We made it Guatemala!!!

After a getting up at 2.30 am and driving to DFW we flew to Houston then on to Guatemala City.  So far it is VERY different from Kenya.  I love the mountains.  It is tropical yet has some very rugged mountains.  We got a have an AWESOME taco lunch! There is a one hour time difference here.  We are an hour behind Ft Worth.  This is going to be a great trip.  Bruce and Pastor Trinkle are constantly cracking jokes.  

Will post more tomorrow with pics!

Guatemala

In just over a week we will be headed to Guatemala.  Kim and I want to thank those that have already given financially and prayed for us.  We have seen God work in our lives in the last few weeks.  Through many of you God has provided about half of the funds that we need for the Guatemala and Kenya trips.

Recently I felt God telling me to make a sacrifice.  For several days I thought about what could I sacrifice.  Kim and I are involved in a lot of things for the Lord and I wasn't sure what else I could give up.  As we entered our missions conference at church God layed it on our hearts to give more to missions.  How can I ask people to give by faith to our ministry in the future if we aren't giving by faith now?  Kim and I discussed this for several days.  We already give our tithe, missions, sponsor a child in Kenya and special offerings.

God said, "give till it hurts!!!"

I didn't know how we could give the amount that God had told us.  Kim and I committed to give by faith  and the phone started ringing.  God provided plenty of work for Kim to cover the commitment not just this month but for several months!!!

Please continue to pray for us as we travel to Guatemala March 26-30.  We will be working in several schools and feeding centers around Guatemala City and Antigua.  

Here are a couple videos that Kim made from the PBR Team that was in Guatemala a couple of weeks ago.


Team PBR Todd Pierce 2 from Kim Hayes on Vimeo.




Team PBR Guatemala Kody Lostroh interview from Kim Hayes on Vimeo.

Thoughts in my head...by David

This last week was a great week.  Sunday through Wednesday we got to serve at Hallmark as we hosted the Baptist Bible Fellowship National Meeting.  We got to hear great preaching from Pastor Jon Haley from Northside Baptist Church in Kansas, Pastor Tim Chambers from Shore Fellowship in New Jersey and Phil Hopper from Abundant Life Baptist in Missouri.  It was a great encouragment to see young pastors that are doing an awesome work for Christ. There were 22 church planters that came from all over the US to be in the meeting.  Awesome stories of how God touched their lives and called them into the ministry.  I got to see the Italian Stallion Rob Catuto from Victory Baptist in Weatherford, Tx.  He was one of the leaders at summer camp every year..  It was a great pleasure to see Dr. Danny Lamb from Hillsboro Bible Baptist Church in Ohio (the only person in the world to call me Davey and get away with it).  Such a wonderful man of God! With great men seeking after God and reaching many for Christ all over the country I believe that God may allow us to see one more great revival in America.

Please continue to pray for Kim and I as we seek God's will for our lives in worldwide missions. I want to trust Him with every aspect of our lives.  All I know is hard work and have been at Oncor going on 11 years.  There is a  lot of security in my job.  Its a huge step to trust God with providing for our every need through the gifts of others, churches and Kim's photography.  We are about to launch a "for sale" photo gallery with photos she has take from here in the US, Kenya and Guatemala. Any pieces sold out of that gallery will help fund our missions trips.  There are some beautiful landscapes, sunsets, animals and artistic pieces in it. You will be able to order regular prints, artistic style prints or large canvases. We know that God will provide as we lean on His Faithfulness.  I have set a personal goal to be full time with MANNA Worldwide by 2015.  This will allow us to raise funds, learn MANNA's methods of developing feeding programs, meet new missionaries and  learn other cultures. Please pray that God will open up some doors for us to share our ministry with others that can help us reach our goals.

God Bless.
David

Hayes Prayer and Support Letter

Here is our prayer and support letter for 2012.  God has great things ahead of us.  Please pray that He show us the best way for us to serve Him with our lives!

Click the letter below to enlarge:

The Excitement is Building!

Since our last post God has taken care of the truck expenses.  Firestone is going to reimburse all that we spent in New Mexico.   It is so great to see HIM working in the tough times to make us stronger. God is Good All the Time...All the Time God is GOOD!

So the excitement is really building.  We got the dates set for our trip to Guatemala! March 26-30 Kim and I will be down in Central America seeing what God is doing down there in the MANNA feeding centers.  We have been working on our missions trip prayer letter for this year.  I wont post it here yet but there is a lot of great info in that letter.  God is really working and we can't wait to see what happens this year.

Kenya is June 13-26.  We will have about 14 people on the team.  God has some great things ahead for us on this trip as well.

If you are not on our email list or our snail mail list please let us know so that we can add you to it.

A Time of Testing

I want to start this by thanking God even for the times of testing.  It has allowed me to see how His hand has worked in my life.  Several months ago I had let some things at work steal my joy.  I was grumpy most of the time.  After prayer and encouragement from Kim I was able to get past that.  

We decided to buy a ski trip for our Christmas/Anniversary present to each other.  The day we booked it I had to put my truck in the shop.  There goes a lot of our emergency fund!  So fast forward to Friday before vacation, 3:25 pm and I have a flat on my work truck, what a way to start vacation.  By the time I get to a place where I can change the tire I am within sight of Discount Tire but can't get there because its already on the rim! UGH!

We got up early Monday morning to head for Angel Fire, NM.  Kim and I stopped for lunch in Amarillo.  Kim loves Chicken Express and there was one right off the highway.  Shortly after leaving Chicken E I put my thumb through the side of the cup!!! A large water in now in my lap.  I had to change on the side of the highway.  About two hours from our destination my power steering and brakes start acting up.  I just had this fixed three weeks earlier!  We limp into Angel Fire on a dirt road in about five inches of snow.  God provided us a mechanic that comes and gets my truck Tuesday morning and we go skiing.  About half way through the day I realize that the room key has fallen out of my jacket pocket.  Thats $35.00 to be replaced.  

For two days half of the mountain was pretty much unaccessible because of high winds.  So far you can tell that the last few days have really been frustrating.  The skiing was good and Kim and I were enjoying our time away.  The mechanic, Chris, got the truck fixed and Kim and I enjoy exploring the the area after skiing.  Friday morning we get up early to head back home.  My phone beeps saying that I have a new email, there is a issue with one of our bank accounts.  Another issue!!!   

We get checked out of the hotel and head home.  Kim routes us through the mountains and we saw some amazing views.  As we pull into a gas station not far from the NM and TX state line I hear the familiar sound of a power steering/brake pump messing up!!! We are 70+ miles to Amarillo and the nearest Firestone, there is fluid all over the engine and down the side of the truck.    Once we get to Amarillo the guys at Firestone were really helpful.  After two and a half hours we get back on the road.  Thank the Lord they replaced two hoses and covered all the cost.

Kim and I finally made it home about 10:30, about 15 hours after we left Angel Fire.  It was great to see mom and dad and Samson.  This morning we had our first Kenya training session for our trip in June.  It was a great time of fellowship and sharing what is going on in our lives.  I got to share with the team how Kim and I have been recently tested.  Each member of our team is facing some kind of trial.

As Christians we go through times of trials and testings.  We have to trust God in them and through them.  We can not let these test steal our joy.  God will never put more on you/us than we can handle!!! I will trust Him today because He was faithful yesterday!!!

God Bless!

David

A "Right" Way to Worship

Today we had a wonderful service at Hallmark. Dr Jerry Thorpe preached an encouraging message, "The lake, The begger at the gate & The cowboy!"

As we meet more and more missionaries and travel my eyes have been opened up.  This world is full of lost souls, its like a lake full of drowning people.  If there was a large lake full of people we would do anything and everything to get those people out of that lake.  God has asked us to tell as many people as we can about him and rescuse them from drowing in the lake.  He never said that there was only one way to reach them.  He didn't say that they had to be reached in a church that is four walls and a steeple.  He didn't say that the words to the songs had to be in a book or on a wall.  People in China have to worship in under ground house churches and in Kenya many worship under mango trees and dance.

There is not just one right way to worship God.  If the "right" way is one of the many American ways what about all those people around the world that worship different than us?  I will never look down on someone that worships differently than I!