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.
Josh Barnes and his wife Faraday came to YWAM Tyler, Texas, for the Family DTS. They came with five kids in tow: three boys⎼12, 11, and 9 and two girls⎼7 and 4. Living in community, diving into their relationship with Jesus, and growing stronger as a family was just the beginning of their experience.
It’s been exhausting, amazing, hard, and difficult, but I am thankful for every step taken and the people I get to do this with. I am thankful for the people praying and supporting financially. I am thankful for the transformation God is doing in mine and other's lives. I am thankful for God allowing us to be a vessel for Him.
If you've been thinking of taking a semester off or even a year between high school and college or college and career, you are not alone. Taking a gap year is a hot topic, and since we've talked to students from all over the world who've chosen to do YWAM for their gap experience, we want to help you plan your gap year the right way.
Do you ever wake up and forget where you are?
This happens to me often, particularly when I find myself doing crazy things, things I never thought I would have the time, finances, or abilities to do. I'll think, “What am I doing here?” “How did I get here...ME...here doing this right now?!?”
During my Discipleship Training School (DTS), God really showed me His heart for America. I’ve always dreamed of being the missionary that traveled to faraway lands to preach the Gospel where it’s never been heard, but God showed me that He cares as much about the people of America as He does the ones in far off lands. God cares about every nation tribe and tongue, including my own!
I first went to Vegas in the Spring of 2016. As we were walking, I passed some show girls and told my grandparents I wanted to stop and talk to them, but they told me to just keep walking. I boarded the plane shattered, knowing I should have stopped.
A couple years later, during my YWAM Discipleship Training School, we were being told our outreach locations. Vegas was going to be one of them for the West Coast. My heart leapt for joy, and I started praying. I prayed for an encounter.
Words like “fire, passion, movement, momentum, signs, wonders, uncompromising, and revival” have been used to describe the two weeks I just spent in Florida.
I can only imagine this is how the beginning moments of the “Jesus Movement” of the late ’60’s looked – in fact, those that have been involved with both have said so much.
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.
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.
