Introduction

"He has the deed half done who has made a beginning." - Horace

Perhaps Horace is right when it comes to some things, but for all that I’ve made a beginning with my trip to England, I’ve got a ways to go before the halfway mark.
In making a beginning for this journal telling you about my time away in England and who knows where else, I think I’ll give you a bit of background.
First, Youth With A Mission. I think that they are a good deal better at telling you about themselves than I would be, so…

“YWAM Explained

We are a mixture of people from all over the world, from 149 countries in fact. In many of our locations, people from a wide variety of nations serve side by side. We come from numerous different Christian denominations and speak hundreds of languages. Nearly half of our staff come from "non-western" countries, such as Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, India and Nepal.
In addition to our full-time staff, many YWAM locations host short-term outreach teams made up of individuals, youth groups, families and churches who get to participate first-hand in "making God known" through both words and actions. We send out over 25,000 short-term missionaries each year.
There are three strands of ministry weaving throughout all that YWAM does:

Evangelism - Some creative tools used to present the gospel include drama, music, performing arts and sports camps. YWAMers want to share their faith effectively in ways that the audience--whether teenagers, elderly refugees, or an unreached people group--will understand. YWAM also engages in church planting among unreached people groups.

Mercy Ministry - Mercy Ministry is the "hands and feet" of making God known. YWAM helps meet some of the practical and physical needs of about 400,000 people annually. Caring for street children in South America; aiding in the recovery of drug addicts in North America and Western Europe; feeding and housing refugees and women in need in Africa and Asia, and operating ships that declare the good news practically and verbally, are just some of the ways in which helping hands are extended.

Training and Discipleship - Training and Discipleship aim to better equip Christians to serve others in everything from agriculture and health care, to drug rehabilitation and biblical counseling. Through YWAM's University of the Nations (U of N), missionaries can study in specialized areas such as science and technology, linguistics, the humanities, and Christian ministry. Most YWAM schools combine classroom teaching with relationship-centered discipleship and practical service.
The Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a requirement for applying as YWAM staff, and serves as a prerequisite to all other training programs. Each year some 10,000 students attend a U of N school at one of the 250 different locations.”

“Discipleship Training Schools (DTS) aim to prepare messengers of the gospel, helping students to know God in depth. The goal is to form Christian character and establish Biblical relationships while developing a daily walk with God. This intensive Christian training course begins with an 11 or 12 week classroom phase followed by a typically 12 week outreach.
The DTS is designed to encourage students to develop in personal character, to cultivate a living relationship with God, and to identify their unique individual gifts and callings in God. Cross-cultural exposure and global awareness are special emphases throughout these courses, preparing the students to reach current and future generations and answer the call to "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:19.
Not everyone completing a DTS necessarily joins YWAM. Many participate in a DTS to take time out to concentrate on God and consider whether He might be calling them to Christian ministry.”

My dad attended DTS thirty years ago, I have quite a few relatives who are very involved with YWAM, my parents were on the advisory board of Rancho Los Amigos in Juarez, Mexico for about 5 years, and I’ve helped out on a couple of medical missions outreaches through Rancho, so YWAM and DTS have been well known to me as far back as I can remember.
I began to consider the idea of attending DTS when I was twelve; at first it was mainly as an excuse to spend time in England - a country which has always attracted me because it has such a pivotal place in the world’s history and is the country of origin of a lot of my favorite literature - and skip out on school for a year. However, over the past several years I’ve come to look forward to DTS as a time to explore my relationship with God and really think hard on how I want to proceed with my schooling and career.
And so I’ve come to this point. Thursday, January 15, at 7:30pm, my flight leaves O’Hare. I land in Dublin at 7:30am local time - 1:30am back home. Two and a half hours and one airline switch later, I’ll be on a plane bound to land at Heathrow Airport at 12:20pm/6:20am.
I’ll be at Holmsted Manor until mid April when I’ll be leaving for another YWAM base for the outreach phase. In mid June it’s back to Holmsted for a bit, then on June 27 I’ll be home.
So, there’s the much-longer-than-intended introduction to what I’ll be up to for the next few months. Each month I'll give an overview of happenings with fellow students, day trips, lessons, teachers, revelations… I’ll also do my best to illustrate with pictures .