Blog 5: January DTS Preparation & Off Season
MERRY CHRISTMAS
DECEMBER 2022
WELCOME AND HI AGIAN!!!
I want to begin this update by wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Since my last update I’ve had a more supportive role on base by helping out in the different ministries and schools apart from the January DTS school. During this time I’ve also had the pleasure of attending some events related to missions and further training. Below you can find a quick summary of the ministries I’ve been involved with and the events that I have attended.
MINISTIRES:
Maintenance Team - Sanding & Repainting Doors.
September DTS - Helping With One on Ones (remember to take a picture with moises)
Kitchen - Lunch Prep
Reception & Front Desk
Pioneering and Leading a Men’s Breakfast Prayer Group
School of Biblical Studies - Taught on the Book of Galatians.
EVENTS:
Western European DTS Workshop
YWAM Netherlands National Gathering.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ME!!!
PRAYER:
I love prayer and I truly believe that through the Holy Spirit and because of what Jesus did on the cross our prayers have authority and significance. I see prayer as a gift, because by faith our in the cross we are justified and can communicate, ask and listen to our Heavenly Father. Therefore I want to begin this update, like every update, with a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer of blessing over you the reader.
Father, thank you for this amazing day. Thank you for all the ways you have provided for me, through my friends and my family. Thank you for how you have also provided for my friends and family. Father, I pray that you would bless and continue bless those reading this in their relationships with others and with relationship with you, bless their spiritual growth and bless them in their finances.
God, I pray that you would bless them with a greater revelation of your goodness, your faithfulness and your love towards them. I pray that you would bless each person reading this with a community to celebrate with in this Christmas season. I ask for all these things in Jesus' name Amen.
Above is the prayer that I prayed over you, but also I wanted to try something new. Below this is a second prayer that I wrote and I want to invite you to pray this prayer with me before you read the rest of this update.
Ultimately this is an update about missions and advancing/serving God’s kingdom. Through your prayers and your finances, I believe that we are doing this together. I also believe that inorder to fully experience the joys of advancing/serving God’s kingdom it requires us to also have a heart for missions, a love/compassion for the lost and a Christ-like love for God and His word. I want you to read this update with joy and excitement for all the things God has done/will do. Therefore, I want to invite you to pray this prayer alongside me.
I INVITE YOU TO PRAY THIS PRAYER WITH ME:
God thank you for the work you are doing in my city and across the world.
Thank you for your love for me and those around me. I pray that you would break my heart for the things that break you.
I pray that you would break my heart for those missing out on a relationship with you.
I pray that you would help me to love prayer and love your word.
I pray that you would help me to understand the significance and importance of missions.
Heavenly Father, help me to love those whom You love, with the same love that You have.
I ask for all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Thank you for praying that prayer alongside me.
JANUARY DTS 2023:
I AM SO EXCITED!!!, for next year's January DTS school. I loved and really enjoyed staffing this year's school but I am looking forward to staffing this coming school. I have grown a lot in this past year and I look forward to applying what I have learnt in this year and I look forward to inviting the students into the new/deepened revelations I’ve gotten this past year.
I know I still have so much more to learn and I am aware of the many areas that I still want to grow in but I am so excited for this next year. I look forward to using all this new knowledge to better serve and love the students and staff team that God chose/called for this coming 2023 January DTS school.
MY PRAYER:
In recent weeks I have been praying these prayers below in preparation for the coming school. My hope with these prayers is to be able to look at each person involved in this school, the students, the staff and myself, from God’s perspective. I want to be able to look at each person with this revelation or heart posture of “WOAH this person is so valuable and so essential to accomplishing what God wants to do for His Kingdom in this season”.
The Prayers I Prayed:
“Lord help me to understand and know why you called/choose these specific students and this staff team”
“Lord help me to see the purpose behind this school and help me to see what you want us, as part of your body, to do in this school?”
“Lord help me to see the gifts and talents you have placed in each of the students and staff. Help me to encourage and make room for each others giftings”
“Lord, what is my role in this school?”
In prayer I felt to invite you to pray a similar or more simplified prayer with me. It is a prayer to see people from God’s perspective. I think that sometimes we can be so quick to say, Lord change that person, please make that person less frustrating. Have you prayed a prayer like this before? I know I have. I have learnt that yes God wants to change and transform others, but he also wants to change and transform us. Sometimes difficult people can be an invitation from God, to grow in our ability to love like Jesus. So if you have know someone in your life that is difficult to love or if you want to learn to love people better I want to invite you to pray this prayer below with me. This is because, I believe that inorder to love someone in a way that would please God and reflect Christ, we must look at and think about someone from God’s perspective.
“Lord help me to see people from your perspective”
& “Lord help me to love others in the same way you have loved us” (John 15:12).
I prayed these prayers and I admit, I still don't know why God has called this specific group of students or this specific staff team. But what I do know is that God has been changing my heart towards them. I have this new found excitement to serve, love and get to know each of them. These prayers have given me so much gratitude towards a team and a group of students that I am not even familiar with yet. So, I invite you to pray this prayer with me, I am excited to see how God will move in your life as a result of it.
If we take a look at John 15:9-12, shown below, Jesus teaches us that when we abide in Him, we experience the joy that Jesus had, a joy that enables Jesus to endure the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus teaches us that we can experience this great level of joy when we abide in Him. But how do we abide in Him? Verse 10 teaches us that it's by doing His commandments. In verse 12 Jesus clarifies His commandment (the greatest commandment, also shown in Matthew 22:36-40), to love one another as Jesus has loved us. In verse 9 Jesus teaches us this, as the Father has loved Jesus, so has Jesus loved us. This is a radical level of love. When you read this verse are you amazed by it? If you aren’t I would encourage you to ask the Lord to help you be amazed by it. Because, this is the radical level of love that we are called to give and it is impossible to love people in this way without seeing people from God’s perspective. My desire for you is to experience this level of joy, discussed in verse 11, in this holiday season, that is why I want to invite you to pray the prayer above. I want you to experience the joy found in seeing people from God’s perspective and loving them in response to that.
John 15:9-12
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
SCHOOL INFORMATION:
At the moment we have 12 students accepted and we are hopeful for more to come in these last weeks. The school officially starts January 4th, 2023 and I am so looking forward to getting to know these students, to call them friends and to help them grow in their knowledge and intimacy with God. I am excited to help them become great leaders, face fears alongside them and to serve God with them.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
At the moment we have twelve students accepted. I would love it if you could pray that God would continue to soften and prepare the hearts of these students and any additional students God chooses to bring.
Pray for the health of the staff team and students. Last year 4/5 of the staff team and some students got Covid at the beginning of the school.
Pray for team unity and grace amongst the staff and students.
Pray for wisdom on how we as a staff team can follow the Lord’s leadership for this DTS.
MINISTRIES:
Now I want to spend some time talking about the various ministries I have had the pleasure of being involved with. Like I said above, in these past few months I have played a more supportive role here on the base and my heart/desire in talking about these things is to show you how your generosity has helped me to serve others, equip others to serve as missionaries and give to others as well. So thank you for blessing me and those around me. Your support has not only blessed my life but also the many that I get to serve on a daily basis and those whom I disciple regularly. So I want to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY. I know God is thankful as well. I want to quickly list some of the ministries I have been involved with and expand on one particular ministry.
I have been involved with the kitchen team where I would, every afternoon, I spend a couple of hours preparing lunch for 60-90 students & staff.
I have been a part of the maintenance team on the base, where I was put in charge of a group of 5-6 students to sand and repaint the doors here on the base.
I have been involved with the September DTS school, by mentoring one of their students. We have had a great time growing closer to God together. His name is Moises, he is brazilian, has a passion/calling for missions, has had several moments of confirmation and has seen God miraculously provide for him. I have loved watching him grow in maturity and enjoyed seeing his desire to see people know Jesus grow. Your generosity has allowed me to bless him in many ways. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to disciple him.
I have also been a part of the reception & front desk crew, where I was responsible for handling the daily reception tasks, welcoming guests and replying to inquiries from potential staff, students & volunteers.
Lastly, I had the pleasure of teaching on the book of Galatians in the school of biblical studies.
MEET MOISES
MEN’S PRAYER GROUP:
Since my last update my friend and I have pioneered and began leading a men’s prayer group. Every Wednesday morning we meet together to have a small breakfast together, it involves some juice, coffee and baked goods. Then we would read through scripture together and in our most recent week we read through Matthew 6:1-15, where Jesus teaches us how we are to give and how we are to pray. The day before my friend and I typically ask the Lord for discussion questions. This week when we read through this passage, we discussed the following questions.
“Why do you think Jesus taught us to give and pray this way?”
“What does this reveal to us about His character?”
Then we finished our discussion time with some prayer. Praying for specific needs and praying in response to what we had discussed. Specifically, we prayed for the wisdom to grow in the character traits that God revealed to us in our discussions. Below are some pictures of our men’s ministry.
HOW THE MINISTRY STARTED:
In prayer I also felt like talking a little bit about how this ministry first started. Since September God has been speaking to me a lot about the importance of community and pursuing God with others. I believe that when God reveals things to us that it is our role as followers of Jesus to not just listen but also to ask the Lord, “how do you want us to respond?”. It is important to both listen and respond, not only listen or not only respond. So when God began speaking about the importance of community I asked the Lord, “what do you want me to do with this greater awareness towards a need for community?”. As a result of this question God began to expand on what he initially taught me. He showed me that He wanted to gather the men in this community around His word and around prayer. So I decided to act, slowly I made the effort to talk to different men in the community and found this common theme for a need to gather as men around scripture and prayer. One week I was sharing this with my friend Steven and I found out that God had been speaking the exact same things to him. So we prayed a lot and just decided to go for it. We didn’t know what to expect and we were content with just having three people gathered weekly, but now we are in week 6 and have around 15 men gathering weekly for this.
OUR ROLE WHEN GOD REVEALS & TEACHES:
The reason why I felt to share this is that maybe there are some of you that have heard God speak to you about community or other things, like evangelism or giving. I want to invite you to also respond and pray this prayer of “Lord how do you want me to respond to what you have taught me or shared with me”. What I have found consistently throughout my journey with God is that God loves to take us deeper than the initial revelation or conversation. BUT IT IS OUR ROLE TO ASK HIM TO TAKE US DEEPER! Our intimacy with God is related to how much we ask Him to show us more. I want to encourage you to let God take you deeper. Let God reveal more of Himself through your questions and your obedience. Yes, if you ask Him, He might ask you to do something scary, but what I want you to recognize is that we don't grow in our comfort zone. Crucial moments of maturity begin in moments of dependency. It is in the areas where we need God and rely on God that we grow in our maturity and faith towards God. Maybe He asks you to lead a small group yourself or maybe He asks you to organize a fundraiser for some cause. Whatever it is, it is in this time of responding that you will encounter more of Jesus and discover more about God. I have found a pattern in my life of discovering life changing revelations when I choose to not only listen to God but also respond. I invite you to also respond to what God is revealing to you in this season.
If you feel like God is asking you to lead something new and have doubts about your own leadership and your ability to start something new feel free to contact me because I would love to share with you how I overcame those doubts with God.
EVENTS:
WESTERN EUROPEAN DTS WORKSHOP:
In November I attended a Discipleship Training School Workshop in Hurlach Germany. The purpose of this event was to gather the different January DTS staff from across Western Europe, to meet together, learn from one another and take part in a one week leadership training course. There were about 36 participants from different bases across western europe, including bases from Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Below are some fun pictures from that time and a picture of our schedule, which shows the different lecture topics we covered.
If you want to learn more about the DTS and what it is, I want to invite you to take a look at this website linked below. It talks about what we as a team are doing for the students we get to disciple. This website explains the curriculum of the DTS, the purposes of why we do the things we do and the outcomes of the DTS.
LINK: https://ywamdtsreframe.com
In prayer I felt that it was important to provide you all with the explanation of the purposes and outcomes of our Discipleship Training Schools. I want to invite you to read this with me because this is what we get to be a part of. Through your support this is what we get to do in the lives of the many students that come to our Discipleship Training Schools. As you read this I also want to invite you to pray and ask God for an excitement for this DTS program.
THE PURPOSE:
To GATHER and INVITE people to worship, listen to and obey God, releasing them (in the context of the DTS) to serve through evangelism, intercession, acts of compassion and other expressions of God’s heart for the world, possibly even pioneering new ministries.
To INSPIRE and CULTIVATE growth in one’s relationship with God resulting in Christ-like character by active participation in a missional community who engage in a variety of Christian practices , including encountering God through the Word by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
To SHARPEN one’s ability to relate to, learn from and work with people, including those of different cultures, personalities and perspectives.
To further EQUIP each one to serve God’s purposes either in or outside of YWAM Family of Ministries, strengthening a commitment to reach the lost, especially the unreached, to care for the poor, and to influence all areas of society.
To IMPART the story, vision and foundational values of Youth With A Mission and the University of the Nations.
OUTCOMES:
THE DTS AIMS TO GRADUATE STUDENTS:
With a growing understanding of the breadth and depth of God’s character and ways
Who are becoming more like Jesus in the way they relate to God and people
Who increasingly cooperate with the empowering presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit
Who listen to and obey God as a result of God’s enabling grace
Who search the Scripture in such a way that transforms belief, values and behaviors
With a strengthened lifestyle of worship, intercession and spiritual warfare
With a greater ability to work with others, especially those different to themselves
Who can share the Gospel with the lost and have life long commitment to do so.
With a commitment to continue to be involved in some way with God’s work among the nations, including unreached people, the poor and needy and in spheres of society.
Who understand the calling and values of YWAM and are aware of a variety of opportunities available to them throughout YWAM.
With a clearer understanding of God’s purposes for their life and a sense of their life direction.
Who serve God and others in contexts foreign and familiar with openness to pursue further training and education (in or outside of YWAM/UofN) continuing to be equipped for a life of faithful service.
YWAM THE NETHERLANDS NATIONAL GATHERING:
Another event I had the pleasure of attending was our YWAM Netherlands National Gathering. In November we gathered all the staff and students from “YWAM The Netherlands” to celebrate what God has done in the Netherlands, to connect with the 400+ ywam missionaries in the Netherlands and to pray towards our future as a missionary movement. Next year YWAM Netherlands will be celebrating its 50 year anniversary. This means next year we get to celebrate the fact that God has been training missionaries in the Netherlands and sending them into the nations in the past 50 years. THIS IS SO EXCITING.
At this event we learnt about God’s faithfulness in the past, learnt how this movement in the Netherlands first started and prayed/interceded for the Nations. We unfolded giant maps of the world and prayed for the nations we stood on. My love for nations that I have never visited grew immensely in this time. If you want to experience God’s love for the nations, you don't need giant maps to do this. Try it with just a small map, explore what a willing/open heart and time can do to your love for missions and the nations. God’s love for the nations is transformative. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was this transformative love that gave me the desire to surrender my plans and receive His plans. I want to invite you to also experience this transformative love with me by taking the time to pray over your home countries or countries you’ve never been to.
Below are some pictures and funny moments from The National Gathering
A STUDENTS TYPICAL WEEK - SEPT DTS:
If you’re interested to see what a students typical week looks like, give this video a watch. This video was put together by one of my friends and it gives a good idea of what our school looks like from the students perspective.
YWAM AMSTERDAM INSTAGRAM:
If you’re interested in finding out more about YWAM Amsterdam and what we do please follow our instagram account linked below.
