What does it take to become a courageous individual? William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, observed that "some of my best men are women." During the last few years two brave women, who trained at YWAM Tyler, went to the Middle East to make an impact on people and point them to Jesus. We recently touched base with "Sarah and Mary" to get an update on their ministries.
2 min read
Courageous Women
Topics: Relationship with God Obedience Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Hope Faith Following God influence courageous
2 min read
Miracles in the Classroom
What does a young person chasing after God's heart look like? Christian Heritage School desires to fan the flame of the next generation. Every day is a new opportunity to learn and grow with the Lord. Principle Jeff Schapansky shares testimonies of God moving miraculously in the classrooms.
Topics: Relationship with God Spiritual Growth Making Him Known Education Miracle Make Disciples CHS christian education
2 min read
What I Didn't Expecting During My YWAM DTS
With tears in my eyes, I pulled down the door of the Budget rental truck, said goodbye to my apartment, and heard God say to me one more time, “Will you give up all I’ve given you to receive all I have for you?”
At 26 years old, God was calling me to a Discipleship Training School. I had no idea what to expect other than God was getting ready to stretch me in a way I had never been stretched before. I sold most of my furniture, stored the rest of my belongings, and headed to YWAM Tyler. In faith, I stepped out trusting God, the author of my life, and believing I needed to expect the unexpected from this point on.
Topics: YWAM Tyler Living in Community Relationship with God Following Jesus YWAM DTS Spiritual Growth Journey Perspective Faith Get to Know God Deeper with God friendship
3 min read
The Blessing of Intentional Discipleship
One of the biggest lessons I've learned is the power of intentional discipleship.
When I signed up for my Discipleship Training School (DTS), I assumed because of the name that there would be discipleship involved, but I had no idea how intentional YWAM Tyler is in the discipleship process.
Topics: Training School Healing Relationship with God Growth YWAM DTS Overcoming Fear Discipleship Opportunities Anxiety Following God Blessing discipleship life lessons
3 min read
I Got Dunked ... You Should Too!
I GOT DUNKED ... YOU SHOULD TOO!
For Christians, the most important day of our life is the day we surrender to the Lord. Wouldn't you agree? We are made for life and unity with Christ. Aside from this day, our baptism is also very important and life transforming.
Whether the decision is made in the moment or stirred up in our hearts over time, the day we get baptized is never forgotten and is cherished.
This is that day for Faith Rogers!
Topics: Relationship with God Following Jesus Identity Freedom Peace Following God Make Disciples Get to Know God Salvation Deeper with God christian baptism surrender
4 min read
I was Drowning in Depression
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
3 min read
This is Me
If you're one of the millions of people that have seen The Greatest Showman, you may recognize the lyrics from the song "This is Me." The individuals in the movie are facing challenges in their life and are seen as outcasts, but they refuse to let what others think about them define who they are.
Topics: YWAM Tyler Relationship with God Deeper with God
2 min read
Never Would I Have Considered Myself a Missionary
Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire and
I wanna be the one who stands up and says
“I’m gonna do something”
Topics: YWAM Tyler Missions Purpose Relationship with God Missionary Missionary Life Missionary Training
3 min read
The Night I Decided to Follow God
It was about a month and a half before I came to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) at YWAM Tyler in 2015. I had already applied and visited the YWAM Tyler campus from New York! I decided to do a training school for two sole reasons: I wanted to find God and find myself.
Topics: Relationship with God Life-Changing YWAM DTS Following God
4 min read
I Came to YWAM and Fell in Love
Everyone always told me YWAM is a great place to meet someone. The day I told everyone I was going to do a DTS, many people said, “Well, Misti’s going to come home engaged.” At the time, I just shrugged it off and laughed to myself. Yeah right, I haven’t met anyone in the last 23 years; I doubt three months in Texas is going to change much.
Topics: Relationship with God Knowing God YWAM DTS Love
2 min read
I Decided to Give God One More Chance
Repeatedly punching my steering wheel and reminding God of how expertly He had crafted my middle finger had kind of become my thing. My west-Texan-pastors-kid bubble had officially popped. My former modicum of faith had been crushed under the weight of my cynicism, self pity, and reclusiveness, and I seriously wanted to die. Needless to say, my first (and as it turned out, my only) semester of college had not gone as planned.
With the majority of my time being spent sulking in my dorm room, illegally watching indie movies, and silently screaming for attention, I felt like any purpose I may have ever felt in life had entirely wilted away. I moved back home, donned a pastel visor, and scooped about a million pounds of ice cream for eight months, saving money in the hopes of one day finding an escape from my intellectual and spiritual despair.
Out of the divinely inspired blue, an old youth pastor called me up, excitedly informing me of his need for a worship leader for his current youth group's upcoming missions trip to New Orleans. I semi-begrudgingly accepted his proposal. Any excuse to not scoop ice cream was good enough for me, even if it meant faking Christianity for a week or so.
Somewhere in the sultry swampiness of a June evening in the French Quarter, God started tugging on my heart in a way I could relate to. I saw people who needed just what I needed. Relief. Peace. Hope. Humanity longs for a way to escape the confines of their mind and to trust in something bigger than themselves and bigger than the American dream.
I came home and told my parents that I realized I could live a better life, and I decided to give God one more chance. Youth With a Mission (YWAM) New Orleans was hosting a missionary training school called the Urban Discipleship Training School (UDTS), which I had heard about while on my mission trip in New Orleans. After a few weeks of hesitating, I sent in my application and held my breath.
During the UDTS, I came to realize that Christianity wasn’t about fitting a mold. I didn’t have to look, sound, act, or talk like whatever I thought the perfect Christian looked, sounded, acted, and talked like. I learned that what God desires above all else is honest relationship with His most valued creation. Us. Me. You. Living in community, serving the broken, pushing myself to prefer others in all of my actions, and learning how to be myself in the midst of loving God...these are all things I never considered before doing the UDTS.
I never turned back. Seven years later, I’m still seeking God wholeheartedly as a missionary and staff member with the UDTS. Some days are better than others, of course, but every day I am reminded of who I was, and who I am now. The difference isn’t found in any book or song or movie or good idea; it’s found in believing that God hears me.
If He hears me, He hears you too.
