Staff Training

Staff training has begun and since last Monday the 22nd, we have been talking about everything having to do with a Discipleship Training School.  I have been emphasizing that the job of the staff is to create an environment in which the students can experience God.  Everything we do has an effect on the DTS environment and it is important to know that we have one of the largest influences on someone's life for 5 months.  Also, we have talked about how to assess students during the course using a specific criteria made up by YWAM.  Since we are not a school in the typical sense, we do not use these to grade but rather to see where the students are at in their DTS experience.  I can say that it is really amazing to watch as the students change over the course of 5 months because they are knowing God.

We have come to Byron Bay for the weekend which is a few hours south of the Sunshine Coast.  It is known in Australia for being a hippie surf town.  I must say that is an accurate description because we went through town yesterday and spent some time eating snags (hotdogs to us Americans) at the local park.  We are spending the weekend getting to know each other better.  We have brought with us a board with all of the students pictures and names so that we can learn their names and faces before we actually meet them.  We also have a pastor and a the base director from here in Byron Bay talking to us about leadership.  It is an exciting time and we are all thrilled to be here.  If you would like to pray for the students as they start arriving later next week and for the staff that we will be well prepared.