Calm before the storm

This last week, myself and all the other staff have been in training to prepare us for the DTS that starts here Oct 6th.  I'm beginning to understand how chaotic it's going to be once it starts.  A speaker came up from YWAM Melbourne and has been with YWAM for over 30 years.  He really stressed the importance of having a servant's heart as a staff person.  One thing he said that really stuck with me is that an acid test to see if you have a servant's heart is: How do you react when someone treats you like a servant?  I used to think I had a servant's heart but I recently found out that I need some work done:)  To give you a good idea of what the students and staff participate in, I will give you an overview of the DTS.

Each staff person is assigned a group of students for both small groups and one on one times which both generally meet once a week.  So if a staff person has four one on ones, it could take up a lot of time every week.  In those times we ask the students questions about everything from lectures to life back home to whatever they want to chat about.  We really try to build relationships with the students and get them thinking about their future.  Particularly in the one on one times is when most of the deep conversing is done.  During small group time, we usually just meet to fellowship together and talk about certain issues in life.  The time is more to get the students talking amongst themselves and relating to each other.  Small groups happen once a week at a variety of places.  So these events happen outside of the lecture time.

Lectures are every Monday through Thursday from 8 am to noon.  Students are required to participate in lectures and encouraged to take notes.  It is also during these times when we discuss which countries to go to on Outreach.  Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of both the staff and the students here.  It is very important to make the students feel at home and part of YWAM from the time they get to the Sunny Coast.  

I actually met the first two students to show up.  They are Kristian and Ingrid from Norway.  They were very friendly and also very excited to be here.  As a matter of fact, we have several students coming from Scandinavia.  Many of them are from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.  We also have two British students and a few Americans and Canadians.  It will be great getting to know people who grew up on the other side of the world!