Student Stories: Eleah and D’Joudy

D’joudy is one of our Haitian girls who carries a thick momma’s anointing. During worship, you can always count on finding her worshipping God with a giant smile on her face. D’joudy will be heading to Benin to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 

I’m twenty three years old. I’m from Port-Au-Prince in Haiti. Right now I have the privilege to be doing my DTS with YWAM in Haiti. I love it! Even though I’ve been through Theological school for 1 year, what I’m learning here is amazing! it’s been more than a month since the school has started. one of my favorite weeks so far was last week when had Samuel from Gaudeloupe share with us about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in another word Trinity. It was really eye opening for me. Now I’m believing God for His miraculous provision for me to get my passport and get all the finances to on outreach to Africa and bring the good news of the Gospel being led by the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage young people to give themselves to the Lord because without Him life is meaningless.

Eleah came to us from the mountains of Colorado, but she’s not a lumberjack or anything weird. She has a love of all things neon, and is like a litte ray of sunshine in our house. In September, she’ll be spending outreach jamming out to Bob Marley and shining joy on the people of Jamaica. 

Hey hey! This is such a beautiful season in my life. I love life here so much. Don’t
get me wrong, it’s not always easy. But it’s so always worth it. We’ve
had incredible speakers and amazing times of seeing God move in huge
ways, a lot of laughs and some tears. I’ve learned so much about
trusting God, walking through life with Him, and hearing His voice.
I’ve understood, for the first time in my life, what it means to have
an authentic relationship with my Maker. I’ve always known in my head
that Christianity isn’t a religion, but a relationship, but this is
the first time my heart has ever understood. I cannot wait to see what
God has in store over the next weeks and months

Thanks to both girls for sharing. We are so blessed by each of our students and the way God is transforming their hearts.

Love and Joy to You,
D’Joudy, Eleah, and the rest of the DTS FamJam

 

Week Four: Forts, Prisons, and Corporate Week

What a week and a half it’s been here in Port-au-Prince. Last time we shared with you, we were living it up in the spaciousness of Saint Marc. (We’re still working on getting photos posted from all our adventures.)

In Saint Marc, Samuel Legendart shared with both schools on the Nature and Character of God. Our Haitian students were especially thankful for Samuel’s teaching because being a native of France, Samuel has been able to teach in French, the second language of Haiti.

During class, we learned that we are created in the image of God, and that God’s image is vast and diverse. Samuel shared on the intimacy we can have with God as Creator and Father. He also shared on who God is in the context of the trinity and in the context of our day-to-day lives.

In the afternoons in Saint Marc, we split into three groups to evangelize, work on base, and hike up to the fort above Saint Marc. Our students were able to go to the prison where Philipson, one of our fabulous Haitian staff, pioneered a ministry with the prisoners.

When in Haiti last year, Jesselyn helped with the prison ministry in the women’s cell of the prison. She met twelve women there, and one afternoon as they were leaving she casually said, “I’m going to pray that in a year I’ll come back and all of you will be free.” As she was at the prison this time around, Jesselyn realized that only two of the women who she met last year were still in prison, and one of them will be freed in November. Our God is so faithful even when we casually proclaim freedom.

Up at the fort, our teams prayed over Saint Marc and asked God to continue to bless the ministry of the base, and transform the city even more than he already has. While the Benin team was up at the fort, they felt God calling forth warriors, something that has commonly come up in prayer times throughout our school. Gavin shouted out the Haka over the city (and a few times in class to make sure we were all paying attention.) We are so priveledged to be a part of the season in which God is rising up fighters for the kingdom of heaven here in Haiti.

As much as we all loved Saint Marc, by Wednesday we had students coming up saying “I miss home.” Home actually meant BelVille. This crowed house has become a place where we long to meet with God and see him move through us and each other. This really is a time of transformation here.

Please be in prayer for our outreach teams as we prep to head out into the nations. We have several Haitian students still working on getting passports. We also have many students, both Haitian and foreign, supporting raising to take all we’re learning in class to the nations. Our staff are currently hard at work trying to secure visas, flights, and contacts in our different outreach locations. Keep praying for God to step in and provide in ways that just blow our minds.

Check back tomorrow for all the latest on our Water for Life training going on right now, and our Primary Healthcare Training that will be starting next week!

Love from the Caribbean,
The DTS FamJam

Student Stories: Didine and Katie and a Whole Lot of Joy

To continue sharing our students’ hearts with you, we asked Didine and Katie to tell you a bit about life over the last five weeks. Both these girls have already started walking in incredible transformation and joy beyond belief. We are so thankful for both these girls!

Didine is one of our Haitian girls who always finds a way to make us laugh. She has chosen to start walking in new levels of maturity in this season, and it’s obvious to everyone that she is encountering God in new ways. In September, Didine will be travelling to France and Benin to share her newfound joy.(Also, just to brag on her a bit, Didine wrote this post in English. Seriously, it takes a pretty smart girl to be trilangual!)
DTS is changing me completely. I was a slave of sin, a liar, selfish, angry, shy when talking about Jesus. Before, I had 2 people in my heart that I planned to kill because they made me suffer. In only 3 weeks all those bad things are flying away. I can’t recognize me.
I’m a new person. I dislike sins. I’m crazy for Jesus. I forgive anyone and love them whatever they did wrong to me. I like preaching. It’s easy to hear Jesus and walk with him. I don’t care about money. I want to talk for Jesus, and make slaves of sin feel free. I don’t want to pass one day without telling about how marvelous it is to know Jesus.

Katie came to us from Washington State where she graduated high school the week before boarding a plane. Since being here, Katie has experienced radical emotional healing and deep levels of joy. One time, she jumped in our dirty pool because our speaker paid her. God is growing a heart for Haiti within Katie, and she’ll be spending outreach adventuring with Jesus here in this beautiful nation.
I look back for a split second and scoff at who I used to be, a broken girl with no self respect or hope for her future. That girl will never define me again. As I looked in the mirror today I saw a beautiful, passionate, joy-filled, strong spirit who loves life. I am excited for what God is calling me to be. I have so many dreams and goals flying through my head right now, yet I am at peace with where I am today. The thing is, it’s not where I am or the people I am with or the things I have that define me anymore. It’s my papa, who takes my arm and guides me through everything, day by day, minute by minute.

I know I have had my ups and downs in life, yet I can honestly say that I have never been this joyful in my entire life! Even though as I sit here in discomfort from the crazy bug bites that are EVERYWHERE, the lunch which gave me an upset stomach, the heat, bugs and stench of the people around me. (no offense guys I probably stink too) None of those things matter, because I get to be here in Haiti fulfilling my dream! And at the same time I am finding out who I truly am, and getting to know some pretty awesome people along the way. There has been so much healing for me and its awesome to see my friends get healed from things in their past as well.

Seriously who else gets to just hear someone worshiping practically 24/7 or is able to walk down the street to a tent city and minister to people who are hungry for God?! Or gets to go to the neighbors house to draw a bucket of water so you can take a shower, or run down to the pool with a bucket to get water just so you can poop? Or climb up to the roof to watch the craziest lightning you have ever seen?! Or share a house with 81 other people who are hungry for God plus the random guests we have all the time? Or walk out of the gate to your house and always have the neighbor kids waiting for someone to pick them up or hug them? Or get super excited when the power comes on? Do you get really excited when there is fruit with your meal? Or banana pancakes on Sunday mornings? Do you get happy when it gets cold enough to use a sheet at night when you sleep? Is it exciting for you that you get to flush a toilet? Haha, I could go on a lot longer but this is life for me and all my roommates.

I have fallen in love with this lifestyle. These things are shaping me, changing me. The best part about this whole experience is that I am getting to know my papa(God) so much! We have had some awesome times in the last month. I am learning so much about who he is, and who I am in him. He has given me strength in all the stressful situations and seriously done the impossible time and time again. Everyday is a crazy adventure and I love it! Yet, I haven’t seen anything, there is so much more to learn, see and experience and I am so ready for it.

Seriously people, we have the most amazing students!
Thanks to both of you girls for sharing your hearts!
Sending Joy and Laughter from Port,
Didine, Katie, and the rest of the DTS FamJam

 

Student Stories: Jordan Times Two

Because we think the fifty kids (who aren’t actually kids at all) have a lot of great things to share with the world, we’re going to start having them share glimpses into all
God is doing in their lives.

Today, we asked both our Jordans to share a bit of what God’s doing in them with you.

Enjoy!

Jordan R. flew to Haiti from the YWAM base in Dinuba, California just outside Fresno where she’s lived with her parents for the last several years. She’s a bundle of energy and laughter here in our house, and in September she’ll be flying to Benin for outreach.

As I’m sitting here thinking how to put what has happened in the past month in words, I’m almost at a loss. God has done more in me in these past four weeks
than in my whole twenty years of existence.

He has brought sooo much freedom into my life, and has helped me forgive others AND forgive myself. Sometimes people think that since you’ve grown up in a Christian home your whole life, or that because your parents are missionaries, that your life is great and hunky dory. Not true. I’ve had so many hurts in my life, and I’ve caused so much pain to those around me. During these four weeks, God has healed me of so much of this, and has brought reconciliation with people that I’ve hurt. I’ve let go of things that I’ve been holding onto for YEARS- things that I didn’t even know where issues. It’s so amazing to see what God will do in your life when you are completely broken and surrendered to Him.

One of the biggest things that God has been showing me is my worth in Him. The value that I truly have, no matter what anyone has said. One thing He’s told me is, “I love you no matter what you’ve done, no matter how you view yourself, or how others view you. You are My beloved daughter, and I’m the only one who matters. Make ME your first priority, and I’ll make things so much better than you could ever ask or even begin to imagine.”

So, I guess I want to encourage you guys: press into God. He doesn’t judge or condemn you for anything. He loves you, and just wants to love on you, and have the most intimate relationship ever with you. The God that created the entire universe loves us, and
DESIRES a relationship with us. I still can’t wrap my mind around that.

Jordan H. lived in Florida before flying south to the Caribbean for DTS. He is a fan of worship and dancing before the Lord. In September, Jordan will be staying in Haiti for outreach, and we’re pretty sure that he’ll be Haitian by the end of this.

Wow, its been thirty spirit-filled days since I arrived here at the top notch Port-au-Prince, Haiti DTS resort I’ll have to admit, I was very frustrated the first week and a half. I didn’t understand why I paid so much money to put myself in an over-crowded, waterless, powerless house in a hot, poverty-stricken country. I was certainly not ready to leave my selfish and sinful life in Jacksonville, Florida.  I thought I was, that is for sure. While we were in class one day, i was enjoying the message by Dudley Weiner on “Walking in the Spirit”. He asked each of us to share something about ourselves that no one would know in the house would know about us. I just stood up with a slight tear in my eye and said,
“I miss my family and home, a lot.”
I felt like a loser. But it was so true.

My intentions for coming were not forgotten or neglected at all though. I was one hundred percent intent on staying and praying through my sentimental issues.
I came here to better know Jesus and to discover my identity in Him.

I don’t know how long after that it was, but the Lord spoke to me. He said, “You didnt come here for you. I sent you here to be trained in My word and for you to get to know Me so much better so I can better use you, like you promised Me you would let Me.”

I had complete peace about the entire situation from that moment forward.

I have not become an expert at hearing God’s voice, but this DTS has definitely helped me to see the simplicity of understanding how to identify His voice and
how to better follow His will.

For these essentials in the walk of a follower of Jesus, I am extremely thankful and cannot wait to break into the rest of the world to spread the knowledge of God and
everything I am learning.

Thanks Jordan and Jordan for sharing all that God is teaching you in this season.
Keep checking back for more Student Stories!
Sending Love from BelVille,
Jordan, Jordan, and the rest of our DTS FamJam

Space in Saint Marc

We all woke up this morning to a strange noise: SILENCE. After three weeks (six for staff) of living in the close quarters of our house, we’ve all grown accustomed to waking up to the noise of pots and pans in the downstairs kitchen as our breakfast crew gets our food (and coffee) ready to go bright and early at 5:30 every morning.

But this morning, we all woke up with a little more space and a little less noise.

No, we didn’t move out of Port or fire the breakfast crew (who we love and appreciate).
We actually just have the awesome privilege of getting to do life with our sister base in Saint Marc for the week.

After a festive Fourth of July beach day, and revival service at Blackberry’s, one of Haitian students, father’s church, we made it to the base here. Immediately, we felt at home, almost like a giant family reunion. (But only if your reunions include close to two hundred people and two languages being spoken constantly.)

We’ll be hearing from Samuel Legendart, director of the YWAM French speaking Caribbean, this week on the character and nature of God. Each afternoon, we’re spliitlng up into three groups to do work duties here on base, evangelism in Saint Marc, and a prayer hike to the top of the mountain here in the city.

Since there are so many of us here on base, we’re limiting our internet use and will probably only be able to update the blog once more this week. We’ll share lots of pictures after the week is through. We’ll all be so busy learning, soaking up all this extra space, flushing toilets, and deciding if DB really is the best basketball player here to hop on the internet. We promise we’ll all be good kids and get in contact with our family and friends when we arrive back in Port.

A special thanks to all the Saint Marc staff, especially Wayne, Sarah, Owen and Claudy for welcoming us and taking such good care of us this week!

Lots of Love from Saint Marc,
The DTS FamJam

 

Snapshots: June Babies

Last night, we gave a shout out to all of our June birthdays with the most beautiful cake
I’ve ever seen.

Special thanks to Grace, Nicole, Emily and Chimene for the work of art.

And special birthday blessings to
Andrew, Asha, Dani Rhea, Grace, and Michelet!
We are thankful that you are a part of this family!

Week Three: Open Ears

This week, we’ve been hanging out with Dustin ­­­­­­­Bates. (Youth Pastor in Dallas, Texas) Dustin’s been sharing about hearing God’s voice, growth, and the church. Hearing God’s voice is an important topic because it often leaves people confused.  Dustin has been covering the basics with his teaching, but most of all he’s brought clarity to what otherwise ends up being pretty confusing.

Dustin began by teaching about the different ways that God speaks as well as how to distinguish God’s voice from our own thoughts and the voice of Satan. This helped  us know what we need to listen to and what we need to ignore. This also gave us confidence in our ability to actually hear God talk. Dustin emphasized that hearing God’s voice is like working out a muscle. The more you work out and practice, the stronger you get. As the week has gone on, and as we’ve all practiced, we’ve learned how true that really is. We’ve all started stepping out in faith knowing that we really do hear God!

We will always be growing if we continue to listen to God’s voice and obey it. Dustin has emphasized that we have to keep pressing in and choosing to listen all the time. If we have to listen to the word of the Lord to guide us, it may be uncomfortable, but that’s good. Being uncomfortable means you are growing, and being pushed because you no longer rely on yourself. Instead, you rely on God. If we can learn to lead lives of total reliance on God, we will be better people and lovers of God because of it. One thing Dustin has said this week is  “obedience releases the power of God”. If we want to see great works of God, we need to step out in faith and obedience, trusting that he will come through.

Today, we learned about the church. We learned to love the church and forgive it. Dustin was up front about the fact that many people, both in Haiti and the States, have been hurt by either the church as a whole or leadership in the church. We ended class this morning with a time of prayer to help people walk toward healing. He explained that the church is not flawless and currently, it’s somewhat twisted and corrupt. He said that many times the church abuses it’s power and does a great deal of harm instead of good. He apologized on the behalf of all pastors and churches for all the hurt.

He also went on to tell about how the church is growing and improving He gave reasons to love and have hope for the church. He said that people are hungering for God like never before, and this is transforming churches everywhere. Because of this, the church is becoming a place where people can experience the presence of God and also community.

This week has been amazing. It’s an incredibly significant and exciting step for people to be learning how to hear God’s voice. That alone can majorly change lives. People also let go of pain and anger as they learned how love and forgive the church.

Special thanks to Dustin for coming and spending time with us.

Sending lots of Joy from the Caribbean,
The DTS FamJam

Ping Pong Sundays

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This weekend, we sadly had to tell Dudley “Auvoir” and pray blessings over him as he headed back to France. We are extremely thankful that he was able to be our first speaker and kick things off with intensity seldom seen in DTS Week Two.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty laid back, unless you happen to be one of the boys who have a newfound love of ping pong. Then you were probably dehydrated by Sunday afternoon from hours and hours in the gazebo swinging those paddles around.

Before the ping pong madness on Sunday, some of our students and staff headed to the tent city down the road from our house to lead a casual church service. They led a time of worship and shared God’s heart with the people.The people in the tent city were very open and responsive to hearing the students sharing God’s heart.

This whole idea stemmed from last Tuesday’s ministry time here in the neighborhood. After talking to several people, one of our groups really felt a burden to lead worship on Sundays for the community. Many people shared with them that they were unable to go to church because of lack of proper clothing or transportation. The students strongly felt that nothing should be able to keep people from worshipping God, so they decided instead of trying to get people to go to church, they would take church to them.

We love getting to see our students hearing God’s voice and following what He’s laid on their heart!

Looking Forward to More Story Sharing,
The DTS FamJam

Week Two: Arm in Arm

Class Worship

This past week we had the priveledge of having Dudley Weiner as our speaker. Dudley taught about walking in the Spirit; and God used him powerfully to lead our class into freedom, joy, and ultimately healing.

While Dudley taught about walking in the spirit, we learned more specifically what that means practically for our lives. We learned that as we walk in the Spirit we begin to recognize the spiritual realm is real, and know that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against Satan. This is the fight that we must be aware of and engaging in everyday.

Another aspect of walking in the Spirit that we’ve learned in the last week is increased intimacy with Jesus.  If we have relationship with Jesus, we are walking side by side with him, keeping focused on him and listening to his voice for guidance. Dudley used the example of literally linking arms with a friend to represent how we should be interacting with Jesus on a daily basis.

Restoration Prayers

As profound as the teaching was the most amazing thing that occurred was the freedom and healing that came through strong moves of the Spirit. When Dudley spoke, the Lord started to reveal strongholds and pull at the roots of issues that people have been struggling with. As he opened up hearts, we came into several different times of deliverance from fear, releasing of pain, forgiveness, and finally times of restoration. We were letting go of all the garbage we have stored in our hearts for years and are allowing God to come and heal us.

It’s unbelievable how powerful the move of the Lord has been on this class already. After only week two, God has taught us so much, and brought us into mindblowing levels of healing and redemption.

It’s exciting to imagine what God has in store for the rest of this school!

A special thanks to Dudley for coming all the way from France to join us!

Sending Lots of Joy from Ayiti,
The DTS FamJam

Week One: We’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy Down in Our Hearts

Last Thursday, Dani and Philipson shared in our staff share time. As Dani shared, we learned that joy is not something that can be stolen from us, and that from before we were even born God has been preparing us for good works to bring heaven’s kingdom. Philipson encouraged all of us to walk in faith as we pray, sharing stories from his own life of the way God moves when we actually believe there is power in the words we pray.

After the teachings, God moved heavy with a spirit of joy over lots of our staff and students. It’s so cool to see that sometimes God’s heart is to just hang out and have fun with us.

Friday, we split into guy/girl groups for more teaching on sexual purity. Erika and Jessika challenged the girls into lifestyles of physical, emotional, and mental purity. The girls also had a time of just sharing our hearts and praying over each other for restoration of purity. The boys headed out to the gazebo to hear from Nate Chase and Jude. They committed to walking out in a way that challenges the spirit of lust that hangs heavy over so many men.They also shared with each other their struggles with walking out in purity in the past, and their desire to change that now.

After lunch, the boys had all the girls gather upstairs. They shared with us their new commitment to viewing women with the utmost respect and choosing to see every woman they interact with as a daughter of the King of Kings. All of us girls were blessed as each of us had our feet washed by the guys in our school. Looking around the room, you could see the forgiveness being offered and accepted for the sins of guys and girls who have hurt us in our pasts.

God is definitely doing deep works of redemption and restoration in this school. The title of this blog goes perfectly with where our school is headed. God is pulling up the roots of our lives and bringing absolute restoration.

Expect lots of updates in the next few days!

Sending lots of love from Port,
The DTS Fam