A little recap of School of Biblical Studies (SBS)(Speed review/ nutshell perspective)

As we are about to enter into the last quarter of this incredible, intensive bible school , we find ourselves at a state of amazement of our great God, along with “mushy” brains that have hardly ever been exercised this much. To refresh your memory; We are doing the School of Biblical Studies (SBS, because YWAM loves acronyms) in Montana for nine months, and are currently at the six- months- mark. It has been quite the ride. Never have we spent between 10- 14 hours per day (Mon- Sat because Sunday is the day of rest) studying and digging into the Word of God. Never have we been challenged this much by the radical life of Jesus Christ and his disciples laying down their lives for the gospel as well as the obedience and true faith of people like Abraham, Joseph, David and Ruth. And never before have we lived in a dorm with 30 single people... Although not quite spring yet, we have Spring break at the moment, (which feels great)

having done all of the New Testament, and the Old Testament until 1 Kings. On average we type 50 pages per week,(sometimes up to 70) and we color- code our Bibles (the picture above is Ruthie’s color coded bible!) as well as learning a lot about the background and culture of the time the Bible is set in.(among many other things) This is a key part to know what the bible is saying, because although God is the same yesterday, today and forever; people and cultures change. There are constant paradigm- shifts in every sphere of life. What is neat about the “inductive method” is that we come to the bible without our own “fixed” agenda, other than what we know the Bible says about God, and we peel away layers, so to speak, in order to find why the things are written the way they are and what God’s heart is behind the stories and commandments in the Bible. The more we read and study it, the more we see God’s incredible love

and mercy for our world, which is in desperate need of salvation, hope and peace.

God is greater than anything and anyone, and one of our favorite quotes from our brilliant school leader goes : “A God small enough to fit into our heads is not great enough to worship.” As we are studying His words, we do realize that with our limited brains, we are not able to fully being able to explain our God. Which is why he is God, and we are not; it makes him all the more worthy. We are so blessed and privileged to serve such a great, loving and amazing God!

It is quite difficult to express all the things we have learned and how much God has transformed our hearts, souls and minds on a tiny page, but believe us when we say that He is blowing us away in so many ways. This truly is an investment for life, bringing true life and transforming our hearts, souls and minds!

DEVOTED TO STUDY, DO AND TEACH THE WORD OF GOD (EZRA 7:10)

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We have earnestly been seeking God about what comes next for us and what plans he has for us. At the moment we are working on a more “solidified” vision for what God has laid on our hearts. As YWAMers our hearts is set on missions and sharing the incredible Good News about Jesus Christ to a broken world, but the ways God takes us on are not always the ones we would choose ourselves. Which is why we have to”zoom out” and change our perspective quite often. Because though we want to go to Haiti, or Cambodia, or anywhere in Africa, it seems like God is saying to be teachers/ leaders for two years in the SBS at YWAM Montana! And as we have been asking him for his heart and wanting to do what he has for us, we have come to realize what a privilege this is. God has laid on our hearts for a while that we are to be teachers of His Word to especially the young, “up and coming” generation. And what transforms more than the Word of God?! It is sad to think of

that many believers have never read God’s word from front to back, because in it is the key to transformation, and applying God’s word is what will change the world. This year we have merely scratched the surface of the Bible, so to be able to truly dig into it and to learn teaching it to people who will take this to the corners of the earth, is incredible and truly world- changing. We will be able to disciple, teach and train people from all over the world and we firmly believe that these next two years will be the start of teaching absolute, Biblical truth to people living in a world where “everything is relative.”

Thank you for your support both financially and in prayer! We are incredibly blessed, and acknowledge that we could not do what we do without people like you! Do not hesitate to contact us with prayer requests or just to catch up.

May God bless you in incredible ways. Ever-thankful;

-Andrew and Ruthie Keyes

What comes next?-The need for absolute truth in a “relative” world

Support: We still need $500 ASAP in order to finish this school. As YWAMers we rely on relationship- based support. If you would like to help us finishing up these 9 months, we would be ever- grateful. You can either send a check to us (address below), payable to YWAM, or if you would like to “be on our team” on a monthly basis, please contact us and we can arrange (tax- deductible) direct deposits. We are so amazed at people’s generosity and God’s incredible provision for us!

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Contact information:

ADDRESS-501 Blacktail RdLakeside MT 59922USA

PHONE-509.389.2689

E-MAIL-andrewplusruthie@gmail.com

BLOG- www.andrewandruthie.wordpress.org