3 Ways to Support Me in the DR

Lots of people have questions about ways they can support me during my time in the Dominican Republic. So I decided to make a list of ways you can help me out.

1. Prayer

I need this more than anything! Please be praying for me on a daily basis. Pray for my walk with Christ. Pray that God continues to reveal his purpose for my life. Pray for Caribbean Mountain Academy (where I work), the staff and students here, and that we as a campus move closer together and closer to Christ.

2. Care Packages

I love Care Packages! Besides being filled with useful items I need, they also remind me home and remind me I am never alone on my journey!

Here are a list of items I always need plenty of:

Gatorade Powder
Workout Shirts and Gym Shorts (C9 at Target - Cheap and Great!) XXL
Socks and Boxers (Size 13 and XXL)
Snacks (Beef Jerky, Packets of Tuna Fish (no cans!), Raw Almonds and Cashews, Raw Sunflower Kernels, Dried Fruit)
Toiletries (Toothpaste, Bar Soap, Shampoo, Deodorant)

I also would love it if you include letters or notes along with anything you send!

You can send any care packages to

Hunter Yates

3170 Airmans Dr. # 3039 CMADR                                      

Ft. Pierce,  FL 34946

3. Financial Support Team

I am a full support missionary, which basically means I rely 100% on people financially supporting me on a monthly basis. The money I receive goes towards my living expenses (gas, food, clothing) and in an emergency fund. Every donation counts and goes towards allowing me to stay in the DR.

To give towards my fund, visit the Crosswinds Staff Support page HERE and click next to my name and picture. You can set it up to become a monthly giver or just to give a one time donation.

(And for more about what I do in the Dominican Republic at Caribbean Mountain Academy, watch this video!)

Thanks for reading!

In Christ ,

Hunter

The Transition

I hate blogging. Let me be more specific. I don't like writing in general. I am one of those people who never took notes in school and I can't translate my thoughts into a journal. That is why I love having friends I can talk to and vent my thoughts. My mentor Rob Cupp said I was one of the most complex people he had ever tried to pick the brain of. I would rather be an awesome storyteller than writer anyways. That being said, I wanted to get some of my thoughts out on here.

I turned 23 yesterday. I am happy with where my life is right now. I get to serve the Lord by serving people in one of the most beautiful countries in the World. I have an awesome family who I love dearly. I have amazing friends who I get to walk life with. Most importantly, I have an awesome Savior who Loves me and lifts me up even when I seem to screw up like it is my second job.

There are still things I want though. I hope I don't sound greedy. I know that if I died today I would go blessed with the life I have lived so far and would go with a full heart. But there are more things I want for my life.

I want to be a Godly husband to a woman who love Jesus and brings me closer to him daily. I want to be a father to kids who have the opportunities I never had and be the first pastor in their lives. I want to finish school and see what career field God puts me in. I want to be in at least one cage fight, or at minimum a pro wrestling match. Okay, so maybe that last one won't ever happen. A boy can dream.

My hobby as of late has been laying in bed dreaming about those things. I have a bad habit of thinking about the future too much and not enjoying what God has for me right now. I was literally in the DR a week and I had a thought something like "Okay Hunter, what are you going to do next with your life?" The problem with this kind of thinking is that it can never accomplish any of these things for me. Even worst, I spent my time dreaming about these things instead of reading my bible and going to the Lord in prayer. I could feel my spiritual life tanking, but my retreat was going to my mind in fantasy and not in the Lord.

But then I heard this verse in a sermon.

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" Psalm 37:4

Now I had heard that verse plenty of times in the past. I'm not sure why it struck such a cord with me this time. All I know is this is all that has been going through my head the last week.

I have the unique opportunity in my life where I get a chance to pursue God away from the distractions of America and all the comforts of home. I am learning that is one of the main reasons I am here and one of the main reasons I never got close to accomplishing any of those things while I was in South Carolina.

God moved me to another country so that I would put ALL of my delight in him. He wants to give me the desires of my heart, but he has to be the person I desire most before any of that can happen. Honestly he wasn't my main desire when I was home. He was an important aspect of my life, but not my everything. Things that he uses to glorify him were my everything (Small group, Church, Family), but not Jesus himself. This has been a hard transition but also a very beautiful one. For the first time ever, God was literally the only person I had to talk to. And when I mean literally, I mean I felt like I was one of those weird kids in movies who has an imaginary friend. The Good News is, God is not imaginary. He is not dead. He is alive and as real as anybody reading this right now. And at the end of the day, I am finding myself drawn closer to him and I am excited to see how I am refined because of this.

Please continue to pray for me as God continues to work in my life and as I serve him in the Dominican Republic.

In Christ,

Hunter

Greetings from Jarabacoa!

Hola!

I am approaching 2 weeks here at CMA and it has been a jam packed experience so far.

It was a surreal experience walking around campus the first night I was here. The idea of being somewhere new but knowing where everything was and already having relationships here was amazing.

Working with the students has been amazing. I see so much potential in their lives and even through their struggles I know God is doing work in their hearts.

I'm excited to see what God has for me here and to see how he provides.

Speaking of providing, I need prayers on a few things.

1) Continue praying for my walk, that I continue to seek out Christ, allow him to pour into my life, and that he allow me to pour into others.

2) Pray and consider joining my monthly support team. I have only around $300 of monthly donations. I am provided for here with meals and an awesome house, but need to raise that amount to around $750 so I can pay for living expenses and daily costs. (There is information on how to join my team on my previous blog post.)

3) TRANSPORTATION

I need to purchase a vehicle within the next month or so, which will allow me to go into town as well as travel around campus (CMA is on a mountain, fyi). I am looking to get a 4 Wheeler because I have no motorcycle experience not to mention I have the body frame of an offensive lineman.

The cost of this will be around $3000. I currently have around $1000. I would love if anyone reading this would consider making a One-time donation to go directly to the cost of purchasing this. I know that is asking a lot but I am faithful that God provides in times of need. (There is information on One time giving on my previous blog post.)

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions about anything!

In Christ,

Hunter

Read this to Join my team!

Exciting News!!!

My support page is finally up and ready to go!!!! In case you didn't know, I have accepted a job in the Dominican Republic working at Caribbean Mountain Academy. You can read more about CMA and my journey there on my last blog post (My Journey).

I am asking those reading this to begin lifting me up in prayer, and then consider financially supporting me by joining One or Both of the following teams. My scheduled move date is January 10th, so I need your support and quick!

Please read all of this before trying to give! :-)

Monthly Supporters

You guys are my backbone. I am relying on faithful funders to support me on this journey. My entire salary is dependent on people like you coming alongside me. In fact, I cannot even book my flight until I am fully funded which means having a team of givers behind me ready to go.

My current goal is to raise $750 dollars a month. I have calculated this down to 30 people giving $25 dollars a month. Not a lot of money when you think about the opportunity I have to be a light in the lives of some troubled teens.  (If you have more questions about this, please call/text me at (803) 309 - 1844 or send me a message on Facebook.)

To join this team, click HERE and scroll down to the last section entitled "Staff Support" and click the purple "Donate Now" button. This will redirect you to the giving form.

Fill out your personal information, then under the section entitled "Donation" go to "Frequency" and select "Monthly Recurring". To the right of that, select "Staff - Yates" under the "Staff Support" dropdown menu.

(It is very important you click "Monthly Recurring" and "Staff Yates" to make sure your donation is credited properly.)

Enter your debit/credit card information, enter your donation amount, and then click "Support Us" to finish the transaction.

(This will auto-draft off of the card you enter, so take that into consideration if you use multiple debit/credit cards.)

One Time Donations

I understand that some people would love to give but can't commit to monthly donations. I would love it if you would consider donation towards my initial move fund. I am looking to raise $1000 initially for when I first arrive in the DR. This will cover transportation costs, household equipment, and living expenses. No amount is too small, so if you are able to please consider making a one-time donation.

To join this team, click HERE and scroll down to the last section entitled "Staff Support" and click the purple "Donate Now" button. This will redirect you to the giving form.

Fill out your personal information, then under the section entitled "Donation" go to "Frequency" and select "One Time". To the right of that, select "Staff - Yates" under the "Staff Support" dropdown menu.

(It is very important you click "One Time" and "Staff Yates" to make sure your donation is credited properly.)

Enter your debit/credit card information, enter your donation amount, and then click "Support Us" to finish the transaction.

Thank you all for reading and thanks in advance for giving. I will be posting on social media and this blog updating you on the process. And remember, January 10th is my move date, so I am asking humbly for those giving to do so swiftly!

"Now to him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." Ephesians 3:20

God Bless!

Hunter

My Journey to the Dominican Republic

Whirlwind.

That's about the only word I have to describe the last 2 years of my life.

I figured at this point I would be finishing college, looking for "real jobs", and circling places on a map I would like to move.

Instead, God has me on a path I couldn't of predicted if I tried.

It wasn't a giant revelation that happened overnight, just a series of small next steps that led to bigger things.

My week in the Dominican Republic this past summer really changed everything for me. I knew I was meant to show Christ's love to the next generation, I just never knew I would/could be doing that outside of the local church. It took a while for me to fully step into this calling, but now that I have God has blessed me with an incredible opportunity to live out his plan for me.

I have been offered a job to live in the Dominican Republic working at Caribbean Mountain Academy (About CMA). I will be living in house with the students there, and walking their journey along side them. The job is a full-support position, so I will need a team of people behind me to support me on a month-to-month basis. I will post information about where you can specifically give later, right now I am asking for one thing.

Will you lift this entire process up in your prayers? Be praying for my heart, my walk with Christ, my relationships I will be putting at a long distance in the next month, and the students and staff at CMA? Will you pray and see if God specifically lays my journey on your heart? And if so, will you consider being on my monthly financial team?  This journey doesn't happen without a team behind me. But if my last mission trip showed me anything, it's that if it's God's WILL it's God's BILL. He is a promise maker, but he is also a promise keeper! I can't wait to update the people reading this with more information on how they can walk alongside me on this journey!

Much love, and God bless

Hunter

International Update

Bonjour from Haiti!

I am sitting at a bus station waiting 2 hours to leave for the DR! Let me give you a quick update on what I have been doing this week. We arrived in Haiti on Tuesday. We stayed at a very nice house with a Pastor and his wife, and their 3 kids. They have family in Anderson and love Newspring. They watch every Sunday from Haiti. They are going to SC for a few months, so I may meet them and go to church. Our main location for the week was a small village in Haiti called Babaco. No electricity, no clean water, lots of hungry kids. We got to spend time just hanging with them, showing God's love and telling them about Jesus. I got to preach a short sermon to them through a translator. Awesome stuff. Hard though because for safety we couldn't give them our clean water or food. My hammock came in handy because we were short a few beds so I slept in it three nights in a row. We also went to a hospital and got to hold sick babies that were very malnourished. Difficult stuff. We got to go to an American food restaurant and eat after we left. The soda here is amazing! They have better coke than we do. They also have a drink called Toro that is like red bull but better, and they have a drink called Fruit Champagne that is like fruit punch orange soda. Very good. We went to a Haitian church and got to sing a song and share a testimony with them. The entire service was in Creole and was like 3 hours long. They go to church forever! We had a day long overlap yesterday, and because we had saved some money on travel costs, we were able to spend the day at a nice resort. The water was crystal clear, and we got to snorkle and kayak a bit. It felt bad after experiencing what we have, but it is important to get a whole perspective of a place, not just the bad side. Everyone in Haiti is very passionate, and there is amazing culture here.

Well, I am heading to the DR in a few hours, so I will talk to you guys soon! Be praying for my team and I !

Much Love,

Hunter

SO CLOSE TO 100%

I am almost there guys! If you haven't already gave or want to give again, go to MY SUPPORT SITE and click the green leaf in the top right to give! About $450 left to raise! Please help me get there!

Also, be praying the next two weeks as I have lots of planning to do! Also, be praying the 15th of May as I fly to Colorado! Love all of you guys!

Hunter!