Challah Covers

 Shalom brothers and sisters in Messiah!

 We pray that you are all doing well and that YHVH is using you for His glory! 

Sukkot is finally here! We are so excited when it comes

to this time because we know we are rehearsing for the day that we will 

be together with our King and take part of the Marriage Supper

 of the Lamb with Him and be with Him FOREVER!!

Anyway, we are also excited to show you some of the new things that 

our dear wife/mom Sister Tammy and our dear Sister Benilda have made, Challah Covers!

On to the pictures!

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These are hand-made crocheted and embroidered Challah Covers that Sister Tammy and Sister Benilda have made. They love doing things with their hands and the things that they do always look like a work of art!*

Keep reading to see how they are made:

Our wonderful wife/mom is the one who came up with this beautiful design(well, sort of LOL). 

She has such a knack for beautiful art in crocheting and embroidering. 

In fact, she actually got a college scholarship, and while she may not like to say

 much about it, we think she has done a beautiful job and that YHVH has really 

blessed her with the ability to do things with a needle 

and some thread that many of us couldn’t even dream of doing.

 

Our dear Sister Benilda has done some great embroidering and this is just

 one of the examples. She has blessed us so much with everything that she has done.

 A part of each donation for the Challah Covers goes to bless Sister Benilda 

for the time that she has put in to help us make each one of these Challah Covers. 

She loves to do things with her hands and she is so fast Sister Tammy can’t keep up with her LOL!

 

These two sisters are working hard there, aren’t they? But they love to do it because 

they know how much of a blessing it will be to someone. 

If you would like one of these Challah Covers, please go to the 

Mayim Chayim Facebook Page(link below) or write in the comment box

 on this blogpost and let us know so we can give you more information on how to get one.

 Right now there are only those two colors, however they are making 

several more in different colors. If there is a specific group of colors that

 you might want, please ask so that they can see if they have

 those colors , as it is much harder to get more thread and yarn here:

Mayim Chayim Inspirations

May YHVH bless you for your gift!

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Please pray for our servant family. We are in the process of possibly getting

 a visa to stay here for an extended period of time so please pray for the 

provision to be able to pay for it. We know that YHVH is in control and that 

His will WILL be done in this matter but we REALLY need your prayer at this time. 

It’s easy to forget about one another in this fast-paced, never-seeming-to-stop way

 we call life, and one of the best ways to remember one another is through

  picture form, so feel more than welcome to print this out. 

We pray that you all have a great Sukkot and that YHVH 

will bless you and make you a great blessing in the lives of the people around you!

Until next time…

Shalom! 

The Montanez Family 

Servants and Emissaries of Yahshua, Children of YHVH

 HalleluYAH!

*In case you are not sure what those letters are on the Challah Covers, they are Hebrew letters and mean

 ‘Shabbat Shalom’, or roughly translated in English as‘Peaceful day of Rest’ or ‘Peaceful Sabbath’, although really it goes much deeper than that.*

A Fiery Furnace…

Shalom brothers and sisters in Messiah!

 I pray that you are all doing well and that YHVH is using you for His glory!

This post is an exciting one as we are going to show you how to 

build an outdoor(Costa Rican-style) oven. Brother Eulogio and Sister Benilda used to

 have a bakery were they lived before they came here to the mountain about 4 years ago 

and they had wanted to build a new one so that they could sell bread and things like that again. 

 After talking to them about it, we decided to do it together. 

So anyway, on to the pictures!

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1 Kings 8:51

‘For they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom 

You brought out of Mitsrayim, out of the iron furnace.

 Psalms 12:6

The Words of YHVH are clean Words, 

Silver tried in a furnace of earth, Refined seven times. 

   

This is a basic, fairly easy to make oven that is inexpensive and will last

 for years(which is a plus when you live in the middle of the jungle LOL). 

In fact, the main ingredients (besides the top layer of concrete on the foundation

 and the broken clay tile) all can be found in your backyard(that is, of course, if you 

have some cows, horses, and a lot of really good black mud/dirt)!

Now, to make this oven, 1st you need a flat foundation, and preferably 

a raised one, that way when you are making your bread, 

pizza, pies, etc. you don’t have to crouch down all the time.

As the foundation is drying, you need to find some medium-length sticks

 about 1-11/4 inches thick that can bend some without breaking but have enough resistance 

to hold the mixture that will be laid over top of them. The holes where the bread and

 wood goes in is about 16 inches tall and about a foot wide on both sides

(front for the bread, back for the wood) and are outlined by pieces of old tin

 roofing that are cut into pieces about 4-5 inches wide and as tall as the hole.

*NOTE*

*Remember to put more sticks than what you think it will need. If you don’t it 

won’t be strong enough to hold the mixture and it will begin to fall before it finishes drying. 

We had to put more sticks after we began because we could 

see it begin to cave in in between the spaces of the sticks.*

Then you need to make a hole to put the mix in. It should be at least knee-high and

 2 1/4- 2 1/2 feet in diameter. Now, what exactly is this mixture? Well… that’s classified, 

it would be too dangerous to tell you…oh wait, you really want to know, 

don’t you… hmm… are you really sure?… well… OK, we’ll let you in on it, but don’t say 

we didn’t warn you. This mixture is made of a couple of ingredients, including mud, grass, water,…

COW AND HORSE POOP! …..

Well, we warned you, but you really wanted to know. But it gets even better. 

How do you mix this fine mixture? Well, you probably don’t want to

 know… ok… ok don’t make such a fuss, we’ll tell you.Well, a shovel may work 

for a while, but it won’t evenly mix everything because of how 

deep the hole is. That is why after a certain point you gotta use your…

FEET! It has to be very well mixed and very wet as you see in 

the pictures above and below, that way as it dries it will become stronger and more durable.

  

After it dries for about 7-10 days, it will be ready to use. Now, to begin

 making the actual oven part you will need to roll out the mixture. 

Yes, with your hands of course! You have to knead the mixture(like bread), 

and then shape it into an ovalish piece about a foot long…

    

 

Like this! Now it is ready to begin the building stage. You take one of these ‘loaves’, 

plop it down on the outside of the wooden sticks, and shape it to

 the mold of the oven, trying your best to make it even on top.   

 

Now, after every layer, you need to place some broken clay tile pieces 

so that it can hold each layer better and therefore make it stronger. 

   

Then it’s time to put another layer of mud ‘loaves’ on top. 

Then we add more broken tile, then more mud ‘loaves’, and we keep

 going and going and going, trying to make sure it stays in shape all the way to the top!

*Note*

*MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS IN FULL SUNLIGHT! We made the mistake 

of doing this during a very cloudy and rainy time. We got the first couple of layers 

done and then we had to stop because it began to rain. We covered it with some 

blue tarp so that it wouldn’t get so wet but after that began a week of rain and 

another 10-14 days of off and on rain, so that by the time we were 

able to continue building, it was nearly 3 and a half weeks after we first began! 

So remember, FULL SUNLIGHT!*

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Now here it is 2/3 of the way done. As it gets further up it becomes harder

 and harder for it to stay in shape, which is why we needed to put more sticks. 

 

 

Remember, this is supposed to be a family project, so enjoy it! 

It’s a lot of work but it will be worth it. Just think of all the good, fire-cooked bread 

loaves you can make… of course you might just want to make pizza

 or cake instead after all the ‘loaves’ you have already made(LOL)!! 

 

Now, once you get to the top, you have 2 choices to make. You can either just do

 the mud all the way to the top, or you can put a piece of tin roofing on the

 very top to make it a little stronger and cover it with mud. We decided to put

 a piece of tin on top. You have to cut it into a circle and shape it

 to the top of the oven, then put mud on it to help it stay there.

Now, once you are done that, the main part you have to do is done(YAY!). 

Now, there are only 2(or 3, depending if you want a roof to go over top of the oven or not)

 things to do. 1st you need to fill any indents or holes in with mud

 that way the oven looks better and cooks more evenly too.

Now, as the oven begins to dry, cracks will appear all over, like this:

 

This is normal and will happen. Just let it dry out and then there is 

a mixture you make of powdered limestone(called Cal here in Costa Rica) and cement

 to fill in the cracks and give it a very nice, finished look. We haven’t done

 that yet but will do it soon so when we finish it we will put some pictures up.

Anyway, here is the almost finished look! Brother Eulogio had a great idea 

and made a roof for the oven, that way you could cook in the rain too.

 This is a lot of fun to build and it gave us some time to talk to them more

 about the Word. Pray for them as they continue to learn and come 

closer to the Real Truth and unlearn the false teachings that they were taught. 

Until next time…

Shalom!

The Montanez Family

Servants and Emmisaries of Yahshua, Children of YHWH

HalleluYAH!

Tithing - Is it for Today?

We have been taught many false teachings and "doctrines of man", and there 

were many things that they taught that were contrary to what the 

Scriptures teach but 2 of the main ones were:

1. The Law was done away with
and...
2. You must give your tithes(10% or more) 

every Sunday to the church.

At one of the churches we went to they made it a big deal and at the end

 of every year they gave each person an envelope with a piece of paper showing how much 

you gave and the date in which you gave it. However, it's an oxymoron to say that the 

"Law" is done away with and yet at the same time say that you still have to give tithes 

because the ONLY place that you find the command to give tithes is in the LAW!

Now, saying that, is the command of tithing still applicable today? 

To find out, we have to ask ourselves this question:

Who were the tithes for in the first place?

To answer that question, let's look at the following Scripture references to find out.

Numbers 18:21-24
  “And see, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Yisra’el as an inheritance

 in return for the service which they are serving, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
22 “And let the children of Yisra’el no more come near the Tent of Meeting, lest they bear sin and die,
23 Because the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, so they themselves bear their crookedness. A law forever, throughout your generations: that among 

the children of Yisra’el they are to have no inheritance,
24 But the tithes of the children of Yisra’el, which they present as a contribution to YHVH,

 I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. That is why I have said to them, 

‘Among the children of Yisra’el they have no inheritance.’ ”

All the tithes went to the Levites in return for the service that they did in the 

Tabernacle because the Levites had no land inheritance. The Levites were to protect and 

prevent the Children of Yisra'el from entering the Tent of Meeting(Tabernacle) so that 

YHVH would not consume them because of their sin. The children of Yisra'el 

were to provide for them through their tithes and offerings.

Deuteronomy 12:6-7, 17-19
 “And there you shall take your burnt offerings, and your offerings, and your tithes, 

and the contributions of your hand, and your vowed offerings, 

and your voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock.
7 “And there you shall eat before YHVH your Elohim, and shall rejoice in all 

that you put your hand to, you and your households, 

in which YHVH your Elohim has blessed you.
17 “You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, 

or of your new wine, or of your oil, or of the firstlings of your herd 

or your flock, or of any of your offerings which you vow, 

or of your voluntary offerings, or of the contribution of your hand.
18 “But eat them before YHVH your Elohim, in the place which YHVH your Elohim chooses, 

you and your son and your daughter, and your male servant and your female servant, 

and the Levite who is within your gates. And you shall rejoice before

 YHVH your Elohim in all that you put your hands to.
19  “Guard yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

Most of the tithes and offerings were actually supposed to 

be eaten by the household that offered it, not just the Levites.

Deuteronomy 14:22-27
“You shall tithe without fail all the yield of your grain that the field brings forth year by year.
23 “And you shall eat before YHVH your Elohim, in the place where He chooses

 to make His Name dwell, the tithe of your grain and your new wine 

and your oil, and of the firstlings of your herds and your sheep, 

so that you learn to fear YHVH your Elohim always.
24 “But when the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to bring the tithe, 

or when the place where YHVH your Elohim chooses to put 

His Name is too far from you, when YHVH your Elohim is blessing you,
25 Then you shall give it in silver, and shall take the silver in 

your hand and go to the place which YHVH your Elohim chooses.
26 “And you shall use the silver for whatever your being desires: for cattle or sheep, 

for wine or strong drink, for whatever your being desires. And you shall eat there

 before YHVH your Elohim, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
27 “And do not forsake the Levites who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

The tithe of the crops from every year were to be eaten by the household as well 

as the Levites at the place that YHVH chose(Jerusalem) unless the household

 was too far away from there, in which case they would sell the crops, 

go to the place that YHVH chose(Jerusalem) and use the money in whatever 

way the household desired, as long as they remembered and rejoiced in YHVH 

as well as remembered the Levites because they had no inheritance.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29
  “At the end of every third year you bring out all the tithe of 

your increase of that year and store it up within your gates.
29 “And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, 

and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, 

shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that YHVH  your Elohim does

 bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

 The tithe of every 3rd year was to be stored up in the gates 

of the household specifically for the Levites, widows, strangers, and orphans. 

If the household did this tithe, YHVH promised to bless the work of their hands in all that they did.

Deuteronomy 26:12-15
 “When you have completed tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, 

which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, to the stranger, 

to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have eaten within your gates and have been satisfied,
13 Then you shall say before YHVH your Elohim, ‘I have put away the set-apart 

portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite, and to the stranger, 

and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your command which 

You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commands, nor have I forgotten.
14 ‘I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it

 for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed

 the voice of YHVH my Elohim, I have done according to all that You have commanded me.
15 ‘Look from Your set-apart dwelling place, from the heavens, and bless Your people Yisra’el 

and the land which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

The year of tithing is every 3 years. The tithes in the 1st and 2nd year were to be eaten 

by the household in addition to the Levites. HOWEVER in the 3rd year the tithe 

was only for the Levites, strangers, widows, and orphans and not for the household. 

If the household gave this tithe without fail and didn't take any of it for 

themselves for any reason, then YHVH promised that 

He would bless the land which He would give them (the Land of Israel).

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Now that we know to whom the tithes were for, we have to again ask ourselves the original question:

Is the command of tithing still applicable today?

To find this out, I would like to show you a great ministry called 119 Ministries. 

They have made a BUNCH of amazing free video teachings that will blow your 

mind away and will make you test what you believe(plus, they live in Costa Rica too!). 

A new video teaching that they recently came out with has to do with this exact topic 

and will answer through Scripture just weather or not tithing is still for us today. 

It's only 40 minutes long, or less time then watching your favorite

 football or basketball team and not much longer than your favorite 

TV show, plus it is chock full of Scriptural insight and knowledge on this topic.

Here is the link:
http://www.119ministries.com/videoteachings.aspx?viewcontentpageguid=fa666c64-eb06-414f-91b4-701e64a48eab&parentnavigationid=28668
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Now, if you watched the video, you would see that there is no doubt

 through the Scriptures that we can no longer keep this Instruction because there 

isn't a Temple and there are no Levites to give the offering to.  The people that say this 

use this for their own personal gain even though it wasn't for them anyway!

Now, saying that, that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't give at all.

 In fact, giving was one of the most important tools Yahshua and the disciples 

used to see if people were really serious to follow Him(Yahshua) with all that 

they had physically and spiritually as well as to bless the poor, hungry, widowed, and orphaned.

In fact, there are many blessings if you do give, as Shaul(Paul) 

points out in his 2nd letter to the believers in Corinth:

2nd Corinthians 9:7-11
 7 Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not of grief or of necessity, for Elohim loves a joyous giver.
8 And Elohim is able to make all favour overflow toward you, that you, 

always having all you need in every way, have plenty for every good work.
9 As it has been written, “He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness remains forever.”
10 And He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food,

shall supply and increase the seed you have sown and increase the fruit of your righteousness,
11 being enriched in every way for all simplicity, which works out thanksgiving to Elohim through us.

The disciples gave all they had, and they were blessed many times over. 

However, they weren't blessed in this physical life so much, unlike what

 so many church 'leaders' tell us. In fact, they were all persecuted and eventually 

killed for giving out the Bread that nourishes physically and spiritually. 

However, they were given an even greater blessing because they gave it all, 

a blessing that no man can get on this earth. There is a phrase that says, 

"You can't outgive God!", and it's so true. We have seen it time and time 

and time again, were we gave and it came back to us and much more.

YHVH blesses those who bless Him, and He loves those that keep 

His Instructions for our lives. If we share and give out what 

we have with others, YHVH promises that He will bless us, protect us, 

and keep us safe, as He said through the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 58:6-11
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loosen the tight cords of wrongness,

 to undo the bands of the yoke, to exempt the oppressed, and to break off every yoke?
7 “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you 

bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, 

and cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 “Then your light would break forth like the morning, your healing spring forth speedily. 

And your righteousness shall go before you, the esteem of YHVH would be your rear guard.
9 “Then, when you call, YHVH would answer; when you cry, 

He would say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, 

the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of unrighteousness,
10 if you extend your being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted being, 

then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness be as noon.
11 “Then YHVH would guide you continually, and satisfy your 

being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be

 like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 

May YHVH bless you and keep you in His Shalom(peace)!

Until next time...

Shalom/Shalem!
The Montanez Family
Servants and Emissaries of Yahshua, Children of YHVH
HalleluYAH!

The 3 things that are standard...

What do we do each day? Well... a LOT! Each day is different, and nothing stays the same, 

except for these 3 big things. Now, it doesn´t mean that there isn´t 

anything else that happens everyday, but they are the most substantial:

1. Our serving, loving, and obeying our Abba YHWH, however,

 whatever, to whomever, and wherever He leads us,

2.  The taking care of the land and animals that YHWH through the McDaniel´s

 has given us to use to be able to plant, grow, harvest, and give to the people here that need it the most in our area, 

AND 3....

3. WAKING UP TO MILK THE COWS!

Yep, everyday except Shabbat, we(Christian and Christopher) wake up at 4:50-5:00 a.m. get dressed, put on our rubber boots, walk down the road, get the cows from the pasture they are in, 

and then take them through 1(or 2) creeks to get to the corral. It´s not as bad as

 what it sounds, but it isn´t easy getting up at 5:00 a.m everyday.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

Our view most days when we get up in the morning.

The dirt road we usually take to get the cows.

The bull that is with the 7(soon to be 8) cows that are milked.

Christopher and one of our newest brothers in Messiah, Eric. He is a very kind and 

hard working man that loves to talk about the Word. Pray for him and his family. 

They have been mostly isolated by their family for following the Word of YHWH

instead of following the doctrines of man, so please pray that YHWH will give them the 

strength to continue on this VERY narrow path of our Messiah.

Christopher milking the cows. It isn´t as easy as what it looks at all. When Christian began milking, he couldn´t get a tablespoon out of the cow. And even if you have had previous experience milking cows, it take a while to relearn that technique again.

 

What the sky looks like most of the time when we are done.  It normally takes about an hour and 15 minutes to milk the 3 cows we are milking right now. By this time everyone is fully awake and ready to go.

What happens after we get back home from milking? Well, we eat breakfast, and then we might cut the grass, or chop wood, or plant, or clean the house, or go out to the store on those occasional days when we have to go get groceries, or we might go visiting, or it may rain and then we do things inside instead, or sometimes someone from town will come up and then... ok I think you get the point... LOL.

Until next time...

Shalom!

The Montañez Family

Servants and Emissaries of Yahshua, Children of YHVH

HalleluYAH!!