Behind the Scenes of a DTS

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

- 1 John 3:1

MONTHS OF PREPARATION

Our organization YWAM Harbour City has been running a 6-month program called DTS (Discipleship Training School), even in the midst of the pandemic! Our leaders prayed about this school, and we had been preparing many months, even one year before the official starting date. We received several DTS student applications from overseas and also locally in Hong Kong.

There was a process of applying for training visas for the overseas students and counting in their days in quarantine, so our team prayed about pushing back the date. It all worked out well and the students traveled one month before our official starting date.

PRAYING FOR LOCAL HONG KONGERS TO JOIN

We were praying and waiting for a local Hong Kong student to apply for DTS. We had prayed for months, and God answered with one local student who applied almost 3 weeks before DTS started!

“BE OPEN AND VULNERABLE”

To support and welcome our students, we did several video calls to get to know one another, and it actually went smoothly! Everyone was excited to meet each other (online first!). Finally, the days of quarantine were over and the students came to our base facilities for their first weekend, adjusting to their dorms and meeting each other in person!

It really has been miracle after miracle during this DTS. The timing, traveling, provision, even the first week, all of us were very open with one another about our stories, struggles, and being honest about our walk with God.

Every week, as staff, we gathered to pray for our school. God spoke to us very specific things about our school and from there, we would respond. The theme of this school is the “Father Heart of God”. To encounter God as a Father.

Over the weeks of lecture phase, as a school, we learned different topics such as “Hearing God’s Voice”, “Worship & Intercession”, “Father Heart of God”, “Biblical Worldview & Redeeming Cultures”, “Cross-cultural Communications & Team Building”, and many more. These topics were foundational for our DTS students who came from different walks of life.

Learning in DTS is not only through a classroom setting, but also in very practical, tangible ways. During the first week, we hiked a mountain early in the morning, spending time with God and asking ourselves “Am I willing to surrender to Jesus?” We also went on different weekly outreaches and participated in creative activities that helped us engage in worship and intercession.

Creative ways to pray for the homeless in Hong Kong

BONDING WITH OUR STUDENTS

I’m thankful to have this season to spend time and walk with each one of our DTS students, as they encounter God, go deeper in their faith, learn to hear God’s voice, and step out confidently in their identity, and passion for Jesus.

I lived at the dorms for the first 5 weeks of DTS and it helped me transition and adjust into the DTS lifestyle. Living with the girls helped me get to know them more and spend time with them outside of the school hours. We jammed to music, played games, and it was fun to have good late night conversations in our bunk beds.

TRUSTING GOD WITH OUR FINANCES

All of the students and staff have the responsibility to raise their own funds for outreach, the whole team needed to raise a total of 180,000hkd / $23,184.31usd). Hong Kong was our outreach locations for 2 months, so we started to search housing options and our leaders worked on planning our budgets.

Looking at that number, it felt impossible to raise that much money in such few weeks. During the second to last week, we had a time of generosity, where we got to pray and ask God who to bless and what to give. In that short time, many from our community gave towards our outreach fees and the numbers went down drastically! (We received around 35,000hkd!) We were amazed and praised God for providing through our community. There was still a bit more to raise, but we continued to trust God in faith!

Kintsugi: This traditional Japanese art uses a precious metal – liquid gold, liquid silver or lacquer dusted with powdered gold – to bring together the pieces of a broken pottery item and at the same time enhance the breaks. Reference link here

KINTSUGI: THE ART OF PRECIOUS SCARS

God has been working in the lives of our students and staff. Personally, God has been teaching me so much and being able to draw close to Him, enjoy His presence, and go deeper into areas where I needed more of Him. Doing a DTS does not mean that all is fixed, healed, restored right away, but God continues to walk with each one of us step by step. He will use broken people for His glory, and make them beautiful, like these “refined pieces of ceramics”. We can’t wait to see what God will do during our outreach time! Hong Kong, here we come!