Strength of DTS

Strength of DTS

The strength of the discipleship training program is not in our amazing structures, our strength of logistics, or our polished training. It is the anointing of the DTS as part of Youth with a Mission and our strength as a mission to develop relationship through the process of discipleship and the impartation of the DNA and foundational values through the relationship/discipleship process.

The anointing in the DTS is in the process. We look at the DTS program as an all encompassing thing. It is not a then B then C; C may come before A if God says so. We see the DTS as a “live/learn environment” where 90% of what happens isn’t in the classroom but in the rooms, during work duties, around the meals. We see the DTS in the context of all of us are going there, jump on and lets go together. We are in the process of discipleship, of becoming more Christ like, together. There is no division between staff and student in this regard. The staff are to facilitate and coach the students toward knowing God and making Him known but at the same time we are on the journey together. We notice throughout the Bible that God is far more interested in individuals and in the process rather than the outcome; it’s as if He already knows the outcome but wants to see how we will get there. He wants us to discover His dreams and want to do them.

Let’s look at the way the DTS is supposed to relate to the local base through the lens of relationship. When we see the DTS as just another program the base runs or just the place we get secondary school students or future base staff, or if the DTS is looked at as the main money maker of a base then we have lost the idea that the DTS is the foundation of any base.

At the foundation of any base should be a strong DTS. In fact, show me a strong or weak DTS and I will show you a strong or weak base. We should see that there is a strong relationship between the DTS and the rest of the base.

I have also seen the dynamic of inter DTS relationships strengthening all the schools in a region. In Hawaii we spent years cultivating and developing relationships between leaders and schools in the islands. To this day even though all of us that where involved in developing the DTS network in Hawaii have moved on to other things that network of relationships remain. Connecting the schools and leaders through DTS combined staff training times, DTS gatherings, events such as the Go conference in North America, and informal DTS leaders meetings all work towards uniting to build up all schools which in turn build up the bases they relate to.

As the GLT has been discussing the new emerging matrix of ministries, how the transnational relate to the regional, ect. We see that this building of relationships is what continues to make YWAM what it is. It is not in our overwhelming well structured organization; it is built and strengthened through our relationships. As we work our way backwards I propose that this all begins with the entry into YWAM at the DTS level. O yes it is developed and refined through years of working together in a common interest but it all starts for all of us with a DTS. How much value do we put in developing relationship between staff and students, between students and students, between the DTS and the rest of the base and so on up to the GLT.

We see some of the new emerging leadership matrix within YWAM reflecting relationship and family being the uniting factor not necessarily positions. i.e. Global networks and global ministries. We see the new leadership structure of Team 3 working in this way. In every way as YWAMers relationship is our strength.

As we have been looking at the “One Man” passage in Philippians we see the importance of being of one mind. Paul asked the church of Philippi that if he has anything he can do to convince them that this unity, this oneness of relationship is what they should strive for above all else. Paul says that “

Philippians 1:27 (NRSV)

²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel”

He points out that Jesus had this same attitude. Jesus was in such a love relationship with the Godhead and in such a love relationship with us, His creation, He so wanted to restore relationship with His creation that he was obedient to death on a cross.

If this issue of relationship, this issue of being of One Man in Christ was important to Paul and to God Himself how much more should we strive for this.

There is a quote from a movie The Gladiator that is a spiritual truth “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

It really doesn’t matter what your theological view on what our role will be in the coming kingdom, what we do here makes a difference. How we pursue Gods dreams, how much we value what He values, how much we invest in those around us echoes in eternity.

Processing:

1. Identify who in your relationship circle weather in a DTS staff position, IDTS centre leadership position, or in another context in which you are in a mentorship/discipleship relationship with.

b. how have you been doing in this role?

c. If possible, are you in a place to be disciplining students through relationship and how are you doing?

2. Are there people in your circles that God may be challenging you to develop a relationship with weather this is in a peer type setting or a

discipleship/mentorship setting? (be intentional)

3. Are you in a significant peer relationship that provides accountability and challenge in your personal life?

a. if not identify one person you can approach to develop a relationship of accountability

Fog

Maybe it is just me but I’ve been feeling stuck. Well maybe stuck isn’t a good word, slowed down, mired, hedged in may be better descriptions. There is a passion that burns in my heart to see a global awakening in this generation, to see every nation, every level of society, and every sphere transformed. You may say that seems like a tall order to fill even for the apostil Paul. I say it isn’t. Paul did see it happen in His day and we are still feeling the effects of His prayers.
I was talking to a friend of mine a few days ago and we where recalling a time, a season, about six or seven years ago that we felt this movement beginning to really take shape, you could feel it in every worship time. You talked about it whenever you got together and prayed about it whenever you had a chance.
Looking back now there are choices, attacks of the enemy, or random circumstance that seem to have gotten in the way. Is that truth or is it something within each of us? Have we gotten tired, old, or in some way slowed down in this dream of revival?
I recently got a devotional from a good friend Krista Harris whom we have worked with as part of the Factory team. She talked about Gods guidance in this way that “when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart”. There are times when His path is blindingly obvious and it is almost impossible to miss His leading. You can sense it at every turn and almost taste heaven in every worship time and every meeting, where you can see the lines in His hand it is so clear. But there are other times in our lives that you can barely see the next step. That when you can’t trace the lines in His hand you must trust His heart. This spoke to me so clearly not only in where Ellen and I are in our own lives but in the season we all seem to be in. I am not saying that awesome things are not happening and that all of Christendom is in a funk but that as a whole, we seem to be slowed down.
In the central valley of California there is a weather effect called tully fog which is a fog so dense that often you literally can’t see your hand in front of your face. When I was in Junior High in southern Cal we lived on a lake, there were times that we had this type of fog off of the lake. One morning I walked out of the house to go to meet the bus that would take me to school and I found myself following the yellow line on the side of the road just to walk to where the bus usually picked me up. I could almost not see my hand in front of my face. I feel that for whatever reason, the enemy, circumstance, or our own choices, we are in a season such as this.
The thing about this kind of fog is that it doesn’t last long. The fog layer is often very thin and it doesn’t take much more than the full light of day to burn it off. I believe that the full light of day is soon to come. My hope is that we don’t get in a massive wreck because we are trying to drive too fast before it burns off. I sense we need to take our time, not to shrink back but to slowly but steadily move forward preparing our selves for the moment the fog is lifted. We must be ready for that time though, we must be prepared. For when it comes it may be blinding, we may not be able to see for a moment for the beauty of it all but we must be ready to take action.