Week 7 of the DTS

Our 7th week of the DTS is focusing on Spiritual Warfare. Don and Barb Johnson, the base directors of YWAM Nicaragua are our teachers for the week. Their teachings and personal experiences in their years of ministry in Central America are helping the students prepare for the daily warfare as well as what we will be facing on our outrech to Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Adios to Higher Grounds

Today marks the final day of business for Higher Grounds Coffee House. The Coffee House was started by Rob Hastings 8 years ago and has been in its present location for almost 6 years. HGCH served as a place for Christians to gather in a peaceful atmosphere and enjoy great cakes, cookies and other sweet things that you do not find in Guatemala especially if you are a student living with a local family. Beyond that it has been a connecting point for people who are in Antigua for ministry, study or just being a tourist. The last year has been financially very difficult for us as business has slowed because of the economic problems. Our base does not have enough staff to run it and do all the other ministry that we are doing so we have decided to place our focus on those things and pray that God will raise ups someone else to run a coffee house ministry. We thank the Lord for the many lives that have been ministered to through the coffee house and believe that it is still a needed ministry in Antigua.
We will still continue to host the Thursday night worship service in English. Abner has been our worship leader for the past year and he will be getting married next week and leaving for the USA. He has been a vital part of the ministry at Higher Grounds and will be missed by many. We pray God's blessings on him and Katie as they start their new lives.

DTS Week 6

We are fast approaching the midpoint of the lecture phase of the DTS. This week we are blessed to have Judy and Frank Guasca ministering to the students on Inner Healing or what Ywamers call"The Plumbline." Judy comes from Colombia and serve with here husband Frank as base directors of YWAM El Salvador. The students are learning a lot about themselves and what has made them the way they are today both positive things as well as negative things. We will end the week with a time of personal ministry to each student to help them be set free from anything of the past or present that is a hindrance to their walk of faith and the freedom God wants them to enjoy.
We are firming up our plans for the 8 week outreach and are planning to do ministry in Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala. We are looking forward to all that God will do during the next 6 weeks of the lecture phase to prepare us for the outreach.

DTS Week 5

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."
We are now in our fifth week of the DTS and it has been a great time of learning, bonding and seeking God. So far we have had teaching on these areas:
Week 1: Intimacy with God
Week 2: The nature and character of God
Week 3: The Father heart of God and His family
Week 4: Intercession
This week we are learning about Supernatural ministry and it has been awesome. God is moving in our hearts preparing us for the ministry he wants us to be involved in on a daily basis.
We are praying into our outreach and waiting for confirmation of destinations in Belize, Mexico and Guatemala.

Our next DTS will be July 25-December 11, 2010. If you want to be a part of a life changing experience we invite you to go to our website and download our application.
www.ywamantigua.org

DTS 2009

We have just completed our first week of classes for the 2009 Discipleship Training School. Dale Harrison, the base director from YWAM Chico, CA taught on "Intimacy with God" and challenged the students to draw near to God during the next 5 months of the DTS.
We have 5 students attending the DTS from Guatemala, El Salvador, England and the USA. We are blessed with a wonderful group who are hungering for more of the Lord and setting aside this special time to draw near to Him. Please pray for Kate, Kalissa, Carlos, Jordan and Marleni as they make this journey of the heart.

August Update

We are less than one month away from our DTS and we are excited about the students God has given us. We have been praying for 10 students and it looks like we will have 9 coming in September. Four of the students are from Guatemala. They speak Tzutujil as their first language and Spanish is their second language. We are blessed to have them be a part of this life changing experience. Please keep all the students in your prayers as they make final preparations to come.
We hosted a group from Knoxville, TN this month who came to do a construction project with another ministry. They put in some long days of work and accomplished a lot in the short time they were here. We are blessed to be able to have a facility that can accommodate teams comfortably and it is always good to fellowship with believers from different parts of the world who come here.
We will be hosting a group of artists from Pepperdine University on August 14 for a week or so. They have shipped art supplies here and will be distributing them and doing ministry using the talents God has given them.
We are looking for a new ministry site for Higher Grounds Coffee House as we will be vacating our present site at the end of October. We are working with Seeds of Hope Ministry as they will be taking over the operation of the coffee house and will be focusing on ministering to the Guatemalan youth. Please pray that God will open up a perfect place for the ministry to be established and for all the helpers that are needed to carry out the ministry.

July Update

DTS News: The summer is cruising by quickly and we are preparing for the DTS that will begin in September. We have students from the USA, England and Guatemala registered as well as student from Ghana who would like to be here if a visa can be procured. We are excited about the students God has sent our way and look forward to working with them during the 5 months of training. We have some great teachers coming and we believe that God will speak through them to all us, both students and staff. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword and as we sit under anointed teaching it changes lives.

Summer in Antigua: We have hosted groups from Chico, California and Knoxville, Tennessee this summer along with several individuals who have come to Antigua to study Spanish or conduct ministry. The Lord has been faithful to keep the base occupied and has sent volunteers our way to help us with the work. Currently we have a young lady from England working with us for a month. She will be assisting with the teams coming and teaching ESL. We were blessed to have the World Race group pass through the coffee house, all 90 of them! Business has been slow so their visit really helped us financially.

Future of Higher Grounds Coffee House : We have made a decision to close the doors of the coffee house at the end of October when our lease expires. The current owner of the property wants to increase the rent substantially and we are not able or willing to pay what she wants. In addition we will do not have the staff needed to properly run the coffee house with the DTS coming this fall and we want to focus our efforts in other areas. We are praying that God will raise up several people who will carry on the ministry at Higher Grounds. It is a unique ministry and really there is no other place in Antigua that serves the needs of Christians who are passing through or are staying for an extended time and are looking for a safe and pleasent place to study, fellowship and worship in English. Please join us in prayer as we truly desire to see the ministry continue in the hands of another ministry.

Wedding Bells: One of our staff members, Abner, is getting married October 24! We are happy for Abner and Katie and pray that God will bless their union and place them in the ministry he desires for them.