Another Student Shares about their Port-au-Prince DTS

Goodbye Lecture Phase! Hello Outreach!

Dear friends and supporters, we apologize for the fact that we have given you an update for so long. In the past three weeks, the intensity of DTS has really picked up as we prepare for outreach. In all the chaos, it’s been hard to even find a spare minute to summarize the weeks.

So here is a little tiny bit about the past tree weeks. Three weeks ago, we had Mike Brown and Jasen Chung come as a team to speak to our class. Our time with them was full of mind-blowing revelation of God’s love, life in Christ, and the church. They both brought such rich and powerful content. This week was possibly one of the most transformational weeks we experienced in the whole DTS.

The following week, we had the pleasure of having the director of one of the Carribean YWAMs come to our class. She has asked us not to mention her name for safety reasons in certain places she does ministry. She brought a strong message on surrender, dependence on God, and loving the lost. Her message was incredibly effective because it was clear that she truly lives what she believes. We could see this because she told powerful stories from her own life.

This past week was our last week of lecture phase. We didn’t have a speaker, but we were working very hard preparing for outreach with dramas, dances and lots of team time. Also, staff taught on topics like expectations for outreach, team unity, and the importance gratitude.

As lecture phase comes to a close this week, we look back on this past three months in absolute amazement. We are all truly grateful and blown away by all that God has done here. After all the powerful things that have happened during lecture phase, we have great expectations for what God is going to do on outreach. Needless to say, we are so excited to head out on this new adventure and season.

So please be praying for us  as we head out on outreach. Here are some things you can pray for

Pray for each of our teams as we head out to Jamaica, Benin, Brazil, Haiti, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Pray that God would use us to transform these nations.

Pray that people’s hearts would be open to the gospel in every place we go, and that God would do miracles and move in powerful ways. Pray for unity, love, and a lifestyle of gratitude.

Thank you for all your support and prayers these past three months. It means the world to us, and we really have seen miracles because of it. If we’ve only learned one thing from these past three months, we’ve definitely learned that God answers prayers in big ways.

Much love from your DTS Fam Jam!

Big Z Shares about Outreach

This week we received the exciting news that all our students will go on outreach. God has been so faithful as our students have learned what it really means for them to do the possible and Him to do the impossible.

A School Full of World Changers

One of our students, Eleah Warchal wrote this to fund raise for our school. After reading this I think this is what we would all like to say if we could say it.

Life here in Haiti is beautiful. I live in a house with 80 people, half of whom have lived in this country all their lives. They’ve been through more than I can imagine, each and every one of them. These are the strongest women and some of the bravest men that I have ever met. They’ve lost family members and friends in an earthquake, from cholera, murder, starvation, disease, and flooding. They have not let their circumstances define them.

And they’re not going to let circumstances define their nation. 

These men and women, from age 17 to 51, are the next leaders of Haiti. I’ve lived, loved, eaten, studied, ministered, traveled, laughed, and cried with them. I’m learning their language and their culture, and they’re giving me grace for my failed attempts. [ahahaa]

Some of these students come from rather well off families [by Haitian standards] , and some of them are from the biggest slum in the western hemisphere, Cite Soleil. Some of them used to be involved in voodoo. They come from so many different paths, and they’re headed to so many different places.

Blackberry, a 17 year old son of a pastor, sings like no one’s business, and 21 year old Santia’s voice brings goosebumps to the whole classroom. 20 year old Berline speaks English practically perfectly, and 22 year old Derose has one of the biggest servant’s hearts of anyone I’ve ever met. Fabienne, from the town of Cap Haitenne, came to our school after some of our staff found her passing out tracts with her sister in law. Her family was strongly involved in voodoo, and did not fully support her coming to our school. D’Joudy is gifted with immense authority when it comes to teaching and speaking, and all of us agree God is going to use her powerfully. Rony, proud father of two beautiful children, is attending our Discipleship Training School with his wife, and has huge plans for working with family ministry. 51 year old Solnher has a huge passion to preach the gospel and can go hours without stopping. Vanessa has the most gentle spirit and is giving half of our school pedicures to raise money to go on her outreach trip.

The Haitian women especially, bring so much to our family here. Haitian women are not valued, they’re not told that they have anything to offer the world. They’re not encouraged to walk out in the areas that they’re gifted in or told that they can go far. Here, they’re finding out just how powerful they are. They’re finding that they have something to offer the world and God. They’re finding how God is going to use them to heal and redeem this beautiful and broken country.

All of us are finding things here. We’ve found God, in a way that we’ve never found Him before. We’ve found healing, and we’ve found hope. We’ve found strength and courage. We’ve found callings and dreams. And now we want to take what we’ve found and take it to the nations.

Taking what we’ve received to the nations is the biggest part of our school here. We’re sending teams to Jamaica, Brazil, all over Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Africa. This Africa team is one of the ones we’re most excited about. Haitian slaves were taken from Benin, West African, so virtually all Haitians have African DNA. With their DNA comes voodoo. Benin is the cradle of voodoo, and Youth With A Mission has been trying for years to get Haitians to Benin to fight against the darkness and evil that ties Haiti to the religion that has done so much to destroy their country. And this year, we’re doing it. Actually, God is doing it, and we’re humbly and excitedly standing by. We believe so strongly in the need to get Haitian students to Africa that this past week we had not one or two, but FIVE foreign students give up their tickets and they money they had raised to go to Africa to support Haitians students going there. Now these five will be staying in Haiti for their outreach, enabling our Haitian brothers and sisters to return to their ancestor’s country. Their generosity and selflessness was such a powerful thing to witness. That’s how much we believe in what these Haitian men and women are doing. We need you to believe in them too.

Together, for all of our teams, we need over $100,000 to get all of our students to the locations God has called them. That’s not a small amount of money. None of us have anywhere near that much money, and most of us don’t know where our money for our outreaches is coming from. The Haitian students especially: in Haiti, the average annual wage is $300. The cost for our outreaches range from $1200- $3500.

That’s why I’m writing this to you today. To ask if you’ll consider helping to sponsor one of our Hatian students. I believe so much in each of these girls and boys, men and women. I get goosebumps thinking about where God is going to take them. Would you like to be a part of shaping their lives? Would you consider financially and absolutely prayerfully supporting one of them? There are photos and names of each one of our students on our school blog, portauprincedts.wordpress.com, if you want to support a specific student. Or, if you want simply to support our school outreaches in general, that is incredible too.

Please do let us know if you’re willing to consider supporting our school in this! It would honestly mean the world, and it will have an impact beyond what you can imagine. These aren’t just your average joe students- they are the future of this nation that I’ve fallen in love with.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you! If you can’t support us financially, just pass this on. If you have any rich relatives or fairy godmothers or billionaires looking for an incredible cause to support, please send this on to them, too.

Sending Immense Faith from the Caribbean,
The DTS FamJam

Week Seven: Doing Battle

This past week, we had the pleasure of joining once again with our sister base in St. Marc. Terry Snow, our YWAM Haiti national director, came to share with us. Terry has lived in Haiti for 25 years, and as a result has great authority here. He spoke about spiritual warfare, and as he shared examples from his life, we got a fresh understanding of what spiritual warfare means for each of us in our day-to-day lives. We also discovered that obedience and dying to ourselves is key to spiritual warfare.

Because he’s lived here for longer than most of us students have been alive, Terry has played a part in much of this country’s history. He told stories about wars and political corruption that he found himself in the midst of, and as he did, we realized that spiritual warfare influenced every part of his story.  Terry said that spiritual warfare is “the struggle to gain influence over men and their choices.” This made us understand that spiritual warfare isn’t something that only falls under the categories of angels and demons, but it affects every part of our lives as well.

After Terry talked about the way spiritual warfare affects our lives, he explained that in order to engage in this fight we must be obedient. When we obey God, we take spiritual ground and break strongholds. When we disobey, we give ground to Satan, and things can go very wrong.  Terry shared specific examples from his life, where instant obedience was crucial (no matter how crazy the action the Lord was asking him to take). If he hadn’t obeyed, his life could look drastically different. In one situation, disobedience could have cost him his life.

We also learned about counting the cost in spiritual warfare. If we are obedient to God and take spiritual ground, Satan will try to hurt us even more. We have to be willing to sacrifice and even be persecuted. We have to really die to ourselves and give everything to God.

All of Terry’s amazing stories opened our eyes wider than they’ve been before. We can now see that spiritual warfare is a daily event that we have to participate in. We learned that spiritual warfare is something that affects all of life, but we don’t only fight by breaking off spirits. The best way for us to fight is in simple, daily acts of obedience.

Love from BelVille,
The DTS FamJam

When Emily Didn’t Visit

Praise God, Tropical Storm Emily stalled over the Dominican Republic and never reached our side of the island!

After planning, relocating things in the house in case of flooding, making sure the tent city down the street was prepared for the potential storm, and making sure we all knew what to do if we got hit hard, we saw a miracle!

Emily never came!

God is truly merciful. Had Emily hit Port, our neighbors still living in tents would have been devastated.  Instead of spending our weekend helping to clean up what would have been a giant watery mess, we were able to spend time in Montrouis finishing one of the tanks we started on mini-outreach, going home with our Haitian students for the weekend, and enjoying gorgeous sunshine all weekend long.

Keep praying for safety and mercy over the island as hurricane season continues!

Love from (dry) Port-au-Prince,
The DTS FamJam

Tropical Storm Emily

We just want to let all of our friends and family across the globe know that as Tropical Storm Emily nears our island, we are completely and absolutely safe here in BelVille.
We have stocked up on water, food, and gas and will be laying low for the next few days as we are expecting several inches of rain and high winds with Emily’s arrival.

Please don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear from us for a few days. With the possibility of heavy rain and storms, our internet may be down for a few days. Know that we are one-hundred percent safe and our house is very much at peace right now.

More than anything, be praying for our friends and neighbors still living in tents. They have little resources and few options for alternative shelter. These rains and storms could very much destroy everything they have. As you are thinking about us, please be remembering our friends who don’t have the luxury of a safe home to tough out the storm in.

Love from the Island,
The DTS FamJam

Week Six: Witch Doctors, Slums, and Revival

To share about our week of mini outreaches, we asked Karli, one of the Benin/Togo team leaders to share a bit of what God did in Cite Soleil. Karli has been working with us in Port since December, and in June got engaged on our street corner to her boyfriend Justin who has also worked with us since December and is now doing the DTS. 

Two weeks ago, we spent classes learning about Spiritual Gifts and basic medical care. In our midst, were a few foreign doctors who flew in as well as a team of young adults who are part of the Water For Life ministry. The house was even more packed than usual but we had a blast anointing each other as the Holy Spirit led and learning how to treat issues from scratches to broken limbs to stomach viruses and skin infections.

After the few days of teaching, on last Friday, all of the DTS students and staff broke into our Outreach groups and headed out to five different parts of the country along with the doctors and water people. The focus was to evangelize through building rain-catching water tanks for communities, providing medical clinics, and working in unity as a practice for our upcoming two-month outreaches around the world. Each group came back to the Belvil house on Wednesday with stories of God at work! Here are a few recaps:

The team staying in Haiti for Outreach headed up into the nearby mountain communities by Montrouis. There, they did a medical clinic and treated hundreds. In the mountains, they ran into a witch doctor which a girl on the team had met last year while on a short-term trip here. The last time she had met him, the witch doctor said that he wanted to change but couldn’t and Jessika sensed that he would have a dream about God and told him that. This time, as Jessika and Jack talked with the man, he shared with them that he had had a dream and he listened to them as they told him again about Jesus. As they shared, the witch doctor’s attendant accepted Christ. The witch doctor was then converted as well. This local witch doctor went to church with the team the next day, spoke in front of the congregation and denounced voodoo in front of his whole community! Jessika said that at first she was scared to talk with this witch doctor again but Christ reminded her of Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” We shouldn’t fear anybody- Christ died for everyone and it is our responsibility to bring the good news of Jesus to anyone who will listen, even a voodoo witch doctor!

In La Gonave, the USA Outreach group witnessed a miracle of healing while having a medical clinic. After praying in the morning and having an image of feet, one of the students found a man who hadn’t been able to walk for a long time. The student, Benji prayed for him and the man accepted Christ. The handicapped man couldn’t even straighten his legs and the student felt led to pray for healing. After doing so, the man straightened his legs then eventually stood up and finally walked! Benji said he used to feel like a curse to people but now he realizes that God has transformed him and he is being used as a blessing to his home nation, Haiti.

The team heading to Benin which Justin and I are a part of headed up a medical clinic and built two water tanks in Cite Soleil (the biggest slum in the Western Hemisphere). The first few days, I was a part of the medical clinic in the tent city. We watched one of our students stitch up a man’s hand, taught basic hygiene and health classes to those who didn’t need medical attention (it was hard to see how little the Haitians in that area know about just the basics,) helped take vitals on patients, prayed for healing, witnessed miracles of healing, heard people accept Christ and gave out a million hugs to the kids.

On the first day, as I was in the teaching tent, a woman came in with a 7 month child who was malnourished and looked about 4 months old. She was the only one in the tent at the time and three of the Haitian girl students started talking to her. Her story is unbelievable. It is not something I can write the details in a blog but it involves rape, murder, the loss of children, voodoo, insanity, and now a mom on the run wanting to give up the starving child she is incapable of caring for. I was speechless and continuously in prayer as I was hearing her account. The girls were able to pray for her as she broke down in tears and we were able to give the baby medical attention by the doctor. Long story short, we are now in contact with an orphanage we have a relationship with and there is a possibility the baby will be placed in their care. It has been amazing to see how God is at work in the situation (both with the baby and the mom) and it would be wonderful if you could keep them in your prayers!

While the medical clinic was going on, we were also working on two tanks in the Cite Soleil area (one in the tent city and the other in the nearby community.) Justin spent a lot of hours in the sun, hard at work! Through the tank building, our team experienced unity and discovered each others strengths. Dax, our Water for Life leader, explained that there are three areas of strengths: relationships, serving and giving. While it seemed like those playing with the kids were slacking off while those on the tank sweated their life away, they actually are gifted in building relationships while the tank guys are gifted more in serving. It is so important to build up each others gifts instead of seeing one as better than others! This was so good to learn before our Outreach!

The biggest highlight of the outreach week for me though was the time I got to spend with the kids at Cite Soleil- both at the tent city and at the neighborhood. They are beautiful and the sweetest things in the world! Living in the poorest area in the Western Hemisphere, you would think these kids would be rough and violent. Instead, they were lovie, playful, cooperative, joyful, and creative. I colored with them, raced them (that was a disaster,) sang with them, and just loved on them. It reminded me of why I love this country so much and what a privilege it is to be here among the poorest in the world- among the homeless and the orphans! God is here with them. It’s going to be hard to leave this place in November!

Two weeks ago, we spent classes learning about Spiritual Gifts and basic medical care. In our midst, were a few foreign doctors who flew in as well as a team of young adults who are part of the Water For Life ministry. The house was even more packed than usual but we had a blast anointing each other as the Holy Spirit led and learning how to treat issues from scratches to broken limbs to stomach viruses and skin infections.

After the few days of teaching, on last Friday, all of the DTS students and staff broke into our Outreach groups and headed out to five different parts of the country along with the doctors and water people. The focus was to evangelize through building rain-catching water tanks for communities, providing medical clinics, and working in unity as a practice for our upcoming two-month outreaches around the world. Each group came back to the Belvil house on Wednesday with stories of God at work! Here are a few recaps:

The team staying in Haiti for Outreach headed up into the nearby mountain communities by Montrouis. There, they did a medical clinic and treated hundreds. In the mountains, they ran into a witch doctor which a girl on the team had met last year while on a short-term trip here. The last time she had met him, the witch doctor said that he wanted to change but couldn’t and Jessika sensed that he would have a dream about God and told him that. This time, as Jessika and Jack talked with the man, he shared with them that he had had a dream and he listened to them as they told him again about Jesus. As they shared, the witch doctor’s attendant accepted Christ. The witch doctor was then converted as well. This local witch doctor went to church with the team the next day, spoke in front of the congregation and denounced voodoo in front of his whole community! Jessika said that at first she was scared to talk with this witch doctor again but Christ reminded her of Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” We shouldn’t fear anybody- Christ died for everyone and it is our responsibility to bring the good news of Jesus to anyone who will listen, even a voodoo witch doctor!

In La Gonave, the USA Outreach group witnessed a miracle of healing while having a medical clinic. After praying in the morning and having an image of feet, one of the students found a man who hadn’t been able to walk for a long time. The student, Benji prayed for him and the man accepted Christ. The handicapped man couldn’t even straighten his legs and the student felt led to pray for healing. After doing so, the man straightened his legs then eventually stood up and finally walked! Benji said he used to feel like a curse to people but now he realizes that God has transformed him and he is being used as a blessing to his home nation, Haiti.

The team heading to Benin which Justin and I are a part of headed up a medical clinic and built two water tanks in Cite Soleil (the biggest slum in the Western Hemisphere). The first few days, I was a part of the medical clinic in the tent city. We watched one of our students stitch up a man’s hand, taught basic hygiene and health classes to those who didn’t need medical attention (it was hard to see how little the Haitians in that area know about just the basics,) helped take vitals on patients, prayed for healing, witnessed miracles of healing, heard people accept Christ and gave out a million hugs to the kids.

On the first day, as I was in the teaching tent, a woman came in with a 7 month child who was malnourished and looked about 4 months old. She was the only one in the tent at the time and three of the Haitian girl students started talking to her. Her story is unbelievable. It is not something I can write the details in a blog but it involves rape, murder, the loss of children, voodoo, insanity, and now a mom on the run wanting to give up the starving child she is incapable of caring for. I was speechless and continuously in prayer as I was hearing her account. The girls were able to pray for her as she broke down in tears and we were able to give the baby medical attention by the doctor. Long story short, we are now in contact with an orphanage we have a relationship with and there is a possibility the baby will be placed in their care. It has been amazing to see how God is at work in the situation (both with the baby and the mom) and it would be wonderful if you could keep them in your prayers!

While the medical clinic was going on, we were also working on two tanks in the Cite Soleil area (one in the tent city and the other in the nearby community.) Justin spent a lot of hours in the sun, hard at work! Through the tank building, our team experienced unity and discovered each others strengths. Dax, our Water for Life leader, explained that there are three areas of strengths: relationships, serving and giving. While it seemed like those playing with the kids were slacking off while those on the tank sweated their life away, they actually are gifted in building relationships while the tank guys are gifted more in serving. It is so important to build up each others gifts instead of seeing one as better than others! This was so good to learn before our Outreach!

The biggest highlight of the outreach week for me though was the time I got to spend with the kids at Cite Soleil- both at the tent city and at the neighborhood. They are beautiful and the sweetest things in the world! Living in the poorest area in the Western Hemisphere, you would think these kids would be rough and violent. Instead, they were lovie, playful, cooperative, joyful, and creative. I colored with them, raced them (that was a disaster,) sang with them, and just loved on them. It reminded me of why I love this country so much and what a privilege it is to be here among the poorest in the world- among the homeless and the orphans! God is here with them. It’s going to be hard to leave this place in November!

We are so excited for how God is going to continue moving as we head out in international outreaches next month. 

Be sure to check out our new Team page for all the info on our outreaches and how you can get involved!

Love from BelVille,
The DTS FamJam

Mountaintops and Shoutouts

Let’s share this while it’s still fresh.

This morning, we had a time of interactive worship. Our hope was to
challenge our students (and ourselves) to really push into God in
new and different ways.
We set up multiple stations throughout the house: Beauty, Purity,
Tabernacle, Dreams, Fruits of the Spirit, Nations, and an Altar of
Remembrance. At each station, we asked God to interact with us in new
ways-through music, photos, writing, meditating, taste, symbolic acts.
And, like He seems to do a lot in this house, God showed up to hang
out with us. (Because all of us ninety something people in this house
have learned to be friends with Jesus and we tend to like to hang out
with Him in our free time.)

All over the house, and down by the river, we were hanging out with
God. Students wrote out passions God has put on their heart in faith
that God will make them reality in their lives. People munched on
delicious pineapple (trust me, you should come to Haiti just for the
fruit) and asked God for a fresh release of the fruits of the Spirit.
We dumped dirt on our hands, and washed it off to signify purity
covenants. (We like to talk about sexuality and purity quite a bit in
this house.) A crowd of us huddled over a world map praying out over
the nations. There were students nestled in tents for times of
solitude with Jesus. I mean, hey, solitude in a house of this many
people must be God at work. People trekked over to the river and
started piling stones as an altar of remembrance to signify all that
God has done in these first five, almost six, weeks of school.

And, God has moved. That we know for sure.

Our students are running church service every Sunday in the tent city
down the street. This last weekend, they planned and led a forty-eight
hour prayer and worship burn in the house. They have overcome culture
differences to live not simply at peace, but in joy, in a house of
multiple languages and cultures. They have chosen to stand together in
faith believing God will provide the thousands of dollars we will need
to see our outreaches come to life.

Can you tell we have a pretty bomb group of students?

Anyway, this morning was such a continuation of the move of God in
this house. We are truly living in a blessed season. Haiti is in the
midst of revival, and that revival Is centered in this city. We are
walking in a season of extreme favor of God.
After we finished with our stations, we all met up and trekked up to
the river as a large group. We met at the altar of remembrance and
made sure everyone placed a stone on the altar to commit to memory the
work of God in the first half of this school.

The thing is, no one in this house is really into settling for
mediocre. We all believe that there is always more to be desired of
God. So, we moved up the mountain a bit. It’s strange how walking up
two more minutes total changes everything. From the cliffside, we
could see the city. We took communion, and as each staff and student
came to get bread and juice, they were prayed over and blessed into
the fullness of all the gifts and annointings God has stored up in
heaven for us.

Then…

We got a little crazy. We decided that we’re tired of hearing talk of
revival and it’s about time we act like that revival is already here.
So that’s what we did. One of our staff had an image of all of our
Haitian girls lined up on the edge of the cliff screaming out freedom
and restoration over the city. God needs the voice of the Haitian
women to carry out this revival. We fully believe in the Haitian women
we get to walk with in this season, and we believe they are key to the
transformation taking place in this nation. The girls all lined up on
the edge of cliff and used their voices to declare revival is here.

Then, we all joined with them and declared that revival is here and
present, that we are getting to live in the midst of it.

But wait, we weren’t quite done yet.

Our Haiti outreach team stood in the middle of our mob, linked arms,
and had the school pray over them in order to bless them, release them
to walk out in the prophecies of this school, and ask God to keep them
strong as they handle the prep work for outreach.

Finally, we headed back to the house for a mid morning break before
our outreach team meetings.

Our God is so amazing and has chosen to bless this place with so much
favor. Just yesterday at our staff meeting, we talked about the way
God has given us so much grace in this season.

We give him three hours of our morning, and He blows us away.

Sending Revival Fires from the Heart of Haiti,
The DTS FamJam

Week Five: Finances, Faith, and Other Things

Whoa. Are we really almost half way through lecture?

God is moving in incredible ways here. Samuel stayed with us an extra week and we were able to talk about lots of different things. On Monday and Tuesday we talked about faith and finances. Samuel is a man who walks in extreme authority in this area. Additionally, he shared about sexuality, giving us a deeper biblical understanding. We had as guest speaker for one session named Kim ODwyer. She told her life story, and through that, we were all encouraged in God’s vision and calling for our lives.

Samuel told stories from his own life where he had to trust God for provision with his finances. In his life, it is a necessity that God provides for him on a consistent basis. This really gave him credibility to speak into the students’ lives because he is clearly living what he teaches. The class learned a lot practically this past week because their lecture fees were due at the end of the week, so they got to practice everything Samuel had taught them right away. At the end of the week, all the students had a new belief in God’s provision as all of the lecture fees came in, and they saw that God really is bigger than money.

Samuel also attacked the topic of sexuality. This was crucial as it is a common belief in Haiti that having sex makes you impure. Samuel really explained that sex is actually good. It just needs to be within marriage. This teaching really brought new understanding.

Kim ODwyer blessed us with a message that moved us all this past week. As she shared about her life and being called to Haiti, our hearts were stirred to run hard after the callings God placed in our own lives. In only a short time of knowing God’s vision for her life, she is walking in it fully. She started an orphanage and a school in about a year. Her story reminded us that God has big plans for our lives, and that he wants to use our lives in big ways to ultimately change the world.

We are so thankful for both of these amazing people of faith taking time out of their hectic schedules to spend time with us.

Love from BelVille,
The DTS FamJam