MISSIONS INSIDER BLOG

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2 min read

Reaching the Nations in Your Own Backyard

By Jordon Lippiatt on 2 Oct 2020

Reaching the Nations in Your Own BackYard

As believers, we understand that part of the commission given to us by Jesus is to go into all nations. With the times we are living in today, it’s not always possible to do what's on our hearts in following Jesus' command.

Topics: Outreach School of Evangelism Urban Missions YWAM DTS YWAM Outreach Missionary Missionary Life Missionary Training Urban DTS Urbanization Missions in America ywam chicago chicago
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

When Life Doesn't Go As Planned

By Jordon Lippiatt on 21 Aug 2020

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.

Topics: Training School YWAM Tyler Purpose Growth Trust God Trust Direction Obedience YWAM DTS Calling Missionary Life Perspective Anxiety Redirection Dependence on God Deeper with God Overcoming covid-19 plans life
4 min read

5 Ways I Paid For My DTS

By Kayla Norris on 26 Jun 2020

5 Ways I Paid for My YWAM DTS

Missions—it sounds wild, crazy, and just what you’ve always wanted. But you scroll down to where it says “fees”—and you stop. Maybe God has something else for you. You know, a cheaper option. Or a well-paying, safe option. 

But do you want to miss out on your miracle?

Topics: Provision YWAM Tyler Fundraising YWAM DTS YWAM Finances Money provide support
2 min read

Life After My Discipleship Training School

By Sarah Tucker on 5 Jun 2020

LIFE AFTER MY DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING SCHOOL

After my Discipleship Training School (DTS) ended last spring, going home was difficult. It was hard to go from seeing friends everyday, worshipping and living in community to only seeing my immediate family.

Topics: Missions YWAM DTS Missionary Life Discipleship Opportunities Global Missions Hope Make Disciples Missions in America city ministry
4 min read

Everything You Need to Know about The Family Discipleship School

By Richard Fish on 8 May 2020

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE FAMILY DTS

What if you could spend the best years with your children discovering God's purpose for your family? If you could do something amazing with your entire family, and you knew you couldn't fail, what would you try?

Taking a step toward a family discipleship program is not only possible, it could be the best decision for your family's destiny.

Topics: Training School Family YWAM Tyler Fundraising Family Adventure Change Living in Community Life-Changing YWAM DTS Family Adventures Families in Missions Missionary Journey Community Family DTS YWAM Kids in Missions Family Missions Family Discipleship family sync
5 min read

Suicide Was Knocking On My Door

By Zach Golding on 20 Apr 2020

SUICIDE WAS KNOCKING ON MY DOOR

This was a bad idea. Clutching a $20 bill in my hand as the answer to the pain I was in didn't give me any peace. I didn't want to be in this place. As a kid I didn't dream about committing suicide, but now I was quickly losing the urge to live. I needed out! I needed a change! In the darkest time of my life God reached out to me, and saved me from the demons tormenting my mind.

This is my story...

It all began when I was tossed into middle school. My older brother wasn't around like he had been during homeschool. Now, I had to make new friends. 

Topics: YWAM Tyler Purpose YWAM DTS Identity Insecurity Depression Freedom Hope YWAM Faith Get to Know God Loneliness Transformation suicide Overcoming
2 min read

I Said Yes To God But Never Imagined This

By Areli Brandenburg on 16 Apr 2020

I SAID YES TO GOD BUT NEVER IMAGINED THIS

When I first came into missions, I thought I might end up working with the people who lived in garbage dumps in the Philippines, thousands of miles from my home.

When I said yes to God, that’s what I thought He would have me do.

Topics: Outreach YWAM Tyler Missions YWAM DTS YWAM Outreach Missionary Missionary Life YWAM Missionary Training Missions in America
2 min read

Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Go to College Immediately.

By Sophia Braymen on 7 Apr 2020

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.

Topics: YWAM Tyler Purpose Growth Dreams Direction Gap Year YWAM DTS Calling Destiny Travel Deeper with God college gap semester high school
2 min read

Find Your Life Purpose in a YWAM DTS

By Dillon Thompson on 31 Jan 2020

FIND YOUR LIFE PURPOSE IN A YWAM DTS

It's crazy how God can change things in your life so fast. This time last year I was doing nothing but wasting my life. Now, I’m living with a purpose and get to have new exciting experiences with God everyday. Setting an example and manifesting God's image in all the things I do brings me great joy.

Topics: Outreach Purpose Life-Changing YWAM DTS YWAM Outreach Missionary
5 min read

How I Became a YWAM Missionary

By Anthony Huerta on 18 Oct 2019

Become a Missionary at Youth With A Mission

It was a huge shock to everyone around me when I decided to become a missionary in 2016. Having come out of 6 years of deep addiction before entering 3 rehabs, I was the last person you’d expect to see joining Youth With A Mission, Tyler.

I was totally living for myself. I thought I was the center of the universe back in May of 2015 before I entered my last rehab. I finally came to a point of surrender about four weeks into that program, when I felt God’s love for me for the first time. It was game-over after that! I was hooked.

Prior to that encounter, I was so consumed with myself I did not ever really love, or allow myself to be loved. Everyone and everything around me was a resource to get whatever I was looking to gain in the moment.

My self-absorbed life stifled love from every crevice and corner of my life.

[Photo: I know right? A mug shot. That's how bad my life had spun out of control.]

However, there was a moment which changed everything for me. A true encounter with God can accomplish what one hundred counseling sessions could not. Something changed when I allowed myself to be stripped before God. No mask, no presuppositions, just a real, vulnerable openness to Jesus as my Savior.

[Photo: Graduating from Shiloh Ministries after 1 year of rehab.]

After I graduated from Shiloh, I joined my first Discipleship Training School at YWAM Tyler. Youth With A Mission understands knowing God is paramount. Understanding I am His child is vital. Everything else hinges on this realization.

I believe, “you don’t really know yourself until you know Jesus.” Through my discipleship experience, I finally understood, “in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) is a remarkably freeing statement.

While I was still self-centered, caring for no one, stealing, and lying–Jesus died for me! I love Jesus now and do my best to genuinely love the people around me, but Jesus died for the version of me who cared neither for myself, or the people around me.

Whether I am still roaming the streets with a pint of vodka in my belt strap, or I am preaching in front of thousands, Jesus’s love for me is the same! It never changes.

Knowing God, really knowing Him is what life is all about. “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) Each time I read this verse it chips away at the block of religion that has crusted up around me through years of never actually encountering and pursuing God for myself.

To know God, and to make Him known. This is the motto of Youth With A Mission. I love the simplicity of this, because when you boil it all down, it is what life is really all about.

[Photo: Making God known took me to Greece with my Evangelism Training School.]

Now do we just spend our time alone in a room, with a Bible and a cup of coffee? Heavens no! James says, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18). Such a confident statement that my personality appreciates!

I love being active, pursuing, and creating alongside God for His name’s sake. Prior to coming to YWAM Tyler, I thought all missionaries were old, white, married couples. I thought a missionary wife wore a bonnet (no slight to bonnet wearers!) and the husband had spent years in seminary and pastoral training. The thought of becoming a missionary wasn’t in the solar system of my thought process, but boy did that change after coming to YWAM Tyler.

My understanding of being a missionary changed when I ran into a former X-Games athlete, met men and women who had struggled with addiction, eating disorders, vanity, homosexuality, been through a divorce, and the list could go on. These people were seasoned missionaries who had been around the world several times over, impacting lives every step of the way, yet had a life transformation with Jesus!

This was me too! I was just like these people!? “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27) 

[Photo: Making God known took me to Korea with my Discipleship Training School.]

Out of an overflow of intimacy with a living God our life begins to move. A true faith—a living faith—has the natural outworking of good works. To Know God and Make Him Known. This really sums up how I became a missionary.

If you are ready to take the next step in your personal life of Knowing God and Making Him known, today is the day to sign up for the next training school at YWAM Tyler. We are here and ready to help you discover God's purpose for your life.

 

Learn More

 

Other blogs by Anthony:

The War on Inaction has Begun | The SEND

This is My Missionary Life

Alcoholism did not have the Last Word

Topics: Training School School of Evangelism YWAM Tyler Missions YWAM DTS YWAM Outreach Missionary Missionary Life YWAM Missionary Training ywam missions DTS
5 min read

My most painful memory became something beautiful!

By Tyler Tom on 20 Sep 2019

I have seen firsthand in my life how God can make beauty from ashes. I have experienced joy for mourning in a real and powerful way!

Topics: YWAM Tyler YWAM DTS Grief regret
2 min read

Courageous Women

What does it take to become a courageous individual? William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, observed that...

3 min read

Building Foundations

How do you increase your faith? Former student Sarah Horan shares her heart on how God revealed His truth to her during...

2 min read

Missions Changed Me

From as far back as my junior high school, I remember struggling to find happiness. I felt like I didn’t fit in and...

2 min read

Unexpected Friendships

When we follow God, sometimes we have our own expectations of what God will do through us. This can sometimes cause us...
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...

4 min read

Cross-Cultural Christmastime

Have you ever wondered how Christmas is celebrated around the world? We asked four of our YWAM Tyler missionaries to...

3 min read

My Stepmom Thinks YWAM Rocks

Have you ever been curious about going to a Discipleship Training School but don't know what to expect? In a recent...

2 min read

Marked by God

Can you imagine God sending someone from another country to see you? While in Thailand, Jess Reminger encounters a man...

2 min read

The Day I Thanked God For Losing My Job

One morning I sat in the classroom during my training school with YWAM, and I was crying, thanking God for the loss of...

2 min read

Sharing The Gospel Isn't Complicated

God has been doing amazing things with our DTS team on outreach in Thailand. As the team has made themselves available,...

2 min read

How DTS Changed My Child

Before I left for my Discipleship Training School, my family really had no idea what YWAM was. If your family...
2 min read

Laying Down My Rights

I was sitting in my DTS classroom, my head wrapped in thoughts of a family circumstance that was happening. We had...