I have been thinking of writing a blog since I have started my DTS but haven't got around to it :P However it is week six and I have decided its about time I wrote a blog! This way I can keep all the lovely people at home (and my Canadian family) to up to date with what I'm up to here at Youth With A Mission (ywam) Perth!
So what is a DTS? A DTS is a Discipleship Training School. My DTS is a medical DTS therefore we focus is on medical missions and healthcare. This school equips young people to go out into the nations and share the gospel using healthcare to share the love of Jesus. Ywams mandate is "To Know God and to Make Him Known". The first three months of DTS is called lecture phase which is at the ywam base in Perth Australia. During this phase we have five lectures each week with a different topic and speaker. We also have medical workshops, worship sessions, street evangelism, work duties, morning workouts, small groups and do other fun things. The last three months of DTS is called outreach phase which is when we go out and share the gospel and setting up healthcare clinics amongst the people. This is when we can put in to practice all the amazing things we learned on lecture phase.
I'm not going to lie when I got here I was very homesick for at least a week. I hadn't been nervous about coming here at all. I explained to mum it was like jumping into a river or a lake - Its a really hot sunny day outside and you really want to jump in but you know that when you jump in initially its going to be really really cold, but you also know after you have got past that initial shock of the cold water it won't feel so cold anymore. When you jump into the water you can't dwell upon the initial icy shock of the water because you might not jump in. However to enjoy the water you just have to jump in! That may be a silly analogy but that's exactly how it felt for me coming here! Before I came here I didn't think about the icy cold water even though i knew it was going to be tough. When I got here it was really hard man I felt like such a baby I seriously wanted to go back to my mother! I felt far to young for this. Here I was an 18 year old girl who had only ever been away from home for no more than 6 days at a time... not even a whole week! It finally sunk in, I'm actually here for like 167 days that's insane! This is madness! I'm not ready for this! However God confirmed that I was not alone and He was my comfort through the initial shock of being away from home. That’s the cool thing about God, he's always with us no matter where we are in the world. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Doesn’t mean its not hard! But man is it nice to have Jesus – The Prince of Peace on your side through the difficult times.
After a week things started to get much better, I started making friends! I must add that the people on my DTS are amazing amazing people! I'm so blessed to be put with such an incredible group of young people! We have 37 people in our DTS from 13 different nations including Denmark, Norway, Australia, Austria, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, Romania, and the United States. And guess what? I am the only Kiwi representative in my class. I was actually very surprised when I found out I was the only New Zealander! Heres a picture of some of my class!
I have done some exploring since I have been here! I have been to the beach which I thought was incredible because I have never seen a white sand beach! Ahh it was so beautiful, and the water was so clear, you can pretty much see through a wave as its coming down! That was amazing to see! I also got to see a kangaroo and koala! And pet them both… this was another very exciting thing! I have also been to Kings park which is this botanical garden type of place with a wonderful view of the city and the beach! It was a stunning view!
So far since I’ve been here I have learned so much but I cannot possibly write it all out so i'll just try sum up the main thing God has been revealing to me, and that is his incredible unconditional, undying love for me. I knew Jesus loved me but I am beginning to understand more in depth of his love for me. Jesus loving me was something I’ve always known and believed to a certain extent, however, I have been coming to a deeper understanding of his desire to have an intimate relationship with me. He truly wants to speak to me and to use me to further his kingdom! How cool is that! He wants to use me to help him out with furthering his kingdom! He wants me he claims me as his own! It doesn’t matter how many times I fail him he will never fail me. My head knowledge of who God is, is beginning to connect with my heart more and more!
We also found out our outreach locations at the beginning of this week which was very exciting for all of us. First we are going to India for 7 weeks then we are splitting into two groups one going to Nepal and the other going to a closed nation. I am not going to Nepal so I'll be on the other outreach team. I hardly know anything about the country so it shall be a great adventure!
Lecture content week six:
This week our topic we are learning about is Lordship!
Goodness me its been a challenging week! The question I need to ask myself is
Who is Lord… or Lords in my life? What do I hold onto so dearly that I do not
want to give to Jesus? These things are hindrances in my life preventing me
from living whole-heartedly for Him. Some examples of this are like “God you
can have everything in my life but you cannot have my plans or my money,
everything else but I cannot plans or my money.” Than that’s obviously a Lord
in our life. God is not a mean or a selfish God, he does not ask us to give
these things up for the sake of it. He does it out of love. Us giving up things
is showing him that we love him in return and that we trust him as well. He carries
them for us he sees the bigger picture and knows what’s coming and he also
knows us better than we know ourselves. He’s just saying “My child, let me
carry that for you, do not let your heart be troubled, let me lead and guide
you, let me help you”. It’s a lot less
scary for us to place it in the hands of an almighty God who is trustworthy
than to carry it around with in our hearts, worrying about how its all going to fit together and
work out. Most importantly Jesus is Lord he is the King of Kings that is who he
is, he deserves to be put above all things. Because he is worthy! That is His
rightful place! Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty who was and is to come! He
is King!
Another thing the Lord has been speaking to me about
recently Is to have childlike faith, to trust him and to trust his character.
Sometimes God asks us to do things that seem silly or crazy almost but His ways
are higher! “faith makes a fool of what makes sense” – Here Now (madness)
Hillsong.
There you have it! My update for week one, two, three, four,
five and six … and I will try and update my blog weekly from now on!
Prayer requests:
It would be awesome if you could stand with me in prayer for
more breakthrough in my life and more revelation of the things the Lord wants
to teach me.
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