Rachel Chapman a servant of the Living God Pete & Liesl Hypki!
They accompanied us on our last trip to the mountains to meet our team and the Nahuatl. They are almost finished learning Spanish and were looking to where the Lord would have them work. We got along really well with them, and they loved the village and the people, so we invited them to be a part of the team! They said YES! We are excited to welcome them as a part of the Nahuatl work as their gifts and abilities complement the team and fill a lot of “holes” that we had on our team.
Pete hanging out with the young men from the village
I met them in 2008 when I spent a year in Missouri at NTM’s Mission Training Center. They had finished the training course, but were still there so Pete could study Linguistics for a year. Never would I have thought that a few years later we would be partners!
Liesl loves to run and we ran the same half-marathon in Springfield during that year. We went on a few runs together in the mountains and look forward to being able to be running partners.
They regularly update their own blog at: www.hypkis.wordpress.com
Here’s their biography in their own words…
PETE is from Waukesha, Wisconsin. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse and graduated in three years with an English degree. After graduating, he took an internship with InterVarsity Press outside of Chicago, Illinois. It was during this time away from friends and family that the Lord began to work on Pete’s heart and challenge his perception of his purpose in life and God’s purpose for him. He felt challenged to not live for himself but for Him who died and rose again on his behalf. That led Pete to attend Bible school and begin to pursue missions.
Dueling English Majors (Katie Moore and Pete Hypki) - Can you tell who is winning?
LIESL is from Baraboo, Wisconsin. She was homeschooled by her parents along with her two brothers until she graduated high school in May of 2000. After high school Liesl did not feel her life goals leading her towards college or a particular career so she went to work at the Institute in Basic Life Principles in Oak Brook, IL. While she was there she was given the opportunity to serve overseas in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Mexico. She was also challenged by her boss John Stephens’ love for the Word of God and began to desire a Bible education. In the fall of 2003 Liesl began attending New Tribes Bible Institute in Waukesha, WI. It was there she was completely challenged by the Lord to a life of overseas missions work. In her junior semester at Bible college she met Pete.
Liesl with two girls from the village
PETE & LIESL met in a Caribou Coffee shop through mutual friends in late September of 2004. Liesl was not interested in dating anyone at that particular time, but Pete, encouraged by their mutual friends, did not cease trying to contact and spend time with Liesl. After trying to obtain Liesl’s phone number, and failing miserably, Pete decided to write a letter to her instead. So, in December of 2004, after receiving a hilarious, and long, letter from Pete, Liesl decided to give him a call. They began to develop a friendship without any intentions, at least on Liesl’s part. A few month later after much prayer and discussion about their future life goals, they began dating. Nine months later, they were engaged. They were married in Baraboo, WI, on October 28, 2006 and then spent two years in missionary training in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. They moved to Mexico in early 2010 to begin learning Spanish in anticipation of serving as tribal church-planters.
