Kayla's YWAM DTS (10/40 Mission)

O ver the past 2.5 months since coming to Honolulu for DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM, my life and perspective has changed radically. The theme coming into our DTS quarter is " All in. All for. All because of Jesus. "  The other day I was talking with my friend Anna, about all that I have been learning since I arrived in Hawaii but also some struggles I still have. It's not easy to put things into words, especially when you don't what you are feeling or why. I have been feeling anxious about the future and about going to Indonesia . I love the team that I'm apart of but I worry about what I will do once we come back. I am done with school so I won't be doing that like many other young people will be doing.  I don't have a place to call my own even though I do have family to stay with temporarily. I don't have a husband either so I am doing this alone. I feel as though I have been wandering through life alone and its hard at times, e...

Each morning at 7am, we are required to wake up for breakfast and start devo/quiet times at 7:30-8:30am. Every day looks slightly different as we have intercession/book reading time/chapel talk/base worship. This DTS was NOTHING like I anticipated and we have not only participated in lectures but also are involved in weekly EVANGELISM and COMMUNITY OUTREACH . I have been working with an afterschool program once a week, helping kids with homework and doing chapel services. Every Tuesday night we go out to the streets and tourist area of Waikiki beach in Honolulu, to evangelize (share about Jesus) with people. When I first went out, I was so scared of running up to random people and telling them about Jesus. Over the past 2 months I've been continually challenged to get outside of my comfort zone and to embrace rejection. We continued walking a bit when a young guy caught my attention. I said that we need to go talk to him. Awkwardly turning around, we began to fo...

Last week, I had to give a 10 min message to our DTS class in preparation for our overseas outreach. When we found out that we would each be sharing, I didn't know what I would speak on but I decided it would be fun to preach on something from the book of Song of Songs or Song of Solomon. I didn't realize how much I would love this book after doing research on it, neither did I realize how personal this message would be to me.  Chapel Talk:  "Who here can confidently say they have the gift of singleness? Who here thinks about their wedding day or at least has thought about it? This is something that I have thought about a lot, especially in my twenties. I longed for a relationship where it literally consumed much of my attention. I still loved Jesus a lot but I can honestly say that He was not always my first priority. Just before I turned 30, I decided to go on a dating fast to refocus on my relationship with Jesus - it was during that season that God called me ...

Shekinah House (Girl's House) It hasn't been a full month yet but it feels like I have been here for awhile! I arrived on Jan 9th and began orientation on the 10th. When I arrived on base I was brought to my living quarters which is Bunk beds a small house shared among 25 girls. We share 3 bathrooms, one fridge, a small common room and sleep on bunk beds. This has been the most people I have ever lived with in my life. Its very similar to what I imagine living in a college dorm is like but I never had that option in college. View of Manoa Valley The YWAM base is located in Manoa Valley in Honolulu and is near the University of Hawaii. Everyday we begin our day with breakfast and one hour of bible reading/journal quiet time with Jesus. This is very important and something that YWAM values highly! Starting each day with Jesus is the most important thing you can do. We have lectures throughout the week covering various topics. In our first week of lectures, we ...

You know that feeling you sometimes have when you are on your seat about something? Back in September as I was about to leave Korea, I remember having the same feeling I do now. The anticipation and excitement for what is up ahead but also immense feelings of gratitude and amazement looking back at what God did in the past. Earlier this year, 2018, God asked me if I would be willing to let go of all I had. Let go, give up control and trust me. Every time I heard this phrase ringing in my head it was never easy but it has been rewarding.  December was a full month here. Since I came back to Canada, I got involved right away in various activities at the church. I was participating in the ladies bible study, assisting with youth ministry as well as other areas needed.  I want to share just some highlights. During one night at youth, one of the girls started crying. Running over to see what the issue was she opened up to me about how her cousin had brain cancer. If I di...

What will it take for you to...(fill in the blank)? It was a question that I myself have wrestled with over the years. Its easy for me to just say that I would go anywhere that God tells me to and that if he said go, I'd go. Its easier said than done. I can attest to that! Recently I made an unexpected trip to Calgary to visit the U.S. Embassy to apply for my visa to the states. It was a long hectic process. One that nearly broke me down into a flood of tears on multiple occasions.  After reading through the forms online, I began to prepare all my documents. First my U.S. visa picture was rejected and I had to wait another day in order to go and get a new one issued. I was creating an online profile in order to book a visa interview appointment.  Then after making the wrong appointment and a few phone calls later, I got the right information and scheduled to make my interview appointment. That was when I read that the length of time it would take to proces...

There have been many times where I want to give up and take the easy road when things get challenging. When I was applying for YWAM DTS, things seemed to be going fairly smooth. Preparing to move out of Korea and leave behind a life I had built for the past 7 years was definitely the hardest part of this whole process. But now that I am back in Canada preparing to go to Honolulu is January things are looking interesting. Being a Canadian citizen allows me free access to the States with no visa EXCEPT since I'm not going over as a tourist but a volunteer missions trainee (not a student), I need to apply for a B-1 visa.  Downtown Edmonton To make things a bit more interesting, Canada post is on strike which means applying for the visa needs to be done in person at the nearest US Embassy/Consulate. I'm not sure how long this process will take me (please pray that this won't take long) but I am preparing to get my photos today and will fill out 40 pages online before I...