Week 1: Apart from Me You Can Do Nothing

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:5 ESV)

If there is one lesson that new DTS staff learn from the first week of a DTS, it is this: apart from Jesus we can do nothing. The work that we do the first week of a new school is wholly impossible without the presence of the Holy Spirit which brings wisdom, discernment, comfort, healing, and the power needed to destroy the works of the enemy. This past week has been full on, intense, and difficult at times, but already the students are different than they were when they arrived. If you want a refresher on how the first week of Seth’s and my DTS played out, read this.

While it was a crazy week, we at least gave the students a slight ease in.  And “slight”  is the correct word, as we started right off with David Cowie giving his very non-confrontational  talk on how we as Christians need to give up our rights when we choose to follow Jesus – rights to food we like, good accommodation, privacy, wealth and possessions, reputation, freedom, life, etc. From there we jumped into an introduction to Marine Reach and Gideon’s Fields, the beautiful and special land where the base is located. This introduction from Linda Cowie led into preparation for the powhiri, or traditional Maori welcome, which happened that afternoon. Gideon’s Valley, which is just a few minutes walk from the base, is tapu (sacred) Maori land now owned by a trust of both Maori and pakeha (white people). In contrast to the not-so-distant past when Europeans came and took the land from the native Maori by force, today the pakeha and Maori honor one another, with newcomers being officially welcomed  by the tangata whenua (people of the land) in a traditional welcome ceremony. It really is an honor for the students to receive this welcome, which is led by the district’s Maori chief Huikakahu, who also lives in Gideon’s Fields just across from the base.

The wero (challenge)

The powhiri begins with a wero (challenge) by a Maori warrior, who attempts to intimidate the newcomers and discern whether they come in peace. Once satisfied, he retreats and a Maori woman calls to the newcomers, welcoming them: “Haere mae, haere mae!”. Then one in the new group replies, crying “Call us again (in Maori)!” This repeats a couple times, and the newcomers enter and sit down. A succession of speeches follows (the Maori like oratory), with singing interspersed. A man from the welcoming side will give a speech and the tangata whenua will sing; this repeats on the other side – a speech, then a song. It goes back and forth once or twice, until the leaders are satisfied. Then the tangata whenua greet each of the newcomers with a traditional Maori greeting called the hongi, in which the ha (breath of life) is shared and intermingled. Two people put their foreheads together and touch noses, essentially breathing the same air. For Christians, this hearkens back to the time when man was created and God breathed into him the breath of life, His Spirit. Once the newcomers are greeted with the hongi, they are now considered tangata whenua, people of the land.

More wero

The tangata whenua singing after a speech

The hongi

All tangata whenua now!

Anyway, that was the gist of DTS day one. Day two was orientation, and while it was incredibly important in terms of setting up the culture for the DTS, it doesn’t really need to be described here.

Wednesday, on the other hand, was when the real intense part began. On Wednesday we began three very full days of what YWAM often calls “openness and brokenness” time. During this time each student has the chance to tell part of their story, complete with the good, bad, ugly, and very ugly. Then, after a student shares, the entire class prays in pairs as our leader Cheyne and a few staff members talk to the person (and listen to the Spirit), trying to understand and discern the roots of some of the problems that he or she mentioned during the testimony. Once they have an idea, they may lead that person in a prayer, sometimes before the cross, sometimes as a public declaration before the class, as the case requires. Finally, the student leaves the room with his or her school’s staff for further discussion and prayer. In this way, lots of sins, wounds, and struggles are brought into the light where God can really deal with them in his grace, and the whole community becomes closer together because everyone has been completely vulnerable and even dark secrets have been exposed. Absolute openness can be incredibly difficult, but it is incredibly good in the right context.

As before, these times were powerful and often heavy as we listened to sometimes shockingly hard stories. This time, we heard some stories that were, if possible, even more appalling than those that Seth and I heard on our school back in July. It was hard to believe how many stories of abuse, rejection, and oppression we heard. Perhaps most devastating were the many stories in which girls were taken advantage of, let down, oppressed, misled, or disappointed by men in their lives, whether friends, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, or others. The frequency with which this kind of thing was mentioned made me sad, angry, and slightly guilty all at the same time. Here were all kinds of examples of the injustices we as Christians are tasked with stopping. How did so many men stray so far from what God intended? Women come to men seeking love and acceptance, and rather than gently pointing them in the direction of perfect, infinite love and acceptance, many men either ignore them or try to take all they can from them while giving little in return. I know where this tendency comes from, that but that doesn’t make it any less atrocious.

Along with the many stories of past wounds, lots of people told stories of the sins they had been struggling with. Many had found no success in their struggles even up until coming to DTS and came looking for freedom. Others even came having never made a commitment to Jesus, or one only in the distant past, long neglected. Therefore quite a few students recommitted their lives to Jesus after telling their stories, consequently surrendering to Him and proclaiming their earnest desire to be free of sin.

And so, while it was a heavy time of hearing difficult stories, it was also a time of winning battles, achieving breakthroughs, and jumpstarting journeys of healing. This type of healing ministry happened especially on Friday, when several very significant things happened. First off, at one point in the morning a student shared his story which included the ways that he had been bullied and rejected as a child. In response to this, one student who had himself been a bully stood up and offered to stand in the gap for everyone in the room who had been bullied. In essence, he offered to represent the bullies who had formerly tormented many in the room, admitting the sins, offering the apologies, and begging the forgiveness of his/their victims, as those bullies should have done themselves. This kind of “standing in the gap” is difficult to explain, but something happens when the Holy Spirit gets involved and healing is able to happen on both sides.

After Friday morning, everyone who wanted to share had had a chance to do so, but ministry wasn’t over (fortunately). A few student guys had approached our leader, Cheyne, the night before saying that we as guys needed to do something to ask forgiveness of the girls, standing in the gap on behalf of the men who have treated these women so cruelly and selfishly. Cheyne also had the idea (which had to have been from God) of washing the girls’ feet as a way of bestowing honor and dignity back on them. This was awesome for us as staff guys because we really wanted something like this to happen, but the students were the ones to suggest it and take ownership of the idea. The guys really put some hearts into it, gather flowers from the valley to put in the warm water they got for the footwashing.

It started with the guys all kneeling with heads down on one side of the room while the girls came in the door and stood on the other side of the room. Cheyne spoke for the guys first, admitting what we’d done as a group and asking forgiveness. Several individual guys followed, and then Cheyne gave the girls a chance to respond by expressing the wounds they still felt and offering forgiveness. Then came the footwashing, with the guys kind of listening to the Spirit on who to approach and wash. The Spirit was really present by this point, and tears flowed freely as these ladies saw, some for nearly the first time, what it looks like for men to be godly, humble themselves, and honor women with a right spirit. I had the privilege of washing one of my fellow staff member’s feet and speaking over her truth about who she is and how God feels about her. At the end, once everyone else had been washed, my friend Matt remained washing a student’s feet and weeping, asking forgiveness and speaking truth and honor. I heard later that that student had been one who had disliked men and found it very hard to trust them, thinking them all the same. The Spirit truly was working.

Following that we still weren’t quite done. Cheyne now had everyone with father problems to come up (absent, oppressive, neglecting fathers, etc.). Everyone else surrounded them and prayed while Cheyne played and sang “The Father’s Song” over them. Again, more healing.

As you can see, it really was a roller coaster of a week. Lots of awesome things happened, but we still have a long way to go. But while we abide in the Vine, we have every reason to expect great things.

Nothing without him,

Dan