India, Nepal Outreach week 8 Final week update

Last week of outreach WEEK 8

December 8- Monday -
Early early morning we almost all, woke up to a once and a life time, sunrise over the Himalayas. Only a once in a lifetime sight if you don't live there, but it was so awesome it didn't seem real. Like it was more of a picture you see rather than you actually being there. Later that morning we then headed back to the church planting base and held a kids program. It was for all the kids that lived around the church and of course did David an Goliath for last hoorah and some of us played basketball with the youth there too. It was our last kids program so it just seemed right to end with one of the programs we started with! The kids were so sweet and we loved just being able to be used by God so many times to just play with kids and love on them by spending time with them. We could leave a mark by just spending time. We started off our week being able to see some just breath taking creation and getting to praise our Creator for just the chance to be here.

December 9- Tuesday-
Started off our official last day of ministry doing what else but an open air with a community of people who made bricks. The pastor called it the brick factory but it was more of people themselves making and drying bricks at their homes. We just played some worship songs and a crowd gathered. After giving the gospel message we handed out Bibles we had in Nepali. Right after that we moved locations and gave another message to tell more people about the Good News. That night we went to a Bible study at a church members house, gave a testimony and had our last bit of Nepali tea in someone's house. Everyday as we did things people would point out how it was the last time we would do that specific thing sometimes funny, and others caused you to just contemplate on what God used us to do.

December 10- Wednesday-
This morning we started by helping build a house church by digging and cutting bamboo for them. All the guys were pumped for some manual labor time and especially that it helped further the kingdom in an area that desperately needed a church. After that went home packed up and left for Apple pie, the first place we originally stayed after landing in Nepal, again as a whole group.

December 11- Thursday-
Now begins the time of debrief with the team. This morning we started off debrief with a time of worship. And then spoke about what had happened over our time in India and Nepal. We listened to a sermon over how to hear our calling from God. And had some paper work to turn in and to fill out for the following day. Starting to prepare our minds for home and how to help when we are back.

December 12- Friday-
Today's meeting in the morning after intercession was with Kelly from the Nepal base. We were able to share all our testimonies with her and tell her thanks for such a great job coordinating what we did with who. After this we had our one on one meetings with the leaders on what we did well and how overall outreach went with each one of us specifically. That night was such a memorable time laughing and crying with everyone during our graduation dinner.

December 13- Saturday-
This morning we all packed and got ready for the night flight. Then we loaded up and headed to Doha where we all had different flights home.

December 14- Sunday-
This morning we all woke up in the Doha airport after some crazy layovers, the tears started coming. We had to split up and get on different planes. Four of us though did arrive home late tonight. And 2 others landed in Switzerland tonight also.

December 15- Monday-
The rest of the group had a long layover in Miami.

December 16- Tuesday-
The official arrival day for all!!


After five months this group went from strangers to family. God called us all together and sometimes we definitely questioned why, but by the end we knew why. Every single one of us came to DTS a certain way, and you bet everyone of us left transformed and completely new. God did some awesome things and we were beyond blessed to be all together an used by Him every step of the way. So first of all as I speak on behalf of everyone I want to first say thanks to the one who gave it all. God is great and deserves to be first. I also want to say a special thanks to all the supporters who God used to send us across the world. Thank you so much for all your support and prayers. Thanks to all the parents who gave the permission, and for all the leaders who put up with us crazy people for 5 months. Anyone reading this I personally want to ask to keep the base and leaders in your prayers as they grow and begin building a new base building. Thank you again for the future prayers and support of all involved in YWAM Antigua and thank you for the now past DTS students you helped obey Gods call on their life!
Sincerely,
Graduated students of 2014

DTS Outreach to Nepal Week 7

Week 7 blog 12/1- Monday Monday started off wonderful we were told we were going to go minister and love on kids that live on the street. The interesting part was we went to this forest type of park there were monkeys and cows just freely walking around but we got to play soccer with the kids and then for those who wanted a sweet hair cut , we happily accepted the challenge! We also told the story of David an Goliath after that we were able to give them a meal. Such a sobering time with these kids who have to either work extremely hard or beg just to survive and these were kids not teenagers or adults but some were literally smaller children not even 11 years old. That is why the woman leading the kings kids ministry has such a passion and heart for these kids and only by the grace of God. It is His heart for these kids that He has given her. That night we went out Christmas caroling, but not just the normal kind we gave a gospel message after to explain why an what we were doing. Very awesome time to sing about Jesus in public and to share about him. Before all this to get in the "mood" we decorated the house we stayed at. Great way to end a Monday with some good ol caroling! 12/2- Tuesday Today started off with us loading up to head over to an elderly lady's home. We gave an encouraging word about how if God was watching over Hagar and Ishmael, and they were slaves and a not wanted child due to Isaac. That God will take care of us as we trust Him ,and as we seek Him that He won't ever fail us. This message was after of coarse some jolly festive songs. Then we prayed with and over some of them. This time was an amazing time to see the people who serve these women everyday. All were volunteers except the full time cook, so it was great to see them also encouraged by the word we shared with all those who were there. 12/3- Wednesday In the morning we started by heading to a local sports area to have personal evangelism and pass out tracts to those we couldn't communicate with. While here we met a team of semi-pro soccer (football) players that were all from the continent of Africa. Many different countries but all from Africa. So we spoke with them while they weren't scrimmaging and had many good conversations with other people as well. After this we headed home for a quick lunch then went out to a church that has a youth slum ministry. We taught the kids a song and played games after telling them the story of David and Goliath. As you can see we reuse a lot of the same dramas every time there are new kids. It was a great time with those precious kids. Then a couple of us went to a new believers house to pray with her and over her children. We have been so blessed as God uses us to help others, it in turn seems to have helped us more than us doing the helping. 12/4- Thursday This morning was a special blessing because we were able to visit a kids hospital to pray over lots of kids. It was a very hard time to see some of what these kids were going through, but at the same time this is no problem for the same God who raised Christ from the grave. We just wanted to be Christ's loving arms for these kids even though it was only a short time. Then we headed back to the kings kids house and loaded up to meet together again as a whole team. Yes, we all met back up in order to move to another location to help church new planting pastor. We arrived after a shirt drive to a location a little outside of Kathmandu. 12/5- Friday Today was what everyone thought of when we heard our outreach was to Nepal and India. We started off early in the morning climbing mountains then went into and shared gospel with villagers who do not have a church near. They have a house church for all the believers there. We were able to share the gospel house to house and give out bible that are in Nepali. After this we headed home for lunch and later had a youth group meeting. We had a time of worship with the youth and gave a encouraging message after a drama. Today was a very full day and an extremely rewarding day to get to share the good news and encourage believers. 12/6- Saturday Saturday as the day of worship is still new to us but so awesome that only Nepal and Israel worship on Saturdays instead of Sundays. We had the kids from the church group as we lead the kids service. We did two stories of Jonah and Daniel about how God will protect us when we obey Him and trust in Him. We also had two crafts for them to take home in Oder to remember the stories. We also did chewchiwa with them, if you know what that is, if you don't it's a very funny dance and song that kids love. It was so fun to lead this time the kids were wild as kids should be but it was so fun! That afternoon we went and played soccer (football) by church with the pastor and locals who were quite good at soccer (football). 12/7- Sunday Sunday was a special time as we loaded up to head to a small hotel for the night far out of town. The hotel is right in front of the Himalayas so the sunrise and sunset are beyond beautiful. Also during very clear mornings you can see Mt. Everest. It's so awesome to see how creative our God is and to think we are the blessed ones given dominion over this and also made in HIS image. Wow reflecting times like this are so good to refocus on our God and not on our circumstances or even ourselves. Just a wonderful time to praise our God! We stayed here overnight and will head back in the afternoon the following day to enjoy a time of kids ministry.

Nepal Outreach week 6

Week 6 blog Nepal 11/24- Monday- Good morning Nepal! We got ready and headed out with our translator to do some evangelism around a pond that is a popular area. Before this though we had the pleasure of meeting a pastor who is leading a church planting ministry around the Kathmandu valley areas. We then headed to the pond since it was near the church planting base with our new friend who were pastors in training. There we were all able to speak with multiple people and share the Gospel with them. As one of the students asked a elderly lady if she had known who Jesus, an she replied she didn't know who he was but by the end of the convo she wanted to ask this Jesus into her heart!! Such a great time of encouraging believers and being able to share about this love God ha given us. We then headed to large park and we did open air dramas for students in the park . A we were doing these dramas there was a woman selling oranges an peanuts and come to find out she was a Christian also. This time was so great for us as we met this peanut sales lady who passed out tracts as she sold peanuts!! While we did dramas she handed a man a tract an then he began to ask us about this Jesus who was written about in the tract the lady had handed him. Her testimony was literally borderline impossible, but as we know there is nothing to big or impossible for our God! She told us about how she was not able to read because she never went to school but after she accepted Jesus in her heart she could read the bible! Yes, I know read that again and just tell God how good He is!!! What a great day. We then ended as you would all great days, with intercession. 11/25- Tuesday Today was quite an experience. Most of the team was battling illness and so because of this only 3 people went for ministry. We went to the pastors house who is leading the school for church planters that we visited on Monday. His family was so nice they invited us in for tea and gave us tons of bibles in Nepali and English. Today was more of a perpetration day due to the fact there is a national seminar going on where multiple prime ministers were meeting here in Kathmandu. So because of this South Asia conference everything was shut down for this half of the week. 11/26-Wednesday The morning started with intercession, and then went to our translators college to pray over it. While doing this we met a guy we gave bible after sharing the gospel with him. We also ran into a guy who told us he was a new christian and so we wanted him plugged into a local church so we invited him to church we were helping at this last week. 11/27- Thursday We went to Buddhist temple and tons of monkeys everywhere to prayer walk. Then after that we went and prayed for our translators dad and for a house church that was also an orphanage. The pastors mom we had previously prayed for was there waiting for us to pray. It was such a powerful sight just to see how much their understanding of the power of prayer is was just incredible. The team is still battling illness but God is still using us and preparing us for upcoming times of ministry. 11/28- Friday We started the morning with a great time of intercession and encouragement then switched housing so now the group from kings kids ministry is coming switch with us at the street evangelism base. This day was filled with packing and getting all our stuff together and then unloading again at the kings kids house we are now staying at. We had a time of orientation so we knew what to prepare for this week. Somewhat relaxed day just moved from ministry site to the next but still a great day! 11/29- Saturday We had found out that today at church we would be leading a "Saturday school" time for the kids, but during this time we had to teach them a Christmas play so we went with a classic the play of Jesus' birth. Later we gave a testimony during the youth group and then headed home because 2/5ths of our team were sick. It was an awesome church service though, and very nice to see because mainly the youth lead worship so it's very contemporary songs and somewhat reminds us of our home churches. 11/30- Sunday Once again was our free day so the whole group headed to the tourist area named Tamil and had lunch there. Some then went back home while others continued to shop and we met back up that night and ate dinner as a team. The hospitality at Kings kids is beyond awesome our host is the sweetest lady and 2 younger boys. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. Make sure and keep up with what's going on only 2 full weeks left to hear about what God is doing in Nepal!

INDIA AND NEPAL DTS OUTREACH UPDATE

Blog week 5 11/17- Monday Today was sadly the last ministry day of India by this time the group has grown to love parts of India and it's very different culture. In the morning we started with a debrief with mega cities and were able to share our high points and what we were blessed to be a part of what God is doing in India. After that we again split into groups and went to do a time of open air in front of college. One girl asked Jesus into her heart. It was so awesome to know that our last day was just the beginning for someone else! That night we again went to a crowd favorite at the local train station for a time of street kids ministry. We played games and had a craft so they could make a ball and then just spent time loving on them. The last day of ministry ended on a very high point with a person accepting Christ and be able to love on those children, we are beyond blessed and thankful for all God did and spoke to us and through us during this life changing month. 11/18-Tuesday- Free day... Well not so much most of the day spent cleaning the church we stayed at and packing for some of us this was a extreme task while others not so crazy of a day. The family who so graciously housed us this month had a going away meal for us and some very good home cooked Indian cuisine. We were also telling the recently made friends goodbye and giving Bible's to those people who had made an impact on us, so that God through His word would leave a lasting impact in them also. 11/19- Wednesday- Goodbye India... Hello Nepal... Well sort of after a airline ticket mess up 3 students were not able to make it onto the flight for Nepal but were stuck over night in Delhi. For all those wondering who you have probably seen on social media sites and heard from them so we shall skip all those details. 11/20- Thursday- The students unite and finally make it to Nepal. The only problem was that the craziness continued with hours of airline delays we finally landed in Nepal! The entire group was now at the base we were staying for the first week. God is always good and provided to get here and trusting for his provision while here! 11/21- Friday- News hits the team that we have to split into two different groups due to space issues at a ministry location. One team a kings kids club ministry and another group doing more of an evangelism ministry with translators. So today was the split we said our goodbyes to half our team an hello to the upcoming ministry. God has a plan and we are excited to get to be a part of what He wants to do! 11/22- Saturday- Here in Nepal they have church on Saturdays which was a fresh surprise. So the half of us that stayed for evangelism did dramas in the church and also were asked to lead a couple worship songs. The church worship that the Nepali church led was very encouraging. So far everything here has been much more western culture styled than India and their worship did not differ. They were contemporary songs just in a foreign language. After that we were then able to go with the lead pastor and pray for church's new building being built. It was a very special time since we were the first foreigners to be at the site and technically in the church even though it was early on in the construction of it. We then went to two other houses to pray over people. One a local house church that was also a orphanage an the other was our translators house and prayed over his father. Such a great day of being recharged by believers and being able to be used to help recharge other believers, God is good all the time!!! 11/23- Sunday- Because of the difference on church days today again was a free day to rest up and pray up, to be prepared for the upcoming week. Can't wait for the next week to see what God is going to do! This week had a lot of down time but also very busy at times in order to get everything squared away as to what we were going to do an where we were going to live. A great opening week to take in Nepal and it's beauty and also it's colder weather! That was a major change from India. Stay tuned and ready for all the adventures to come from this next week!

INDIA OUTREACH WEEK 4 UPDATE

Last Week in India (4th week of outreach)

Monday 10th of November

                I know what you are thinking yes today is Monday, and normally our Sabbath day, but this week we changed it up. We all headed farther into the heart of Kolkata and visited mother Theresa's house. Quite an inspirational experience, to think that one women feeling the call of God to help so many people really did make a change in history. Goes to show if God calls you, He will give you the tools and strength to do it! This just happened to for shadow the next stop in our day. We headed to an orphanage that is run by a family and some volunteers, but houses 17 little girls. These girls were the most adorable little girls possibly ever.  We did a kids program for them involving a couple of dramas and games, but we were very surprised to find out they had a special dance to show us also. Correction that was the most adorable thing ever! Then we hopped on the metro and headed back to the church we stay at for a goodnights rest.

Tuesday 11th of November

                Today was a special day because all the teams staying in Kolkata met for a meeting that is called corporate. It was a very awesome time of sharing testimonies, fellowship with other students focused on what God has called them to do in Kolkata, and a group time of worship that was much needed. The meeting did not stop there each team was paired up with other groups for a giant time of evangelism in the city. There were a total of 16 teams at this meeting and each has their own zone to do ministry in that way the entire city can be targeted at one time. Our group went from 10 students to about 32 people, and because of this we headed to a busy train stop to do a time of open air. Such a great time and what made that all worth it was that 2 people asked Jesus into their hearts, and when all the teams came back together we found out that the total number of people who accepted Christ that day was 16!!! God was moving on this day, and all praise to Him because it was not because of our dramas or speeches that they wanted Jesus, it was all the Holy Spirits moving them. We are so grateful to be just a small piece in something so big that is changing the world.

Wednesday 12th of November

                Now today was our free day! Again some of us went out and others decided to spend the day resting and refreshing in order to be ready for the upcoming time of evangelism. Always good to have an extended quiet time! A great day to reflect and prepare though.

Thursday 13th of November

                Morning began with intercession and a time of worship, and after that we started the teams planning for the next couple of days. See the students were given this morning to plan for upcoming ministries they would like to help in and be a part of through the following Monday. Team 1 planned out this afternoon and we had a time of personal evangelism like handing out tracts, and 1 on 1 witnessing to people that lived around the neighborhood of the weekly kids ministry we have. Then we headed up onto the rooftop for our time of kids ministry. We taught the story of Daniel and the lion's den, and explained that when Jesus is in our hearts He will never leave us or forsake us no matter how bad the situation looks. The sad part was saying good bye because this was the last time we would be able to come to this location and see these kids before we left for Nepal.

Friday 14th of November

               

Today was a great, and it started off by the whole team heading to a local church to build a bathroom for them. There were two hired men assisting in the build, and had already done. We did help quite a bit though ,and then we had to stop because we needed to split into two teams in order for one team to stay and have a kids program with the church and the other was to meet up with another pastor for a time of open air preaching. Both went spectacular at the open air 1 brave man came forward and wanted to accept Jesus into his heart, while the team at the kids program enjoyed their time also with the children. We also were able to enjoy some wonderful Indian cuisine some of us twice depending if we went with the open air preaching group. Any day someone gets saved it is a great day and that is why today was so great!

Saturday 15th of November

                It was an awesome experience today as we were able to meet the team that would be in our zone after us and also to be able to cook for them. We all enjoyed lunch while getting to know the team and then we got to pray for them as a group, and they right after prayed for us. Such an

awesome time to get the discuss what God had used us to do and to hear the vision God had put in the groups heart. We then went to the local soccer field where we had held previous ministries before, but this time with a different plan in mind. The whole group brought trash bags and began picking up trash in order to show that we appreciated their openness to us, and to usher in the gospel by doing something physical for them. Some kids loved it and jumped in to help in the efforts which helped out a lot. After that we played with the kids and some had a small soccer match. Great night of making a physical difference and getting to be Jesus' hands and feet to these kids. We want our walk to prove more than our talk.

                                                                                                                   

Sunday 16th of November

                Our last Sunday in India was similar to the first. We attended the same church that first open their doors to us during our first Sunday in town. It was a great service we were again asked to preach and lead worship, and it was such an honor to get to encourage the church here. This same

church was the one as doing local open airs and personal evangelism times we were able to get the people who were interested info in order to attend this church. After this we went back to the place where we did our first open air preaching, and held a kids program for the kids there. The kids loved the crafts and songs. It was impactful to be able to go back to a place where we had preached to also have fun with the kids. By doing this the message of Christ's love for us has a tangible picture to it. We did not come to teach a new religion, but to express the love that the Father has and wants a relationship. Such a great way to end our last Sunday here and knowing that we were able to help the church here.

                                                                                                                                       

INDIA OUTREACH WEEK 3 UPDATE

Week Number 3 of India

Monday 3rd of November

                As usual Mondays have been the day of rest for the group and that did not change this week. Some did head to a local mall we found that week, while others stayed at the church and also went to play basketball with some of the new friends we made. Pretty chill day to prepare for what God had in store for the upcoming week.

Tuesday 4th of November

                This morning we split into 3 different groups and hopped onto the train to embark on an epic prayer walk.  Little did we know what God had in store but we were ready! While on our own journeys one of the teams was practicing their Hindi, which is the national language of India, met a extremely

nice local man. After talking for awhile he stated that he would like to help in any way possible and we talked it over and decided that we would meet the next day for a possible time of food distribution. We then had lunch and finalized all preparations for that nights kids ministry. We did a skit of "House on the Rock" for the kids and explained that when you build your life on Jesus and what the Bible says then when bad things happen it won't be able to shake you, because Jesus always has our back! Those kids are just beyond awesome and are always a highlight of any day to spend time with.

Wednesday 5th of November

                The plan for this morning was to finish all our sermons and to prepare to give "open air" Gospel messages. Great morning of hearing from God and getting to get ready for the busy upcoming couple of days of ministry. Then after we headed to meet the man from the previous day in order to find a spot for the food distribution and to see if there were any new possible sites for ministry. So we again headed for the most fun trains in the entire world. Let me tell you the youth of India makes anyone feel like a movie star. Every kid runs up to you and wants to take pictures and you to write your name on their papers. So precious and such a great time to be Jesus hands and feet and a great way to talk about His love to them by loving on them in person. Directly from that stop we headed to a church we had previously been to in order to lead the service. We led the worship and preached, and it is always such a great time of refreshment to fellowship with believers here by where we are staying.

Thursday 6th of November

                We finally found more than one translator, praise God, and we met them the previous day while planning the food distribution. Come to find out they live right down the road from us yet we met them a couple of towns away. We had a time of personal evangelism with our new translator at the train station. It went very well, for one of the first times we could fully communicate with anybody in order to share the Good News. We then headed to meet a pastor who we had preached at his church for the last two Wednesdays, in order to do a time of open air evangelism. We visited, for our open air time, a little group of houses right along the railroad which none of the people had heard the Gospel message until that day. Two people asked Jesus into their hearts and publicly came forward in front of their families. What an honor it is to be a part of times like these. We all fall short, but God still uses us
in our weakness or in ways we would have never thought possible. Directly from here the pastor took us to his house and we were given the best chai tea ever. We then had to rush across town in order to be on time to a bible study we were to lead that night. We did a couple
worship songs then had a time of group prayer with them. All in all this was one of the best days since being here!

Friday 7th of November

                The days had been getting longer and longer, but it was well worth it because more and more people were accepting the message of Jesus that we were blessed to share with them. We had a time of intercession around 3 in the afternoon and from that we went to the local train station and held a time of open air evangelism. This night did not differ from past nights again two people accepted Jesus into their hearts. We were also able to pass out a ton of tracts and help people get plugged in to local churches in the area.  This is what God called us here to do and we were doing exactly that!

Saturday 8th of November

                This morning began like all great mornings do with a time of worship and then intercession. We then got ready to go to our food distribution site. A couple of us went a little early in order to get all the supplies we would need. This was not the usual food distribution because we had a kids program first and then a time of open air evangelism before handing out the food. We stayed at this location for quite awhile to spend time with the kids, and talk with all the adults who also were just presented with the free gift of salvation also the choice that comes with it. Had a blast with the kids some of us played tug-o-war, while others just played music for the kids. From here we split into 2 teams and one went to another location for an open air evangelism time, and the other headed to a church to lead worship. The open air went great another girl asked Jesus into her heart, so the entire day was summed up in just moment. If all of heaven parties when some accepts Jesus, we sure as well better be excited too. Lives are not the same not only the people in India, but us as students are forever changed as well.

                                                                                                                                               

Sunday 9th of November

                This Sunday was going to be our busiest day yet and no better way to start it off then at church. Then right after service we headed outside and had a huge field kids program that totaled seventy plus kids! We did the story of Jonah and The house on the Rock, followed by an older kids craft and younger kids coloring time. We then had a blast doing relay races and yes everyone joined in even the leaders.

During this church service we realized that there was another YWAM team at the

church too so they stayed for the whole kids club too. The church then cooked us up some great Indian food to say thanks for the kids program!  After this we headed back to church we are staying at as a little rest time for the night to come. Again we split into two teams one again went to a house church then the other group headed out to the train station for some personal evangelism time. God is so great, before leaving we prayed that He would send the people He wanted to speak to through us into our path that night. Let me just say He did exactly that! Three people received Jesus into their hearts other were told how to find the local churches. While having a conversation on the Gospel with a man, he told the students he was talking to, "I don't know why I am even talking to you in all honesty, I never walk this way coming home its always too busy." He not only invited those students for dinner to his home the next night, but also became a lifetime friend. This is in part some of the things that are changing all of us students, as we offer the Gospel that has the power to change generations, the reactions are lasting and changing us! Stay tuned into the blog for all updates and praise reports. All the praise to our Father for the gift of Jesus, that now those who were once blind may now see and in turn go preach in His name!

                 

                      

DTS OUTREACH TO INDIA WEEK 2

Week 2 in India                

Monday 27th of October

                This Monday was a rest day, or Sabbath if you will, due to having ministry on Sundays. We all did a variety of things, some went and explored some more of Kolkata and some also others stayed back to catch up some necessary reading. Not too much goes on during these off days, just preparing for a upcoming wonderful week of ministry.

Tuesday 28th of October

                Started the week of right with a morning of worship and great intercession, followed by afternoon of open air Bible reading. The Bible reading in public is such a ice breaker to begin to explain to people not only why we are here, but also to present the message of Jesus clearly to them. Later today we had our first kids ministry with some of the greatest kids worldwide! We were blessed by getting to act out the story of Jonah and the whale accompanied with coloring sheets, followed by a exciting time of duck-duck-goose.

Wednesday 29th of October

                Started this day by Bible reading in the streets ,so yes this morning did not differ from past mornings by any means. Though it really helps to read publicly because people everywhere knew who we were and knew a little about the Bible also. In the afternoon into the evening we went to our ministry sight where we held a kids ministry. Let me tell you these kids love duck-duck-goose, and foreign students attempting to speak Bengali, we also did a drama and story of the "Good Samaritan". I know some readers are wondering things like "where do they eat every night?" and let me tell you, Thank God for Ujan's!!! We also cook at the church we are staying at quite often for lunch and dinner, but tonight was a special treat. We went to a restaurant named Chaplin's it was extremely good, and change of pace for those adventurous students.

Thursday 30th of October

               

Great morning, a time of preparation and then some street Bible reading. The Bible reading was becoming more and more popular by the people who live around us. We kept returning to certain spots that had good results previously ,and because of this, we made friends locally and some invited us for food and tea. How great God is that any situation can be used to talk about this Great News we know of, and to share it with the world. Just wait this night gets better! We were once again asked to lead a church service this time it was in a neighborhood by us. Such a fun service they also did worship songs but in Bengali so it was so awesome to be a part of that. Best of all 2 people asked Jesus into their hearts after the message, so great to be used by God especially in our weakness. Easily the highlight of the week so far! This is the exact reason we came to India as harvesters in very plentiful harvest fields! Thank You Jesus!!!

Friday 31st of October

       

         Friday started off a little easier with the ministry for the day taking place again at the location we have for the kids. This time we told the story of David and Goliath. We used the story to show Jesus will never let you down and with him in your heart not even a giant can stop what God has planned for you! The best part was a couple of local teenagers had to translate for us. After when we were thanking them they answered that they were glad to because it was for God, and by helping translate they were helping God. How encouraging to hear and even a little "self check" to make sure that we are always viewing it that way, to always be ready to help even if it doesn't look beneficial to us in the moment because the outcome is always to glorify our Creator.

Saturday 1st of November

               

On this Saturday we divided into 3 teams led by students and the students picked then decided on a type of personal evangelism they felt God was leading us into. One group went to the local square and held a time of worship and Bible reading. Again reading the Bible in public is like a huge magnet that draws people to ask questions. That afternoon we headed to a soccer (football) field about a 15 minute walk from the church we stay. Playing soccer around cows was quite an experience but one we won't soon forget. Part of the group played worship music while the others played a pickup game with the guys there, and then the opportunity to explain why we're here was more than easy to explain.

Sunday 2nd of November

                Today started what was to be a very busy Sunday we had to split into two groups. One went to a church near our "kids club" and the other headed to a small house church where we met the most amazing guy who said he would translate for us whenever we needed. Which could not have come at a better time, God definitely knew what we needed and provided for us. That night we again went to the square as a team this time and held a night worship time and passed out tracts that are in Bengali to everyone who stopped. That way if we could not give the Gospel in English then we could still handout the Gospel in Bengali!

Week in review

                This was the greatest week so far easily due to the fact that people accepted Jesus into their heart. India is getting more and more normal so much less culture shock this week. The trains no one will get used to but still an experience riding those! Thanks again to the supporters due to you all of us could be here spreading the love of God. I also wanted to apologize personally as the student who is to be keeping up with the blog, I have done a poor job of keeping you all involved and informed. Thank you for all your prayers and continue to pray for unity as a body of Christ and for seeds that will produce a 100% crop. People that will accept Christ and begin to spread this love across India! Til' next time!

DTS Outreach to Kolkata, India week 1

Blog weekly recap

                * Tuesday 10/21

Welcome to India! After multiple plane rides we safely arrived around 2am in Kolkata to meet our Mega Cities organizers. They then took us to where we would be staying for the next month, Church of the Nazarene. We had a brief meeting to explain the region we get to minister to and a refresher on "Do's" an "Do Nots".  After that most of us caught up on our sleep trying to get adjusted to the 12 hour time difference. That night for dinner we found a restaurant named Ujans with great food and it was very clean which is very important in a new and foreign country!  

                * Wednesday 10/22

                The real fun began on Wednesday as we went further into the city into region 1 to buy appropriate ministry clothing. This was the first real taste of India and I think we hit the ground running. We were blessed enough to have a taxi driver who we were able to talk about  Jesus with and wanted our phone number to stay in contact with during our time here. After all the shopping was done we had the great experience to find a way back to church we are staying at. God is always good in providing people to help and multiple people graciously helped get us all safely back home. The people are beyond friendly and helpful. The Indian people especially loved the fact that some of us were trying to learn Hindi phrases in order to somewhat communicate. An excitement filled Day 2 in the books!

                * Thursday 10/23

                Day 3 in the city of Kolkata brought its first ministry opportunities and this consisted of a day of open air Bible reading and a group to prayer walk in order to lay a foundation for the rest of our ministry. God opened up doors with groups of people who were intrigued by what we were doing and gave us the opportunity to openly talk about Jesus. The biggest surprise was that most of whom we talked had heard of Jesus; but were so open they believed not only in Jesus, but all gods. For lunch we again returned to, the soon to be favorite spot, Ujans and dinner we had the pleasure of cooking our first meal in the new living quarters.

                *Friday 10/24

                Friday no matter where you live is always a wonderful day this Friday did not disappoint. We decided to head to the far parts of our zone and this required an exciting ride on Indian Train. The ride to, was fun with very little other passengers due to a awkward travel time, but after a morning of prayer walks in this neighborhood the ride back was drastically different. During our morning  prayer walks one of our groups ran into a rickshaw driver who gave us a flyer to attend his Christian church.  If the ride up there was fun then this made the ride back comparable to an amusement park in excitement! There was standing room only and quite a bit more passengers, but a great experience which none of us will forget! Day 4 again involved a food stop at the delicious Ujans and  Bible reading in the afternoon.

                * Saturday 10/25

                Started off the morning as usual with a great time of worship, and this day began the group starting to lead for ministry. Some groups hopped on the train for Bible reading outside our neighborhood and others went to the local square and held open air worship and reading of the Bible. Indian people are extremely kind and often would invite our groups to eat at their homes and would offer us chai tea at the nearest tea shop.  Every group finished this day with more Bible reading in the streets which is planting lots of seeds as we can easily share what we are doing.

                * Sunday 10/26

                This Sunday we were told to meet the pastor at the train station, of who we were asked to lead the service with worship and the sermon. The pastors wife showed us the way to the church which is not very far from where we are staying, but to our groups amazement it was the exact church the rickshaw driver had invited us to. Crazy sometimes how God arranges things without us realizing it til it happens. The service was amazing and we were incredibly blessed to worship with these group of believers, and it was such a great time of God refreshing us for what He has next for us!

                Over all a great week to begin our time here thanks to all the supporters and mostly to God for giving us this opportunity. Be in prayer for the people here so that we may convey Jesus as the only path to the Father as the Way, Truth and Life. That the seeds being planted will produce lasting fruit, and for the Holy Spirit to go before us preparing people's hearts. Also for the group overall for continuing to stay unified and strength to do what God has called us to do, and for the leaders for rest and wisdom. Again thank you to all those that have generously given to make this possible, and for the past and future prayers. Stay tuned for the coming weeks news and exciting announcements of what God is doing through us in India and Nepal! God Bless!

India and Nepal, DTS 2014 Outreach

DTS Outreach
The DTS is getting ready to leave on October 19 for their 2 month outreach to Kolkata, India and Kathmandu, Nepal. God has been faithful to provide for the finances for each of the students and staff.  While in Kolkata the 13 member team will be working with YWAM's Megacity outreach.  Every 2 years YWAM targets a large metropolitan area and encourages YWAM bases to send teams to invade the city with the gospel.  Our team will be joining forces with other YWAM bases from across the world to spread the message of God's love.  Please remember to pray for the team each day and pray for the churches we will be partnering with to do God's work.  On November 19 the team will travel to Kathmandu to partner with YWAM and the great work they are doing.

Short term teams
During the next 4 months our base will be hosting several YWAM teams and church groups.  They will be working alongside of us in the ministries that we conduct each week.  Pray that they will have rich and rewarding experiences as they venture into new ministries and live in a different culture.

New YWAM Base
Our base has located a property that we are in the process of buying.  We are very excited about the location and if all goes as planned construction will begin in 2015 with our goal to have it available for our July DTS. We give thanks to God for this land and we know that the new base  will be a blessing to all who come. It will have room for about 50 people and will have a large meeting room as well as a big kitchen to better serve our students and the teams that come to work with us.  Pray that all of the final transactions, construction plans and permits needed will go well.

YWAM Antigua Ministry Updates

Bruce Ahlberg

We have a new group of DTS students from 5 different countries with us for the next 5 months. It is a great mix of cultures and for the first time we have more men than women. While we conduct the DTS we also have a Community Bible study that meets once a week. We ask the visiting teacher to conduct the evening Bible study to give the attendees a little flavor of what a DTS is like. They have appreciated the teachings and the time of fellowship provided. Our Bible distribution has almost reached the entire city of Ciudad Vieja. We have given away 1,300 Bible since we started in this year. We will continue making this ministry part of our work as the funds come in to purchase the Bibles. While visiting families we often find situations that need attention through prayer,
additional visits and providing food, clothing or other articles to help meet pressing needs of families. The family in the picture is a single mom with 5 children. Her husband died 4 years ago and she is doing all she can to provide for her children. They live in a one room metal home with a dirt floor. Very difficult living conditions for anyone. Its families like this that we offer help with donations that are sent for this purpose.

Kalissa Scott- Discipleship Training School (DTS)
We finished our last DTS on July 4 and six students graduated. It was a blessing to get to know them
and be able to work with them over the last five months. We now are beginning our next DTS with new staff and students.  Our prayer is to see this team unified in it’s desire to know God more and to share that message with the world. Please pray for us as we start the school and prepare for outreach in India!

Dayle Annand
Soup run has been busy! We’ve hosted teams from YWAM and other ministries at least 2 nights a
week and often 3 nights a week the entire summer. God provided for one of our guys who has had a
serious medical condition to not only get his surgery but also receive 2 weeks of after care. We offered to continue to help him if he wanted to get off the street but he wanted to return. Sometimes its difficult! But, God did not call us to change their lives, and we can’t anyway only God can, but to love them the way Jesus does. There are times it gets discouraging, this isn’t a ministry for those who need to see lots of fruit, but then He encourages us! One night I had prayed that God would show me something encouraging. At the end of soup run we had run out of food when a woman came to us and needed food. We told her we didn't have any and one of the guys jumped up and divided his meal with her! God’s is so good!

Susy Ayala

During the Evangelism Boot Camp, I was able to interpret for the students during their Outreach at the park. During one afternoon, after the Open Air sermon had already been given, a gentleman in suit and tie decided to accept Jesus Christ. It was interesting, because he hadn’t heard any of the message, and had just gotten there when the invitation was given; but he wanted to accept Christ. When we started to talk to him, we found out that he had been a Christian for 30 years and he wanted prayer. He was very discouraged because he did not have a job to support himself. As a result, he had to live in a nursing home. He told us that he had told God that morning that if He did not intervene in his situation, he did not want to live anymore. We prayed for him and one of us offered to go pick him up on Sunday to go to Church. He was very happy to know that he would go to Church and his face had lit up after praying for him.

Renzo and Emma
Renzo and I are very thankful for the great things God is doing at the YWAM Antigua base. It`s been two months since we started to work with Moms of all ages every week. This is a time the women enjoy fellowship, learning about God and also how to make things that they could sell or use for their homes. We are so happy to see this group of ladies growing each week, how they interact with one another and their desire to learn new things.
We are also staffing the Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM Antigua, Guatemala. We have twelve students from different countries and they all are excited to learn more of God and have a close relationship with Him. The Outreach phase will take place in India and Nepal. Please pray for us, if God wants us to go to India, He will open the way!

Aaron and Brianna

I, Aaron, have been running our homeless coffee shop (facebook.com/CafeRefrescante) and have been catching vision with our partners Mark and Dayle about how we can further the ministry. We currently have 2 homeless volunteers that we disciple. When I’m not working there, I work from home on design. I recently updated our YWAM base website (www.ywamantigua.com).
My wife Brianna, recently graduated from the DTS and has now been working alongside me at the cafe and does children’s ministry at a few locations. She recently got a Teaching English as a Second language certification and thus teaches our staff as well as at a school in Antigua for a bit.

Mark Annand
The End Is Near... OK, the world may not end today, but it will basically end for thousands of people who will die today. With that in mind, look at the following two verses back to back:
Matthew 7:14 “...narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Matthew 9:37 “...The harvest truly [is] plenteous, but the labourers [are] few;”
Both verses contain the word “few”. There are a few workers bringing in the harvest and only a few finding the way to eternal life. What if there were many workers? Many more may find the way to life. Jesus wanted us to pray that God would send more workers to bring in the harvest of souls. Those workers need to be trained. That’s why I’m excited about our first YWAM Evangelism Boot Camp. We had our first school in July of this year. Three wonderful students attended and were equipped with some evangelism power tools. We had them out street preaching, giving out tracts, talking to individuals about the gospel as well as taking daily classes. We also had plenty of fun. We got the gospel out to hundreds of people and a relative few of those did pray to receive the Lord. Hmmmm.... A few students, a few workers, a few praying for eternal life. What if we had many students next time? What if one of the next “few” was you?

Trevor Hill
A ton has happened in these past few months, our DTS went to Costa Rica, Panama, and Lake Atitlan here in Guatemala, and God used us to do some amazing things. Over the two months we took part in so many different ministries, but one of my favorite things that we got to do on the outreach was distribute baskets filled with food to poor families around the lake. It was so incredible to see how thankful they were, and I hope I get the chance to do it again soon. The second DTS of the year has already started. This first week has been amazing, and I can’t wait to see all of the things God is going to do through this group when we go to India for our outreach.

David and Shawn King
Dave and Shawn saw the first group of students graduate from the literacy class they host, and had the joy of watching their students read the Bible for the first time. David has also been keeping busy in the YWAM kitchen and Bible distribution. The Kings are currently in the process of applying for temporary residency in Guatemala, and would appreciate prayer that God would expedite and assist them through this complicated process.

Eder and Carolina

Children’s Club
The joy in a child is something that I couldn’t buy. On Wednesday, it was the third time that we met with children under 9-year-old. This is because children were getting older and already have so many others. It is a great blessing because there are many children who are looking for and want to know more about God. We now have three kids club twice a week.

Alotenango Club
We also work with children of various disabilities. Our biggest joy whenever we return is that they remember the songs that we teach them and put into practice what they learned of God. They share with more children of God’s wonder.

Mission in San Pablo
On one of our trips to San Pablo, we had the opportunity to meet a family with four children. The father of their house had promised to his family to finish building his house and to change his attitude towards them. He wanted to be a better father and husband but failed to do so because of alcohol. One night, the father began to physically beat his children and his wife in the back of the house. In the early morning, they had to sleep in the street. The next day one of the youngest children came to our meeting and told us with tears in their eyes of what had happened that night with his family. The same afternoon we talked to the man and shared how he needed to leave his life of drinking. After a long talk with him, he began to cry for his situation and accepted Jesus. This is why we like this ministry with children and family.
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