Destination: Guatemala! June Update

Good afternoon everyone! Our team for Guatemala has had a few meetings now, and everything seems to be happening very smoothly. We all get along well; we got to spend some time as a team with Eunice, our missionary, and we all researched our assigned topics about the country and shared that info with the team. We’ve also gotten assigned the responsibility of coming up with some resources for what we plan to share while we’re at the orphanages. I’ve just spent the beginning of my afternoon looking up songs for our team to sing in Spanish. Doing so has brought back some great memories of when I was on my mission trip to the Dominican Republic when I was in high school, and it made me that much more excited about Guatemala! We leave in about 7 weeks and I recently found out that my entire trip is paid in full!! God continues to amaze me with His generosity through supporter’s prayers and finances. Without both, this trip would not be a reality for me, yet it is and I’m SO THANKFUL to each of you! The team was encouraged to ask for a list of intercessors that are willing to cover us in prayer. If any of you feel specifically led or would want to dedicate your time to pray for me while I’m gone, please reply to this letter and I’ll add you to my list! Again, thank you all for your prayers and support in every way! I’ll keep you updated as we get nearer to departure! Lots of love,

Destination: Guatemala! March Update

Hello Everyone! It has been several months since I’ve sent an update because we were waiting for the dates of our trip to be finalized. Guess what? WE HAVE DATES!

We’ve been told that our trip will be from Sunday, July 25th – Tuesday August 3rd. I was quite excited to see that our trip is actually longer that the previously planned dates. Isn’t God great to reward our patience?! Currently I’ve raised $1,050.00 towards the trip, leaving an outstanding $450.00 still needed for my trip to be completely paid! We will hopefully start meeting as a team from May forward to learn more about Guatemala and the ministry we will be doing while we are there. Our trip seems to be moving in a progressive direction, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me! Please continue to read some of the things God has been doing in my heart recently.

This past weekend we had our annual young women’s conference, DNA, and the theme was ‘Made to Worship’. After worship on the first night, Pastor Tina asked us to open our hands to the Lord to both surrender those things to Him which were making us feel bound, and also to receive from Him anything He had to give us. As I stood there with my eyes closed and my palms open, I had a very real encounter with the Lord. I was positioned to both give to the Lord and receive from Him, and was waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal such things to my spirit. Nothing came to mind. Instead, the Lord showed me a picture of Him putting His hands in mine, and standing right in front of me. He gently said, “This is all you need.” This encounter with Him was so real it was as if I could feel the weight of His hand in mine.

I continued to stand there drenched in His presence and all I could do was giggle. He was so right! All I needed to receive that weekend was HIM! I remember during the service I thought to myself how refreshing it felt to wholeheartedly worship again. For the past few months I’ve been so distracted by the mechanics of the worship portion of a service that I had neglected to truly worship the Lord. This revelation in combination with God’s sweet embrace made me remember what I was created for, worship! Throughout the weekend, the Lord began to re-ignite my desire to worship Him.

As I said, the news about the trip could not have come at a better time. What better time to start preparing for this worship focused trip, than when the Lord is refocusing my worship? I’m trusting that the Lord will continue to reveal Himself to me and my prayer is that I’m instantly obedient to Him instructions and leadings. Beginning to rediscover my hearts deepest desire has been fun, yet I know the journey is not over. Please pray with me that God teaches me to worship Him how He desires to be worshiped by me. I trust His leading, now I need to also trust myself within those places.

Would you pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible.

And if you are interested in being part of my personal prayer support team, please email me or give me a call. We plan to keep our prayer team regularly updated with prayer requests and praise reports. Thank you for praying about being part of our team in any way possible!

New Life Contribution Policy: “Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board’s control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department.”

Where to next?

Dearest Family and Friends,

It hasn’t been long since I came back from my amazing trip to Turkey. As you know from my previous updates, God truly molded my heart differently and in a greater way than expected. Since that time, God has continually been refining my character and revealing to me who He has created me to be. As I mentioned during my preparations for Turkey, God has been creating in me a deep desperation to bring His healing power to the nations through worship. With great enthusiasm I share with you yet another amazing opportunity God has allowed me to take advantage of. I will be a part of a mission team through New Life Providence Church to the country of Guatemala! Our team is scheduled to be in Guatemala from Saturday, February 27, 2010 – Saturday, March 6, 2010.

While we are in Guatemala, we will be visiting multiple orphanages and teaching the kids how to create a lifestyle of worship. The previous New Life team already laid foundational aspects of this very idea. We are going back with the expectation that God will use us to deepen the work He began during the last trip. In addition to teaching, there will be lots of playful times spent with the kids and possibly some outreaches and ministry opportunities with local churches. My hearts desire is to be a tangible example of God’s love for these children. I’ve never been to Guatemala, and never known anyone I will meet while we’re there, and yet I love them already. I believe God is opening my heart to receive an overflowing amount of love directly from His heart to pour into the people we will encounter.

Our team will be very busy, as our trip is just around the corner, learning about Guatemala and preparing for our ministry time there. I would like to invite you to be part of our team! We need people who will pray for us as we prepare and while we are on the field. We also need people who can partner with us financially. It will cost approximately $1,500.00 for me to go to Guatemala.

Would you pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International (NLMI – Dept. of Missions, 1244 Thompkins Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23464) and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible.

And if you are interested in being part of my personal prayer support team, please email me or give me a call. We plan to keep our prayer team regularly updated with prayer requests and praise reports. Thank you for praying about being part of our team in any way possible!

With lots of love,



New Life Contribution Policy: “Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board’s control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department.”

Destination: Turkey! - Welcome Home

Happy July Everyone! As you have probably assumed, the team and I have made it back from our trip to Turkey safe and sound. I’m might be unable to fully express all that God has done because of this experience. Let me begin by telling you about our trip! Our traveling was mostly uneventful, in the best possible way. We arrived in Antalya, Turkey just before midnight on Thursday, June 11th. Our sleeping arrangements were great. We stayed at an adorable hostel in old town Antalya, complete with our own showers and air conditioning. Praise the Lord! We spent our first real day in the city exploring and meeting locals. Each day we were able to experience a bit of the culture whether by activity, historical teaching or authentic cuisine. The team visited the Antalya Museum and learned a bit about the history of the country. There was a day spent prayer walking around a near by province within Turkey. Also, we took at 3 day excursion to a city called Cappadocia which is home of centuries old cities, churches, and monasteries that were carved from within the mountainside rocks. To maximize our usefulness, we turned our tour bus into a traveling prayer house, by each taking 1 hour slots of time to intercede for the cities we were driving through. In keeping with the theme of the city we were visiting, the place we stayed was also created within caves. While it sounds like we may have been roughing it, check out this website (http://www.elkepevi.com/) and know that God definitely blessed us! Along the way, we spent time at historical tombs, storage facilities, and an open air museum. The team spent a day climbing to all sorts of different ‘rock churches’ and were able to see fresco painting of Jesus, the disciples, and some other religious figures which were important to the early century dwellers. Since our purpose was not just to see great sites, we made sure to share God’s presence through worship and prayer within most of the areas we stopped. After returning to Antalya, we spent more time in prayer and worship. We spent another day prayer walking through villages, and were able to meet families who invited us into their homes to have coffee and lunch with them. God ordained a meeting with the Imam, from a village and he graciously allowed us to explore the village’s mosque. He recited the traditional call to prayer for us, and in return we were able to pray for him and his son. The village visits were my favorite ministry opportunity of the trip. Shortly after our arrival, I had begun to question my purpose for being on this team. I was feeling very little spiritual movement and seemed to be very disconnected. Many times I strived to be spiritually minded but I felt as though I was failing; until our last day of prayer walking. The Lord shown greatly through my physical and spiritual weakness and in that began to stir my heart more than it had been stirred the entire trip. I didn’t fully understand why, now nearing the end of the trip, I was ‘getting it’ but I did nonetheless. Earlier today I was explaining to one of my teammates how I was feeling and the Lord gave me a great picture of what He did within me. The longer I've been back the more I realize how foundational this trip was for me. It seems like God is laying a cement pathway in my heart. And while we were in Turkey, the mixture was being stirred, but towards the end of the trip (now looking back) it's as if He poured the mixture into the molded path. It still seemed muddy and unsettled when I first came home but now I feel as though it's "hardening" and being sealed in me. As I mentioned in earlier letters, I had great expectations on this trip and I felt as though the Lord had a great download He wanted to place within me. I now can say that I feel His holy heaviness in my spirit. At this point, there is no identifying marking as to what this will lead too; however, this trip has given me an understanding of what true faith is. When He called me on this trip, I said yes without knowing if logistics would work out in my favor. I did everything I could to prove my faith; however, it seemed to come so easily. I did not realize that this trip would require so much foundational faith and so little emotional senses. I’m learning each new day that God laid a foundation that He’s cementing in my heart and spirit. While I’m eager to run down the road to find what’s on the other side, I am also being taught to appreciate the sealing process that He did and will continue to do. There are not enough words to exaggerate my unceasing gratitude to each and every one of you for sowing into my life, and ultimately my future ministry. I love you all and hope that God blesses you a hundred times more than He’s blessed me because of your willingness to love and support me! I hope you all have a blessed and great 4th of July! With lots of love~

Destination: Turkey! - Departure

Good Morning Everyone! This is it, my last update until we return home! We will be boarding the plane around 5:30PM today and will be gone until Sunday, June 21st. Again, I can not thank all of you enough for your generosity, time and love! I'm taking a bit of each of you with me on this journey! Please keep the team in your prayers, as well as the country. We're planning to create quite a stir in the spirit! :) Lots of Love!

Destination: Turkey! - May Update

It’s time for summer! I truly feel that God’s presence has been shining on me brighter than the sun! In November when I first committed to this trip, I fervently prayed that the Lord would pay off my trip by May 1st. I’m the type of person that would have been stressing out way too much if I was waiting until the last minute to raise my funds. After my update in April, God miraculously paid off the rest of my trip! God’s favor has astounded me throughout this process. My faith for financial support seemed to be effortlessly easy. Normally, this would be my hardest area for me to believe for, however, God spoke so clearly, I knew that He would provide. As I’ve said before, God spoke to me and said that He was preparing me for Turkey to prepare me for the rest of my life. I believe that the greatness of God’s love is pouring into me in a way that I’ve never known. He’s been expanding my faith for provision and favor. Also, He’s been teaching me to trust His voice with a depth that is seeping into every area of my spirit. Each principle the Lord has been teaching me is forming my future in His will. I feel extraordinarily blessed by His hands in my life! We leave 18 days from today; this time has flown by! While we were meeting a few weeks back, I felt God release me and our team to receive from Him just as much as we’re pouring out of Him. I feel like this trip is going to be transformational for each of us in molding who we are as worshippers and prayer warriors. I’m hoping that our intercession would be catapulted to a new level so that we see some drastic changes in the spiritual oppression over the country! I sincerely appreciate each of you and dearly thank you again for your commitment to supporting me both financially and prayerfully! Your prayers are of immeasurable value to my team and me.

Survival Turkish

The team received an email from the couple that lives in Turkey. Included in their email was an information sheet with some Turkish phrases. Since I want each of my supporters to feel as connected as possible, I thought I'd share some of my Turkish knowledge with you! Ready? First lets do something easy. We'll begin with numbers:

• Zero – Sifir
• One – Bir
• Two – İki
• Three – Üç
• Four – Dört
• Five – Beş
• Six – Alti
• Seven – Yedi
• Eight – Sekiz
• Nine – Dokuz
• Ten - On

Do you feel educated? Just wait until you try these next phrases!

• Hello – Merhaba
• Thank you – Teşekkürler
• How are you? – Nasıl sınıs?
• I’m good. – İyiyim.
• Where is the toilet? – Tuvalet nerede?
• Welcome – Hoş geldiniz

Now for the real reason we're going:

• God – Allah
• Jesus – İsa
• God bless you – Allah bereketlisin
• God willing – İnshallah
• Praise God – Hamd Olsun
• Come Lord Jesus – Gel Rob İsa
• Come Holy Spirit – Gel Kutsal Ruh
• Fire - Ateş

I hope you have enjoyed this lesson. :) I'm praying that the Lord will give me supernatural abilities of fluency in this language! Otherwise, now you know as much as I do! Lots of Love To Ya!!

Destination: Turkey! - April Update

Spring has Sprung! I'm so thankful that Jesus has risen and given us opportunity for life and love! I sincerely thank everyone who has given a donation at this point towards my mission to Turkey. God is so rich and I'm so thankful that He's been pouring into this ministry opportunity! When I first committed to this trip, I was very specific with the Lord and asked for the entirety of my financial support to be raised by May 1st. As it stands now, I only owe $300 to have my trip paid in full! Thank you again for everyone who has committed to supporting me both financially and prayerfully! Your prayers are of unmeasurable value to my team and I. We've had our first official meeting and were given our research assignments. I chose to research the History of Turkey. Wow, is there ever an abundance of information! This coming Sunday, April 19th, we will be having our next team meeting where we will present our topics to each other. I have a sneaking suspicion that these next 7 1/2 weeks will be flying by! Last night, I had dinner at an authentic Turkish restaurant with my mentor and friend, who went to Turkey last year. I do believe that I was born to eat of this country's cuisine! She shared lots of her experiences and tips on traditions in the country. Every day I grow more and more excited to embark on this journey! God has given me big expectations for what He's going to do and how He's going to use me on this trip! He spoke to me back in November and told me, "I'm preparing you for Turkey, to prepare you for the rest of your life!" I have little clarity as to what the rest of my life looks like through His eyes, yet His promises are rock solid and I'm standing tall! Would you please continue to pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible. With lots of love, Kristin DePola New Life Contribution Policy: "Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board's control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department." Make check payable to: New Life Ministries International or "NLMI" Donation for: Kristin DePola Trip location: Turkey (For tax benefit, please do not put my name on your check) Mail donation to: NLMI-Dept. of Missions 1244 Thompkins Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Destination: Turkey! - March Update

Happy March Everyone!

Hopefully each of you has received my original letter, and I pray that this update finds you well!

As I mentioned previously, God has placed a call to worship on my life and a strong desire to see His miraculous healing flow through worshiping Him. During the first weeks of January, God placed His healing touch on my own body. This experience released countless amounts of revelation and brought me to a new depth in His love! My prayer is that God would use the touch He placed on me to minister to everyone I encounter both here at home and in Turkey!

I sincerely thank everyone who has given a donation at this point towards my mission to Turkey. God is so rich and I'm so thankful that He's been pouring into this ministry opportunity! As it stands now, I have received $1,600 towards my trip out of the required $2,900. I'm over half way there, Praise Him! The finances are definitely a need, but please continue to cover my team and I with your prayers because those are priceless!

We will begin having team meetings shortly, and when more details are given to me, I will joyfully pass them onto you! My heart longs to see the kingdom of heaven come to earth. Thank you again for everyone who has committed to supporting me both financially and prayerfully!

Would you please continue to pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible.

With lots of love!



New Life Contribution Policy: "Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board's control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department." Make check payable to: New Life Ministries International or "NLMI" Donation for: Kristin DePola Trip location: Turkey (For tax benefit, please do not put my name on your check)Mail donation to:

NLMI-Dept. of Missions 1244 Thompkins Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Destination: Turkey!

I am excited to share with you an amazing opportunity God has allowed me to take advantage of. During my seasons of healing and restoration in the last few years, God has been creating in me a deep desperation to bring His healing power to the nations through worship. I'm overjoyed to announce that God has called me to be a part of a mission team through New Life Providence Church to the country of Turkey! Our team is scheduled to be in Turkey from June 10, 2009 – June 21, 2009.

We will be partnering with New Life missionaries Jeremy and Angie who utilize their gifting in worship, prayer and intercession to launch church plants in their area. Our team will also be ministering to the neighborhood families and coupling with local ministries in evangelism. God has been releasing me as a worshiper by way of our young adult worship team and I believe this opportunity will bring me into the next season of God's will for my life. Over the past several years, God has been creating in me a hunger for His presence like I've never known before. In return, my heart burns to pour out His love and spirit on this area of the world.

Our team will be busy for the next several months learning about Turkey and preparing specific programs and materials for our ministry time there. I would like to invite you to also be part of our team. We need people who will pray for us as we prepare and while we are on the field. We also need people who can partner with us financially. It will cost approximately $2,900.00 for me to go to Turkey.

Would you pray about being a part of my support team? All financial contributions are tax-deductible. Checks should be made payable to New Life Ministries International and the envelope (not the check) should be clearly designated with both the trip name and my name. You may include the country/trip name on the memo line of your check but please do not include my name. If the check is designated with my name, according to IRS regulations, you will not be able to use it as a tax deduction. Also, you may make an online contribution through our website at http://newlife.cc/. Because we have to meet deadlines for airfare deposits and other arrangements, I need to have adequate financial support raised as soon as possible.

And if you are interested in being part of my personal prayer support team, please comment. We plan to keep our prayer team regularly updated with prayer requests and praise reports. Thank you for praying about being part of our team in any way possible!

With lots of love!



New Life Contribution Policy: "Contributions to short-term mission trips are tax-deductible; however, in accordance with IRS regulations, these designated offerings are subject to the governing board's control and discretion. When contributions for a particular individual exceed trip expenses, the governing board may redirect contributions to other mission team expenses or to another activity within the missions department."

Make check payable to: New Life Ministries International or "NLMI" Donation for: Kristin DePola Trip location: Turkey (For tax benefit, please do not put my name on your check) Mail donation to: NLMI-Dept. of Missions 1244 Thompkins Lane Virginia Beach, VA 23464