January DTS 2012

Knowing the difference between Sin and Sins is eye opening, Sin being “Wrong being” and Sins being “wrong doings”. Everyone born in a body has a sin nature which puts him or her in disposition but thank God for His Son, Jesus Christ who came being in the very nature God came through a body to break the nature of Sin. Jesus Christ did what no man would or can do. He redeemed us, reconciled us to GOD when He became the PERFECT Sacrifice. And through this, He gave us the victory over sin and death!!

All of us have made mistakes even small ones. One thing I have come to learn is that a life of confession and repentance never ends. It should be part of us because we are not perfect. Confession is admitting your wrong to someone whereas repentance is to regret that you wronged someone. David, the man after God’s own heart committed adultery and murder (2nd Samuel 11&12) and in humility, he was sorry and broken for what he had done (Psalms 51). Have you confessed your sins to God or to someone? (1ST John 1:9, James 5:16). If not, go ahead and do so! Are you completely sorry for what you did or have done in the past? Remember, there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ, the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. Our God is Just, Merciful and Gracious. AMAZING!!

Its one thing to sit in class and learn from the lecturer and it’s another thing to actually practice what is being taught. Wednesday night was awesome, I have no words to describe what happened but all I can say is that God was moving. At first I was a little scared not knowing what I was going to confess to God, but was I started, I just kept going. For some reason, I knew that my Dad was with me the whole time and that He was in room with each of the DTS students. God is so faithful and just and He forgives those who confess their sin and He purifies us from all unrighteousness. He forgave me, He cleansed me and I know He circumcised my heart. Thank you God!

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14. Forgiveness is our obligation and it comes with obedience and willingness. Have you forgiven your brother, sister, father, mother or friend? Do you want your Father in heaven to forgive you? Think about it…..if you forgive, God will forgive you, if you do not, He will not. Don’t be tough, allow yourself to be vulnerable and let God help you get this person off the hook. Harboring unforgiveness is like taking poison and hoping you enemy dies. Ask God to help you, I have! It’s one thing to forgive and it’s another thing to be forgiven. Have you asked a friend that you wronged yesterday to forgive you? Maybe, or maybe not. It’s my prayer that God will give you courage to ask for forgiveness and to even go a step further by making amends with them. Sometimes God convicts us to do things we do not want to do because He has reasons, maybe He wants to use our situation to break someone’s heart.

This week, I had to lay down my pride and ask for forgiveness even when I thought I would not and God amazingly restored my relationships with my sister and friends. And also God is working in my heart as I am letting go of those people who hurt me deeply in the past and guess what…….I have a peace that God alone knows. Thank You God for your Father heart, I am in awe.

As I conclude, I just want you to know that God loves you so dearly that He sent His one and only son to die for you, all He says is if you believe in Him-eternal life is yours. When you wrong someone, confess

and ask them for forgiveness and from God as well. When someone wrongs you, forgive them, there’s no harm in that. God chose to be vulnerable with us, choose to be vulnerable with Him today. Jesus Christ has restored, redeemed and has reconciled us to Our God. How awesome is that? I am so amazed at His Great love and so blessed to be part of His great story.

By Shammah Nakawesi from Uganda

Africa2Asia DTS has begun! Somehow we already made it to day 15. Wow. Just two weeks ago, we all arrived not knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into and nervous of all these funny people we’re supposed to be with 24/7 for the next 5 months. As we made our way nervously into the yard for lunch on that first day, we realized that 36 names is a lot to remember! After breaking the ice and spending the day trying to get used to a new environment, group of people, and home, we were already thinking about how hard it would be to say goodbye in 5 months time. We realized very soon that God had specifically called each of us here for a purpose and that He has an extraordinary plan for this specific group. How amazing is our God! For many of us, it’s a miracle that we made it here today, and we can’t wait to see what other miracles He will display His glory with. From the worship time on our very first night, we were overwhelmed with a sense of his presence and plan for this DTS.

The first week was amazing. By the end of it many of us wondered if each week would be this impacting and intense! After a few days of orientation and learning the basics of our new home together, we got right into learning. Dan Shannon was incredible, we were incredibly blessed to have him speak to us about hearing God’s voice, or rather, listening to God. We could hardly wait to go to class each day and hear his crazy stories, hilarious humor, and feel totally challenged on our own personal relationship with Jesus. One of the highlights of this week for all of us I think was when we practically learned how to hear by doing some blind prophesy! No matter how used to it we were, we closed our eyes and prayed for a person in front of us that we couldn’t see, asking God for some sort of word or encouragement for them. And wow, did God speak! We were all blown away with what God has to say to us and through us. Some of us were just amazed that He could and chose to speak to us for someone else! Many of us were impacted through this, praise the Lord! Another big event of the week, was finding out our outreach locations! Out of the blue, we got all 6 locations and were told to pray about it and see where God wanted us to go! The next couple days were spent putting into practice everything that we’d learned in class. We all sought the Lord, and by Friday gave in an answer. We are still praying for the staff as they seek the Lord to make the final decisions! Then on Saturday we got exercise – wow! We all climbed to St. Else’s peak to enjoy the most amazing view of the ocean and towns surrounding. Absolutely stunning, no words can explain. It was a great experience as a team!

Week 2 was just as impacting. Virmz really did his homework and somehow got us another very sought after speaker, Maureen Menard! Maureen was full of passion and zeal for Jesus, that much was evident, and it really rubbed off on us. She spoke about the character and nature of God. We learned about how very personal the one, true, living God is, and that through Jesus, we have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! She also made times for worship in the middle of her lectures, which were awesome. What better thing to do after learning about God’s character, than to praise Him!! On Tuesday morning during one of these times of worship, the Holy Spirit really made himself known in that place. We were all overwhelmed with a sense of His greatness and acceptance. He spoke to a lot of our hearts in many different ways, and we all left in awe of Him! This was also the first week of local outreaches. This was new for many people, but we all stepped out of our comfort zones and asked God for opportunities to share Him in some way with others. Whether it was on the beach, the streets, train station, or the bar, the Lord gave us opportunities to spread His word and share His love. I have no doubt that as we become more comfortable that even greater things will be done for His Kingdom! Some people took a homeless person out for dinner, others just had conversations with people that were curious about Jesus. On Friday we went out for the first time for our weekly outreach in the local townships! Wow, what a different part of town. We were introduced to new people and really had to trust God to lead and guide us. He is always faithful! One group even had a lady healed! She couldn’t hear, but after they brought the power of Jesus down, she could hear! Praise the Lord! I have no doubt this is the first of many to come.

And now that brings us to week 3. We are all settled in and Muizenberg is starting to feel like home! The only thing is it’s going by too fast! I know the other people from Canada will agree with me, this little town right on the ocean is so much better than -48 and snow back in Canada! Nothing can compare with those early morning runs on the beach and a dip in the cool ocean after. We are all really enjoying it here. How can you not love living two blocks from the beach, but more importantly, one block from Majestic Cafe (which happens to have the best ice cream ever). We are expectant of the crazy things God will do next, He seems to have a lot in store. The weekends have been an awesome time to journal and process everything God is doing in our hearts.

Some prayer requests would be finances for outreach. There are quite a few people still trusting the Lord for their outreach funds. He’s been faithful so far!! Also pray for our outreach teams, that the staff will have wisdom in making last minute decisions and that all of our teams will be united and get a real sense of what God has planned specifically for us in 6 different countries. We are believing that He is bringing us there each for a specific reason because He needs certain things done there at that specific time to build His Kingdom! Also keep praying that we will continue to be united as a team and as a family. Each student has something to unique to bring to the group, all of the staff are so clearly called by the Lord, and our leader Virmz is such an amazing man of God and example of a Christ follower – praise the Lord! Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!!

We can’t wait to see what this week will bring…the topic is sin, repentance, and forgiveness. We’re ready, Lord, for the work you want to do in us and through us this week! Thank you, Jesus! Just like our theme verse for DTS says, you are the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE! Amen!

By Gina van der Linde

Welcome to the January Discipleship Training School  blog (DTS) tittled Africa2Asia DTS

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