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4 min read

What You Need to Know Before Taking a Gap Year

By Richard Fish on 9 Nov 2022

What if you could graduate high school, and you and your friends could travel the world with purpose? Would you consider it?  Does it sound too far-fetched? Deep down doesn't it sound exciting⏤taking a year "off" and discovering everything God has for you before your next big decision?

Well you can, and for many it's been the best decision they ever made. I've talked with a whole bunch of students wanting to take a Gap Year and interviewed a few who already did it.

Here is what you need to consider before taking the leap: 

DOWNLOAD THE GAP YEAR PLANNING GUIDE ebook / pdf

Topics: Purpose Growth Knowing God Gap Year YWAM DTS Encounter God Travel Education Get to Know God Redirection Missionary Training Teenagers World Changer Deeper with God ywamtyler
4 min read

When God Told Me Not To Go To College

By Tyler Tom on 24 Jun 2022

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!

Topics: School of Evangelism Provision School of Worship YWAM DTS Calling Overcoming Fear Encounter God No Fear Faith Mission Trip Blessing DTS
4 min read

Don't Let Fear Hold You Back

By Seth Dale on 6 Aug 2021

God Can Use Someone Just Like You!

Have you ever felt like the room is closing in on you? Have you ever been sitting in a class on introduction day, sweating at the thought of having to speak? Ridiculous, right?

Topics: YWAM Tyler Doubt YWAM DTS Value Identity Overcoming Fear Encounter God Anxiety Overcoming Anxiety No Fear Get to Know God fear singing ywam missions DTS
5 min read

One Chapel - Thousands Of Prayers

By Tyler Tom on 6 Nov 2020

One Chapel - Thousands Of Prayers

"It's hotter than a firecracker in here!" exclaimed Leland Paris, as he stepped into the 12' by 15' foot well house we called our prayer room.

As YWAM Tyler's base leader, he knew we desperately needed a new building to become our "House of Prayer." It was 1998 when volunteers from all over America gathered together to transform this tiny, hot, well house into a place for large groups to gather. Little did we know that soon we would have A/C, heat and bathrooms!"

Topics: YWAM Tyler Missions Missionary Encounter God YWAM Answered Prayer Miracle Faith Holy Ground Prayer Chapel Holy Spirit Missions in America ywam tyler staff
3 min read

What My Mom Thinks of Me Being A Missionary

By Tyler Tom on 23 Oct 2020

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. 

Topics: Training School Family Family Adventure Direction Obedience Knowing God Life-Changing YWAM DTS Calling Missionary Missionary Life Overcoming Fear Spiritual Growth Encounter God YWAM Education No Fear Following God Children in Missions FOMO ywam tyler staff fear
4 min read

I was Drowning in Depression

By Mia Buckley on 28 Aug 2020

Depression doesn't have to control your life.

Before I knew God, I drowned in dark depression, deceit, and lived in fear. Sin and suicidal thoughts controlled me, and I had no escape. I struggled to find so many things: purpose, love, peace, joy, zeal for life, and much more.

Meeting the Lord of all creation brought me out of the trap I was ensnared in and gave me life abundant. Not life without struggles, but life with hope.

Topics: Missions Relationship with God Trust God Knowing God YWAM DTS Missionary Life Encounter God Get to Know God Missionary Training Dependence on God Deeper with God
4 min read

Making Memories with God through Worship

By Josh Langer on 9 Oct 2019

Did you know that your nose remembers things? Our sense of smell is closely linked with memory, probably more so than any of our other senses. The smell of freshly cut grass, for example, always brings back memories of my childhood and my endeavor to become a professional soccer player.

Topics: School of Worship Worship Spiritual Growth Encounter God Perspective YWAM Peace Spiritual Father memories
4 min read

Ywam Tyler's Chapel Has Been Holy Ground for Many

By Amy Fish on 22 Jun 2018

YWAM TYLER'S CHAPEL HAS BEEN HOLY GROUND FOR MANY

The Chapel at YWAM Tyler started as a 12' by 15' well house which was converted to a small place to pray. Years later, volunteers came and built a space for many to gather. Whether it's in groups coming together for focused prayer or a single person kneeling at the cross, countless of people have encountered the Lord in this space. Here are a few stories of such moments...

Topics: YWAM DTS Encounter God Faith Holy Ground Prayer Chapel
5 min read

God Redeems Tragedy

By Jessie Myers on 20 Jun 2018

Georgia wanted to come to the YWAM Tyler campus for a quiet place to spend some time with the Lord, and she desired to attend our Family Night, which is a worship service open to the community. Georgia wrote in her journal moments after meeting and praying with the Korean family in the hotel lobby, “I now know the purpose of my trip to YWAM Tyler this President's Day weekend." Just one week before her arrival, two YWAM Tyler alumni and their unborn baby had died in a car accident. As she was planning on staying in our hotel here on the base, she was told that there would be mourning families staying there as well.

Topics: Purpose Encounter God Redeem Salvation
4 min read

It Wasn't Our Time Yet | YWAM Tyler

By Tyler Tom on 25 Apr 2018

Tyler Tom is always on the hunt for amazing, true God-stories around the YWAM Tyler campus, and this one blew us all away! Join us as we travel with Derek Sandiford (one of our beloved South African staff members) on an unforgettable outreach journey...

It was 2016, and by a miracle of God's eleventh-hour provision I had landed in Mexico with the rest of my classmates on our School of Evangelism outreach. We were hosted by YWAM Creel, a base located in the mountainous Chihuahua region of Mexico. One of our exciting team projects was to create an agricultural garden using the contours of the earth to generate a self-watering system. We tried to enlist the services of the base's skid-loader to help us in this project, but all attempts to get this machine started met with failure. Because I'm handy with machines, I checked it over and determined it was in need of new filters. Willy, our host at YWAM Creel, offered to drive me to town to find the necessary replacements.

However, being in the remote mountains of northern Mexico as we were, this was no small undertaking. Quite unlike a trip to the local auto-parts store in America, this was going to be a full day's outing! To reach town we had to carefully navigate along a steep dirt road, made all the more treacherous by recent rainfall. We also had to pass through a checkpoint manned by military commandos, which Willy thankfully negotiated with skill in his fluent Spanish.

Commandos behind us, we continued our slip-sliding journey until, a little further down the road, we encountered a local man unsuccessfully attempting to coax a tipper-truck up the mountain. His vehicle was struggling to get any traction on the slippery road surface, causing him to lose more ground than he was gaining. Willy and I immediately pulled over and offered to help the guy. From the back of his Chevy truck, Willy produced a length of strong rope which we attached to the tipper-truck, securing it tightly to the Chevy's rear bumper. My job was to jump up and down repeatedly on the truck bed to enable our tires to gain traction on the slippery road. Meanwhile, Willy revved the engine to full power, straining the rope close to breaking point as we inched forward. Progress was slow, as we negotiated the many twists and turns and gradually gained ground up the mountain. I was sweating profusely with the exertion of repeated bouncing while working to maintain my balance on this hazardous journey. With each bounce, I strained to glimpse the muddy road ahead of us, willing our convoy onwards and upwards

Finally, I noticed with relief that we were approaching an area where the tipper-truck driver would be able to carry on independently. I willed my weary body to keep jumping, directing all my strength into each bounce with increasing determination.

And then, suddenly, I experienced a moment that changed everything...

I felt my feet push off the metal truck bed, as they had so many times already. But this time as I strained my eyes to see the road ahead of us, I was greeted only by a vision of clear blue sky. The familiar road had completely disappeared. In that awful instant I realized the Chevy had slid off the road and was now airborne - tumbling helplessly over the steep mountainside with tipper-truck in tow. My legs vibrated with an unnatural hollow sound as I landed on a truck bed no longer in contact with the earth. In spite of myself, my eyes squeezed tight as I mentally prepared for the crash at the end of this ride which I believed would propel me straight into heaven. I held my breath. And waited.... waited... NOTHING. Curiosity overcame fear as my eyes snapped open once again. To my utter astonishment, we were back on the road. The sensation of weightlessness evaporated and our convoy resumed our winding ascent of the mountain road. IT HAD ALL HAPPENED IN AN INSTANT.

Topics: YWAM Tyler Encounter God Miracle God's Presence
2 min read

The Journey - A Place Where People Encounter God

By Tyler Tom on 13 Apr 2018

 YWAM Tyler has the privilege of hosting several ministries in the East Texas area. The Journey is located right off Interstate 20 and is a unique ministry seeking to bless people with good drink, delicious food, and most of all loving and gracious service. Everyone is on a journey of some sort, and it is the desire of those who run this coffeehouse that as they step into this business, God's love will be encountered in a special way. Many have entered this business to receive a warm drink, but they've left with warm hearts. 

Topics: YWAM Tyler Encounter God Love Coffeehouse Coffee
5 min read

Influencing Minds, Shaping Hearts | YWAM Tyler

By Amy Fish on 9 Apr 2018

YWAM Tyler is a ministry where all ages encounter God. When we came to do a training school and join staff, I was homeschooling my daughter and had no intention to do differently, but then I started feeling a stirring within my heart to pay attention to Christian Heritage School, a ministry of YWAM Tyler for Kindergarten to 12th grade students from around the world. After asking many questions to those around me about this school, I quickly discovered not only is this place influencing minds, but they're shaping hearts with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Surely God is in this place!

Topics: Encounter God Family DTS Kids in Missions Family Missions Education
4 min read

Is another “JESUS REVOLUTION” coming?

Seeing what is happening on some college campuses, perhaps it has already begun! Their hunger...

2 min read

Your Life Matters

"Well, I don't want to kill myself anymore!" That was not the response I was expecting to hear when Mia was asked at a...

3 min read

Jesus Revolution

The chilly air in the theater lobby reminded me I should have brought a hoodie to stay warm. As my wife, and the 16...

5 min read

Revival Fires Spread Across the World

Revival fires are springing up all over the country and world since the beginning of the outpouring at Asbury...

2 min read

You Can Help Survivors of the Earthquake in Syria

The ground rocked underneath the feet of millions of people in Syria and Turkey on the fateful day of February 6th....

6 min read

Revival Wave at Asbury University 2023

Is this the start of another Great Awakening? As believers and missionaries, we have hungered for more of God in our...

5 min read

A Year for God

Someone somewhere said, "You can do anything for a year!" If God asked you to give a year of your life for discipleship...

4 min read

Divine Appointments are Real!

Has God ever prompted you to do something but you overlooked the opportunity?

I recently was thinking of this phrase,...

2 min read

How DTS Set Me Free

Fighting for my relationship with God 24/7 was one of the most challenging actions I've ever taken in my life, however,...
2 min read

The Day I Got Saved

My phone buzzed on silent mode in my pocket while I was busy just doing normal old stuff. But that vibrating buzz...

2 min read

Why You Should Read the Bible Every Day

Every year for the past 20 years I've read through the entire Bible. I remember the daunting task of the daily reading...

3 min read

The Greatest New Year’s Resolution I Ever Made

You have heard the stories in the Bible. In Genesis, God said to Abram, “Go…”. In Matthew, Jesus calls Simon (Peter)...