HAPPY TO SEE YOU HERE!

In this newsletter, you will find:

  • National Outreach in the North
  • Impact & 12,000 youth (WHAT?!)
  • Family updates for us
  • MY BIRTHDAY IS THIS MONTH!!!

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL WHO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT US THROUGH CITYGATE

As you know, Lauren Edwards has joined us here in Spain. Please make sure that when you give towards Andrew and me, that you choose “Missions: Spain (Maiya)“If you have recurring giving that doesn’t have my name in the memo, please also update that. If you have further questions please get in contact!


As we sent out at the end of July, we will NOT be coming out this August due to flights being EXTREMELY expensive right now. However, we ARE looking at the possibility of flying later this year when flights are SOOOO much cheaper (just looking in November, for example, the flights are about a third of the cost). As soon as we have dates, we will be sure that you have them so that we can begin scheduling time with you all!

If you would like to give towards our trip, you can do so through any of the links below, and specify “stateside travels”.


Here’s my “book” for the month of July. Grab your preferred beverage, kick back, and let’s jump in!


MINISTRY LIFE

O C A R B A L L I Ñ O

For the month of July, we left Torrejón de Ardoz, and headed up north of Spain to the Province of Ourense, where we would be for 3 weeks working with a church called “Cristo es la Respuesta” (Christ is the Answer). This was our first outreach together as a family, away from home – this mama was in all her feels (as many of you may know from the facebook group).

Working with this church, we spent the first 2 weeks partnering with their sister church in a small town inside of Ourense called O Carballiño. Upon arriving, we were received by the congregation with a barbecue. While in this small town, our team was given the chance to invest in the church through a kids camp, a marriage workshop, prayer and healing services, and preaching. During one of the prayer and healing services, one of the members of the church came in with a cane that he used to help him walk because of his knee, and walked out without itIt was really cool to see him later as the days passed by, still without his cane and walking healthily. GOD IS SO GOOD!

~ M A R R I A G E W O R K S H O P ~

In our team, we were 2 married couples – Ben & Ale and Andrew and myself. Both couples, combined, have been married for about 5 years.

Before heading up to Ourense, we were asked by Mirian (the pastor of the sister church) to hold a marriage workshop upon our arrival. We said yes, as we wanted to be able to bless this church in any way the Lord wanted to use us, but neither of us felt like we were really qualified to do so.

However, I believe because we said “YES” and made ourselves available to God for Him to use us, we did get to see Him move during that short amount of time. The focus of this workshop was on being a unified Christian couple with a marriage built on the foundation of Christ. During this time, we were able to challenge couples to seek God together in their marriage, and took some time to pray and minister to each individual couple.

We are still fairly new to this “marriage thing”, but if God wants to use our marriage to bless others, then we’re here for it. We say YES!

While working with the sister church, we were also given the chance to work with gypsy community. Mirian wasn’t sure how much we would be able to do with this community because gypsy pastors aren’t necessarily welcoming to outsiders. However, after the first day of connecting with the families through activities for the kids, the pastor of this gypsy community himself, invited us back to be able to spend some time with the women of this community as well.

We finished our time in O Carballiño with street evangelism, using some of our kids programs to draw a crowd to be able to share a message and connect with the parents.


O U R E N S E

We left the small town after 2 weeks, and finished out the outreach in Ourense, Ourense, where we partnered with the big church for the week. During this week (really 4 days), we were also able to invest in the church through preachings, and a prayer and healing service, but we were also given an opportunity to invest in the youth of the church directly.

We were given 2 Sundays to share at the big church, so the first Sunday, Andrew spoke (with one of our staff, Sarah, as his interpreter). He spoke on the “peace you can’t understand”, like that peace during a storm and gave an opportunity for people to respondDuring this time, the Holy Spirit moved in such a way throughout the whole congregationWe saw people being filled with the Holy Spirit, being healed, and people being set free from bondages. It was a powerful time for sure!

V I C T O R Y

This is Josue, or Josu as we call him. If you remember from the start of the DTS, I shared with you that we had a student coming in late from Israel. This is him. I cannot go into too much detail of his story at this time, but would like share some incredible things that God has done.

Josu doesn’t have the typical background of “DTS student”, as he has been living away from God until the start of the DTS. He did NOT want to be here, but came because of pressure from his parents. However, as the weeks passed by, we could see God touching his heart, which brought on transformation in him.

He went from sitting in the back of the classroom, not truly being involved in ANYTHING, to leading a devotional time for the youth where he actually shared his testimony, singing on the worship team, playing a clown during our kids program street evangelism, and being active in the dramas we used during outreach. Many times he thanked Andrew and me for the love that we showed him knowing what we know about him and his past, but to us, it was the best way to RE-PRESENT Christ to him.

We are both so grateful to be part of his story and what God is doing in his life. And now, he is staying with YWAM MADRID, at least for the next 2 years, as he feels like God is calling him to do greater things than what he was involved in back in Israel. He is hungry for God and wants to be used by Him. What a blessing!

While with the big church, we were also able to partner with them during a food and clothing distribution in a city-supported housing area, and street evangelism through children’s programs.


❤ Gift from God ❤

While in Ourense, we stayed with the pastor of the big church, Pastora Zulma. Let me be honest with you and say that I was not particularly excited about this..haha. The first day that I met her, she didn’t seem like a very “warm” person, so knowing that we would be staying with her, and I would be spending most of my time with her seeing that Isa and I weren’t involved in ALL the things of our team, I was not thrilled. BUT, what a WRONG first impression that was!

Pastora was the SWEETEST lady I have ever met here in Spain. She is originally from Argentina, but she and her husband came over this way and during their time here, they started up a church. And what a love she has for her church members and for them to know the Lord. She has such a pastoral heart for them.

Well, let me tell you, she reminded me SO much of my grandma. From the first night of her trying to nearly stuff food down Andrew and my throat because she was concerned with us not eating but we were TOO HOT to eat. It was from that moment that I was like, “OH MY GOODNESS, MY GRANDMA!!”. She sat like my grandma, held her phone like my grandma, and loved on our sweet Isa girl like I’ve seen my grandma love on her other grandbabies. I cried when I first realized the gift God gave me those 4 days. The way she loved on us was exactly what this mama’s heart needed. I appreciated her prayers for us (I heard her praying for us behind closed doors) and her wisdom she shared with me about caring for a baby. What a gift from God!

NEW STRATEGY

For most of the outreach, I was “side-lined” to be able to take care of our sweet girl, but it didn’t stop me from using that time to pray for our people. I truly enjoyed those moments I got to spend with our baby girl, getting to see her grow and discover the world little by little. And truly, it was a blessing getting to see how God used her to open up doors, especially with Pastora’s daughter (I will call her J).

It was expressed to me before going to Pastora’s house that she had a daughter that was in a difficult place, in regards to her relationship with Christ, that I may or may not see while I’m staying with the pastor. I was told that she doesn’t necessary come out of her room and if she did, she wouldn’t necessarily speak to us. However, the first day that Isa and I stayed back in the house while the team went out, J came out of her room, and because my door was open (I left it open on purpose), she came in because sweet girl was being VERY vocal at the moment, and wanted to see Isabela.

From there, we would have short conversations before one time, J came and really opened up to me about where she is with Christ – I just listened. And during the last prayer service at the church, she came up to me asking me to pray for her, so I took that time to pray and minister to her – allowing God to use me to speak into her life. I’ve realized that I’m not “out of the game” just that “my strategy” just looks different now.


RE-ENTRY WEEK

And well, just like that we’ve come to the end of the DTS. The last week of the school, we stayed in a small town called Piedralaves. This is the week that we call “re-entry week”, as we take time to preparing the students (and even the staff) on how to re-enter to their homes / ministries and prepare for what God has next for them.

During the re-entry week, we used the mornings for teachings, as well as one last time to pray for the students, and a time for people to “close out things” with each other. We also had a time for those who wanted to get baptised, do be able to do so [pictured below]. The afternoons, we left open for people to enjoy time in the natural pool (one day we did go to the municipal pool) or to spend it how they wanted to for the last week. During our prayer for the students, we saw God continue to work in the life of one of the students in bringing her freedom of some things, AND there was a time of anointing with oil [pictured below].

It was a full month, and an even fuller 5 months of this DTS. We are grateful to have been chosen to lead this group of people during this time (and what a great team we were blessed with for our first time as directors of a DTS).

Our Students

Left: the ladies Right: the guys (plus 2 of our guy staff)


12,000 YOUTH

While we were up North doing our thang as a DTS, Impact was all over Spain doing their thang! They started with a summer camp for youth in Avila, later went to a small town called Arenas de San Pedro where they put on a show in a castle (like what) and had about 40 people respond to the altar call [pictured above], did mini shows at one of the pools they went to, had a special baptism time for one of the catholic youth that is connected to Impact (this is HUGE!!), and ended their summer tour in Santiago de Compostela where they were able to take part in PEJ 2022 [picture below] (PEJ stands for Peregrinación Europea de jóvenes – European Youth Pilgrimage), where 12,000 youth arrived for the FIRST meeting by the Spanish church since the pandemic (it was supposed to be celebrated in 2021 for Holy Year but had to be postponed).

At PEJ, Impact was not only part of holding various workshops, but they also were part of the MANY performances. What a experience, getting to perform on a big stage in front of about 12,000 youth, all praying and seeking God together!



FAMILY LIFE


DATES FOR THE STATES

Andrew and I have our tickets for the states!! We will be stateside from November 2nd to December 5th.

From November 4th to the 20th, we will be in GA and from November 20th to December 5th we will be in NC. Yes, that means we will get to spend Thanksgiving with family this year…YAY!!!

We would love to be able to connect with you while we are stateside, so let’s sync up our calendars!! You can send me a whatsapp, facebook message, DM on Instagram, or even just respond to this email to find a date and time that works :). Can’t wait to see you!!

Stateside trip expenses

Now that we have our flight, we are still in need of a little help with the daily expenses that arise while stateside (diapers, gas, food, etc).

If you would like to give towards our trip in the states (to help with expenses while in the states), you can do so through any of the links below, and specify “stateside travels”. No matter the amount ($20, $50, $500, etc.), we GREATLY appreciate it!


Life on Outreach

WE SURVIVED OUR FIRST OUTREACH AWAY FROM HOME WITH A 3 MONTH OLD!!

💛I S A B E L A💛

Baby girl has now been to O Carballiño, Ourense, AND Piedralaves (aside from Madrid and Torrejon de Ardoz), been on her first outreach (away from home), and “completed” her first DTS.

She is weighing about 15lbs now and is VERY vocal nowadays. During the MANY long trips in the car, she was a TROOPER!! She didn’t cry one bit, except the time we were about 40mins away from our destination so we decided to just keep going instead of stopping to feed her, which put her at like close to 5 hours between feeds…she was NOT happy.

She is really such a sweet girl and is growing so fast!

When we go on outreach, we aren’t ever expecting to be comfortable, so we just prepare to make do with what we have. Well, that becomes even more true (so we have learned) with a baby. We brought with us her little sleeping nest and found creative ways to make her comfortable to sleep [pictured below]

Thanks to Tabi (one of the leaders of the base, and the one that joined us for this DTS), we were able to work together for the marriage workshop mentioned earlier, while baby girl stayed back. We also learned how to “tag-team” well, where he would go to some things and I would go do some things with the DTS, or even giving me opportunities to minister to people while he stayed with Isa girl. It was a learning experience for sure, but it was definitely a rewarding one. We will always say yes to God when he calls us, and these 4 weeks were no different.


C U R R E N T L Y

We are spending the month of August here in Torrejon this year, as we sent out earlier that flights are EXTREMELY expensive. It is VERY hot here, as you may have seen that there is a record heat wave going on here in Europe, so we are looking for ways to pass the heat without A/C. The malls here are air conditioned, so we plan to go to the mall once a week, and possibly go to the municipal pool once a week as well. We do have a small pool now, that we can sit in to help keep cool as well – gotta get creative nowadays hehe.

BIRTHDAY MONTH

YESSS my birthday month has begun!! I would have loved to be able to spend it with you lovelies back in the states, BUT I am still looking forward to the rest of this month here with my little family and seeing what God will do this month (I’m expecting big!).

For gift ideas, you can check out the wish lists below and/or use the links to just drop some cash (cash is ALWAYS helpful).


We would love your help with purchasing plane tickets for our trip home this year. We would love for you to pray about how you can help us and let us know. Thank you in advance.


Blessings!

Andrew, Maiya, & Isabela Kuettner


PRAYER REQUESTS

  • Base-wide
    • For God to give us wisdom and direction as we begin a new season on our base, with new personal.
  • Impact
    • Preparation as the iDTS begins in September.
  • Transformation
    • Guidance for the future season. As we grow as a team and ministry, we want/need help with creating a rhythm and platform for our team/ministry to continue to grow.
  • Andrew and Me
    • Finances. For a trip to the states, as well as taking care of our daily needs.
    • Wisdom for Andrew and me on being husband & wife and parents and missionaries
    • Wisdom and guidance with all the paperwork needed to finish for Isabela’s residency.
    • Spanish License. Favor with the whole process – finding the right place for taking / passing / paying for the class.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

We want to thank ALL of you for being with us in this fun adventure as missionaries. Thank you for faithfully praying and faithfully giving each month.

For those of you who have been with us since the beginning, we would like to ask if you would also pray about an incremental increase. Just an additional 10% each month would go a long way to help us keep up with the costs of living here in Spain, as well as welcoming a new member to our family!

Thank you all soooo much!!

WAYS TO GIVE

Check out our Get Connected page.