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Triple checking flight itineraries, finishing up last minute preparations and stuffing that last piece of clothing into overstuffed luggage . . . its outreach time!
After finishing their twelve-week lecture phase, our twenty-five DTS students, coming from eleven nations, will be going “into the nations” for their eight-week outreach phase after much preparation. There is obvious excitement and great anticipation for the adventure that lies ahead, but there is also an air of sadness as students have to say goodbye now to new friends, staff members and a place that has come to feel like a “second home.”
This year our DTS students will be traveling to and serving in Brazil, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali in three separate teams. Each team has a specific ministry focus, but their greatest task is to simply love God throughout the good times and the hard times that will come and to demonstrate that love for God to all they encounter along the way.
The teams will be helping in a variety of ways including practical mercy ministries, training and evangelism. Specifically, the Brazil team will be helping with street children in practical ways, share their testimonies and preach in churches. The team to Togo will continue where past teams have left off at the computer training program that was established by a YWAM team a couple of years ago. Here they will continue to offer practical skills and training while having the opportunity to build relationships and share the Gospel with the students. Finally, the team to Burkina Faso and Mali will distribute over one-hundred mosquito nets to those in need in Burkina Faso and deliver Christmas packages to widows in Mali.
“This group has been incredibly enthusiastic, focused and passionate about growing in their relationship with God and sharing God with others from the very beginning,” says four-time school leader, Michelle.
She reports that there has been a lot of growth in the students.
“The weeks spent teaching on relationships and God’s love were particularly impactful. A lot of hurt that students carried with them into the experience has been healed and they are more aware of just how much God loves them. There also has been a great stirring within the students to know their responsibility for God and His people—that we are not to sit idol, but actively engage in His world and with His people in practical ways too.”
Michelle shares that the students are particularly excited to apply all that they have learned and to do the Gospel.
“It is my vision and prayer for each of the students during their outreach experience that they grow even more in love with God and discover how they can be involved in our world and experience all that God is doing.
And it is our collective vision and prayer for each student that they will know God even more intimately through this experience and remain open to what God wants them to learn and experience. We pray that they will show God’s love to all people they meet and forever be changed agents for God’s purpose.
How can YOU pray for our outreach teams?
Here are a few prayer requests from each of our teams! Please join us in prayer as they embark on this exciting adventure!
Brazil:
–That the school kids will be open to learning about God.
–That the women in need whom they will work with will know how valuable they are in God’s eyes.
–That their team’s loving attitude will be evident to all they encounter.
Togo:
–Prayers for the computer training center and its students.
–That God would help them communicate the Gospel message through the teaching of practical skills in a way that is truly transformative.
Burkina Faso/Mali:
–Prayers for the street children ministry they will be participating in, and that it will help meet the children’s practical needs while also communicating how much God loves each of them.
–Prayers for the packages distribution to widows in Mali. That it may meet their real needs while also communicating the Gospel message.
