Relationships & Covenants

These last two weeks have been a blur as we have just finished up "Covenants of the Bible" with one of our favorite speakers Neville Strachan from Byron Bay, Australia. Neville is a regular speaker on DTS's here at the Sunshine Coast base. We were blessed to have him come in a basically look at the entire Bible through the lens of covenants that God has made with man. If you go back a ways on my blog list, I wrote about covenants before during the last school that I staffed last year.

Last week, we looked at "Relationships" with Tricia Hensser & Catrina Pennington. Both of them are wives and base staff here at the base. It was a great week of really looking at the value of all human beings and also the utmost importance of forgiving people. As we go forward in this DTS into outreach, it will be important to remember these principles. Outreach is a time when our integrity is tested.

Speaking of integrity, I was amazed when I was reading the Bible the other day, at the integrity of Jesus. The way I have come to understand integrity, is the way people act when the pressures of life are really squeezing them. A lot of us can understand integrity and even claim to have a lot of it, but the only way it can be tested is through trial. Jesus, after all He said and did and claimed to be, had His integrity truly tested during His trials and crucifixion. Being beaten, mocked, spit on, whipped half to death, abandoned by His closest friends, and stressed to the point of bleeding sweat, He responds by asking God Hid Father to forgive the people who have done this to Him. To me, that is an amazing example of integrity. He had every right, being who He actually was, to judge everyone who had done this to Him. He chose instead to love them.

So as I reflect on this, I begin to understand that outreach will be a time when the whole team is tested. Through extremely hot temperatures, food borne illnesses, sickness, annoyance with team members, lack of rest, and everything else that comes with outreach, I need to remember the example of Jesus, who endured much worse. Please pray for our team to have unity and love for each other. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Week of Prayer

Moving right along, this school is going so fast! After finishing up with Project Affwan last week, we jumped right into Prayer week. At our base particularly, we do something special during prayer week. From Monday to Thursday we put everyone in two hour prayer slots. Since this school is about half the size of a normal DTS, we go from 12 noon to 12 midnight and keep constant prayer going. It allows the students to have a chance to practice the discipline of prayer and waiting on God. Typically prayer week always sees many transformations for people. The students have been really going strong this week and pressing into prayer. God is faithful and has been blessing our prayer times. We have prayed for: family and friends, Outreaches in India and Indonesia, the Church and Islam, & Each other (especially for the future).

I was fortunate enough to be able to teach some this week about prayer. I used the Lord's Prayer among other topics. I had help from some other staff people also who really set the tone for this week and challenged the students. I am really fortunate to have such a solid group of people around this base. Next week, we are talking about relationships so keep us in your prayers. I am so glad to have more time now to focus on other things like outreach which is coming up next month. Thank you all for your constant prayers and support. I look forward to talking to you soon.

Project Affwan

This week, the entire DTS drove down a few hours south to the Gold Coast of Australia for an outreach organized by the YWAM base called, "Project Affwan." The word "Affwan" is Arabic and means, "you're welcome." It is used in the context where someone would say "Shokran" (Thank you) and you would respond, "Affwan" (You're Welcome).

The entire week is centered on meeting Muslim Arabs who come here for a holiday before they return to their home countries for Ramadan. Once we meet them, we try and establish a relationship so that we have an opportunity to evangelize to them. Muslims have a lots of similarities in their beliefs to Christians, but there are some major and important differences between the Koran and the Bible. The very foundation of a biblical worldview is that Jesus was the Son of God and came to earth where He died for all people and was resurrected and ascended back to heaven. Muslims do not believe Jesus was God's Son. Actually, many times in the Koran they say that "Allah" or God cannot be a human being. Their understanding of Jesus being God's son is that Mary was "impregnated" by God in the human sense. They detest this idea as we do. We believe Mary conceived through the "Holy Spirit", which actually raises many other issues with Muslims. They do not believe that God or "Allah" is a triune God. They say, "Allah is one." They do not understand the concept of the trinity. So there are these gaps that we must fill among many others.

I have come to understand that it will do no good to get into a logical argument with any Muslims simply because what they have been taught, they fully believe. The only way for them to understand is to experience God's love through us. That's it. One thing I do admire about Muslims is that they are very devout and have a deep understanding of reverence. We can actually learn from each other, but we can never waver when it comes to our beliefs in who Jesus is. Thank you everyone for reading the blogs. Look forward to hearing from you soon. Please continue in prayer for the DTS.

Law vs. Grace

This week the July DTS is getting a taste of the "Fear of the LORD." It is always interesting to see the different reactions to this week. We have already gone through Father heart of God week and Hearing God's voice week. So the students have a grasp on God's passionate love for them and the ways He communicates it to us. Now we are getting into the love of God that sometimes doesn't feel like love to our western minds. Being disciplined and chastened has never been the most enjoyable part of following God, but it is fully necessary. To get an accurate picture of God we cannot just say He is a God of grace without the law. "The law drives us to His grace" I have heard.

It is a pivotal time in the DTS and these next 3 weeks are going to stretch, challenge, and exhaust all of us including the staff. Please keep all of us in your prayers as we tackle some of the tough issues about ourselves and God.

Next week, we have the opportunity to go to the Gold Coast of Australia about 2.5 hours south of here and stay with the YWAM Gold Coast base. During that week which is called "Project Affwan" we have the opportunity to minister to the Muslims who are there on holiday. Many muslims come for holiday right before Ramadan. Pray that the students and staff are well equipped and prepared for this week as we share the Gospel with these people who have no idea what it is. It's a great opportunity and we are very excited to be a part of that.

India here we come!

The July DTS has been going for almost 3 weeks now and we have revealed the outreach locations to the students. One team will be going to Indonesia and the other will be going to India. I have the privilege of going to India with 9 students and another staff in September. It has been a place on my heart as of late for a few reasons. First, I sat by a man from India on my flight back from the last outreach I went on to Thailand and Cambodia. He was so kind and I really felt like there are millions of people like him back in India who need to be told about the Truth. Also, I went and saw "Slumdog Millionaire" with my girlfriend Brittany when we were both home and we loved it. It had some great imagery of what India is like. So I am very excited to be able to actually go there.

The July DTS finished "Fatherheart of God" last week and we are moving into "Hearing God's Voice." This week, we have a guy from Perth, Australia named Danny Taylor who is speaking. He is married with two kids and has a huge heart from evangelism. As we continue on in this DTS please pray for the students and staff as we live together. It is so important to have unity in the school as we prepare for these outreaches. I look forward to hearing from you.

July 2009 DTS is here and rolling...

So it has finally come and has been here for over a week now.  The July 2009 DTS has commenced and is in full swing.  In total we have 15 students.  11 are girls and 4 are guys.  We have 11 Americans, 2 Europeans, and 2 Canadians.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly people become friends on the DTS.  At our house, the 4 guy students immediately found common ground and were laughing together from the start.  

The 1st week of DTS was orientation.  We get the students familiar with the base and our culture here.  We talk about how the weeks will go and what to expect.  Nothing can really prepare anyone for what will happen though.  There are few experiences like a DTS where students can set aside 5 months of their lives and spend time focused fully on God.  People's lives are changed and the DTS is seen as the starting point of the rest of their lives.  

This week, we are studying the Fatherheart of God.  Our focus is to get the students to understand the character of God.  So many of us come in with views that God is an angry old man shaking His fist.  Jesus describes God as a Father who has deep compassion and love for His children.  If we can start to comprehend that, it changes us.  I am always very encouraged by this week.  Our speakers are a married couple from Florida who are missionaries in Thailand.  They have a heart for counseling people and especially couples.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support as we continue on with this week.  Please pray for God to reveal His unconditional love to the students and allow it to change them.  

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.