The outreach portion of a Discipleship Training School (DTS) is typically 2 months. Here at YWAM Louisville, we take the first 10 days of outreach to travel around the United States speaking in churches, small groups and youth groups as well as helping with practical service projects, to share about missions, YWAM, and the Lord. We call this, “Stateside.”
Our September schools began outreach after Christmas and have been scattered throughout 6 different states over the past week. Below few stories of things God has done during these statesides.
” We had a Bible Study in a coffee shop and I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with a sophomore girl. She opened up to me about how she recently lost her grandfather and was struggling with that loss. I shared with her that I too had lost my own grandfather not too long ago. I shared with her how I have seen God come through in my life in the midst of grief and what it looks like to walk in hope and freedom even in the midst of tragedy!” – Lia, DTS
“During a one-on-one conversation with one of my friends, I was explaining how I felt the enemy attacking me as a leader, saying things like, “you’re not good enough,” or, “you’ve made too many mistakes,” but right after this conversation, the girls who live in the house we were staying in, who are 11 and 17, asked me if they could have a one-on-one conversation with me. God gave me the opportunity to lead and speak life into those girls.” -Sehrena, DTS
“A few days into our trip I was starting to feel discouraged because God was giving my teammates really cool opportunities to minister to people but it didn’t feel like He was using me. I shared with my team that I was struggling with comparison and they encouraged me. The very next morning, we were simply having breakfast with another family and their daughter started asking me questions about YWAM and if she could help out with translating. I was able to give her information and she was very interested in getting involved in missions. I was very inspired by her eagerness and thankful God used me to connect her with missions.” -Kate, DTS
“I was at a New Years Eve lock-in and during worship, I got out of my seat and went to the front. At first I was the only one standing there, then a young girl came up to the front and stood beside me to worship. Afterwards, she came up to me to tell me that she became inspired to go up front while I was down on my knees because she’s always heard stories of people doing that but has never seen it firsthand. During that time, the Lord gave her a word for me and He told her that I was a symbol of Humility.” -Julia, DTS
“God had been working on my heart for a couple of days. He had been showing me that mess and being uncomfortable is good and it grows our heart. Speaking in front of people makes me uncomfortable so I told God, “I want to speak so you can work in my heart.” He answered my prayer and I was chosen to share my testimony with over 100 students at a lock-in. By saying “yes” to God and trusting him with the rest he was able to use me. He calmed my nerves and I was able to share my story with confidence and give God the glory. God showed me that I didn’t have to share a perfect testimony or say all the right words to impact people. God just wants our “YES” and He will do the rest. God confirmed this because one of the leaders said that his middle school boys really related with my story.” -Aaron, DTS
Thank God for your lives ,and thank all of you for availing yourselves to tell about the love of Jesus Christ to the dieing world.