Devoted To Him

January 2011 Outreach

2011-06-07T11:22:00.000Z

The last two months the DTS have been away on outreach. The outreach phase is the opportunity to put into practice everything the students have learned on the lectures. It is their chance to serve the people they work with and the community they are in and to show a bit more of what God's love actually is all about.

As the DTS Centre in Harpenden we have a focus on sending teams to Europe, although this doesn't happen for every DTS we always spend some time in the UK as it is very important to us to invest in the Country we are in, so they can give something back.

This School we saw 2 teams head out. The first team spent time in Devon and Northern Ireland before flying to Kenya and Tanzania. In Devon they stayed in a small village with a larger town next door, they helped out with the churches there, worked with the youth groups, worked on a Shire Horse farm and did lots of community based projects. In Northern Ireland they did much the same, lots of praying through the streets and working with churches.
When they arrived in Kenya they worked hard with an orphanage, doing lots of practical work and spending time with the children. In Tanzania they been based in Arusha in the north of Tanzania, working with the Masaai community, with churches and are currently based at the YWAM campus.

The second team spent the first few weeks in South Africa, working with a farm in Durban and then with a coloured community in Worcester. I joined them for 5 days in Worcester and had the chance to join them with their work and spend some good hang out time with them. They stayed on the site of a ministry called Kabutz, they are based in the middle of a township, educating and serving the people living there.

It's been a wonderful time for them, they've learnt to step out in their giftings, to step up and facilitate events, they've had experience in leading a team and I hope all grown in their relationship with God and their own character.

January, February, March 2011

2011-06-01T12:44:00.000Z

2011 kicked off for me with the arrival of 20 students for the January DTS, all hungry and wanting to get closer to God and his love. I have staffed DTS's before but this is the first one I have led. To be the leader of a school means you have the responsibility of organising the timetable, the speakers each week, connecting with the other people on the campus, heading up the staff team, keeping on top of the finances and all the admin that comes with a school.

As well as the practical side of the school each student has a mentor over the 6 months and it is my job to check in with them and make sure people are being challenged in their walk with God, that they are happy, working well and growing. I have the responsibility of the development of all 20 students. If something comes up with a students that the staff or the mentor can't deal with I step in and help them sort it.

All of that is just for the first three months while the lectures are happening. When the outreach teams go away it is my role to keep in contact with them, making sure they are doing well, supporting the staff, helping them with any issues that come up, visiting the teams, keeping the campus posted and planning the last couple of weeks of the school and the graduation when the teams get back.

One of the things I have had to learn quickly is to make decisions on my own. I am someone who likes to talk things over, even if I am sure of an action I like to run it by someone just to check. Leading the school on my own meant I have to sometimes make instant decisions without that, trusting my own judgement. If someone asks me a question on what to do it is ok to say "let me think about it" and get back to them. I would always panic before and think I had to give an instant answer, sometimes I do, but since I am an internal processor I think of solutions once I have had time to think and that is ok, it's how I am made. The challenge with that is to make sure I do get back to them and give an answer, it can be easy for me to forget something when I have a lot going on.

My style of leadership is very pastoral, I like to get alongside people and encourage them, listen to them and walk them through problems, I'm the one in the background leading from the back making sure no one is left behind. Over the last few months I've had to step up in the ways of leadership that don't come so naturally to me, to be the one stepping out first and taking them with me. Sometimes that is way out of my comfort zone, especially to begin with but it does get much easier. There have been many times these months where my comfort zone has been left way behind me but I learn so much from it.

This year has left me more confident of my leadership skills, and taught me much about leading a team and not just being part of it. I have led groups of students before but never a staff team so this was very good for me to get more experience.

I will post an update about the students outreach phase this afternoon. They have been in Newcastle, Devon, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.

London, Spain and France.

2010-01-12T18:34:00.000Z

We are halfway through our outreach now, so far we have spent three weeks in London, two weeks in Spain and on Thursday we sail to France or the remaining 5 weeks.

It's been going really well. The homeless project in London was a huge success, it touched many hearts, people that came to eat and people who were serving. I myself went up to Birmingham for Christmas to celebrate my sisters engagement with our family and his.

After the three weeks in Notting Hill we flew to Palamos in Spain, it is a small town near Barcelona. Here we have been doing ministry on the streets, working on the Next Wave, doing lots of maintainence and getting her ready to sail. I've worked in the engine room, blitzed the saloon (the main meeting/eating/movie watching/everything else room on board) cleaned it from top to bottom (my favourite thing). The team are doing well, they are growing loads and loving being on board.

God has touched the hearts of many people we've met, we've prayed for many, laughed, cried and shared our visions with each other.

When we arrive in France we will be working hard to build up local contacts with churches and establish a presence in France. It's a spiritually tough place to be in and the boat has had a lot of trouble getting access to the port. This is the first time it's spending a good amount of time in France so we're very excited.

Christmas Update

2009-12-21T16:02:00.001Z

We have just completed week one of outreach, there are three teams going out, one has already left to Italy and I am leading the other two over Christmas. Raphael and I are leading one for three weeks in London and then flying to join s/y Next Wave in Spain before hopefully sailing to France. The second team are with us for the first two weeks and leave for Ecuador shortly before New Year.

The first two weeks in London will be spent with the Earls Court Community Project, over Christmas week they put on meals and fun and games for the homeless in the Earls Court and Notting Hill area. We have spent the last week helping them set up for this, preparing the church and cleaning, making gifts etc.

The two teams will be spending Christmas together but I will leave them in the capable hands of Raph from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day and will return home to my family. I didn't see them last year over Christmas and might not be around next year. It will also be the first Christmas in 4 years where I am not working, so I am looking forward to it very much.

Week 3 we will still be staying in Notting Hill but will be doing our own thing. It will probably involve a lot of work on the streets, over New Year we will go to Trafalgar Square or the London Eye and hang out and chat with people. It's a fantastic opportunity and a wonderful way for everyone to experience New Year. Shortly after that, on 4th January we fly to the Next Wave.

We will spend 7 weeks on board working alongside another DTS from Milan and the School of Worship from Montana. As yet we don't know too much of what we will be doing, a lot of it relies on hearing God's heart for the places we go and acting on that.. I find that usually that is the best way to do outreach, being willing for last minute changes and ready to switch direction at any time.

It's an exciting time, we're all looking forward to it so much, already hearts and attitudes have been changing. I'm confident that God is going to work in the lives of each one of us in very big ways!

Sept '09 DTS

2009-10-04T12:23:00.000Z

The Sept '09 DTS have been here for a week and are having a great time, they are making friends, settling in and having fun.

My friend Andy and I are the assistant leaders of the school, meaning if the school leaders are away for a week or longer we are in charge. It also means we have more responsibility with planning and trainee life. It's all training for when we will lead a DTS ourselves.

Last week was orientation week. They were filled in on campus life and what the next few months will look like. Andy and I taught on Hearing God's Voice and Intercession and did some practical stuff to go with. It was a powerful time.

We are just about to start with week 2, I am very excited to settle into our classroom for the next 3 months and get going properly!

A Brief Summer Update.

2009-09-06T15:57:00.000Z

The summer is passing and it is time to update on the last few months. YWAM England run Wildfire, for young people in the areas around our campus. It is like a youth group, we get together once a fortnight, have fun, play games and learn more about God. It is part of the global YWAM young people movement called Kings Kids.

In July we took our young people to a week camp in Kings Lodge, Nuneaton. Everyone in Wildfire nationally gathered for a boot camp which took the form of your normal Christian summer camp but with a focus on reaching out to certain countries. From the camp three teams went out.. The first to South Africa, the second to Italy and we took a team of 30 youngsters to Malaga and Motril, on the south coast of Spain.

We spent 10 days in Spain, working with an English language academy and showing presentations on the streets.. We played games with a parachute, did face painting, balloon modelling, circus skills and dances. Two of our team got baptised over the time there and we saw God move in huge ways.

I took some time out after Spain and spent some time in Eastbourne, chilling out and walking the coast. Straight from there I headed to Momentum, a summer festival run by Soul Survivor. I worked on the YWAM stand for the week but had the chance to go to the main meetings and a couple of seminars. It made me realise how much I love sharing my heart and the passion I have for what I do.

Now we are in September and rapidly heading towards the start of the Discipleship Training School. So far we have accepted 29 students and are expecting more. They will be coming from 11 different nations all around the world. I'm looking forward to the campus being full again, it will be a fantastic 6 months.

New Blog

2009-06-08T21:53:00.001Z

This blog is currently under a re-vamp. I'm planning on having it up and running at some point, probably a new style.