Explanation

I've been getting numerous questions about my upcoming trip and I figured a blog would be the easiest way to keep a large amount of people up to date. Also, I'll try update the blog as best I can as preparation for my journey continues and especially once I actually take off. Anyways, for those of you that don't know what's going on, or for those of you that have asked and gotten a short explanation... here are more details :)

For years I have wanted to do something called a DTS - Discipleship Training School. It is a missions focused school that the organization YWAM -Youth With a Mission- started. They have bases all over the world, with schools that have different focuses. I've been interested in missions for years and have been searching for a way to get more involved. My missions trip to Chin@ in August of 2009 gave me a little taste of a foreign culture and missions, and I knew I needed more than that. I've been searching out different DTS'es for quite some time now, and right when I would think I found a perfect fit, something would happen so it wouldn't work out. I'd put it out of my mind for the last 6 months or so, but I got an e-mail about a new DTS starting up at a YWAM base in Herrnhut, Germany. The DTS is focused on Justice, so it will be dealing more in depth with issues such as human trafficking, prostitution, poverty, slavery, etc. I'd heard about Justice DTS's on different bases but never in Germany. I went to Germany last year and absolutely loved the country and knew I needed to find a way back there someday. So, the pieces all kind of fell together. I didn't really like the idea of leaving family, friends, and my beloved dog, Eloise, but I felt so strongly like it was something I needed to do. My heart lives for such things - missions related things, traveling, adventure, all of that. As terrified as I am to leave the people I love and am familiar with, I feel so much excitement to know I'm pursuing something that I feel is a God given desire and passion. So anyways, as far as specifics go, the school is from July 9th - December 17th, but I'll be gone from July 1st - December 21st (due to some extra traveling days as well as visiting a close friend in Belgium before the school starts.) I'm not 100% sure, but from what I've heard of other DTS's, there are usually about 15-40 people participating in the school. The first few months are called the 'lecture phase'. During the lecture phase, I'll attend classes focused on missions and different spiritual issues/topics. I've heard it's an intense time of growing as an individual, growing in your relationship with God, and growing as a team. We'll also do mini outreaches in towns nearby. We have work duties, group activities, and basically just live as a family in an old water castle (!!) After the lecture phase comes the outreach phase. During those couple of months, we will be going to a different country and doing what will basically be an extended missions trip. The staff on the base informed me that, although they do not know the outreach location yet, it will be in what is called the 10/40 window. The 10/40 window (which gets its name from the latitude and longitude location) consists of the most unreached people in the world, in countries in the Middle East, northern Africa, and Asia. I'm not sure on details right now of all that will include, but I think we'll be in some sketchy areas just reaching out to people that desperately need God's love and attention from people that truly care about helping them. That basically sums up, as much as I can, what will be going on in my life during July-December. Right now I'm just trying to plan, booking tickets, and focusing on the good aspect, not the fact I'm about to leave all things familiar to venture off to unknown (and possibly scary) lands. I'll update this blog whenever I have more information, but here's the main details to tide you all over :)