Week 4- DTS Family Week

This week was called DTS family week which means that all of the DTS (discipleship training school- the entry level course that every YWAMer has to start out with) groups were together to learn from the co-founder of YWAM Darlene Cunningham and another old-timer David Hamilton. This week was filled with many amazing stories of how YWAM was founded and all that God has done to sustain and bless the ministry along the way.

Lorne and Darlene Cunningham founded YWAM close to 60 years ago. Lorne just had his 80th birthday and has officially traveled to every nation on earth and still travels and speaks today! His wife Darlene is a few years younger and is so full of energy and life! I want to share one of  the stories that and David Hamilton shared since I know it will build your faith, just as it did mine.

One of things that YWAM really values is that the ministry must be interdenominational and decentralized. There are bases all over the world run by people of all different church denominations. David Hamilton was in his early 20's and felt called to start a YWAM base and DTS in South America, but at the time South America was so poor that he didn't know how he would get enough students who would be able to pay the fees. He kept the fees super low so that it would be in the realm of possibility. Amazingly, God provided and there were many students who singed up and showed up at the first day of classes on the base. Everything was going along wonderfully until about halfway through the term they realized that funds had completely run out to provide even food for the students because they had made the tuition too low. The staff was discouraged because they knew that the Lord was moving in powerful ways to raise up new leaders in South America, so they all prayed that he would provide so they could keep the school running. The next morning a lady showed up at the door with hot buns and fruit for breakfast and it was enough to feed all of the staff and students. Everyone was blown away by how God had met their need for the morning, but still worried about where their next meal would come from. Well sure enough, at lunch time a different lady knocked on the door and brought a large pot of soup enough for everyone to eat lunch. Again at dinner a new lady showed up with more food for dinner. Miraculously, this happened for the next several weeks- not a single meal missed! No two people ever came twice and no one ever brought more than enough for two meals. Furthermore, no one knew before hand that the base had this need or had communicated with anyone else who had given meals and some of the meal-bringers had come from as far as 4 hours away to bring them food. God had supernaturally coordinated a meal train for this DTS and they got through the entire school phase without ever missing a meal!

Another thing that really stuck with me from this week is a concept that Darlene talked about called "The Grace Ticket." She re-told a story from the life of Corrie Ten Boom, a woman who with her family protected Jews during Natzi Germany and was eventually put into a concentration camp for hiding Jews in her home. At one point she realized how dangerous what they were doing really was because she had heard that people were getting caught doing the same thing and were getting taken away to the camps. She expressed her concern to her father saying she was scared to keep doing what they were doing even though she knew it was the right thing, because she didn't know if she was brave enough to face the horrors of the camps. Her father asked her, "When we go each week to amsterdam by train to buy supplies for our businiess when do we buy the ticket?" "Just before we get on the train," she replied. Her father then encouraged her by saying, "Just as we buy our ticket just before we get on the train, God will give you the grace to go through whatever situation he puts in front of you right before you have to go through it. He does not give you the grace you need in advance- he gives it to you as you need it."

This was such a good reminder to me because it is so easy to get caught in worry about how you will get through this situation or that. We try to reason or figure out what we would do, but the reality is we will need the supernatural grace of God to get through that situation and we will need to trust that he will provide us with the grace we need in the moment.

One of my worries right now has to do with traveling on outreach with the kids. There will be a lot of travel from one place to the next and we will be on planes, trains, busses and lots of confined spaces! Not gonna lie, but this is not my idea of fun with my 3 wild and crazy little boys! I'm not normally an anxious person but if I think about it too much, it really does give me anxienty! But I know that I need to trust that God is going to give me the grace ticket right before I get on the train (or bus or plane!).

Prayer Request: This week had some interesting challenges as well because I have come down with strep throat! I never had it before and man does it hurt! I had a fever of up to 102.5 on and off for a couple days. I am feeling much better now that the fever is gone and the anitbiotics have kicked in, but it made for a pretty exhausting couple of days. Lets just say having a fever in the tropics when you have no escape to AC is...interesting! Thankgoodness for my friend Suzanne suggesting to put ice packs under my legs and behind my neck! That really helped lol! I also had to rely on a ride from a friend to get to the clinic (which was such a blessing)! It has definitely made me thankful for how easy my life at home was. There are days when I really, really miss my mini van! But it is good to have to slow down, learn do do things a different way, rely on others for help, and of course rely on God! That was a huge motivation for us even doing this in the first place. And I'm sure this will continue to intensify as we go on outreach! Please pray for full and continued healing for me and that this doesn't spread to anyone else in the house. So far everyone else seems fine :)

Here are some pics of the week. Love you friends! 


Here is Asa passed out on the floor after a long days work at foundation school. He loves his school so much, but he is always so worn out by the end of the day that he just passes out in random places lol!

Here are my 3 cuties all dressed up for Halloween. We went to an event put on by a church where the kids get candy and can dress up in costume. It definitely doesn't feel like Halloween or fall here at all!

Just have to throw in a pic of one of our house geckos ;) Jonthan loves them so much but lets out high pitched squeals everytime they move! He is just a little bit unsure of them!

Occasionally we take a taxi to get to a really nice beach on the weekends. This is how we load up our workhorse stroller to get around after we get dropped off!

This is one of Asa's awesome teachers :) She is so good with all of our kids and often asks if she can take the baby during meals. Here she is wearing him in the carrier.

Here is Jonah sleeping through the session this week. Upfront is Darlene speaking and of course a translator since all of the large group sessions are always in English and Korean :) 

Jonathan loves to be silly! Here he is wearing some goggles that we picked up from the boutique- its a little wearhouse where you can leave things you don't need anymore and take anything you would like. The kids love it!