Blog 11: September DTS Preparation & Training
SEPTEMBER 2024
Someone said a really funny joke, sadly I don't remember it. But I thought this picture would summarise well how I am feeling. I am having such a joyful season with the Lord as I prepare & train myself and others for this new season of school leading the September DTS.
THANK YOU:
Hi All!!! I am so grateful for the opportunity to write to you all again. I always begin these updates saying something like “thank you so so much for all your prayers and support towards my team and I”. And want to re-iterate I truly mean it, this season though full of joy has been a tough, stressful and busy for me. I think it has been the busiest season I have ever had so far since leaving for missions. I am so grateful for you all, your prayers prayers and your support for me because it has been so needed and a huge blessing in this time.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to continuing serving God in this way. By God’s grace during this time of preparation I have received so much wisdom in planning/preapring this upcoming September Discipleship Training school and wisdom in how to prepare/lead the students during this 6 month journey of DTS. I have also seen God do so much refining work in my & my team during our staff training times. Thank you for supporting me and enabling me to follow God, disciple others and experience this grace.
My desire and prayer with this update is to share/write about my new role to help us be more aware of what you all have been enabling me to do while here in Amsterdam. Unlike the last update this update has more personal testimonies rather than testimonies of what God has done in the lives of our students. This is because this last season was more focused on preparation & training for the upcoming school so there isn’t as much tangible fruit like in the seasons when the DTS is running or when we are on outreach. Also in this update I plan to touch on the fact that “God is a God who hears our prayers and responds”. Love you all, I hope you enjoy watching the videos and enjoy the read.
My Prayer for You:
“Heavenly Father, thank you that you are with us. Thank you that you are a God who hears our prayers and responds. I pray Lord that through this update you would help all of us reading grow in our faith to fully believe that you are a God who hears and a God who responds. Thank you, that our prayers are not heard by deaf ears. Help us to trust that you will speak at the right time. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen”
When writing this update I had an impression that there were some of us feeling unsure and thinking to themselves “Does God really here me?” “If He does, why hase’t He responded”. I want to let you know your not alone, I had many moments where I was tempted to believe this. But when praying and asking God for help to have greater faith in this area & asking Him to lead me out of temptation He led me to this beautiful place where I could only say “Lord I don’t understand but I trust You, who else can I trust like You. So God I give You permission to lead and do what You want to do.” My prayer is that God meets you as your read/listen to this update and that He would help you to have faith like how He has helped me.
- Cliff
OVERVIEW:
Preparing for the Next September DTS
Testimonies
Whats Next?
Prayer Requests
Preparing for the DTS:
What do I actually do, like what does it mean to school lead a DTS?
I want to begin by explaining a little bit more about my new role here at YWAM Amsterdam to give context for what I have been doing since my last update. So I hope you enjoy this video.
Big picture: As the school leader of the September DTS my primary responsibility is that the discipleship training school runs and it runs well.
Within this big picture there are many roles and responsibilities that come under that. Without going into too much detail of what I do, I can separate my main roles & responsibilities into the following categories.
My Personal Relationship with God
Staff Training & Recruiting
Student Interviews
School Structure (link to the DTS curriculum: https://ywamdtsreframe.com)
School Finances
MEET MY STAFF TEAM:
This season I have the privilege of discipling the following four staff members. They are amazing friends of mine and I would love if you would be joining me in prayer for them in this season. I would love if you could pray for them that they would grow more into the person that God has created them to be and that God would give me the wisdom to lead/disciple them well. Below I have included picture of person on my staff team and a brief introduction written by each of them.
MOISÈS SILVA
Hey, my name is Moisés and I’m 21 years old. I’m originally from Brazil but I grew up in Portugal. Some things that I love to do: I love sports, good food, watching movies, hanging out with friends, worshipping the Lord, etc. I’m also very passionate about preaching, doing evangelism, and discipling young people to love and live radically for Jesus!!
OLIVIA FERRIELL
Olivia is from Kentucky, USA. She did her DTS here in Amsterdam in 2022 and joined our staff team soon after. She loves getting to help show others who God is and the depth of intimacy they can have in their relationship with Him. She is very adventurous and loves to play spikeball, climb, hike, and chill with friends. She is always down to get a scoop of ice cream!
LISANNE TIGELAAR
I was born and raised in Dordrecht, a city in the Netherlands. Before I joined YWAM, I studied and worked in disabled care. I did this with much love and feel like taking care of people is a passion God has given me! In my free time I love to bake, go for a run/walk, go shopping or have some good conversations with my friends! I am so excited and honored to join the DTS staff team, and see everything God will do and continue to build God's kingdom!
CALEB CHAVEZ
I’m 18 years old. I am Mexican, I was born in a beautiful beach city called Puerto Vallarta. I am passionate to share the gospel with others, to see people coming to Christ, receiving His love and growing in their relationship with Him. I dream off a world full of people following The Lord, and living like Him. A world full of people worshiping God day and night. I dream off every tongue, nation, tribe and person to know who Jesus is and have Him as Lord. One of my dreams is that the bible gets to be translated to every tongue, language and dialect. And as a good Mexican, I love authentic tacos.
Testimonies:
In this section I want to take some time to share some testimonies of God hearing & responding to my prayers, my worries and using me to respond to the prayers of those around me. My heart and desire with sharing these testimonies is to encourage all of us that God hears us and that God is responding in ways that we might not be aware of yet.
Whats Next?:
Starting September 18th, my staff team and I will be fully involved in the September DTS. We will have a total of 24 students and we will begin a 6 month journey of discipleship, knowing God and making God known in the nations. Along side us will be three other schools with similar numbers or more students. This means that there will be in total making it a total of roughly 120 on base in this new season pursuing growing in their relationship with God, studying the word of God and growing in thier ability to share the Gospel.
Prayer Requests:
I want to thank you so much for taking the time to watch the videos and read about what I have been doing the last few months. I hope that you were encouraged by the testimonies and learnt more about what I am doing here at YWAM Amsterdam. I want to end this update with some prayer requests so if you like to continue prayerfully supporting me that would be greatly appreciated.
Prayer Points:
Pray that God would give my staff team and I wisdom & knowledge to lead this upcoming September DTS well.
Pray that we as a staff team would be able to hear God’s voice clearly on how to disciple/lead within the school.
Pray that God would keep all of us safe during our school and especially on outreach.
Pray that I would be able to learn dutch and speak it well.
Pray that God would continue to give me His love for my students & staff so that I can respond in grace, compassion & patience.
Pray that I would continue falling more in love with God every day and grow in my ability to love more like Him.
