A year and eight months… That’s how long it has been since the scouting trip to Osaka.
Now, after hundreds of hours of prayer and careful planning, the time has finally come.
With our tickets booked, our housing reserved, and our accommodations readied at YWAM Takatsuki, we will be taking off from Los Angeles April 1 (and that isn’t a joke!) and will be there for nearly 3 months.
It feels as though the fall and winter seasons have been a whirlwind of open and closed doors. A mix of excitement and reflection as opportunities presented themselves and either fell flat or soared beyond expectation. Last update, we wrote that we were praying into several projected ministry ideas with uncertain outcomes. Well, it would seem the Lord has chosen a clear path for us to follow.
Last fall our towns beloved newspaper, The Spectator, closed its doors for good. It was a bittersweet moment as we all said goodbye to an entity that had been in operation since 1920. Though unfortunate, its closing paves the way for something greater. What is that something you may ask?
A downtown presence! YWAM Ozarks has signed papers on the property and soon repairs and construction will begin on YWAM Downtown. A place of peace, exciting opportunities, genuine relationship, and spiritual growth. This year, we’ve decided to commit to seeing the building through to its intended vision and have taken the lead in getting this ministry established and the staff in place to man it. Of course, this won’t be possible without all of YWAM Ozarks involvement (this is a group effort after all), and we are thankful that the entire campus staff is behind this project.
So what does this mean for the future, the bus and the cooking ministry?
In short, we haven’t given up the vision that the Lord started us down. Hospitality and cooking are still and will continue to be our focus. In addition, over the past 5+ years, God has put Ozark continually on our hearts as a place to be nurtured and loved. Truth is, we have a deep connection to this place we call home and a drive to see it change for the better. And the Bus? Well, we’re still planning on fixing and utilizing it for its intended purpose. The desire to travel and share the giftings God has given us to further His kingdom hasn’t wained. Now that Heidi is near traveling age, we anticipate traveling a lot more in the coming years, both nationally and internationally.
Outside of all these new happenings, watching this DTS grow through the course of their school, has also been a blessing, and cooking for them, a privilege. One of our favorite aspects of this program has to be watching the team dynamic form. This group was especially good at not only working together but functioning as one cohesive unit that utilized each other strengths. The team departed for the Dominican Republic around new years and are now on the stateside segment of their outreach in New Orleans, LA. We can’t wait to hear the work God has done and is doing through their team!
For now, most of our energy is going towards prepping for Japan, finding contractors for specific jobs at YWAM Downtown, and preparing for the upcoming spring/summer Mission Adventure Camps.
We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in 2025!
Answered Prayers:
•Angelina’s blood sugar continues to drop. We are getting closer to normal range!
•Tickets and housing were getting booked in Osaka, but we found the perfect home for our stay as well as plane tickets within our price range.
Prayer requests:
•We need to find licensed, insured, and reliable contractors for YWAM Downtown. A rather hard task for our area. If possible, we’d like to find individuals who’d be able to donate their time and skills.
•Continued finances for Japan. Though we’ve booked our tickets and stay, we don’t have the budget for transportation, food, and essentials. However, we still have time before we fly out, and people can still send money even while we’re gone on outreach.
•More Monetary Missions Members. We are still praying for the Lord to provide more monthly sponsors for our full-time missions work with YWAM. God has provided thus far and we know He will continue to provide. However, it’s nice to continue building a strong support group. Currently we have 6 amazing families that support us, we are hoping to double or even triple that number over this next year. Increasing our support would mean increasing our reach.
Thats all for now!
We will be sending bi-weekly updates while we are in Japan, so we hope to see you back on our website soon!
God Bless you all
-The Kellers
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