Tag Archives: missionary training

The Congo is Open to Truth

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by Elisante, BSN student
Ibambi, DR Congo

Elisante, Asaino-Joseph - YWAM Bible School outreach to Congo

Elisante and Asaino-Joseph

Asaino Joseph was the oldest man who came to the seminar in Ibambi, DRC. He was always on time, being brought by motorcycle as he couldn’t walk properly. He sat at the back, always taking notes, asking questions, and engaging in group discussion.

One day in the middle of teaching called “Command to Mission,” Asaino came up front.

“I will go to Tanzania!” he said, overjoyed. “If this man from Tanzania, went to America, and come to the Congo to bring us the good news, I will also go to Tanzania.”

He then invited me to his home, where he told me his story.

Asaino Joseph is a son of an evangelist in the same church where he was a pastor for more than 50 years. He grew up in the church his whole life.

“At 82 years old, all my life I have never received any teaching like the BELT seminar teaching!” he told me. “This is the kind of teaching that the Congo needs. I wish I was still young. I am old and my body is weak, but my spirit is strong. I hope the young people here will put into practice what they have learned.”

He cried the whole time he told me his story and the things that God was opening his eyes and heart to.

He promised to keep praying and teaching the truth to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, (he has more than 500 of them).

“I will keep praying for the Congo, and Tanzania, and for you, Elisante,” he said.

In Asaino Joseph and in the other 93 graduates of the seminar, I saw signs that revival is coming to the Congo.

God is up to something great in the Congo! The people I met, the pastors, and other community leaders are getting ready. They are receptive to the Word of God, the are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. They openly confess their sins, they are ready to take responsibility as the church, and as leaders.

Looking in, the Congo might look closed because of her wars and other problems, but if you will go inside, you will know that the Congo is open to the truth.

I know I will continue to go to the Congo to declare the truth, to bring them the light, the Word of God, that they may wake up and shine the light in the Congo, in Africa and all over the world.

Jesus Speaks the Truth — Corrie’s Testimony

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by Corrie, DTS student
Bangkok, Thailand 

Corrie -- YWAM Madison DTS student

Our final three nights teaching at A-Mane English Center, my team took the opportunity to present the gospel. We created a skit that would share the story about the woman at the well (John 4). I also felt like I should share my testimony of what God has been doing in my life.

I had never shared such personal things in front of a group like this. I was so nervous!

In the skit, we acted out lies that people begin to believe about themselves and showed how Jesus wants to replace those lies with the truth. This skit felt like it was taken right out of my own life. Once the final strains of the song, “The Struggle,” ended, I stepped forward and began to share….

Growing up in a Christian home didn’t keep me from believing many lies about myself, my value, and how God saw me.

I believed I was ugly, that my beauty depended on the number I weighed on the scale. I thought people didn’t really like me and they didn’t want me around. I didn’t pursue friendships because I assumed others would want someone else to be their friend instead of me. I couldn’t see that I was valuable simply because God made me.

English class with Thai kids

The crazy thing is, I knew the truth about many of these things in my head, but not in my heart.

I didn’t want to let God work in my heart because I didn’t trust Him. I was afraid that if I made any sort of mistake, I would go to hell. I “knew” God loved me, but most of the time I thought he was mad at me, just waiting for me to mess up. I didn’t see God as a loving father who encourages me or helps me when I fall down. I didn’t believe that God would help me do the right thing. And I believed that what he wanted for me would always be the opposite of what I wanted.

A big change has taken place in my life through coming to DTS! From the first day, God started chipping away at the lies I’ve held onto for so long. I felt like God was saying to me “you are my child” over and over. I can’t explain exactly how, but God began to show me that I was believing lies. I slowly realized that God is not always angry at me. I can’t earn his love by being perfect. He has saved me. He wants to just be my Dad. He wants me to trust him.

God is there to help me when I mess up. It’s like I’m a baby learning to walk. My dad wouldn’t yell at me after I fall over, but would encourage me to keep trying. Dad would help me up and hold me close. The same is true with God. I’ve realized God just wants time with me. He wants my heart.

Getting past lies I’ve believed about myself doesn’t happen overnight. Even during DTS and here on outreach, I’ve felt alone or unwanted. But last week, a wise person told me that I needed to learn to like myself. I realize just how true that is! Putting myself down is not the way God loves me. As I read scripture and pray it for myself, God is changing my perspective.

I am learning to be myself, to love people without assuming they do not want my love. When it comes to beauty, I am believing that I am made in the image of God. I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am trying to learn to even eat in a way that brings Him honor. I am a creation of God, and I am trying to see myself and my body in that way. I wish I could make all these lies be gone by tomorrow, but changing my views of myself is a process, a battle. I’m thankful that in Christ, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, we have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” II Corinthians 10:4.

When I finished sharing from my own life and telling the kids that God loves them no matter what, we did a project together about Truth. We wanted them to learn how God sees them. Some of the kids said that they understood how I felt when I was acting in the play. Some of them knew about Jesus already, but many did not.

One of the boys asked, “Do you really see Jesus?” and “Why did Jesus have to die for us?” and “So all you have to do is believe in Him?”

It was such a blessing to be able to use the work God is doing in my life, to show the kids how He loves them that much too!

Discovering New Gifts from God

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by Corrie, DTS student
Bangkok, Thailand 

Thai child at English school

Thai child at English school

On the other side of Bangkok we worked with A-Mane English Center, a Christian business that serves mostly Buddhist and Muslim families. Our first few days, we practiced introductions with the children and played games with them. We also helped the teachers with some of their lessons. At the end of the week, we led an English camp at a local amusement park for 51 students.

I was in charge of six ten-year-old girls who only spoke a small amount of English. It was a fun challenge. I loved watching them experience new things like snow and sledding in Snow Town, or build their courage to take risks on the scary roller coaster. By the end of the day, I had been called “Teacher” about 150 times, and I felt so much closer to these precious little girls.

I hope the light and love of Jesus shown to them through my actions that day. I hope they one day know just how much He really loves them!

My experiences working with A-Mane have opened my eyes to something that I love: teaching and tutoring one-on-one. I also found that knowing English can be a gift from God. So many people want to learn it, and I can bless them by teaching it. And I enjoy it too!

Discovering My Destiny

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by Jenny, DTS Student
Kampala, Uganda
Read about Jenny’s first visit to the public hospital.

Jenny prays for a baby at the hospital

A week after my heart-breaking visit to the public hospital in Kampala, Uganda, my team leader said she had good news for me.

“When we go to Ray of Hope ministry, they have one spot for someone to shadow nurses at a private hospital,” Elizabeth said. “I thought of you right away. Do you want to go?”

Of course I did — especially because of how we had discovered Ray of Hope Ministry several months earlier. Our team had been praying about what we should do in Uganda, and the phrase “Ray of Hope” came to mind. I didn’t know what it meant, so we Googled it, discovered the organization in Kampala, and set up ministry times with them. Ray of Hope Ministry works with the local church and city officials to advocate for the needy and HIV affected families of Kampala.

Jenny takes vitals

Jenny takes vitals at a mobile medical clinic in Uganda

The following day, I toured the Ray of Hope Medical Centre. I interviewed the director about what it takes to run a medical centre in Uganda. After that, I worked with the director of Loving One by One on a mobile medical team. I took vitals of about 270 people!

Children's ward at a private hospital

I LOVED it!

I really feel so passionate about nursing and I cannot wait to start school and gain more experience to walk out what God has planned for my life! When we left the clinic we headed out to the private hospital in Kampala to pray and to hand out candy and biscuits to the children.

This hospital was vastly different from the public hospital we first visited in the beginning of January. Here the patients pay for their stay and I noticed the difference right away. While I was there, I saw one doctor and several nurses working with patients (I saw none at the public hospital). Also it was very clean, and medicines were readily available and being distributed appropriately to the patients. Some patients even had their own room.

I felt relieved to know that some people could get care at a safer hospital, but I couldn’t help but think of the patients in the public hospital suffering, simply because their family couldn’t pay for their health care. It still breaks my heart and I think it always will.

I feel like this whole outreach, and even before we came to Uganda, God pointing me very clearly what to do with my life. I’m so excited!

A Vow to Care

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by Jenny, with Marlo – DTS students
Kampala, Uganda

Two weeks ago we went to a general hospital to hand out biscuits (cookies) to children who are pre- and post-surgery. I was not prepared for anything that I saw.

Images from the hospital in Kampala, Uganda

When we first got there, I noticed boxes of small glass vials of used medicine sitting out by the curb. I could picture how easily any person could grab them. I was even more shocked when I went inside the hospital. The children’s room was rank with the smells of urine and infection.

As we handed out the biscuits, I noticed something strange — there weren’t any doctors or nurses. I kept waiting, glancing at my watch to see if someone would be by to do the rounds. An hour had passed; still, no one.

We learned that the child must have a caretaker stay with them in the hospital to attend to all their needs. The caretaker is usually a family member who has no medical experience or understanding in how to prevent infection. All the hospital provides is the bed.

My friends and I prayed for several of the children. It hurt so much to see how severely sick and in pain they were. I couldn’t imagine how their health could do anything but get worse.

The director told us that the death rate hovered around 75%.

I couldn’t hold back my tears.

That night, I wept for the way the sick were treated, especially the children. Even writing this now stirs up so much inside me. As I prayed, I realized I have IMMENSE motivation to come back when I finish nursing school to help these children.

DTS 2012 Outreach Teams Itineraries

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Packed and ready to go to the nations!

Packed and ready to go to the nations! -- YWAM Madison DTS students

Mexico Outreach

  • The team began in Juarez, helping at a children’s home while waiting for the weather to allow them to fly on to Mexico City. They were in Mexico City through January 14, where they worked with street kids and underage girls rescued from prostitution.
  • Sunday the 20th the team heads to Creel/Chihuahua for two weeks and then on to Mazatlan for about ten days.
  • In Copper Canyon of Chihuahua state from Jan. 20-27, they will work among an unreached people group known as the Tahrumaras. They will work alongside seasoned pioneering missionaries who have been working in the sierra for the last 20 years among the precious Tarumara indians.
  • Heading to Mazatlan for the next week, the team will join forces with other YWAM teams for outreach to the party goers streaming into Mazatlan for their annual Carnival. They will engage those attending the multi day event with the love of God through creative arts presentations and the simple sharing of the Gospel.
  • Finally, the team will return to Juarez from Jan. 28-Feb. 20, working alongside the staff of Rancho Los Amigos, a children’s home that provides a loving family atmosphere to more than thirty children ages five to eighteen.

Uganda Team

  • After touching down in Kampala, the team began work with Loving One by One ministry, which is dedicated to helping refugee and homeless children in Uganda reach their full potential.
  • In Jinja, the team worked with YWAM and helped run a kids’ camp. Just under two hundred kids were expected, but four hundred showed up! The food miraculously stretched to feed each child.
  • Back in Kampala, the team worked with Ray of Hope, which acts as a lifeline of education for poor children whose families can not afford expensive school fees. Many of the children have lost one or both parents.
  • The team will go north to Soroti Jan 18-23. Soroti is home to many refugees.
  • Jan 24 – Feb 1, the team will return to Jinja, where they will help at St. Amerias Children’s Home.
  • They will work with rescued children at Okoa Refuge in Masaka Feb 2-5 and again in Kampala Feb 6-7 where they will partner with Kirabo Seeds. Kirabo Seeds helps create self sustaining opportunities for Ugandan churches to help their own children.
  • The team will return to Jinja a final time to spend more time with YWAM Hopeland and St. Amerias, before their final few days in Kampala at Loving Hearts Baby Home, a home for abandoned babies Feb 16-19.

Northern Thailand/Myanmar Team

  • After an introduction to Thailand, the team worked with Burmese and North Korean refugees and went to unreached peoples in the hill tribes. They also ran a children’s home for Burmese orphans and gave the staff of the home a much needed weekend break.
  • From January 16-31, the team will be in Chiang Mai doing medical ministry to Karen refugees from Burma and teaching English.
  • They will cross the border and work among Karen refugees and continue to help with basic medical care.
  • The team will return to Bangkok Feb. 18-20.

Central Thailand/Cambodia Team

  • The team will be in Bangkok from Jan. 1-25, teaching English especially to young women who would otherwise find work in the sex industry. They also reached out to the men and sex tourists with the MST Project. Read more about the MST Project goals here: http://www.mstproject.com/vision
  • The team will then go to Phnom Phen, Cambodia,  from Jan. 26-Feb. 5 – working with girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking. They will also reach out to sex tourists, much like they did in Bangkok.
  • The final phase of this team’s outreach will take them to Pattaya Slum Ministries where they will share God’s love to the children of prostitutes. They’ll also be at the Tamar Center in Pattaya, rehabilitating girls rescued from prostitution.

India / Nepal Teams

  • From Jan. 1-21, the two teams will be in Nepal doing evangelism and mercy ministry in remote villages where many women are trafficked to India for prostitution. They’ll distribute food and blankets, work among street kids, preach in churches and build a school!
  • January 22-29, one team will go south to Kolkata, India where they’ll work with street kids. The other team will go to a closed Himalayan country where they will do intercession, evangelism and mercy ministry.
  • The team will come back together in Pune, India from Jan. 30-Feb. 20. They will work with AIDS orphans, street kids, slums, women and children in the brothels, and a Red Light preschool.

All of the teams will fly back to Madison February 20!

Safe

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Brittany - YWAM Madison DTS student

Brittany - YWAM Madison DTS student

by Brittany, DTS student

I have a difficult time building relationships with people. I’ve been let down one too many times to feel safe enough to be vulnerable. Instead, I just float from relationship to relationship. I don’t settle in to them because that leaves too much space for getting hurt.

But while I was on outreach in Thailand, I realized that I was approaching my relationship with God the same way. I’d do what He’d tell me, I’d worship, and I was committed to Him, but I wouldn’t open myself up to let Him love me back.

You see, I expected God to fail me. I didn’t believe that He would meet my needs or love me unconditionally.

One day, while I was in Pattaya, Thailand, I cried out to God. In my desperation and cynicism, I asked, “Can you prove to me that I am safe with you?” Because there was no way I was going to throw myself into another relationship where I would get hurt. I wrote the question in my journal and put the journal aside. Before long, the question slipped from my thoughts.

A few days later, we attended a graduation ceremony for people who had completed an English language course so they could leave their lives of bar-work/prostitution behind.

I listened intently to the teacher giving the graduation speech. It was so touching to hear the stories of what the students had been through.

“I prayed about what I should say next,” she said to the class. “I felt like God wanted me to tell you, ‘You are safe.’”

She went from student to student, looking them in the eyes, putting her hand on their heads and repeating the phrase “You are safe.” She went on to talk about life, and how these people had been dealt some difficult cards. But despite those troubles, they are safe. That God is with them, and always has been.

And then, it dawned on me. What had I journaled just two days earlier? “Can you prove to me that I am safe?” My eyes welled with tears. Now every time the woman said “You are safe,” it was like an arrow straight to the chest. God had answered me yet again, and I could feel it in my heart. I was overwhelmed by God’s goodness.

After the ceremony was over and the crowd had transitioned into eating, I found the woman who gave the speech. I thanked her for what she said, and I told her about my journal entry. She laughed and then put her hand on my head. She told me that what she was doing, was what God was doing, and to accept it. She looked me in the eyes and said, “You are safe.”

Then she closed her eyes and described to me a picture of a little girl trying to keep up with her dad.

“Even when the dad is walking his slowest,” she said, “it still takes the child three steps to match the father’s one step.Don’t be upset with where you are. You’re not falling behind. God isn’t walking ahead of you. He won’t leave you.”

Once again, God, being the most faithful being ever to exist, answered my question. He answered me out of love, and gave me yet another glimpse of the safety and commitment He has for His children.

He reached out His hand and gave me the most precious privilege of engaging in the greatest relationship I could ever partake in, a relationship with Him.

Life of a DTS student

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YWAM Madison DTS 2012

YWAM Madison DTS 2012

by Emily B., DTS student

Waking up in the morning, I am greeting by the slams of doors, the cries of ”what should I wear today?!” and the sights of 15 bright eyed young girls getting ready for their day.

DTS Class notes - photo by Emily B.

photo by Emily B.

After eating breakfast, Jesus and I spend some special time together right before worship and class time. Every day, class proves to be some of the most thought provoking times that brings me to analyze where I stand in my faith and why.

Class time is followed up by lunch which is then followed up by my community responsibility: communications for the DTS. Once my job is done, I am free to write my weekly journal, read my weekly reading, study for my weekly map tests, and complete my weekly assigned nation to reflect on and research.

DTS Dorm Living

DTS Dorm Living - photo by Emily B

I know it’s time to stop when my nostrils fill with the spices of curry or the sweetness of grapes accompanied by sloppy joes. After high-fiving the cooks, I either rush off to my one on one, small group outing, focus night, intercessory prayer time, or a late night class.

But on the nights I am free, I am refreshed by the movie marathons, long serious talks, crazy chair hall races, dance sessions, nail parties, and just reflecting on my day with the amazing people who are the heart of YWAM–visionaries, compassionate, loving and kind young people whom I am proud to call my friends and family.

Friends and fun at DTS - YWAM Madison DTS

Friends and fun at DTS - photos by Emily B.

Before the long day is through, I wait and pray for a shower out of the four that are shared among 32 girls. Finishing the day I shout “I love you” to my dorm room and thank the Lord that I’m here. :)

Why I Love DTS: Making life-long friends

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Emily & DTS Friends - YWAM Madison Children at Risk DTS

Emily & DTS Friends - YWAM Madison Children at Risk DTS

by Emily B., Children at Risk DTS student

Reason 555 that I love being part of this organization: YWAM DTS is a place where community is vital to your growth and friendships are deeply sought after.

Does that mean that I necessarily love to constantly be around all 60+ people I’m housing with? No. But it does mean that I have 60+ people who would pray and fast along side me in the midst of the chaos of life! Cool huh? Yes, here I am making forever friends; united by the same God, same love, and the same heart to see the Lord calling people to Him, nation by nation.

Losing a few hours of sleep to grow closer to God!

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by Tori, Bible School for the Nations student

Tori (left) - YWAM Bible School student (BSN)

Well, here I am, sitting in the classroom, going over every detail of the last four weeks, and thinking to myself, “What did I get myself into this time?”

I love the places God is taking me, even if it means losing a few hours of sleep here and there. In the end, it’s totally worth it!

So far in the BSN (Bible School for the Nations), we have read through the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Job, Ruth (and Deuteronomy by the end of next week). Talk about gettin’ down to business!

These first four weeks have flown by so fast. I have learned so much and I am growing so much deeper in my relationship with God. Looking back at the Old Testament, I see God in new and amazing ways.

So often people see two Gods of the Bible: the angry and wrathful God of the Old Testament and the loving and good God of the New Testament. However, God never changes (Hebrews 13:8) and while it may seem all fire and brimstone, in reality God is just as merciful, loving, and good in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament.

We looked at Exodus 20:18-21 and asked God to show us His perspective of the story. Talk about eye-opening.

God had just brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, shown His greatness and love for them, and when He asked them to come up to the mountain to hear Him speak to them, they refused and sent Moses in their stead! Heart breaking :(

But God doesn’t give up on them, nor does He wipe them out. He continues to love them and lead them.

Love and Blessings,

~Tori