Ever questioned if you really believed all this God stuff? Ever wondered if God really hears your prayers? Ever hungered to know Jesus more? Ever needed convincing that what you were thinking was right? If so, than YOU'RE NOT ALONE!
Enter into these stories with me and see how God met my friends here at YWAM Tyler and answered the cries of their heart.
During my DTS (Discipleship Training School), I had really been struggling with whether I believed in God at all. I was no longer living under the faith of my parents but had to now make my own choice, choosing to believe or not.
I can't remember the surrounding circumstances, but I remember the moment that God became real to me. I was walking late at night from the boardwalk to the guys dorm.
As I walked, I was "wrestling" with God, asking questions I wasn't sure I'd get any answers to, when I decided to just simply look up. I'm sure we're all familiar with how big the night sky is around here in East Texas and how it has this ability to cause a shrinking feeling to come over us as we gaze at the stars.
It was one of those moments where creation itself was shouting at me, and all doubt of God's existence left my heart. I knew He was real. How could He not be? I mean have you looked at the stars here?
I have in fact had many moments, life altering moments, with God in the short little walk to and from the guys dorm over the years. That field is anointed!
~ Josh - Mobile Team Leader at YWAM Tyler
During free time, a friend in the DTS and I walked around the base and talked until we stopped on the dock by the big lake. She told me about her sister, who couldn’t see God as a good Father because of the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of their biological dad.
As we stood there talking, I felt compelled to look down at the water and pray out loud for three specific things:
- Someone at the sister’s workplace to tell her about the Father heart of God
- Someone to give her a copy of teaching about the Father heart of God
- For this girl to be able to forgive her dad
A few months later, when I saw my friend again in SOE, she asked me if I remembered what I had prayed for her sister. I couldn’t remember the details until she happily related how God had answered my three specific requests:
- A coworker had shared about God being a loving, heavenly Father
- She was given a book titled, "The Father Heart of God"
- She had forgiven her father
Wow! What a huge encouragement it was to hear how God answered. He really does hear our prayers!
~ John - A YWAM Tyler Staff Ministering in the Frontiers of the World
I grew up in SE Pennsylvania on a dairy farm. I'm a Mennonite and came from a religiously conservative background. Somehow, I was made aware of a ministry called "YWAM" in East Texas, and they offered a five-month school of discipleship. "This is what I need in my life," I thought to myself.
I drove to Texas quite apprehensively, not really sure what I would find or what I was getting myself involved with. However, in my heart, I really longed to meet with God.
The next day I went for a walk around the Twin Oaks Ranch and found this lovely grove of pines in the middle of a hay field. In the midst of the pines was a large stump, cut at just the right height for sitting. This became my daily meeting place to meet with God.
I brought my DTS notebook along, and each day I reviewed my notes and thoughts with God. I did just what He challenged me to do - draw near to Him. And of course He did just what He promised to do in His word - He met with me.
This stump is where God told me to go for my DTS outreach: Haiti. This is where I learned to listen to God's voice. What a special place!!
~ Ron - A YWAM Tyler Staff Ministering in the Frontiers of the World
During Inspire, a Worship and Missions conference held at YWAM Tyler, God once again spoke to me from Luke 15. As Brad, the evening's guest speaker, was sharing, there was also another man’s voice that we heard throughout the message.
That second voice was a recorded message by a man who spoke at our campus years ago and was later martyred in Africa. Both men’s messages truly did inspire me to give all for the sake of the gospel.
Brad related the prodigal son story from Luke 15 to the Muslim world. He posed the question: "What if the brother who stayed home had used all his resources to GO and LOOK for his brother and to RESTORE his brother to the father?"
He then shared many statics about the Muslim world and showed maps of where the unreached people were living around the globe. At one point after showing how many places still needed to be reached, Brad gave the challenge, ”Just pick a field!”
I immediately started thinking, I don’t even need to pick one . . . we already know!
By the end of the night my husband, all our kids and I were on a ginormous map of the world. We were standing near the specific nation God was calling us to. It was during this time of prayer, I became convinced of God's calling, and I knew we'd return there someday.
~ Maggie - Serving an Unreached People Group in the Muslim World
Surely God is in this place! He's answering prayers, opening eyes, and confirming calls! Don't you think it's your turn to have an experience like this? Join us at YWAM Tyler for a DTS and see how God meets you here.
