Carving out space and time to get to know God better is a desire for many of us. A Discipleship Training School is a great way to actually do it too! It's so cool to see hundreds of people every year experiencing newfound faith in Jesus. 

Gigi and I met in ministry in Brazil and were best friends. Now, we still are best friends and married too! When we first started talking, we realized we had the same dream: to be a family in missions and a lighthouse to other families. We didn't know yet what our family would look like, but we committed that to Him.

I’ve volunteered with and attended the YWAM Inspire Conference since its beginning in 2013. My School of Worship was in 2012, and I'll never forget being deeply moved by Josh Langer’s heart for starting a gathering like it. 

As I started this Crossroads Discipleship Training School (CDTS), I would meet with God in my early morning devotions, before our daily breakfast duty, and pray these words from Ephesians 3 . . . .

While in Mexico on outreach, my team did all kinds of ministry in different places for three weeks, but my favorite experience took place the last days of our trip in the Purepecha indigenous village. We were stripped from our normal daily comforts, forced to wear long skirts, and slept on cold cement floors, but it was in that village where God gave me my joy back.

“Hey you, hey you!” screamed the alarm. When is she going to change that song?! It’s a terrible way to start everyone’s morning! Living in a confined space with 15 other girls was starting to take its toll on me. Half asleep I rolled out of my sleeping bag and shuffled my feet into the bathroom. I turned on the lights and immediately noticed the fingerprints all over the mirror and the toilet paper on the floor.

At YWAM Tyler, we are hearing amazing stories of God working in unforeseen ways. The Currey Family recently had such experiences with the Lord while on their Crossroads Discipleship Training School (CDTS) outreach to New Orleans. As a family, they obediently came to YWAM Tyler to get to know God, and it's exciting to see how He  has expanded their horizons and worked in and through their family.

ME: Who am I?

GOD: Marina: Sea Harbor ~ one who leads people to the living waters

ME: What does that even mean? (rolls eyes)

GOD: Allow me to show you.

We started off our YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) Outreach in Virginia serving at a Christian private school. Our DTS class was asked to be small group leaders at a middle through high school conference. As I was waiting at a table for the students to arrive, I decided to take the extra time to pray and seek God's heart for these students.

This Saturday we will celebrate with our most recent Discipleship Training School, "The School of Good News," at our quarterly Love Feast gathering. The students have returned back to YWAM Tyler's Twin Oaks campus with great God-stories from their outreaches to the East Coast of America, Guatemala, and Mexico. Here are a few special moments highlighted from their trips. God is winning in the nations. 🤩

So many times I didn't think we could do a YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) as a family. We have made a lot of mistakes as parents; we didn't grow up in a church; we were rough around the edges, and my children still had a long ways to go. What would people think? Would they judge us because of our past? Would they pick apart our parenting and our children? Would they expect us to be perfect? Oh how the enemy had a field day with these thoughts.

Since I got the news that I'd be working in grounds full-time I started to pray, asking God to give me His heart for this department. Grounds is an important department at YWAM Tyler. Keeping this campus a pleasant place for those who live here and for those who visit really does matter! However, there's more than just making this place nice or keeping the grass mowed and trees trimmed. As I've been working and praying, I've felt that God was putting in my heart His desires for this department.