Have you ever loved someone that you had never met?
How about thirty people?
Thirty people that you had never met, yet you loved them enough to pray for them daily
count down the days until you got to meet them
to make sure everything was perfect when they arrived
to hope and dream about the great things that they would achieve...
This is what it felt like in the weeks that led up to staffing my first DTS.
When I got back from Haiti last August I was sunburnt, exhausted, and clueless as to what I wanted to do next. I stumbled back onto the YWAM base in Salem at 2 in the morning, unsure of myself, unsure of the future, unsure of where I was even supposed to sleep that night. I just found an unoccupied room, left my bags unpacked and covered in Haitian dust, and fell into a real bed with a real mattress for the first time in three months.
With the morning came long awaited reunions and exciting new adventures! The biggest adventure of all: an opportunity to staff the September DTS! Like jumping onto a moving train, or being swept into the winds of a tornado, I joined the Fall DTS staff team and began preparing for the students to arrive.
September 23rd. D-Day. The students began to arrive one by one. They all look lost and confused at first. Timidly they unload their suitcases, pillows, longboards, art canvasses, guitars, and rolled up posters, wave good bye to their parents, and look around at their new home for the next six months. It's very easy to read their thoughts. "Dear God, what am I getting myself into...."
Is that what I looked like just one year ago? I wonder as I help them carry in their suitcases, claim a bunkbed, and give them a quick tour of the base. One year since my own DTS, and look how much has happened! Look how much I've changed!
DTS transformed my life, so it is such an honor to staff these student's DTS!
Fall DTS 2010 ~ Elise, Connor, Aaron, Katie, Zach, Deborah, Grace, Bethany, Simeon, Steffen, Megan, Ale, Gloria, Becky, Holly, Sarah, Eric, Daniel, Crosby, Addy, Luba, Jenny, Cassandra, Sara, Gail, Haley, Ryan, Alisa, J.D., and baby James! I love you guys!
September 23rd. D-Day. The students began to arrive one by one. They all look lost and confused at first. Timidly they unload their suitcases, pillows, longboards, art canvasses, guitars, and rolled up posters, wave good bye to their parents, and look around at their new home for the next six months. It's very easy to read their thoughts. "Dear God, what am I getting myself into...."
Is that what I looked like just one year ago? I wonder as I help them carry in their suitcases, claim a bunkbed, and give them a quick tour of the base. One year since my own DTS, and look how much has happened! Look how much I've changed!
DTS transformed my life, so it is such an honor to staff these student's DTS!
Fall DTS 2010 ~ Elise, Connor, Aaron, Katie, Zach, Deborah, Grace, Bethany, Simeon, Steffen, Megan, Ale, Gloria, Becky, Holly, Sarah, Eric, Daniel, Crosby, Addy, Luba, Jenny, Cassandra, Sara, Gail, Haley, Ryan, Alisa, J.D., and baby James! I love you guys!
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