Is God calling you to step out in faith and apply for a Discipleship Training School (DTS), but fear keeps kicking you in the guts? What if this turns out to be the biggest mistake of your life? What if you're asked to do something way out of your comfort zone? What if you don't fit in? Run out of money? Or fail everyone's expectations? What if you're not really hearing God's voice after all? Something is gnawing away inside your head saying, "I just don't think I can do this!"

It was July 28, 1982, exactly 35 years ago to date (at the writing of this blog post), when Keith Green and others took off from an airstrip, almost in walking distance from where I am sitting now, and left the earth behind never to return. The airplane accident that took the life of singer-songwriter Keith Green, shook the lives of the evangelical Christian community around the world.

Dennis is a solid guy, and we want to honor his life and story through this blog. He serves here at our YWAM Tyler campus in many ways. It is our hope that you, as the reader, will be inspired by the miraculous things God has done in, through, and for him!

WHAT MY MOM THINKS OF ME BEING A MISSIONARy

Ever wonder what your parents might say if you decide to become a missionary? Aimee interviewed her mom about her  experience, and you might just find some encouragement to overcome your fear of stepping into what God's calling you to do. 

WHEN LIFE DOESN'T GO AS PLANNED

2020 has been a year none of us expected. I wish I could just blame the pandemic for wrecking my plans, but I'm learning a bigger lesson when my life plans get sideways.

On my journey over the last year and half, there have been many times I had to continuously remind myself of the goodness of God in spite of my circumstances.

HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULDN’T GO TO COLLEGE IMMEDIATELY

Graduate valedictorian, go to an Ivy League school, enter a respectable profession, get rich - that’s what I decided my life’s purpose was when I was in high school. The only reason I wanted to do missionary work before college was so that I could have a stronger résumé. Good thing God can take our impure motives and bring something good out of them.

A few years ago, I went to the regularly scheduled Monday morning prayer meeting at the YWAM Tyler campus my husband and I are a part of. This particular meeting was to focus on prayer for the newest School of Strategic Missions (SOSM) on their first day of class. As we prayed, I felt the Lord leading me to Luke 15, which is where Jesus is speaking about: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Lost Son.  As I pondered this and prayed, I sensed God speaking to me that He wanted to restore what was lost in for these missionary students attending the SOSM. 

It was 1983 when I took a job as a clerical worker for an oil company in Houston to fill the time. I had a college degree and aspirations to teach, but after two years of working in the office,  I didn’t want to teach anymore. I also didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder at the oil company. In fact, I had no idea what I wanted to do next! I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Is God calling you to step out in faith and apply for a Discipleship Training School (DTS) but fear keeps kicking you in the guts? What if this turns out to be the biggest mistake of your life? What if you're asked to do something way out of your comfort-zone? What if you don't fit in, or run out of money, or fail everyone's expectations? What if you're not really hearing God's voice after all? Something is gnawing away inside your head, saying, "I just don't think I can do this!"

Growing up, I loved worship and music. In the ninth grade, I bought a guitar so that I could create my own sound, my own worship for God, and not just sing along with someone’s CD. Although I tried (unsuccessfully) to lead worship a couple times my senior year, I didn’t really have any aspirations to be the next Chris Tomlin or Hillsong United. However during my DTS, God spoke clearly to me through my school leader that He was calling me to be a worship leader, which set me on a journey that would change my life.

“Nah, I don’t need to do that!” I emphatically told God one day after being asked by our ministry leaders to do a YWAM DTS. At the age of 34, my husband and I had already been serving the Lord in full-time ministry for years. We had worked as youth pastors in Kansas, while attending school. Then we planted a church in South Carolina. Missions was nothing new for us because we had led numerous teams around the world. Why would we need to do a Discipleship Training School?