The second "phase" of the Discipleship Training School is a mandatory 8-12 week missions trip to apply everything that you learnt during the 12-week lecture phase. The heart of DTS is "To know God and make Him known" and this is the "make Him known" part. We have sent teams to countries all over the world doing many different kinds of work and seen God provide through it all! While different YWAM bases approach the process of deciding on an outreach location differently, we decide to simply pray about it and seek God for where He wants us to go. A couple weeks into lecture phase, we will all start praying together about where God would like to send us for this time; and we trust that if He is calling us there He will provide the means for that to happen.
OUTREACH TESTIMONIES: #1 - During base ministry day in Mazatlan, Mexico. We were given that opportunity to go out and do street evangelism. Once put in small teams of 4 or 5, we were expected to let the Spirit guide us to people. My team had already talked and prayed with two people as the night closed. We were traveling down the street when I saw a man standing on the curb shivering and heard God say, “Give him your sweatshirt.” We continued walking, but I still felt convicted to give him my sweatshirt. So when we turned back around towards the base, I saw him still there shivering. My team kept walking but I stopped and asked if he was cold. He shook his head to say yes and I began taking my sweatshirt off. He immediately started to cry and later told us that he had been asking for someone to be sent to him. The symbolism of me taking the sweatshirt off for him is when he knew it was the Holy Spirit. As we prayed over him, he began repenting by himself. He kept asking for the grace of God and at one point he began speaking in tongues. By the end, he committed his life to Christ on that curb with a sweatshirt in hand. Praise God!
#2 - So before outreach, I was in a private school that required my hair to be short, but when COVID hit I decided to grow it out over 2 years because I liked it longer. However, during our lectures, I was inspired to not be afraid of what other people think of me. In Morelia, Mexico I felt a nudge from God telling me to cut my hair. At first I was like, “No way.” But as I surrendered to God, I began to desire to have my hair cut short. I decided that in that moment if I was going to cut my hair, I would use that opportunity to share the Gospel. So Julia, Karla and I went to a Barber shop. I enjoyed my final minutes with my long hair and my barber sat me down. We showed him a picture of what I wanted and he started chopping. With Julia as my translator, I started to share the story of Jesus with him and he was super open to it! He had a lot of questions but resolved at the end to pray and accept God into his heart when he got home in the evening! We showed him a church he could go to and in the end, I actually preferred my hair short. The whole thing was totally worth it to have the opportunity to share the Gospel and to have an eternal soul saved and to be with Christ.
While these are only two examples of what God has done, anyone in YWAM (or the church generally), would jump at the chance to share with you what God can do when you give Him the space to direct your steps.