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JUST SAY YES
I absolutely love leading a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. The more I work with this program, the more I fall in love with it because I see the way the students and staff are impacted and transformed each and every time. As I talk with students who are interested in applying and doing the school I have noticed a common theme- so many are deeply stirred by the idea of signing up for this adventure, but the voice they hear the loudest is the one telling them all the reasons why they should say no.
Fear, Finances, Future plans and everything in between causes them to take a step back before ever taking the leap of faith.
1. Fear Turns to Faith.
It can be so scary to give up all the comforts and convenience of home, to move to a new city or even a new country. Thinking about doing DTS often brings up all the feels, fears and anxieties within us. Is it worth it? What will happen? How will things be? While fear is real, stepping out of our norm, however, gives us a chance to encounter God in a new way. God uses the process of us stepping out in Faith to show us more of who He is.
Fear may be a reality that we face, but it was never meant to be in the driver seat.
Too often we allow it to hinder us from walking towards our calling and our destiny, but once we strip away our comforts and finally face our fears, we get down to the core of really trusting God. This is exactly what God was doing with the Israelites in the wilderness. After bringing them up out of Egypt, He wasn’t keeping them wandering to mess with them or to cause them to suffer. He was stripping away their fear and slavery mentality. One step at a time, God is introducing himself as a good Father and replacing fear with faith and the identity of slavery with the identity of a chosen son or daughter. In the process of going to DTS, God reshapes our fears into faith and draws us into deeper relationship as we take his hand and take the leap.
“With unfailing love you will lead this people whom you have ransomed. You will guide them in your strength to the place where your holiness dwells. ”
2. Financial Worry Turns to Intimate Dependence.
Tuition costs, flights, supplies- it all adds up and I totally get it. The thoughts flood in- Where will all that money come from? I can’t afford this. I don’t want to look lazy and ask people for money. What will people think of me? It’s dangerously easy to find ourselves looking full force towards the need rather than at the One who meets any and every need we could ever have.
We are created to walk not in independence but in intimate dependence on God.
Thinking about foregoing a job and stable income to do DTS seems counterintuitive and even foolish to the wisdom of the world. In the wilderness, God was intentionally stripping away the Israelite’s ability to control and crafting trust within them. Each day they were to gather only as much manna as their household needed-nothing more, nothing less. They had to learn to trust that their only source of provision was God. The middle of the desert is a great place to learn this because they didn’t have anything else to fall back on or put their trust in. Where do you you look to as a source of provision? There’s a temptation to look towards other things beside God as our source of provision, like a job or a specific person or donor, but ultimately God is our source. Not only when doing fundraising, but in the area of all financial provision- our hopes should always be in our God. It is He who provides. When fundraising He brings us into connection with people to partner with what He wants to do. It is up to Him to touch people’s hearts. The pressure is off, all we need to do is lean in and trust. He really is faithful.
“In the evening you will have meat to eat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”
3. An Unknown Future Turns to Fulfilling Adventure.
Is stressing about career and working towards success keeping you from doing a DTS? I promise you, you are not wasting your time or being frivolous by doing a DTS, even if you feel pressure to be investing in your future and your career now. DTS is the greatest investment you can make because you are not only investing in yourself, you are investing in your relationship with God and the future impact you’ll have on others.
By overcoming fear and doubt and doing a DTS, you unlock a fulfilling adventure of discovering more about who God is, what His purposes are for you and how you can partner with God to bring heaven on earth.
The DTS is an amazing foundation for the future and a beautiful season of pressing into intimacy with God like never before. Transitioning the Israelites from slavery to the wilderness was not just about the destination of the Promised Land. It was about the process. God is deeply intentional to bring us into the process of healing, of heart transformation and of shifting our perspective and worldview into alignment with Him and who He is. God met with them there, revealed himself and brought transformation to His people. DTS is all about transitioning us towards the Promised Land of walking in our true identity, authority and calling here on earth. Taking this risk is absolutely worth it. It is trusting the unknown future to a known God and it's the most thrilling adventure.
“And He has brought us to this place and given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ”
Join us for a DTS! YWAM San Diego/ Baja offers a variety of Discipleship Training Schools with focuses so you can grow in your passions while going deeper with God.
The author, Tiffany Lambert, is full time with YWAM San Diego/Baja and leads the Photo-Storytelling DTS.
Just Say Yes: 3 Reasons to Say Yes to a YWAM DTS
David and Daisy (front and center) celebrating with the children and families that take part in their feeding center.
At the dedication ceremony of a Homes of Hope house, the families are encouraged to find ways to bless others with what they’ve been given. David and Daisy Ortiz received their home in 2016. Since then, they’ve done just that.
Three mornings a week, the Ortiz family opens the front door of their home, transforming it into a feeding center for neighborhood children. Around 50 children receive meals in their home each week. Local vendors partner with the Ortiz Family to provide supplies and food.
As David and Daisy began to interact with these children each week, they realized that there was more to the equation. The parents of these young ones needed help, too. So they partnered with another Homes of Hope recipient, named Felipe, to run a six-week marriage enrichment course. Felipe hosted the classes in his home and David and Daisy developed the curriculum and taught each week.
The graduation celebration was recently held at the YWAM San Antonio del Mar campus for the families who completed the marriage course. Claudia, one of the participants, came forward to share her story. No one was prepared for what happened next.
“Pablo and I were discussing separation,” she began. “We didn’t want to live together any longer. We knew it would be difficult for the children but we couldn’t continue on. When David and Daisy came to our house to invite us to the marriage study, we reluctantly went.” She shared how the course transformed their relationship, and how their hearts turned towards each other once again.
“And I want to surprise Pablo with something here at this graduation. Something that Pablo has always wanted but I have refused.” Claudia paused, emotion filling her voice.
"Pablo, will you marry me?"
Gasps of surprise and joy were heard around the room. While common-law marriages are a prevailing custom in many developing nations, Claudia knew that she and Pablo needed to take the next step.
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Pablo responded with “YES!” and the room erupted in celebration! Then, once the excitement died down, two more couples declared their commitment to marriage by getting engaged, too.
The influence of Homes of Hope goes far beyond boundaries of four walls and a roof. When families like the Ortizes open their doors to those around them, the impact can reach to the next generation and beyond.
Are you interested in bringing a team to do a Home of Hope build? Click HERE for more info!
Hope Continues
We have faith. With God, the impossible is possible. We got this. We got this... and then the storm hits and we are back at it again with all the feels, our fears and our scrambling for control.
In reality, there is a fine line between faith and doubt and I’ve faltered between the two more than I care to admit.
When we fix our eyes on Jesus- We can conquer anything. But when our eyes are diverted, we sink. It is a pretty simple formula. One minute confidently walking on water, the next- a terror filled, spiral out of control. It’s funny how life is like that.
When will we learn to remember?
When will we learn, that we were never the ones in control?
We will, when we learn to look again.
Peter confidently cried out to Jesus to call him out on the water. At this point, the storm and the depth of the sea were inconsequential, they were nothing compared to the glory of looking Jesus in the face. He was on a faith high, ready to face anything, until the wind and the waves, began to beckon, picking up speed and dragging his attention away from the gaze of Jesus and onto the danger. He immediately begins to sink.
Did you catch that? When we focus on the circumstances, we sink. When we look at the storm instead of Jesus, we sink. When we look anywhere but Jesus, you guessed it- we sink.
It only takes a split second, but it has dire consequences.
Praise Jesus, we aren’t doomed to our sinking. Praise Jesus, we aren’t doomed to our circumstances or our sadness or even our unraveling. For even though we are a fickle people and we look away- we can look again. The minute we do, that storm doesn’t seem so intense any more. It’s about focus. It's about perspective. It's about our gaze.
Where are you looking to- your circumstances, or your Savior?
Are you interested in taking a season to go deeper in your faith? Check out the DTS and Secondary Course options offered at YWAM San Diego/ Baja.
words + photos by Tiffany Lambert.
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Tiffany is full time staff with YWAM SDB and leads our Photo-Storytelling DTS.
Look Again.
Art has such a powerful way of breaking through its’ medium of communication to speak to the heart + the soul in meaningful ways. Being an artist is not some frivolous distraction from the so called spiritual things- such as being a pastor or a missionary in the traditional sense. It is a calling. God anoints us to create, not only for his glory but for the simple sake of beauty. There’s no secular vs. sacred here, it is God breathing life and creativity into our voice and our art. Art is in essence deeply spiritual, yet we tend to compartmentalize. We separate what we feel as “serving God” on one side and on the other we cling tightly to our passions, our dreams, our desires not wanting to give up control. When God so deeply wants to co-create with us in those things as well, to anoint us to be a voice of truth and beauty in this world.
“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.”
Have you ever noticed: the very first person who is mentioned as being filled with the spirit of God in scripture was Bezalel, an artist! Not only was he filled with the Spirit of God, the word says God fills him with “ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.” Woah. As an artist myself, this blows me away. God not only wants to partner with me in my creativity, He wants to anoint me with skill, with craftsmanship. More than ever this makes me open up to God, and allow Him to play deeper role in my creative process. To give Him the space to breath life, breath creativity, and to give anointing to what I am crafting so that it leaves a deeper impact.
My prayer for you, for me is that God would anoint us, take us deeper and fill us with His spirit as artists. That we would be God honoring in not only what we create, but in our character, in how we make people feel, and in the beauty that we craft.
Take courage my friend, for you are anointed for art.
YOUR GIFT AS AN ARTIST IS NOT SEPARATE FROM YOUR CALLING;
THEY CAN BE ONE IN THE SAME!
Join us for one of our 2 artistic focused DTS run each year in September: the PHOTO-STORYTELLING DTS at our San Antonio Del Mar campus and the MUSIC + MISSIONS DTS at our Ensenada campus.
words + photos by Tiffany Lambert.
Tiffany is full time staff with YWAM SDB and leads our Photo-Storytelling DTS.
Anointed.
I've had some things rattling around in my mind lately. I've had desires to know God on a deeper level and to be known on a deeper level- yet something is holding me back, I feel paralyzed in some ways. I know my desires, I see them within my grasp- yet they are, or feel anyways, unattainable.
Here's the deal: I've become comfortable, paralyzed. With the advent of social media things have changed. I'm not necessarily living in an obvious sin. I'm doing full time ministry, I serve God, I pray, I live by faith for my ministry & finances- but the last few months I've felt like something was missing. I've felt dry. I've felt disconnected, numb. The truth is, I've been reduced to bones.
Sometimes we, or at least myself over here, have this picture of the enemy- that he uses these out of the box ways to hinder us, in our callings and in our life & honestly this is, in many ways, true. Something I have realized however, is that we often times do his job for him. We disqualify ourselves, we take ourselves out of the race. We allow ourselves to be silently paralyzed, without recognizing the connection. I am being honest here friends, I am preaching to myself as well.
I have felt this conviction so strongly lately. When I have a couple of free minutes- I end up on social media. When I wake up, & right before I go to bed- I inevitably end up on social media. Throughout my day I end up there, even when i don't mean to be. I do recognize the irony that this post is being shared on social media & I'm not here to villainize it- but I am here to recognize its dangers.
I am a firm believer that social media is a tool that we can use to bring awareness, to highlight testimony of our God: who he is and how he works. It can be used to build relationships, to share prayer requests, to communicate life happenings, to share joy and sorrows & those are all good things! Social media is not evil, but there is a catch, there is a downfall, when it takes the highest place in our lives. When it eliminates us from feeling anything real, from being able to hold an intentional conversation in person. When it eliminates us from really living a life outside of cyber space. When it does these things, it can be detrimental. Social Media can be like a silent poison, slowly suffocating us, while disengaging us from reality, separating us from who God is or why we are even here on this earth in the first place. As i began to process all of these things, and recognize this in my own life God pointed me to Ezekiel 37.
“The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
”
I've read these verses many times, they are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. I love the idea that the Lord wants to partner with us to bring life, even when he has all the power to do it on his own. I've always associated these verses with calling forth life into those who are dry because they don't know the Lord, but this time God showed me a different side of this. Just because I know the Lord does not mean that I am immune to becoming dry bones. He spoke to me that these verses reference his church as well, his people becoming dry and desolate. When his earnest desire is for them to be lively, vibrant beings.
As christians, we live in the tension between heaven and earth. We live in the tension of being saved + living for the hope of eternity and feeling weary + feeling overwhelmed with the sin and destruction that seemingly reigns in this world. But rather than accepting the way things are, rather than going into dry bones mode- I feel God calling us to a different option. I feel God calling us to wake up. The state of things should fuel us into intercession and the standing in the gap for the state of our community, our city, our nation, our world.
We allow ourselves to be paralyzed and numbed by social media, living like the walking dead. All the while, God is calling us into deeper relationship, into a partnership with him in breathing life into dry bones. This starts with individuals, with the church coming alive, aligning themselves with God, stepping into their identity and destiny and calling others to do the same. When non-believers see someone sold out for Jesus, walking in freedom and their calling it is often irresistible- why then are so many people turned off of Christianity, by the church? Because oftentimes we are walking in religion, not the true life that Jesus Christ brings.
God created us to live in constant, living and vibrant relationship with him. Please church, here me out. Come alive again. Prophecy life and breath into your own lives and then extend that to others. Come alive again and bring jesus into your workplace, your relationships, friendships, assignments, hobbies, days and nights and things will be dramatically different. There is so much more available to us than comfortable christianity, there is so much more for us than dry bones.
WORDS + PHOTOS BY TIFFANY LAMBERT. TIFFANY WORKS WITH YWAM SAN DIEGO/BAJA IN THE AREAS OF DISCIPLESHIP & COMMUNICATIONS.
These Dry Bones.
Jesus had met with this man through a dream, to share His heart and catch his attention. What a beautiful God we serve that He seeks relationship with us.
The Heart of God Revealed in a Dream
"The enemy will often try to snatch up our seasons of waiting, injecting the poison of doubt into our deepest insecurities. So we rush, we strive, we flail around trying to make things happen. We hurry up & wait. Yet, being in a hurry doesn’t bring the fulfillment of God’s promises any faster, it just brings heartache."
Hurry Up & Wait
"All of my life I had allowed other people to dictate who God was and what Christianity meant and I knew as a full time missionary, that I needed to equip myself with the word. Using the inductive study method, was a way for me to forget any preconceived ideas that I had about Christianity, allowing me to form my own perspective and beliefs."
Taste & See.