April6, 2011 Greetings from here,
Last evening I was in a panic. I saw one of our students going out to the outhouse and unnoticed by her, there was a lion in the bushes nearby, crouching to attack! I yelled to her and then ran to my neighbor's house to get his rifle- a double-barreled 50 caliber-hunting gun. There were other people out and about too, so I knew I had to move quickly. So with the gun in hand I ran to the field. The lion had already broken into a run at our student and people were screaming and running in chaos! I lifted the rifle to my shoulder and quickly fired one barrel and then the other, both shots luckily striking the lion. The lion fell and struggled, but managed to get up and run off. At that point no one cared about the lion - we were all just glad that the DTS student was safe and that the danger was over.
So go the dreams of DTS leaders........
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and
alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone
to devour.
Ministry house update ............
A few days ago after getting all our paperwork together and having the complete amount of money in the bank to buy the ministry house, we met together with the landlord at the notary (where these things are done) to make the contract for buying the house, only to find that the owner's paperwork was in error. Not really his fault, it was mostly due to a technical mistake done in his original papers that he got when he bought the house. Problem is, the guy he got the house from has since passed away. His ownership is not in question so much as his ability, at this time to sell the house without getting new documents. We had checked the papers multiple times too, so that's the strange thing.
This pretty much kills the deal on this house for now. So we are already in touch with another agent and plan to see some other houses on Friday.
This has been such a spiritual battle - we worked so hard on this deal! It was our prayer though, that the Lord would lead us through this process, and we are confident he will. The good news is that all the money we were trying to raise has come in, so we rejoice in that! Please keep praying for us in this process. We have no intention of giving up on the vision for this unreached area! The house was not the vision, it is only a tool to reach the people and we believe God will lead us to the right house for us. Please pray that we will find it soon.
Kids ministry ............
We are so pleased with our new Village Kids Club that has been going now for a couple months. We were with an outreach team from Ukraine, standing in our yard praying over the Muslim village we live in and it came to us to start a ministry for the children in the village. The Ukrainian team took up the challenge and began the ministry. Now we have from 10 to 15 children coming to our house every week to play games, learn English, sing songs and learn lessons from the Bible! It is a small village so nearly all the children ages 5 to 12 are coming. What joy fills our hearts as we see their glowing, excited faces each week! As you know we are currently running our DTS, so it is also giving our students real children's ministry experience, which is one of the focuses of our school (working with children and Muslims and these kids are both!). Pray that these little ones would come to know Christ!
This month is Korinne's and my 25th anniversary (April 26th 1986)! When we look at all the Lord has done in our last 25 years together we can only praise Him. We may not have a lot, but we are rich in experiences and friends. Really, there is no place else we would want to be, but together and serving the Lord!
Blessings from here!
Dennis, Korinne, Jesse, Tia and Seth too (he is here visiting us for a month!)
Donation information:
Check to:
Dennis Holt
Account Number: 40166478
F&A Federal Credit Union
PO Box 30831
Los Angeles, CA 90030-9972
Or if you itemize your tax deductions and need a receipt for taxes:
YWAM
PO Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX, 75771-3000
USA
Make check out to: 'YWAM".
Don't put any names on the check but on a separate note designate it to "Dennis Holt in Tbilisi, Georgia."
OR................ if you want to give towards the ministry of Youth With a Mission (for example, towards ministry expenses for street kids, needy people outreaches, DTS student fees, village outreaches, building the new ministry center, whatever....):
You can send it to:
YWAM
PO Box 3000
Garden Valley, TX, 75771-3000
USA
Make check out to: 'YWAM".
Don't put any names on the check but on a separate note designate it to "YWAM Tbilisi, nation of Georgia."
Dennis and Korinne Holt and their 3 children
feeling led of the Lord to go to the nation of Georgia left their 6
year ministry with YWAM Rostov-On-Don, Russia and moved to Tbilisi.
Right now the base is still in what we call the pioneering stage,
making relationships with local ministries and churches and laying
foundations for long term work. See our YWAM International web page www.ywam.org for more information on YWAM international. See our projects page for information on current and coming ministries. See our YWAM Tbilisi site at www.ywamtbilisi.org
Catalina Bible Church, Avalon, CA, 90704- Pastors Enrique Dominguez & Luis Sanchez Stanton, Michigan, Trinity EV Free church, Pastor Curt Mugett Calvary Chapel of Wilmington, North Carolina, Pastor Clay Ritter PO Box 15, Tbilisi 2, 0102, Nation of Georgia
Korinne
and Dennis have been Christians since their teen years. Dennis grew up
on Catalina Island, California. Korinne grew up in Michigan. They first
met in the summer of 1985 while Korinne was working a summer job on
Catalina Island. They were married April 26th, 1986 and now have 3
children- Seth age 16, Jesse age 13 and Tatiana (who was born in
Russia) is 6.
Training:
Dennis holds a BA degree in Biblical Studies from the University of the Nations in Kona, Hawaii.
He has also done studies with Moody Bible Institute and Long Beach City College. TESOL certificate.
Korinne has studied at the University of the Nations, and has also studied at Florida university.
Ministry experience:
2 years as Directors of the Cornerstone Teen Center and Youth Ministries at the Avalon Community Church.
1 year as Youth and Family Pastors at Catalina Christian Fellowship.
4 years as Elder and teacher of youth and adults at the Catalina Bible Church. (Ordained minister)
10 years as staff with Youth With A Mission.
Home Churches:
Avalon Community Church, Avalon, California, 90704, USA, Phone 310-510-1889
Pastor Ron Eroen
Phone 310-510-0073
CURRENT MINISTRY:Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Tbilisi, The Nation of Georgia.
Phone- 995 99 13 72 86, E mail: holtsingeorgia@gmail.com
Vision statement:
It
is our desire to help equip the Christians of Georgia and other former
USSR nations to reach their country (and beyond) for Jesus. It is also
our desire to work with the local churches, serving them and working in
partnership with them to see the nation of Georgia, and in particular
Tbilisi, won for Christ.
As part of this vision, we will continue to
reach out within Georgia and the surrounding nations to disciple
believers, teach in YWAM schools, churches and other Christian training
facilities. Many of the believers in this part of the world are starved
for good Biblical teaching and missions training. We believe the Lord
is calling us to be available to go to them and assist them without
cost to them.
Youth With a Mission is one of the largest missions organization in the world.
It includes over 17,000 full time staff working in 164 countries.
Our schools are taught in over 53 languages.
YWAM plants an average of 1 church per day around the world (in areas where churches do not currently exist).
It runs over 250 training schools in 110 countries.
We uphold and adhere to the foundational values of Youth With a Mission (YWAM).
The YWAM motto is “To Know God and Make Him Known”. YWAM is an interdenominational
mission organization and includes people from many Christian denominations. We feel this is a
key to the growth and effectiveness of the mission. <www.ywam.org>
Areas of Prayer Need: Please pray for us! We believe it makes a difference when you pray.
Effectiveness in our ministry, especially in the difficult process of starting a new base
That we might stay close to the heart of Jesus in all we do.
That we might grow together as a family and be an example to others.
For our staff and children - for safety, health and growth in the Lord.
Language learning (Georgian- we have much to learn).
Provision in the area of finances (all YWAM Missionaries are responsible to raise their own support teams).