Normally we begin our Discipleship Training School in the fall but this year, we did not have enough students and when we prayed about if we should cancel the school, we felt instead to move it to January. That was not an easy decision but we knew it was what God was leading us to do.

As our start date approached we still did not have students. At one point we had two students accepted but for whatever reason, they cancelled. We were back to zero. We kept praying and asking God to make it clear to us that we were to move forward with having a school. Finally we had one student, she is a 19 year old single mom from central Ukraine. Then we had another student but she had trouble getting references from her pastor. It was down to the week before the school and finally everything was confirmed and accepted, we had two students!

Staff and students

Since the school has started we have still struggled to keep the school going, from speakers cancelling to sudden schedules changes it has not been easy. Now we see that we have the right students for the right moment in time. It has been a great time with them and they have learned so much. We are nearing the end of our lecture phase and will be soon preparing for outreach. The girls are all in need of finances to finish the school but we are still holding to what the Lord told us, to continue with the school, he will take care of everything else!

We had the great privilege to host a team from Holland December to January. They were a huge help and blessing to us and the city.

English Club gift exchange

We set up a week’s worth of activities for them and then let them make their own schedule. Quite often Christmas season turns out to be a tricky time to host teams because of the weather and unpredictable schedules. This team was super flexible and they were able to make their own plans without needing someone with them the whole time.

Sharing a testimony at the tea

Practicing English

The team helped with the women’s tea, English club, orphanage visits and church meetings. They were able to go to some English classes in the city and they wandered into a hospital to sing Dutch carols. They also made meals for homeless and even though they did not have any interpreter with them they were able to still bless the people of Ternopil.

Almost a year and a half ago, Lance and I went to Albania for the first time to attend a gathering of Discipleship Training School leaders (read about it HERE.) This same sort of gathering happened in December in Hurlach, Germany.

One fun fact about Hurlach is that this was one of the first YWAM locations that was started! It has continued in ministry since it’s start date in 1972 for outreach to the Olympic games in Munich. Even cooler fact is that it is actually a castle!

The Eastern Europe Gang

All the fun facts aside, we had a great time in Hurlach meeting new friends in DTS as well as old ones. We love going to these meetings not just to see friends and have a good time but it is so important to really talk about what is happening in our regions. Sometimes we don’t get to see people in our own regions for a long time, not only because of distance but because of busy schedules.

These meetings allow us to encourage one another and pray for different regions and individuals. Of course we do have some fun. Every time there is a gathering, each person claims their country has the best chocolate. Well we finally decided to figure it out. Everyone brought some chocolate and we had a blind taste test. I have been racking my brain trying to remember who won, but I honestly can’t remember! I guess Ukraine won… 🙂 It was a fun event for sure!

Chocolate tasting

DTS Leaders of Europe

Youth With A Mission has many different ministries and branches, one such branch is education of the Bible. There is a 9 month long Bible course that takes an in depth look at the Bible and then after that course, students have an option to do a practicum somewhere teaching the Bible. This past fall/winter we had two such teams come to teach!

As we have said before, we love hosting different teams and individuals for various reasons. It was fun to have a team that had a focus for their ministry. We set up some places for them to teach. This was in different churches, one in another city, we had one for English club and one for the staff.

There was a wide variety of places to teach as well as topics. The most requested topic was an overview of the Bible, but the team also taught on Ephesians. This was an important one for us as staff since we felt that the book of Ephesians was something we needed to study together. It was good to spend time as a staff to study together, we enjoyed gathering together once a week for something special.

We will be happy to host another Bible-teaching team anytime!

Two years ago we hosted a women’s Christmas tea as an event to spread the message of hope. (Go HERE to read about it.) We pulled off another beautiful and fun tea once more in December.

All of our base staff came together to invite, decorate, cook, and clean for this event. Staff hosted a table and then invited people to their table. Each table was unique and beautiful, Megan went with a literary theme. The food was also especially tasty and there was plenty of it!

Yummy food! Lance was a great server.

We had games, crafts, music and several speakers to share a testimony or special word. The women that came heard a clear message of what Christmas is all about and were able to receive encouragement from others around them.

What a lovely table!

We had a team from Holland with us so they were a big help in serving and cleaning. They also put on a small kids program for our staff kids, they still talk about it! We are so happy to be able to invite people from the community to hear of Jesus and his love for us. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a good tea party?!

Exchanging ornaments game