I remember when I had first heard about YWAM, I had no clue what it was but I had so many friends who had done this thing called a DTS and I just wanted to know more! Any chance I got, I would ask questions, I would google YWAM locations, and tell people about this thing that I really wanted to be a part of! 

I also remember the very pointed, painful questions people would ask me before coming to my DTS: “How is this thing going to benefit other people and not just you?,” “How do you plan on paying for this? Do the scholarships you earned apply to it?,” “What exactly is this? Will you get to be in contact with your family and friends?”

All these questions and more often pop up when it’s time for you to come to your DTS. So what’s the answer to them? Yes, Jesus is the answer, but REALLY…how can we fight off those doubts of doing a DTS? 

I’m going to list the top 3 reasons people end up not doing a DTS and my personal experience in each of those areas. Maybe then you can fight off those doubts!

1. Finances, more often than not, are a huge reason people don’t come for a DTS. In my own life, I had a good job while I was in highschool and during my gap year of just working. I got raises up to $13/hour and recieved a $1,000 scholarship for college from them! Now I’m a missionary with YWAM Minneapolis and I LOVE IT! Yes, I currently raise my own support and have given up my right to a paycheck, but I know this is what God has called me to. Before my DTS, I worked hard to raise as much support as possible so I wasn’t using all of my savings for it. I sent out so many letters to people explaining what YWAM is (even though I still didn’t really know), how they could donate money to me, and how excited I was for this new experience! I’ll tell you, people in my home church were so excited that I included them in my journey with God, that I only had to pay for about $150 of my own money for my DTS! God really proved to me then and still proves to me today that He is the ultimate provider. I knew He called me here and He is taking care of me like a good Father does!

2. Discouragement from my family and friends almost kept me from doing a DTS. A lot of the questions I listed above came from my family and friends who are Christians as well. It made me really wonder about their faith, because they didn’t believe I should do this. They would say things like, “You’re going to college after this, right? Because you’re so smart, I’d hate to see that go to waste.”

Let me stop right there and tell you that if you’ve been told anything like this, it is a LIE. You ARE smart, but that would not go to waste just because you don’t go to college. There is so much room in God’s kingdom for people with various kinds of talents, knowledge, and insight. Don’t let what other people say stop you from doing what you feel God is calling you to do!

3. Fear of the unknown almost stopped me too. I was afraid of leaving my family, I was afraid of not liking the people I’d live with, I was afraid of beliefs that could potentially clash with mine, but most importantly I was afraid of God changing my life. I learned very quickly that growth and change IS scary, there’s no changing that, but man God is good at being with you in times of fear. Now I’m living everyday with the next day being unknown. I’ve given up knowing exactly where I’ll be at in a month or in a year, and given in to giving the control to God. It’s so refreshing to release control to God: my heart was so ready for a change that I didn’t find it very hard to leave home, I ended up really loving the people I live(d) with, and although DTS challenged my view of God and knowledge of the Holy Spirit, I learned to trust God FOR REAL! He’s always looking out for what’s best for me, so I really have no reason to fear.

I hope these 3 topics I shared about, really resonated with you if you’re questioning whether you should do a DTS or not. If you push through these obstacles, I know that God has a reason for you to do a DTS. He won’t bring you through those trials just to leave you, He is faithful and worthy of trust with money, disapproving family, and all your fears.