The last post was pretty much all about the main spiritual and educational component of our DTS which is the morning lecture times. However, so much more happens on a DTS, so I wanted to share a bit of that as well. Hopefully it will be a bit more exciting just because it involves pictures and a video or two!
First, I’ll quickly let you in on a few of the things
that I have been doing as a staff member here. One of staff’s main roles on DTS
is to do what are called “one-on-ones.” One-on-ones are pretty much what they
sound like – each student meets with the a staff member one on one each week
for a little while to talk about how the past week has gone (lectures,
relationship with God, living in community, etc.). This gives the students
someone to come to when they are having problems, and we as staff then can
offer a listening ear or a little wise counsel, or we can point them in the
direction of someone better equipped to help them with their issue. This is
central to the role of DTS staff as mentors for the students. I have two guys
in my Justice school that I meet with. One is from Switzerland and the other is
from Brazil. The Brazilian’s wife is from Chile and he speaks Spanish, which is
cool because sometimes I can talk to him in a language he’s more comfortable
with than English.
Another thing we do each week is have a small group
time when each of the streams (Justice, Medical, Pacific Challenge, etc.) hangs
out as a group. This allows us to get to know each other, discuss the week, go
off base together, and generally have a good time in a smaller group (e.g. 12
instead of 57). We’ve done things like have a campfire in the valley, play
games, go see a movie, go have ice cream, and that kind of thing.
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| Campfire in the valley! |
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| Ice cream at the Mount! |
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| Justice team on the beach! |
A really big part of my job as staff the last several
weeks has been to plan and prepare for our outreach trip to the Philippines,
which is coming up in just a couple weeks! Since I last posted, a lot has
happened in the world of outreach, not least of which is the fact that Marine Reach Ministries just bought a new ship!!!! For the last 3 years since they simply gave away their ship, the Pacific
Link, to YWAM Australia in obedience to God, Marine Reach has been a ship
ministry without a ship. That did give them a chance to focus on the training
aspect of their ministry and develop the incredible DTS program that I’m
currently a part of, but now they are ready to start ship ministry again! Below
is the ship coming into dry dock and after it had been repainted. Soon it will
be known as the M/V Pacific Hope!!
As this new ship gets underway, our DTS is getting
behind it during outreach to help get the new ship ministry off the ground. The
Justice, Medical, and Worship schools are all going to the Philippines on
outreach and will spend the first two weeks of the trip in Manila cleaning,
painting, and generally sprucing up the ship. Later, we will sail down to
Calapan City and drop of the Medical and Worship teams for a two week medical
outreach on Mindoro Island. My justice team will return to Manila, however, and
do the majority of our justice mission work there.
Another important aspect of DTS is the times of prayer
and intercession that we have twice each week. During these times we generally
break into small groups and pray for a certain topic (although it may be very
broad). We have prayed for things like the indigenous peoples of various
regions (such as Maori, Native Americans, or indigenous South Americans), blessing
and protection for the land the base is on, each of the different continents,
individual countries, the new Pope and the Catholic church, and quite a lot
more. It’s always a really good time of hearing from God because He helps us
know what is on His heart for different places and people groups even if we don’t
know much about them. He also gives us passages of Scripture and prophetic
words or pictures for different people or places.
Twice a week we also have our Body, Soul, Spirit (BSS)
time which involves some form exercise – the leaders fortunately try and make
it as fun as possible. We’ve gone boxing, done scavengers hunts all over the
property (which is pretty big), played sports, and one day we even had a huge
game of capture the flag (rubber chicken, actually) followed by fun with a big
slip ‘N slide down the hill! Check out the video below to see how much fun we
had.
The video may not play on the blog, so follow the link to YouTube if necessary.
And here are some other exciting things that have happened during this school:
We were able to buy a really nice upright piano for
the base! We found it for only 350 NZD – an amazing deal for such a good
quality piano! It has been really fun to play on.
Several weeks ago we had a hui – a big gathering of all the YWAMers in Tauranga. We got to
have the meeting outside next to the chapel, so we had plenty of space to
worship and dance even with all the students and staff from the other base in
town (90 of them!). It was a particularly special meeting because John Dawson,
the president of YWAM, was here to speak. We also took up an offering to raise
money to buy fuel for the new ship, and God raised $10,000 in one go!
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| Worship dancing! |
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| From left: Josh Cole, David Cowie, and John Dawson (some YWAM greats!) |
The same week as the Hui was Valentine’s day, which
meant that we as guys on the base had the opportunity to bless and honor the
women here they way God honors them. To do that, the guy students planned a very nice dinner for all the girls on
the evening of Valentine’s Day. All the guys dressed up and turned the lecture
room into a fancy restaurant, then served the girls a five course meal. Many of
the ladies had never been treated so well by men before (a deplorable fact), so
it was a meaningful time for many of them. It was also an opportunity for the
some of the guys to practice serving women the way they should be served and
bless them without expected anything in return.
As the students were planning their dinner, we staff
guys were hatching our own plans for a dinner the night before for the ladies
we serve with on staff. We also came up with a very nice dinner (complete with
entertainment) which was made even better by the fact that they were all totally surprised by it. They had known
about the students’ dinner but were kept completely in the dark on their own
dinner until they walked into the room where it was being held. I can truly say
that it was a huge blessing to both the givers and the receivers!
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| Mmmmm... |
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| Lovely ladies totally worth putting on a nice dinner for! |
I was also hugely blessed by my parents getting to
come see me in New Zealand. I got to show them around the place where my life
has been changed so much and introduce them to some of the people that have
been an important part of my life here. I also got to drive up to the
Coramandel Peninsula and see some beautiful parts of New Zealand with them!
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| Cathedral Cove, aka Narnia |
Finally, I celebrated my birthday here. And it wasn't just my birthday, it was also my friend Camille's, who is from Switzerland. The other students and staff put on a great birthday for us, putting up decorations, making cake, and giving me the opportunity to say Bilbo's "111th birthday" party speech (they shouted back at all the right moments... Proudfeet!). The staff even made an amazing video for me and threw a party up at our guys' flat. It was really an excellent birthday.
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| Down in the valley the morning of my birthday |
Then last weekend we went on an excellent day trip to some cool places in the area. Check out pictures here!
So, as you can see this has been a very fun and eventful DTS so far (and I haven't included nearly everything exciting that we've done). We've had lots of great opportunities to bless and be blessed, and we have seen God come through in incredible ways. Now I'm looking forward and expecting even more on outreach - I'm beginning to realize it's impossible to expect too much from God if you truly understand his nature and character.
He's great,
Dan
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| Click to enlarge |
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