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 have 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 believing that God is the author of my life and to expect the unexpected from this point on.
(Check out the first 30 days of my DTS in 30 seconds!)
I am now seven weeks into lecture phase and DTS has really been transformational. From finding new aspects of His beauty as I watch the sun rise and set over the lake, to weeping on the floor of the classroom in awe of His goodness, I am gaining more admiration of The Father. I grew up in church my whole life and wasn’t sure what this school could teach me that I didn’t already know, but that thought couldn’t have been any more ignorant. There are always new things God is trying to show us about Him, His Son, and His Word, which is a discovery I made here.
I wasn’t sure how well I would do living in community either since I’m use to my solitude and own space. To my surprise, I found so many perks of living in community. My wardrobe has grown (hello sharing clothes!); when I’ve been sick, all the students become so attentive to my needs giving me medicine, rubbing my head, and helping where I slacked in work duty. Most importantly, there’s always someone to pray for you when they discern you’re having an “off” day. What I’ve loved most about community living though is meeting a diverse group of people. People from all over the globe attend DTS, Learning their culture and hearing them pray in their language has touched my heart so deeply. It showed me there isn’t a single soul God doesn’t see, love, understand, and desire intimacy with.
There have been days where I am completely exhausted as Monday-Friday is almost like a 40 hour work week full of worship, classes, meals, and serving. Some days community living is a little overwhelming as people are constantly in your room, the bathroom, the classroom, etc. However, in the midst of the tired days and crowded places, there is Jesus. He has reminded me while being here, “Chelsey, I get it. I had people around me all the time. I had people always eating with me, pushing through crowds to touch me, interrupting sermons to talk to me, sleeping next to me, as well as persecuting me. But there was always time for me to be with The Father.” Jesus is so relatable. In that reminder, He showed me this is what DTS is about. It’s about time with The Father and what He wants to show me in these 5 months.
If you were to ask me what to expect at DTS, I can give you my list of experiences, but that will not be your experience. Every student has a different journey here, but you can be certain it will be one that changes you forever. It will be a journey where you and the Father bond even more than you have before.
~Chelsey Palm, August 14, 2017
Like Chelsey, you too can create your own experiences here at YWAM Tyler. Get more information from our training page by clicking the "Get More Info" button. Find the school right for you and start your journey.