Chico Update!

    Sorry to everyone that I haven't really keeping in touch very much! I wanted to write a quick update about what I've been doing during my time here in my DTS for anyone who was wondering :)
It's been a crazy couple of months here, I really could not have expected God to do so much in my life.        We have had some really amazing speakers come to teach our class. We have a new speaker come every week and some of the subjects they have taught on recently are: Relationships, Spiritual Warfare, and Supernatural Ministry. I've been learning so much about how much love God has for me and what He wants to do through me not only through classes but through some of the other stuff we have been doing here too. It has become almost common for me when the Holy Spirit manifests now. This past week as we were able to learn about and practice a lot of the ways God works and His spiritual gifts has been INCREDIBLE! We were able to practice prophecy, healing, and tongues and it was amazing how God can really move even in a class room setting! God even spoke to me in an audible voice last week too, which has never happened to me before, and He told me to focus on Him and He has been showing me how important and valuable I am to Him and how much He desires for my heart to be seeking Him fully.
 Also something I have been spending a lot of my time doing lately is preparing for my outreach! For those that still don't know, in April I will be going to Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica! My team will mostly be working with the Mizkito Indians doing different types of ministry. Just from seeing how God is already using my team here I am super excited to see what He will do in Central America! Every week here in Chico we do some type of local outreach so we are already able to put into practice some of the things God has been doing in our lives. We've done street evangelism, visited various churches and schools in Chico doing prayer walks and ministering, and we helped with Habitat for Humanity last week.
     God has been seriously blessing my Spanish during this time too! It's still not perfect but I've been able to translate in front of churches and schools a few times during some of our outreaches. I'm really thankful God has been helping me with it because I know it will be a really helpful tool in Central America.
    Thanks for reading! God bless! :)

First Days in Chico!

   Well I just finished my first official week of DTS here in Chico! It's been more of an adventure than I could have expected. The first night here was really hard for me, just being in a new place and not knowing anybody I felt really intimidated. I have gotten along really well with everybody though and now I don't want to leave! I am getting to practice lots of Spanish and I already feel like some of my friends will probably be in my life for a really long time. 

     The base is really beautiful, we've gone hiking a few times. It makes me laugh how on the website for my DTS it talks about the amazing springs that are here, but what they don't say until you're here is that they're sulfur springs that smell REALLY bad! haha. It really is a beautiful place though. 

      Every day we have breakfast at 6:45, personal devotional time, worship, prayer or bible study, lectures from whoever the speaker is for the week until lunch, and at 3:00 we have work duties. Nighttime is different every day of the week. I absolutely love spending just so much TIME with the Lord! 

     My favorite part of this week was definitely the lectures. Our speaker's name was Bill Payne and it was shocking to me how much wisdom he had and how much God used him to reveal more of His love and character to us. For me something really cool is just the fact that it's OK for me to have questions. In the past when something that was written in the Bible or taught in church that I wasn't really sure about, I would just blindly push my doubts away and agree with whatever it was without very much question, because to me if I didn't agree with everything then I didn't really have faith. Something our speaker shared though is that there are two ways to come to God with questions, either starting with doubt and challenging Him or starting with faith and truly wanting to know His heart better. It changed my mindset because now when I hear something instead of just saying 'wow that's a great point' and not really growing much from it, I understand now better how to pray into those things with God. 

     Another thing is my understanding of prayer has changed a lot. A few times a week we have intercession, which is really new for me. I pray to God all of the time but honestly the idea of Him giving me images or words to pray is a different concept for me. Prayer has always been about me talking to God and I know He can speak to me as well but being here I'm realizing what a big part of prayer that is! Today I took some time to pray about some personal stuff and God gave me a very specific scripture that was just so incredibly relevant. I have never really felt like I was very 'good' at praying, especially out loud. I always felt like it was about what I had to say and I would get nervous. I really hope God will show me that He can use my prayers, that He listens, that He speaks, and that I have power in His name.

     I am so thankful for my first days here and so excited about the foundation God has set out for me. Thanks for reading this guys! Keep me in your prayers while I'm here! :)

Support Letter

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well. I am sure some of you have heard by now that 

God is calling me to a very exciting opportunity next year. I am writing to let you know 
exactly what it is I’m being called to and tell you a little bit more about what I’ll be doing. Next year I am going to be participating in a program called YWAM, or Youth With A Mission. This is something I have been praying about for a long time. Ever since I have started getting involved in Mexico I have felt like I have wanted to do something mission oriented with my life. I am still not exactly sure what that will look like but for the past few years I have felt a tug on my heart to the poor, the orphaned and the fatherless. I have had a definite picture in my head of taking the love I have been given, and sharing it with less fortunate children internationally. God has blessed me so incredibly much throughout my childhood. When I first felt my heart move in Mexico it was because of the children that were not as blessed as I was. I got to know them, their personalities and their joy and I didn’t understand why I was the one with the ‘good’ life and why they were the ones living with next to nothing. It used to bother me immensely. Later as I grew closer to God and more familiar with how he wants to use me specifically, I have realized there was a reason that I was so blessed. I have been given so much love from God, my parents, my family, my youth leaders, and my friends so that I can take that love and pour it back out into those who truly need it. There is nothing I want more than to just show children that they are loved and I know this is something that is pleasing to God. 

I first heard of doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through YWAM and began to get interested in it through friends. YWAM is an international Christian organization focused on training this generation to make Jesus known throughout the world. YWAM is a fairly large organization with over a thousand bases in many countries. The DTS focuses on training youth to evangelize, love, and care for people all over the world. The DTS is made up of two parts, the lecture phase and the outreach phase. The lecture phase usually lasts about 3 months and consists of classes, speakers, and local outreaches. The purpose of the lecture phase is to better equip the students for the outreach phase, usually lasting 2-3 months, and usually in another country, with various focuses. 

On January 16, 2013, I will be taking part in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Chico, California. I will be spending 12 weeks there for the lecture phase, and I will find out what country my 8 week outreach will be in once I am in training. Another thing I am so grateful to the Lord for is His aid in my learning Spanish. I am not quite fluent yet but He has placed the right people in my life to help me to get very close. The winter DTS in Chico will be entirely bilingual. I am so excited to learn even more Spanish, and likely go on the outreach in a Spanish speaking country. 

It would mean so much to me if you would consider supporting me in this decision to pursue God’s will for my life through YWAM. I am hoping that my time there will further enhance my understanding of the ministry God is bringing me to. I will be trying very hard to keep all of my family and friends updated on this journey while I am away. All of your prayers mean so much to me, now as I prepare to go, and also while I am actually doing the DTS. Right now I am working at Chick-fil-a to try and raise some of the $6,000 cost. I am praying that God will help with me to raise the rest of this money, and I am faithful that He will.  If He is calling you to help me with this financially, then please do so, but not because you feel obligated, but only out of obedience to the Lord. Any support, especially prayer, is greatly appreciated. Besides praying that I will be able to raise enough money for this, some other prayer requests I have are that God will truly use this time to bring me closer to Him and to show me more of his plan for me. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will keep me in your thoughts as I go away with the Lord on this adventure. 

If anyone does want to help me financially, please make checks out to “Youth With A Mission” with “Kayla Carlevato” in the memo and send it to me at:

9629 Valley Woods Ln

Knoxville, TN 37922