When God calls you out of your comfort zone, do you follow Him?

With YWAM San Deigo/Baja, you could answer God's call by completing our discipleship training school (DTS). A Christian gap year program and missions training experience for any young adult looking to deepen their faith and grow with God, DTS is your chance to take control of your God-given talents and put them to work to mission to the nations.

Spiritual Transformation for Young Adults

Would you surrender everything you know - everything that makes you feel secure - and obey God when He says, "go"? Are you willing to take that leap of faith, believing He will catch you?

It’s scary, to live with that kind of trust, to be that blind. It's nerve-wracking to follow the voice of the Lord even if you don’t know exactly what He is doing or where He is leading you. It takes a special kind of trust.

But so often, following that still, small voice in the hardest moments leads to the most growth. When we leave behind everything we know, surrender everything comfortable to us, and step into His will, He meets us there.

God Created us to Take Charge, Not Shy Away

God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. In fact, He calls us to be the exact opposite.

From the beginning of time until now He has asked His children to live out our faith. To follow Him blindly into the unknown. To press forward and keep walking hand in hand with him through tribulation. To stop holding on to what is comfortable and to start holding on to Him. To be faithful to Him even when we don’t see where He is taking us next.

But the question is, are we really willing to allow Him to take us to those places? Is our heart condition in a state of surrender to what God’s will is for our lives, rather than our own will?

If we are honest, thinking about discomfort creates an anxiety that kind of dwells in our gut. We don’t like pain. We don’t like struggle. We don’t like difficulty. It’s easier to avoid these things or to not step out at the risk of being hit in the face with any of these. Sometimes even at the cost of disobedience to God, we stay put.

Denying ourselves, picking up our cross, and following Jesus just feels all too uncomfortable — so in many cases, it’s just easier to not do it. To instead follow God in a lukewarm manner.

Listening to God's Word to Live in Discomfort as Jesus Christ Did

Yes, it can feel easier to ignore God's call. But what about the blessing we receive from stepping out in obedience to God?

We focus much on the difficulty or discomfort that it could potentially bring us, and completely miss the fact that, in following God's call, we will experience more of who He is as we submit to his leadership. Every time God calls us to do something scary, something out of our comfort zone, he promises us something incredible: that He will be there with us.

Whether it's something as simple as opening your Bible every morning - sacrificing that little bit of extra sleep to spend time in His word - or uprooting your entire life to follow Him to the other side of the world to experience true Christian community within a Christian gap year program, God promises to manifest Himself to us as we obey.

God is a good Father. He doesn’t call us to situations that cause us discomfort simply because He wants to make our lives hard. He calls us toward uncomfortable obedience so that we can experience His power, comfort, and joy.

He calls us to this so we can experience His faithfulness and conform to the likeness of Jesus as we do. When God calls us out of our comfort zone, He is inviting us into deep and vibrant joy. A life of faith and obedience isn’t a comfortable life, but it is a rich and vibrant life saturated with the presence of God.

YWAM San Diego/Baja's Christian Gap Year Programs

For decades, our two beautiful campuses just south of the U.S./Mexico border have welcomed thousands of students searching for a meaningful gap year experience. Our flagship program, discipleship training school (DTS), is the Christian gap year program recent high school graduates need to own up to their discomfort and kickstart their futures in global missions.

Our DTS is a 5-and-a-half-month-long experience that starts at our campuses at either Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, or San Antonio Del Mar near Tijuana, Mexico. From community service with local non-profit organizations to attending church services, students will serve alongside staff and their peers and learn the skills necessary to become lifelong missions leaders.

DTS is broken into two distinct phases: the campus phase and the outreach phase.

The Campus Phase: Laying Foundations in a Christ-Centered Community

DTS students stay in dormitory-style housing for the first part of DTS. Here, they study the Bible, take elective courses, partake in small group discussions, and enjoy free time at the beach or around town - all while earning college credit.

The goal of the campus phase, also called the lecture phase, is to prepare for a cross-cultural experience and learn the skills needed to disciple in their everyday lives.

YWAM San Diego/Baja offers the following DTS electives:

When you're done with the campus phase, your DTS adventure takes off.

Putting Your Leadership Skills to the Test in the Outreach Phase

During the outreach phase, participants embark on a profound journey. Students will experience the unique opportunity to bring their newfound missional perspective to the nations.

You'll encounter communities of people who have yet to experience the Gospel's embrace. The outreach phase offers an unparalleled chance for students to reflect on the heart of God and immerse themselves in daily worship and service endeavors.

For more details about DTS or to learn more about outreach destinations and activities, we encourage you to explore our DTS FAQs. This comprehensive guide offers insights into YWAM's discipleship training school.

Answer God's Call with Confidence with a YWAM DTS

What is God calling you to? Will you allow obedience to God to take you into unknown places? To open your eyes to things you could never imagine doing on your own?

No matter which way he is tugging you, keep your eyes away from the cost of leaving your comfort zone and instead set your eyes on God. Take that first step of faith in the direction he is leading you with our DTS - an immersion gap year program and missions training stepping stone.

Do a DTS Today!

Are you interested in getting out of your comfort zone and doing a discipleship training school with YWAM San Diego/Baja? Apply today or contact our team for more information about the program, our mission trips, and other training options for college credit for recent high school graduates and older.

Words by Kristy Lagarto.

Kristy staffs at our Ensenada campus and works in the areas of DTS and communications.

Photos by Tiffany Lambert.

Tiffany staffs at our San Antonio Del Mar campus in Tijuana, Mexico, and works with communications. She also leads a Photography Discipleship Training School.

Comfort Zones are Overrated: A Christian Gap Year Program Experience