A Typical DTS Day

6:00-6:30 am : Wake Up
6:30-7:15 am : Breakfast
8:00-9:00 am : Worship/Intercession/Bible Study
9:00-12:15 pm : Class Lecture
12:15-1:00 pm : Lunch
1:00-2:30 pm : Medical Workshop/Prayer Room/Outreach Meeting
3:00-5:00 pm : Work Duty
5:00-6:00 pm : Dinner
6:00-8:00 pm : Ministry Night/Free Time/Local Outreach/Corporate Meeting

The view from our class tent

Imbabazi

Hey everyone! Apologies that I haven’t been posting very often, it’s difficult for me to put into words all that is going on here. First off I should update you on where I’m going on outreach! As I mentioned earlier I put down that they could send me anywhere. The night that we found out they set up an elaborate and drawn out reveal of our outreach teams and the suspense was driving me crazy! I finally found out and the place I’m going on outreach is Rwanda! It (of course) was a complete shock to me, but after being able to process it and let it sink in, I am very excited to be going! Our team of 7 is made up of 3 Americans, 3 Canadians, and one Norwegian! We haven’t learned exactly what we will be doing while we are there but we will be staying with a missionary family in Kigali (the capitol) and doing short outreaches to other areas of the country.

The last two weeks of lecture have been great, but very emotional (it seems like that’s a constant theme here!). The first week our speaker was John Bills and he spoke on the Father-heart of God/Hearing the Voice of God. He was very real and open with us about things that he’d dealt with in his life and his testimony was so very inspiring. The last two days of the week our whole class kind of had a “breakdown” where people stood up front and shared some really deep and painful things/areas in their life, just laying it all out and being vulnerable. Our class really came around those people and just loved and prayed over them. We truly have become a family! 

This last week our speaker was Andy Byrd who talked about Intimacy with God. I've never heard anyone speak so passionately! His zeal was so contagious. A few snippets from his lecture I’d like to share:

• Sometimes if we want the PEACE we have to give up the right of UNDERSTANDING”
• Live from the revelation of His love, not for His love
• We have embellished what we’ve given up and minimized what we’re gaining
• You are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness
• God wants us to be revived, delivered, and freed so that we can go out and bring revival, deliverance, and freedom!

On Monday our class was giving the opportunity to volunteer at something called Candyland. A local church here in Kona puts it on every year to help keep children off the streets during Halloween and give them a safe environment to trick or treat. There were fun game booths, face painting, jump houses, a rock wall, food, balloon animals, entertainment, and tons of candy! I helped out with one of the game booths and was dressed as a 50’s chick. It was such a great experience, especially being able to connect with the community here; around 8,000 people showed up!

PRAYER REQUESTS

·        Unfortunately I’ve been on and off sick for the past few weeks so prayers for my continued health 

·        Prayer for our Rwanda team that we would be able to grow close in our relationships with each other and be able to prepare as much as we can now so that we can be most affective on outreach!

·        Finances! I am still needing around $3,000 for my outreach expenses.

If you feel called to support me on this journey financially please contact me at bethany2v@yahoo.com

Imana aguhe umugisha, ("God bless you" in Kinyarwanda)

Bethany

Send Me

Ahh, I don't know where to begin. I feel like there is so much to say yet I don't know how to say it, which means this post will probably on the shorter side. We've had two weeks of lecture now, the first was on the topic of the Kingdom (of God) and the second on giving up our rights. We were blessed to be able to hear Loren & Darlene Cunningham speak this last week as they have such amazing stories and testimonies of faith. I won't go into detail about the lectures because I know I won't be able to do them justice. I will say this though; they have blown me away and been really beneficial to my spiritual growth.

I have however been struggling this week a lot with missing home, my family, friends, pets, fall, etc. I'm still getting used to the routine of things and settling in. It takes me longer to make friends then most people so that can be hard at times too (even though everyone is so friendly). Kona is such a huge campus with so many people that it can be really easy to get lost in the mix and feel lonely. Another thing about the campus is that there is a LOT of walking. I counted today that there are over 98 steps of stairs on campus that I walk every day (and more than once)! I'm looking on the positive side that all of the walking/climbing will help prepare me for outreach! Speaking of outreach....

We learned our outreach locations on Tuesday! There will be ten teams with about 8-10 people in each of them. The locations are:

1. Cambodia
2. Rwanda
3. Colombia & Chile
4. India & Sri Lanka
5. Myanmar
6. Japan
7. South Africa
8. Cambodia & Vietnam
9. Virgin Islands & St. Croix
10. Mozambique & South Africa

We were given note cards and told to put down our top three options, however I ended up writing on mine "wherever you feel led to send me". There are several reasons for that decision but mostly because I didn't feel a real peace or calling to any specific one and I will be satisfied with any of the choices, knowing that wherever I go, it's in God's plan. I am very nervous/excited to find out though! We will learn our locations and teams this Monday night. 

I am still needing to raise most of my outreach fees. Depending on where I go it will be between $4,500 - $6,000. It's a lot of money but I'm believing that God can and will be able to provide that for me. If you do feel led to help support me you can use the donate button on the right side of the blog or email me at bethany2v@yahoo.com for more information on how to donate. 

Mahalo!

Bethany

Aloha!

It has been a very long and tiring past couple of days, but I am in Hawaii and loving it! I know that this is where I am supposed to be. Thank you to those who came to the airport to see us off and I am deeply apologetic if any of you came later and missed us, it was poor communication on our part!

My journey yesterday did start out quite humorously. While going through security at PDX I was pulled aside to have my purse examined. The TSA agent asked me "Is there anything to your knowledge in this bag that could harm me?". My initial response was "No" but it was quickly followed by an aha moment of "WAIT!". I remembered that I had a knife and pepper spray in my purse. If I didn't have my arms full of luggage at the time I'm sure I would have smacked my forehead with my palm. Thankfully the TSA agent was very kind and even went so far as to give the items to my family and friends who were (of course) watching from the security entrance. Besides that the airplane ride was pretty uneventful. I was and am very thankful that I had my friend and fellow DTSer Kimberly along with me for the journey. I truly believe that our being together wasn't just chance, but God's plan and provision. (another time I might post more on this)

The Kona base here is so very beautiful and it is truly awe inspiring being able to be at the very place where YWAM started. There are more than 1,000 locations in over 180 countries, and out of all of them Kona is the largest base! There are over 100 students and staff in my DTS alone and there are also 5 other DTS's going on at the same time as well as several other schools! So many people from so many different countries, and yet there is such a sense of Ohana (family). You can strike up conversations with anyone and it is totally normal.

This morning we had a welcome ceremony where each school presented gifts to the Native Hawaiian people and they welcomed us to Hawaii. I love the amount of culture and tradition involved. I do believe it is so important as missionaries/Christians and foreigners to honor and pay respect to those who are native to the land. And this ceremony was just that. The rest of the afternoon was mostly orientation, a lot of orientation!

After general orientation we (Compassion DTS) gathered in our classroom (a white tent with a view of the beautiful ocean!) to get to know each other better. Our school leaders Dawn and Pieter made it clear that this year, this class of DTS they feel is very different from any they've had before. That God wants and is going to do something radical in us. We ended up breaking from what the scheduled plan was because they felt that God wanted to do something in us right then! Powerful words were spoken and so many of us students were broken down, confessing weaknesses, struggles, hurts, etc. and giving them over to God. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a dry eye in the class (although it was hard to tell through my own tears).

God has confirmed to me that this is exactly where He wants me. It's going to be scary and hard, but I believe that God WILL radically change and transform my life. He has a PLAN and a PURPOSE for my life, what it is I don't know yet, but with God the possibilities are endless! There were several words the leaders and staff felt God gave for our group; 1. Restore 2. Rest in my love 3. Bring my River of life and hope to the hopeless. One of the staff said something that really stuck out to me; "When God speaks TRUTH, you receive it!". How often has God spoken truth to me and yet I have tossed it to the side and not taken it to heart? Instead I choose to listen to the words that the enemy whispers in my ear. Receive God's truth! Reject the enemies LIES!

I am so blessed and thankful for all of you who have been and are praying for me. Please do continue to pray, this is only the second day and I still have a long way to go in my journey here!

Tomorrow we will be going to the beach and on Monday we will be starting our regular schedule of lectures and work duty. The first week our speaker will be a man named Don Stephens and after that Loren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM! It is so inspiring meeting people here who have been so impacting and influential in what God is doing in nations all over the world. I look forward to meeting even more such people. It truly is an example of God's faithfulness and goodness.

The weather here is very warm, which wouldn't be as much of an issue if it wasn't for the humidity. I feel like I am in a perpetual state of sweaty-ness! I am rooming with 5 other girls my age and I love it! Right now our room has an army of itty-bitty ants that march from our windows (open slats) all across our walls! I'm just thankful they aren't BIG ants! :) We have several friendly cats roaming around that like to wander in our rooms and they even beg for food (who knew cats begged??). There are also little green geckos. Side note: don't grab a gecko by it's tail, it will come off! Poor gecko, but at least it will grow back! I also very briefly saw a mongoose, from what it looked like it reminded me of a squirrel only with a not-as-bushy tail.

There is so much more I could write but I think I've written plenty enough for now!

Me ke aloha (with love),

Bethany