keeping up with us. We feel your prayers daily. We love you.
Josh

     Hi, I’m Chely and I am so happy, because this is my first time to write for the blog in this year’s DMT. I want to speak about our trip south, or as we say in the school, pre-outreach. All the students were excited. The truth is, I was only excited to see Laurita and not for the trip, but the time that we spent down south ministering in Laurita’s church and in San Andres, a town near El Higo, and on the island with the brothers and the kids was a great blessing for my life and made me very happy.
     We also worked a little on the orphanage in El Higo. Roger was there with a small group and they put the walls in the rooms for the kids. I liked the weather there because when we go in April it is very hot there, but this time it was not too hot on the island or in El Higo. I was also stung by a scorpion, but it only hurt me a little bit. It was funny because I have never been stung by one before, but it was all OK. I only ask that you pray for the students and the staff and for the work we will do on outreach in El Higo as well as on the island.
Blessings
Chely

     Hey! My name is Michelle. I was excited to go south on pre-outreach to visit some of the people I had met last year, and so the students could see more of Mexico and where we will be for outreach. We had a good time leading services in La Palma & San Andres and it was fun to see the students sleep for the first time in hammocks and to help hang hammocks.
     As we headed down to the island, we stopped at the beach, but not for long, as the weather was slightly overcast. On the island I was able to be there with Lalo, Jesus & Rachel as Adolfo and Esmeralda (a couple that Lalo has been visiting on the island) accepted Christ as their savior! Later that day we had a service for the brothers on Isla Viejo as well as Agua Escondida (a neighboring island). Overall, I think everyone enjoyed the new experiences they had while we were there of new food to eat and learning to take bucket showers, but we were all excited to get back to our own beds, hot showers and washing machines!
     Please continue to pray for us as the students begin to preach and continue preparing for the ministry we will be doing on outreach.
God Bless!
Michelle

     Week 5 flew by, as usual. The weather was great, though. It was warm and sunny all week until Friday, when the cold and the rain returned. Our teacher for the week was actually a three person team from Fort Wayne, Indiana. John Youse, Mike Fox, and Betty Misner taught about the father heart of God. The students had a morning service at the school on Sunday and then another service in the afternoon in Cadereyta. Sunday night we had a Valentine’s Day party. Tuesday night we had a service at the school, as usual, and Thursday night we had a service in a little mission of Pastor Meme’s nearby called Los Sabinos.
    

     Friday Elda & I left and brought the teachers out to Texas and they flew back to Indiana Saturday morning. Also Saturday morning the students left La Haciendita for an 8 hour drive (approximately) south to El Higo, Veracruz, where they will visit some of our missions down there. They will be staying with Marcus & Vero at the orphanage until Wednesday, when they will drive another 10-11 hours south to visit the island. To learn more about the island you can visit our island blog. There’s a link for it right above the link for this blog on our home page. I noticed that the link isn’t working right now, so I’ll try to fix it, or get Roger to do it if I can’t figure it out.
    

     I got out of there Friday morning and forgot to get newsletters from a couple of the students, so I guess we’ll pick that back up next week. Since I didn’t go south with them, I’ll be relying on them to bring back some photos of their trip. They don’t get back until next Sunday so the blog for week 6 may be a bit late. Thanks for your comments and for your interest in our school. Don’t forget to check out the pictures.
Dios les bendiga
Dennis

     Here we are at the end of week 4 already. I don’t know what to say about the weather. It hasn’t been rainy exactly, but definitely chilly and damp all week. The sun came out again yesterday (Friday) and everyone got a chance to play some volleyball outside. One more week and everyone heads to the jungle for their one week pre-outreach. It might be damp down there, but it shouldn’t be as cold. When they come back it’ll be March and the rainy stuff will be about done at the school.
    

     On Sunday everyone went to Monterrey and had a service at Pastor Fausto’s church. Monday our week 4 teacher arrived. Roger’s cousin Mike Bogart from Fresno, CA taught on church history this week. Tuesday night we had a service here at the school again, and Friday night another one in Las Alazanas.
    

     Another month and a half and we’ll have spring break groups here. Right after that the students head south for two months for their outreach. The weeks are flying by so fast, I barely know what’s going on. One of these days, hopefully someone will clue me in. Until then I’ll just stagger around in a dazed and confused state, I guess. Leave us some comments here, if you’ve a mind to. I’m sure the students would love to hear from you.
Hasta la proxima semana
Dennis

     My name is Jesus and I am from Monterrey. I have learned a lot in DMT with brother Roger, and that God’s power is moving in the DMT. Each service, God shows us that he is here. Even though there are only a few of us students, God is with us, and as we spend more time with him, he is filling us more and more. Sometimes I play the drums, and when I see the brothers in the presence of The Lord it makes me happy. I have learned that we all have different ideas and we are all the body of Christ.

God Bless You

Jesus 

Hola to all,
     First off I wanted to say thank you to all those who supported me and helped me to get here. I also want to thank all those who are continuing to pray for me and the rest of the DMT 2010 class.
     I have really, really enjoyed my first few weeks here. I have learned so much. We have a great group here. My favorite thing is how much we all laugh! The first week, while the popcorn was popping and we were waiting for the movie to start, nearly all of us were gathered in the kitchen. To entertain ourselves we had a popcorn catching contest. Uno… dos… tres! Then everyone would toss the popcorn in the air and try to catch it in their mouths. That got us all laughing and since then there has been event after event that kept us laughing! There is just so much joy!
     This week we learned about church history. Mike Bogart was a good teacher. I appreciated the fact that he really seemed to know about and personally take an interest in what he was teaching. Actually, all of our teachers have been good about that.
     Now we have one more week here at the school and then we go on an eight day pre-outreach trip. I’m very excited, but also very nervous, of course. I’ll certainly be working extra hard on my Spanish this week!
In Christ
Rachel

     We just got done with week 3. It rained pretty much all week. The sun came back out on Thursday and Friday, but it looks like we’re due for more rain in week 4. Roger taught classes all week. Otherwise the week went by without anything out of the ordinary happening.
    

     On Saturday night we had a service in Las Alazanas. It’s a mission of Pastor Meme’s about 10 miles from La Haciendita and it’s also the village where Vero is from (Marcus’ wife). Then Sunday morning we went to Apodaca for their anniversary service. We had a church service at the school on Tuesday night, like we do every week. After service we all split into groups of 2 or 3 and went home with different families from the church for supper. This will immerse the Americans in the culture a little more and speed up their Spanish learning. On Friday night we had another service in Las Alazanas.
    

     Only a couple more weeks of rainy days and then the sun should come back out for good. In the first or second week of March the orange trees will start to bloom and then the whole area will smell great although it makes it harder to sit through class all day with that smell outside. Right before all that the students will go on their pre-outreach in the last week of February. This is when they will have a chance to see the areas down south where they will be during April and May and get prepared for their outreach.
OK, we’ll see y’all back here after week 4
God Bless
Dennis

     It is hard to believe we are completing the third week of DMT! We are just getting to know our fellow students, and before we know it we will be on pre-outreach.
     We are working very hard in our language classes. The Mexicans are working on English and the Americans on Spanish. We have said many funny things unintentionally. Josh and I were talking with Ruth, Joel’s wife. We taught her to say the phrase “It is raining cats and dogs”, which it has been doing here. Donde esta el sol?
     In our other classes we have been learning about world religions and how to witness effectively to people in a particular region. We have discussed Jehova’s Witnesses, Latter Day Saints, Scientology, Islam, etc. As we travel during outreach we will get to minister to people in some of these religions.
     Last but not least, this week I have been reminded of how big God is and how much he cares for us. He is far bigger than my mind can ever make him. My prayer for the DMT class, you, and me is that God would open our eyes to who he is. I pray he will continue to show us his attributes, and that we would seek him with our everything!
Well… I could kepp writing, but until next time, God bless!
Cathy
P.S. Happy birthday Mom! (2/5)
        Happy birthday Dave! (2/11)
        Happy birthday Dad! (2/17)
(By the way, please send me some of the cake. Yo necesito para mi vida.)

     Hi, my name is Omar. What I liked about this last week was the teachings of brother Dale Achey about our faith and how to have a relationship with God. It is something that impacted me a lot because I could see the change and peace that God had brought in the life of brother Dale. He taught us about the level where we are and how first we need to be strong on the first step before we can move to the second step. At times many of us are not ready, but want to move on to the next step anyway, but we need to be prepared before we can move forward. Friday we went to Apodaca with Pastor Roberto Orozco. It was good. We sang the song “Mighty To Save”, but the song didn’t turn out well. After service they gave us tacos with flour tortillas. On Sunday morning we returned to Apodaca. While there, I was able to see my friends and that was good. Another thing I enjoyed was the preaching.
Thank You and God Bless You
Omar