DTS Gathering Report

The Official YWAM Olympic Outreach

“That was such a crazy encouragement this week. Praise God for His power!”

Just one of the comments from a trainee who participated in the second Discipleship Training School (DTS) Gathering in Newcastle.

The Gathering, the second to be held at an Olympic city location, was held from 30 October–5 November 2010. A total of 144 trainees and staff attended from six DTSs in England, Wales, Sweden (Restenas) and Italy (Milano), plus a School Of Evangelism from Norway. Around 20 nations were represented.

AimsThere are several aims of a DTS Gathering:• First, to bring together DTSs from around

the UK and Europe to know God more and in a different setting and then to make Him known.

• Second, to learn from each other – both in terms of the accumulated knowledge of different DTSs, but also in terms of living together in close cross-cultural community for a week.

• Third, to give the trainees a focused week of teaching on evangelism and then send them out to do it. The hope is that during the week each trainee will have their eyes opened about what evangelism can be, and have their fears blown away as they get out and do it.

Newcastle: building the foundations

Gathering Quotes …“This week has been really great. I’ve learned a lot about evangelism – how to do it, where to start, who to talk to.”

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• Fourth, to bless the local church through our service to them.

• Fifth, to prepare the way for a YWAM team to be planted in the future. This means by preparing the ground spiritually, but also in networking with local churches and in seeing some trainees grasp the vision of the team and join it.

• Sixth, through our evangelism to help local non-believers move closer to Jesus.

LogisticsThe basic format of the week was to start each day with worship and/or intercession, followed by teaching on evangelism from one of YWAM England’s leaders.

The afternoons were varied, but included three afternoons of outreach in the city. There was also time to recount stories to do with the outreach, plus some time for small-group processing.

The evenings included several nights of outreach.

OutreachesThe outreaches consisted of a number of options:• Working in a local church (St Barnabas and St

Jude’s), decorating the main hall in preparation for it to become a café in the local community. The church is located in an area of the city with a large university student population, so the aim is to reach out to these students, but

also to mums and tots and other local people.• Treasure-hunting, where we asked God to give a name or an impression about a person and then to lead us to the right person on the streets so that we could minister to or pray with them.• Litter-picking, to bless the local communities.• Door-to-door visiting in partnership with a local church, asking the occupant if they were willing to answer a survey about spirituality, and then seeing

whether doors opened for wider discussion about our faith.

• Working alongside the university’s Christian Union, by giving out invitations to an evening outreach event in a local café.

• A late-night outreach which involved handing out coffee and water to young people coming out of the clubs and bars in the city centre,

getting into conversations with them, and helping them if they were in need.

Highlights• A powerful time of ministry with leaders of many churches in Newcastle. The Holy Spirit turned up in power, and many people were touched and spoken to.• Hearing about some of the amazing things God is doing in Newcastle, among both churches and Christian organisations, and seeing the tremendous unity among the churches there.

• Seeing people’s views of evangelism being turned upside down, and then seeing them go out and put it into practice.

• Some amazing stories from the outreaches (see below).

Gathering Quotes …“My perspective has changed on evangelism by knowing that the expectation isn’t to always lead someone to Christ but that we are helping be a part of it by planting seeds in the person’s life.”

What’s next ...Like all our DTS Gatherings, one of the main aims is to plant a long-term team in the city. The exciting news is that the planting process will continue when some of the SOE trainees return to Newcastle in January for a three-month outreach. They will work with local churches, serving them through evangelistic efforts and in many other ways.

One of those SOE trainees, Andy, is also a member of the Forever team and is from Newcastle, hoping to be at the forefront of planting the Newcastle team. This is an exciting development – the first long-term team plant by Forever. Our belief is that this will be the first of many team plants up and down the country.

Future DTS Gatherings in cities hosting Olympic events are planned as follows:• Manchester, 9–16 April 2011;• Weymouth, 4–11 June 2011;• London, 5–12 November 2011;• Coventry, 17–24 March 2012;• Belfast, 9–16 June 2012;• Glasgow, post-Games 2012.

Stories from NewcastleSome of the trainees give feedback from their outreach experiences.

“This week I was able to pray for someone’s hand and see it healed. I’ve prayed for multiple people to be healed before, but it never happened, which was always hard. But that was such a crazy encouragement this week. Praise God for His power!”

Dakota (DTS Milano)

“Tyce from the Netherlands and I went out to give sweets at night to people around the city and offer prayer as well. We went up to a couple and chatted with them, then eventually got to pray and speak some prophetic words over them. They felt so blessed they called their friend over and told her to talk to us. So as we were praying for her we asked if she wanted to seriously follow Jesus and accept him into her life. She said yes and accepted Jesus as we prayed over her. She said someone had handed her a Bible earlier that day, and so we told her to get connected with the church we

were staying with.

“It was completely God-driven and really easy and natural to do, very smooth and not awkward which was the Holy Spirit working through us. Praise Jesus!”

Nick (YWAM Harpenden)

“I was so challenged every day throughout the week in Newcastle. I learned so much from the speakers and through conversations with the other DTS students. I’m so thankful that our DTS could be a part of this impactful week in Newcastle as we went into the streets and loved the people. I experienced the Holy Spirit in a way I never have before and also witnessed a healing for the first time.”

Emily (DTS Milano)

“We were out treasure-hunting and I was looking for a girl with red hair and black clothes, and the name ‘Anna’. Another guy on my team had the location ‘The Monument’.

“When we came there I saw a girl with red hair and black clothes but she was walking in the opposite direction to us, so we ran after her. We stopped her and I asked if her name was Anna, and she said, ‘Yes!’ We were really excited.

“On my location list I had ‘shoe’ and ‘corner’ — and

Gathering Quotes …“This week has opened doors in my life I didn’t know were there. I thank God for all He has taught me this week.”

we were standing at a corner with a shoe store called ‘Schuh’. On ‘random stuff’ I had had ‘clock’ and ‘fitness’ and on the corner was a big clock and next to it was a sports store. For ‘prayer requests’ I had had ‘parents’, so we asked her about her parents and she said that she did not have a good relationship with her father because he was an alcoholic.

“We told her that God led us to her and that God really loved her and we could see a little smile on her face. She was open and curious, but she did not have a lot of time to talk because she was trying to catch a movie. It was a very encouraging experience.”

Lina (DTS Restenas)

“We went to the post-clubbing time last night. We met two girls, one of whom was very drunk. I had the privilege of holding her sick bag as she threw up into it. Perhaps holding the sick bag is the modern equivalent of washing feet? We prayed for the girl.

“When we went to leave, the drunk one couldn’t walk in her high-heeled shoes. As it happened, her feet were the same size as mine, so I swapped my trainers for her high-heels. So we were then able to walk her home. Her friend was very touched. We were able to talk to her about church and other things.”

Clare and Harrison (DTS Harpenden)

“I went treasure-hunting. I had got ‘red coat’, ‘blue coat’, ‘hurt hand’, ‘a clock’ and ‘jewellery store’.

“So we went downtown, and meet the two guys, one wearing a red coat and one wearing a blue coat. And then one of the guys said, ‘My hand’s really hurting.’

“We prayed for him, and he was able to clench his fist, something he hadn’t been able to do for years. Then he says, “What about my two broken fingers?” We prayed, and he felt that it was good.

“He had been in prison for three years, and was released yesterday and came to Newcastle today. He has just met up with his son (the other guy).

“The son said how he’d had his kids taken away, and he was depressed. So we prayed for him too, and then the father hugged his son. It was all very emotional.”

Stephanie (DTS Milano)

“We were walking door-to-door for a church we were working with here in Newcastle.

“I got the chance to meet Ian. Ian has osteoporosis. My prayer partner and I were eager to share that there was a relationship with God waiting for him. He wasn’t interested, but we got to discuss it for about 20 minutes. He had worked as a guitar technician for The Clash and had travelled around the world working for rock bands. His osteoporosis had crippled him into staying inside. He also shared that both his parents have cancer.

“Before we left we asked if we could pray for his healing. Hesitantly he declined, but before we walked away we told him we would pray for him and his parents after we left. He was touched that anyone cared. Even if he didn’t come to personally know God that day, I’ll never forget that encounter with him. Just by knocking on his door, we showed Ian that someone was thinking of him.”

Mera (DTS Harpenden)

“Such an incredible week! It’s hard to sum it up. God’s doing amazing things in the city and I’m so thankful I could be a small part of it.”

Emily (DTS Milano)

Gathering Quotes …“My view of evangelism has definitely widened and grown. I’ve learned how ways to go about it and been able to put it into practice. It’s given me a greater passion for God and to see the lost come to know Him”

Forever, YWAM, Highfield Oval, Ambrose Lane, Harpenden, AL5 4BX, UK.www.forever2012.com info@forever2012.com +44(0)1582 463322 Forever is a ministry of YWAM England & Wales and YWAM International. Registered Charity No 264078.

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