GRADUATIONS SEPTEMBER 2022

WELCOME AND HI AGIAN!!!

I'm so excited to be updating you again. A lot has happened since my last update so you can expect some details further below. For now here's a quick recap of the events that happened since my last update:

The January DTS Students Graduated.
I attended a missionary conference called “The Send”.
I started/finished a leadership training school called DTS Equip.

Before I continue/elaborate I would like to begin with a prayer for you my readers.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to share my gratitude towards you and talk about your faithfulness in update. God I ask that you would give those reading this a spirit of gratitude and spirit of thankfulness. Lord I ask that you would be reminding them of reasons to be thankful for and I ask that they would fall more in love with you Jesus. God I ask that those reading this would be encouraged and stirred up in their faith's Father. I ask that they would have an excitement to see your kingdom multiply and have a desire to seek after the joy you experience when you see your Sons & Daughters return to you and know you deeper. God I pray that you would share the love that you have for the lost, hurt, needy, unseen and orphaned with those that are reading. I ask for all these things in Jesus name.”

JANUARY DTS GRADUATIONS AND STUDENT UPDATES:

The January DTS ended on June 18th, during the students' last week in Amsterdam we shared and celebrated many stories of God’s faithfulness, celebrated their graduations and said many hard goodbyes. Below are some pictures of this wonderful week & graduation.

DTS GRADUATION PICTURES

Throughout their last week I got to hear many stories of God’s goodness/faithfulness to provide, to lead, to give wisdom, to direct, to heal and to transform. Many of the students had shared their testimonies from outreach, but looking back I see that the greatest testimony of God’s goodness/faithfulness was not in their testimonies about outreach but it was in the transformation I saw in each of their lives. I saw new growth, freedom and passion in every student. I saw that each student was more in love with God, more convinced to follow Jesus and that each student had a hunger to see God’s kingdom multiply. As a result I am more convinced of God's goodness and faithfulness because I saw how faithful God was to work in their lives and reveal himself to them. It gave me an excitement towards what God can and is wanting to do in my life as I continue to follow Him. God is faithful to reveal Himself to us and faithful to bring us closer to purposes and callings He has for our lives. What a powerful and true statement.

GRATITUTE:

This year has given me so much gratitude towards the fact that we get to be in a relationship with a God who desires to be known, desires to reveal himself to us and a God that is faithful to grow/change us in this process of knowing. It is in this beautiful process of getting to know/discover God that we get to discover the person God is creating/has originally created us to be. I am thankful for the person God has changed me into and thankful for the person God is making me into. I am thankful for who the students have become as a result of God’s faithfulness in this discipleship training school, and I am thankful that I have so much confidence in God’s ability to continue faithfully disciple them and me. It gives me hope for the friends and loved ones in my life that I know God loves and is desiring to have a relationship with.

FRUIT/MULTIPLICATION:

I want to end this section on the January DTS by giving a quick update on the fruit/multiplication I’ve seen in just the students and staff alone.

1 student is planning on attending a school of worship. If your interested in learning more about this school you can check out this link: https://www.ywamgoldcoast.com.au/school-of-worship
- [In this school you will spend twelve weeks digging deep into worship, growing in your biblical understanding, equipping your skills, and challenging your heart in worship. You will also have the opportunity to develop your songwriting skills and potentially professionally record your own songs. In addition, you will get opportunities to practice YOUR GIFTS and skills throughout this course.]
2 students are now committed to doing a bible school called school of biblical studies. It is a course where you spend 9 months reading and studying the bible, the historical context and learning how to better interpret and read the bible. Their hope is to better equip themselves for potentially serving in full time missions, ministry or to just further equip themselves to spread the gospel in whatever God has for them next. If your interested in learning more check out this link: https://www.ywamamsterdam.com/sbs
1 student left her job and is now involved full time in ministry with her husband.
2 students are currently applying to come join us to staff the next January DTS.
1 student is now in a masters program for speech pathology with the desire to use her knowledge in this field to step into full time missions.
1 student is currently already involved in full time missions in a country that I can't say for safety reasons.
1 of our staff will be going back to the middle east to help pioneer a discipleship training school.

1 of our staff will be pioneering an arts themed discipleship training school in Amsterdam.

Multiplication is happening and God’s kingdom is advancing. This is all just from one school and I haven't even mentioned or fully seen the fruit of the many other seeds that were sown for God’s kingdom as a result of the many conversations we as a school have had with people during ministry, the impact of our ministries/teachings/sermons and the impact of all our evangelism times during both lecture phase and outreach phase.

THANKS:

Therefore I just want to say thank you for partnering with me to expand and see multiplication in God’s kingdom. Through your generosity you have been able to bless me, the students and the many people I know. I know that these students will go on to impact others as they continue to serve God in the ways they have been called. Thank you for your supporting me prayerfully and financially in this journey. I have so much gratitude towards your support for me and the calling that God has put on my life. Thank you so much.

THE SEND CONFERENCE IN NORWAY:

“THE SEND” is a missions focused conference with the purpose of activating believers to live a missional lifestyle by adopting and reaching real mission fields at home and abroad. It was a conference attended by thousands of people.

THE SEND PICTURES

This was another one of my highlights. The conference was a 12 hour program consisting of worship, prayer and preaching focused on “sending” people into missions. I had the pleasure of attending it with my friends and even some of my students. 12 hours plus the multiple days it took to drive from the Netherlands to Norway and back is a lot to summarize therefore I want to narrow it down to my biggest take away.

BIGGEST TAKE AWAY - INTIMACY WITH THE LORD:

My biggest takeaway from this event happened during Francis Chan’s teaching. He is a well known pastor and I have listened to many of his sermons before. It was during this sermon that God spoke to me so clearly on the topic of intimacy. I was really looking forward to his teaching and I initially thought that my biggest take away would come from the main point of his teaching or one of his powerful one liners. That did not happen, in fact I don’t even remember a single word Francis Chan said, it was this weird thing where I couldn't hear a single word he said but I could hear his intimacy with the Lord in his voice.

This wasn't because he wasn't loud enough or that his sermon was bad, it was because his intimacy with the Lord was louder than his teaching. By this I mean that his love for the Lord and personal relationship with the Lord was so clearly conveyed in his teaching that this intimacy was what captivated my attention. It wasn't his message or a clever one liner that made me fall more in love with God, it was his relationship with the Lord that made me go “I WANT THAT”. I want that intimacy with the Lord. I want an intimacy with the Lord that causes other people to fall more in love with Jesus.

As I was praying and asking for that intimacy God responded and said “Cliff, I want that intimacy with you too and I want that oneness/intimacy with everyone Cliff.” This includes you reading this. It was at this time that I had this amazing conversation with God where He showed me what it would look like to enter into that intimacy; the sacrifice, the cost, the dying to myself, the faith and reprioritization of my life. It looked like a lot of sacrifice and a lot of hard/very disciplined work. But God also showed me the fruit of that intimacy and the beauty/freedom in the journey with Him as we get to that level of intimacy. I will never be able to explain the fruit of this intimacy as beautifully and convincingly as God can. Therefore, I want to invite you as you are reading this to take some time to pause and meditate with God on these questions below.

QUESTIONS:

What would it cost to enter into this kind of Intimacy?
What would be the fruit of this intimacy and how would it effect those whom I care about and love?
What would it look like to live a life where my intimacy with you Lord would be people's greatest takeaway when being with them?
What if we were so in love with God that we would unconsciously and naturally lead others into deeper intimacy with God?

DTS EQUIP:

The DTS equip website describes the Equip program as “an intensely effective 6-week leadership development course. It provides a resource-rich environment where DTS leaders and team members are equipped in character, skills and Spirit, so that both DTS students and programs worldwide may benefit and develop according to their individual and corporate callings.” I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take this course. In these short six weeks I grew so much but more importantly I became increasingly aware of just how much more growth I need and can step into with the Lord. I grew in awareness of how great my need is for the Lord.

DTS EQUIP PICTURES

AN INTIMACY WITH THE LORD THAT DISCIPLES:

One of my takeaways from this course was very similar to what God said to me at The Send. It was this: “Our intimacy and personal relationship with the Lord will disciple people better than our teachings, sermons and counselling”. As a result of this school I grew in awareness of how much we are watched as leaders, especially in ministry. I have learnt and noticed that people pay closer attention to how you live your life than to your words. I learnt that your habits, disciplines & actions when you think no one is around or paying attention is what gives your words/council weight and influence. This course has challenged the way I disciple, shifting my focus to a lifestyle that disciples. How can I live a lifestyle, not only speak & act in a way, but a lifestyle that disciples people into falling more in love with God and becoming more Christ-like is a question I ask God and myself more often.

DISCIPLING OTHERS & BEING A DISCIPLE:

Another takeaway from this course is this “discipling others to be more Christ-like is the crucial aspect of being a disciple of Jesus”. I was already aware of this but I became increasingly heart broken for people who miss out on this crucial part of following Jesus. I attribute a big portion of my growth in intimacy with the Lord and growth in becoming more Christ-like to my journey/desire to become a better discipler. I grew more in my intimacy with the Lord in this season of discipling others than in my seasons where I felt like all I did was focus on my own discipleship. I believe that there is a level of intimacy with the Lord that is specifically experienced in the process of discipling others to be more Christ-like. I'm not saying you have to be a missionary or work at the church to experience this intimacy. I am simply trying to bring an awareness to the fact that in the process of helping others become more Christ-like and in the process of depending on God/seeking God for the wisdom to disciple others we experience a level of intimacy with the Lord that isn't as easily attainable if we were to solely focus on our individual discipleship journey. If you are reading this I would love to challenge you to explore this concept for yourself. Ask the Lord if there is anyone whom he is calling you to disciple and ask the Lord for the wisdom to help guide this person to become more Christ-like and fall more in love with God. You will find that as you disciple others, your desire to enter into greater levels of intimacy with the Lord will also increase with those you disciple.

PLEASING THE FATHER:

My last main takeaway and probably my favourite is that I graduated from this school able to lovingly call God “father” and see/understand my identity as His son. This concept of calling God my Heavenly Father was no longer just a phrase or a distant concept but it was very real and intimate name. The biggest fruit of this can be seen in my prayer life. In this course I noticed that in my past I had often prayed and sought after God’s wisdom for what to do because of this fear of making the wrong choice. When reading the gospels I see that Jesus’ motivation to do God’s will did not come from a fear of making the wrong choice, but rather from a desire to please His Father. An example of this can be seen in John 8:29 below. (extra verses have been added for context)

John 8:27-30
“28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.”

Therefore as Sons and Daughters of God we must seek to do the same and also be motivated to discern/do God’s will by a desire to please our Heavenly Father. As a result, In my conversations with God He had invited me to pray prayers like the following. I believe that God is also inviting you to do the same.

PRAYERS:

Heavenly Father, please Lord show me how I can use this day to please you and love you most. Thank you.
Heavenly Father, I ask for wisdom to discern what choices or decisions would please you most. Thank you.
Heavenly Father, please Lord show me how I can follow you in a way that pleases you most. Thank you.

LOOKING FORWARD:

Now that the January DTS is over and that I have finished my frist leadership development school, I will have a new set of responsibilities in this coming season. In addition to helping with preparing for next years January DTS, I will also be have a more supportive role within the YWAM Amsterdam base. In this season I will be helping with the Maintenance Team, Reception/Front Desk Team and with Lunch Prep.

Maintenance: In maintenance I will be renovating/upgrading existing rooms within our building and doing odd jobs. We live in a building called Zeemanshuis which was originally build in 1857. This teams goal is to steward this building well, by maintaining it but also working towards projects that will create better living areas for future staff and students.

Reception/Front Desk: While working in reception/front desk I will be welcoming people into our building during open hours and receiving mail for the many people living in this building. I will also be responsible for managing any of the questions and applications we receive from any inquiring/potential students and staff.

Lunch Prep: This base has over 150 people living in it, not including the 60 students we expect to receive this week. They all need lunch and this role is focused on exactly what the name says, Lunch Prep. I believe this is a great way I can serve my local community as I prepare lunch for the many staff and students on this base.

In addition to joining these teams, I will also be joining the evangelism team as they go out into the streets of Amsterdam to share about Jesus and I will be joining the worship and prayer team as they pray over the city and other things as they are led by the Holy Spirit.

MEET THE YWAM AMSTERDAM STAFF

PRAYER REQUESTS AND THANKS!

That is the end of this update. Once again I just want to say thank you so much for supporting me and enabling me to serve the Lord in this way. I look forward to what the Lord will continue to do in this season of preparation for the next year's DTS. If you would like to prayerfully support me you can check out some of the prayer points below. Thank you.

PRAYER POINTS:

That God would be preparing the hearts of next year's January DTS students and that they would already be falling more in love with God now.
Prayer that God would bring the right students for our next school.
Prayer that God would provide us with the right staff and that they would find favour in their finances and with their visas.
Prayer that God would continue to provide for me financially and provide in terms of wisdom.
Prayer for wisdom in my upcoming opportunities to teach on some books of the bible.

THANK YOU

ENJOY SOME RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS BELOW

Blog 4: Jan DTS & DTS Equip Graduations