We are Back and New IMPORTANT Info

DC and Shanghai Recap

This year as you know we led our team of 18 students to Washington D.C. and Shanghai China!

Our team in Washington, D.C. was very powerful as we spent our time working with YWAM DC who birthed The Washington House of Prayer. We spent time ministering in lower income neighborhoods, worshipping and praying on the streets, not to mention reaching out next door to The Washington DC base at the Methadone clinic. We were even there for President Barack Obama's 2nd Inauguration and then a few days later got to participate in the Annual March for Life, standing up for the rights of the unborn of America. God moved mightily and we were so blessed to be apart of what God is doing in our Great Nation of America.

Shanghai, China welcomed us with open arms upon our arrival! Although it took a while to get there (our plane turned around mid air! 11 hour delay later!). Within the first 3 days of our time in Shanghai we connected with so many different ministries and organizations, you would never guess it was a Communist country! We all broke up into different cell groups, and participated in different ministry everyday! We taught English to Migrant worker children outside of the city, had the opportunity to talk about Jesus in International Schools, Served at least once a week at a Special Needs Orphanage, and not to mention encourage, preach, worship, and pray for those that went to drug rehab programs and had recently accepted Jesus. Our time in Shanghai was so versatile, it was so encouraging to have our perspective shifted from what we see on the news. China is a Nation that is so hungry for God, and we got to be apart of the not so underground revival that is happening there! 

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Big Change is Coming

Things to keep in mind as we transition from NY to WA

What will change for us?

• We will be moving all of our stuff from New York to Washington to work and raise support for our time in Cambodia.
• We will be visiting California for 2 weeks before heading to Washington. We will be spending time with our family and friends there.
• We will be spending about 5 months in Bellingham, WA. Taking time with our family and friends. While there we want to find temporary jobs and fundraising for our next adventure in Cambodia!

What will change for you?

• If you support us financially, we no longer will be able to receive your contribution through YWAM Metro NY after April 1st.
• If you support us financially, we would ask that you send the check to us directly or send it through our paypal account. (see here for more info)
• We ask that if you are supporting us financially already please help us transition smoothly. We will try to contact everyone as soon as possible.
• We will have a tax deductible option available soon. It may take a month or two. Thank YOU for your patience.
• We want to meet with you, if you live in or around Pleasanton, CA or Lynden, WA!! Send us an email at johnroberta.olin@gmail.com or call us at 1(631)873-6371.

What are we going to do in Cambodia?

• We are going to do a School of Biblical Studies in Battambang, Cambodia at YWAM Battambang. It is a 9 month school designed to teach us the Inductive Bible Study Method. 
• Why this school? I feel that we need more biblical knowledge where ever we end up in ministry. This is a great way to prepare Roberta and I for what God has for us in the future.
• Why Cambodia? Last time Roberta and I were in Cambodia we both fell in love with the country. We felt that God opened a door for us to spend more time in Cambodia through this school. 
• Along with the school we will also be working with some local ministries teaching the Bible.

Merry Christmas and : Reminder

May God always be the center of your celebration of this very

Merry Christmas! 

From John and Roberta

Help Us Get to C : Reminder
You can support us in our adventure to C

We will be spending about 5 weeks in C getting to know the culture and fanning the flames of our Father's Love!

Click here (or below "donate here") for information on how you can do this in monetary donations or email us (johnroberta.olin@gmail.com) and find out more on how you can talk to the Father for us!

Thank YOU so much!

Your Friends,
John and Roberta

Help Us GO!

Roberta and I are helping lead a team to C.

We need to your help to go to an amazing country (for safety reasons I will only use C as its name). We need about $2,100 to pay for the airfare, visas, and other expenses. We are being asked to have this money together by December 15th. Please pray right away about how you can give. (click here for more information on how you can help send us.)
We are going to be helping teach english on college campuses around Shanghai. While teaching english and building relationship with the C people we want to share the Good News with them and be Jesus with skin on to them.

How you can help:
John's - Airline Ticket for $840
Roberta's - Airline Ticket for $840
John's - Travel visa for $250
Roberta's - Travel visa for $250
Total - $2,180

You can choose to give to one of the items or part of one or more. Please pray and ask God what He would have you give. Email us and let us know how you can help. Email Roberta and I at johnroberta.olin@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Why C?
We are going to C because I believe it is the fastest growing Christian church in the world. We are going to help fan the flames that are already burning in C.

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Sandy Relief

As you may have heard, a huge hurricane came through the East Coast. The hurricane caused a lot of damage with in the New York area. We had very little damage done to the YWAM Campus and everyone here was safe from injury. We took the opportunity to help in the relief effort.

Canadian Vacation

Roberta and I got the opportunity over thanksgiving to go visit some friends in Ottawa, ON, Canada! We spent 5 amazing days of relaxing, playing with their kids, and eating tasty Thanksgiving food! God blessed us with an amazing family of friends that housed us and took good care of us while there. It was much needed rest.

Once again THANK YOU for being our friends. 

Thank you for supporting us and praying for us! 

You are a great encouragement to Roberta and I, always.

Newsletter of Thank YOUs

Thank YOU

to everyone who helped with 

our wedding!

Dear friends,

We want to continually say thank you to everyone of you that helped Roberta and me in the beginning of our life together.  We are forever grateful to each and every one of you.  We still think back on the day and the events surrounding it and we cannot believe how it actually happened.  We are so incredibly blessed to have amazing family and friends.  You are very dear to our hearts and we can only look back on the month of August in 2012 and see how amazingly blessed we are by all of YOU.  We say again, very humbly: Thank YOU.

Daily we are completely humbled by how God is working and using us.

Our wedding day was the best day of our lives.  On August 11th at around noon, Roberta and I were married!  Following the wedding we took some more pictures and headed to our reception at an amazing restaurant.  From California we flew to Washington for a reception and time to hang out with my(John's) family.  From Washington, we found a honeymoon in Mexico and spent a couple days there.  We are now in back in New York and living in East Northport in an apartment just 15 minutes from YWAM Metro NY.  God has blessed us with great landlords who are a lot of fun and we enjoy hanging out with each other and getting to know them.

Now that the festivities are all complete, we are in full swing of the 2012 Discipleship Training School (DTS).  We have a group of 18 amazing students.  God has blessed us with some very strong mature students who are ready to join Him in His work.  This DTS is studying who they are in God and, most importantly, who God is.  They are learning how to discover God more and how to make Him known to the people around them.  Roberta and I are so blessed to be a part of their journey in this season.  This January and February, we will be going to China and help lead the students!  We are excited to visit an amazing and beautiful country.  Please pray for us as we go and visit another country.

That's right! Roberta and I will be going to China with the rest of the DTS. We will help lead the team in China for several weeks.  We will be doing things from teaching english on college campuses and volunteering with local organizations.

God has been doing awesome things in our lives. He provided incredible landlords and a beautiful apartment for our first home together.  He has given us the privilege of knowing and leading great students.  He is guiding Roberta and I in new ways within our marriage.  We are very excited to see what He has planned for us.  Please pray for our students.  Pray for us, as staff of this DTS. Pray for us in getting the funds together for the trip to China.  We are still also raising our funds for life together in ministry. Pray about how you can support us financially.  Email me(John) at jolin@ywamny.org for more info or questions.

Thank YOU for all of your friendship and support. It means a lot to have so many amazing people around us.  Thank YOU again.

Your friends,

John and Roberta

Marriage Bound!

Photo by: Tia Sergio Photography

Hey Friends,

Roberta and I are marriage bound! We have less than 16 more days until the Big day!!

First off, will you please pray for us. We will be starting this great adventure of marriage while working as full time missionaries. We are so excited for this new season in our lives. We have seen God moving in so many different ways in our lives in the last several months. It has been a fun and challenging journey so far and we cannot wait to see where God takes us from here.

A couple Reminders:

-Check out how you can help us go on our Honeymoon! http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/johnroberta
-Come join us for our Washington Reception! 

  At Faith Reformed Church in Lynden, on August 14, 2012 at 7:00pm (Everyone is Welcome!).
-Come join us for our New York Reception!

   At YWAM Metro NY in Smithtown, on September 2, 2012 at 7:00pm (Everyone is Welcome!).
-Email me to find out how to support me and Roberta.

Prayer Requests:

-Pray for safety for everyone traveling to the wedding
-Pray God will use me and Roberta in our new marriage to show those around us who He is.
-Pray for all the finances we need to go on our perfect Honeymoon.
-Pray that the preparations go smoothly and will glorify Him.

God is doing amazing things in our lives and we are so thankful for all of you and your prayers. We are praying that God will bless you so much more than you have blessed us. Thanks again.


your friends,

John and Roberta