Message from the Holt's
January '10
Greetings!
We got up a couple of days ago to nearly a foot of snow! It has been, so far a nearly snow-less winter. Still it has been below freezing most days. As you know we now live in a village just on the edge of Tbilisi, so now we deal with many village issues- cutting wood for our Wood burning stove (as there is no natural gas in our area), having our pipes freeze for about 3 days, a muddy road up to the house, etc. Sounds a little crazy, I guess, but we love it for the most part. We don't miss the old Soviet apartments we have lived in for years and the kids have a yard to play in and new chores that build character like shoveling snow and chopping fire wood, etc.
It seems daily I say to myself, "Hey, I really need to write a newsletter". Then the end of the day comes and I say, "Tomorrow..." Today is the day!
Two of our staff had been having some real hard times getting along. We took on a new staff person in December and she just could not accept working with one of our other staff. They would avoid each other and the only communication seemed to be all hisses and claws. But I am happy to say that after much counseling and constant contact, they are doing much better now and even enjoying each others company.
We have had some good ministries in the past month or so. Christmas and New Year's are always a wonderful opportunity to reach people who might otherwise be closed.
On Eastern Christmas day (Jan. 7th) we distributed Operation Christmas Child gifts in our village where we now live. Most of these families are Muslim. The smiles on the kids' faces tell it all; even grandma could not contain herself! Most of these kids have never had a Christmas gift before since they do not celebrate the birth of Christ. Each family was so open to hear about why we were doing it. Many of the presents come with messages from the Christians who pack the shoe boxes with presents, and we were able to translate their messages of love and the Good News. We have just received another 50 of these gift boxes and are planning to go to another Muslim village soon.
We did the same thing with the street children as well. Every week we distribute food and do learning activities with the street kids, but this time we were armed with the Christmas Child presents as well. One of the staff of the street kids ministry dressed up as Santa, as you can see in the picture and handed out sandwiches and presents.
As you may know, we will run our 4th Discipleship Training School starting this March. This is a training course designed to teach young people to know the Lord more and to help them make Him known to others. This next school will have a special emphasis on bringing God's love and Good News to Children and Muslims, as well as all the regular basic teachings at the heart of any DTS (The Father Heart of God, Hearing God's Voice, Inductive Bible Study, Prayer, Worship, Evangelism, Missions, developing Right Relationships, etc). This is one of our biggest and most intensive ministries we do each year. It is an opportunity to multiply our effectiveness by training and equipping more workers to serve in missions and local churches.
I (Dennis) and some of our staff (even Korinne and the kids) are working long hours every day to get our house/training center ready for the coming students. We will have students from the USA, Canada, and Georgia so far. There is so much that we still have left to do to get ready! Please pray for stamina and provision to make the student rooms ready by the time the students arrive.
The upstairs (where the students and guest teachers will live) is progressing! Notice the center pillar in each photo and how the construction develops around it? We will have 3 student rooms that can comfortably hold 4 students each and then a guest room for our visiting teachers. There are separate shower and toilet rooms. Also there will be a nice big living room for the students to relax and study in. A good friend here in Tbilisi even donated a very nice foosball game table. (See it hiding behind the wood thing in the picture?)
We still have a lot to do and only 3 weeks to complete it all - plaster, doors, paint, toilet, sink, shower, and more, left to be completed. We have confidence that the Lord will strengthen us to bring this project to completion!
I want to give you an opportunity to help with this project. Here are some of the things we still need to get:
Building materials, 6 doors, 4 bunk beds with mattresses, Toilet, large sink (for hand washing laundry), shower, desks, couches and chairs, cabinets, closets, guest room furnishings.
To be honest we do not have the finances to cover these things, so I want to ask you to pray and ask the Lord if he would have you give towards these items listed above. In this, you become part of discipline this nation and reaching the lost that are all around us.
Really, most of our students who will come don't have the money to even pay their student fees. We always tell our students, "The first question to ask yourself is - Does the Lord want you in this school? If the answer is yes, then come. Don't let finances dictate your calling from God." We often say in YWAM that where the Lord guides, He provides. And "you do the possible - God will do the impossible."
Scroll to the bottom for donation instructions. (if the Lord leads you to give)
Thanks so much for your prayers for us and the work we do here and for all the peoples of our region of the world. We appreciate it so much!
Blessings from here,
Dennis, Korinne, Seth, Jesse, Tia, and all our Staff here in Tbilisi.
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).