Introductions DTS 2006

Discipleship Training School 2006 has begun!!

Our students have arrived...Well, most of them. We had 2 girls drop out last minute, leaving our school with 15 students. This is a much smaller number than schools I have worked with in the past, but I trust, and already see how God moving in this smaller group of people - I know we are in His hands.

I thought you would like to see a picture, so here are a few from our first days together...



Here we all are, staff and students at Gasworks park, and below is a view of the city from the park. It has been such beautiful weather since the students arrived!



Here are some of the students eating dinner together for the first time at the house.



We have spent the first couple of days orienting the students to Seattle and the local neighbourhood, which they have seemed to enjoy. Yesterday they did a scavenger hunt or 'tour de la U-District', as we like to call it they had to take pictures at different locations in the area, each place was worth a different number of points!

One of the things to do was to try Bubble Tea. Its an Asian drink, almost like a milkshake but with big tapioca pearls in, so you drink it through a huge straw! With a high Asian population in this area of the city, many going to the University of Washington to study, there are tons of good food and drink places locally, and it is always fun to introduce people to some of the delicious treats we have all come to love. Bubble tea, especially the 'bubbles' however, is an acquired taste!

We have also been sharing our testimonies with one another. We believe that each persons story is important, and that we learn about God and each other as we share the stories of our lives. As we share something, it can release healing I someone else and as they share we can be touched. God is awesome like that. As staff we shared first. We had all spent time praying about the things we should talk about. I felt pretty confident about the things I was going to say, but it is never the easiest thing to put yourself out there. God was faithful to give me peace as I shared and it went well. We want to invite the students into a place of vulnerability, but we understand we must lead by example.

Thismorning and afternoon, the students shared their stories. Again, I am blown away by the experiences some of these young people have had. Drug and alcohol addiction, physical and sexual abuse, rejection and so many broken families. Many of the students this year have also been ostracised by Christian friends and family, when they have shared their struggles. It was so sad to hear them, story after story. So many of them are starting this season broken, and wounded, I guess we are all in different stages of healing...

I am feeling so many emotions and feel pretty heave about some of the things I heard, yet, I know God and I know His grace and mercy is constant. I believe that He has an amazing plan for each of the students individually and as a whole school also and I am expectant for the coming months.

We haven't even started our lectures and I feel like I am already learning so much - Please keep u in your prayers. A special prayer request being for protection for the students now they have been vulnerable with one another, that they will walk out in the freedom that can bring them, and not listen to the lies of the enemy telling them they made a mistake, or that they are loved any less because of the things we know of their lives. I know Satan hates that these young people have come here and given these next few months to God, to grow in their relationship with Him, and he would do anything to stop them from fully entering in.