DTS GRADUATE

I am a DTS graduate!!!

 

 

              This last week has been a whirlwind. We arrived in Bangkok from Malaysia and jumped right into Nak Suu awards ceremony. It was so cool to have this big ceremony with prizes for the kids that we have invested in during our time in Thailand. We had trophies to hand out as well. It meant so much to these kids. One kid said he couldn’t believe he got a trophy…”I am good. I am a good person. I can do good things. I didn’t know this before.” Crazy how something as simple as being honored with a trophy gives these kids hope. Hope. It was hard to officially say goodbye to them.
        Sunday was the beginning of our debrief week. We had worship (last one with Lea leading), Nicole spoke about sharing about our story on the mission field, and then that afternoon we had interviews. Sopo was interviewing me. It was great to talk about my DTS time with someone who knew everyone but wasn’t in the middle of everything. Shaneen and I had offered to take over dinners up until graduation. Cooking for nearly 30 people is a mission and a half but we managed to survive (bonus: I learned how to make tortillas!). Sunday night our group got together to play the games that we would teach on outreach (but added about 10x more aggressiveness). It was a blast although a few of us ended up with some bruises. Monday we had lectures in the morning and then that night we had a roommate movie night (Megamind and The Proposal). Tuesday we had an encouragement time, lectures, and prayer time. We had a enouragment time for our fearless DTS school leader, the lovely Rachel. We were all holding it together then Sarah broke into tears part way through her encouragement. After she broke a good majority of us followed. We are definitely an all girls DTS ;) That night a few of us gathered together to watch videos we have from throughout the DTS. So many hilarious and good memories.

 Then came Wednesday…

Our last day of DTS.
Our last worship time.
Our last morning chore time.
Our last time in the classroom.
Our last morning tea.
Our last lunch together.

It was a very weird day; it totally snuck up on us. Although it was sad to be at the end it was a wonderful day.                                                                                                                            Game TIME!!!

We had our last morning chore time while dancing to and singing to music, we played our favorite outreach games in the classroom, and had our final morning tea. We wrapped up our morning session with an encouragement time for our leaders and then LJ gave a final word. I am going to miss our leaders so much. That afternoon I walked with Kayla to a convience store at the front of Bangavilla to get soda in a bag for the last time.

     
 Kayla and I finishing the kitchen cleaning for the last time.                                                        

                     Last soda in a bag!


                     CAR DTS leader: Rach and Music leader: Lea



         Then came graduation. Our leaders couldn’t of put together a better night. Three students shared testimonies, I being one of them. Rachel gave us a wonderful send out word, we received our certificates, and then Pi Gan (from YWAM THAILAND) prayed over us. After that it was dance party and karaoke night! It was such a great way to end our DTS J We managed to avoid tears until we all sang “My heart will go on”…that choked up a few of us. Lots of hugs at that moment.
                                                                                                        LJ (DTS STAFF)

That night a group watched a movie while Kayla, Val and I stayed up talking. At 2:30 am Dillon, Jerome, Andi, Amanda, Shaneen, Val and I took Kayla to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye…and completely strange. I lived with these 11 girls for 5 months, seeing all the ups and downs. But now I don’t know when I will see them again-or if I ever will see them again. Kayla truly is a sister and amazing friend to me and I hope I will see her again soon. Shaneen was saying that every year one of us has to get married so we can have 11 DTS reunions ;)

The house has been really quiet today. I am nearly done packing and getting ready to head to Chiang Mai tomorrow. I will be in Chiang Mai until the 14th then I come back to Bangkok for a night then Sunday morning (15th)…I FLY home!!!! I am so excited J

Gabie-
DTS STAFF
My wonderful one-on-one :)

 

DTS,

Thank you for the memories. For the challenges. For the friends/sisters. For the knowledge of God. For taking me to 4 countries in 5 months. For the worship. For the laughs. And for the adventures.

I will miss this season but I know God has many more awesome things to come!

Nothing is impossible for those who believe in Christ Jesus.
Dillon and Jerome (DTS STAFF)

                                                               Sharing my testimony

 

                                                                        Class of 2014

                                                            I promise, we are not that creepy in real life

 

 

Malaysia!

Wow this week has been fantastic! It was my highlight of outreach. Our team got to team up with Rina (from Madagascar and she was one of our speakers during lecture phase) and a DTS from YWAM Perth to run a teen mini DTS camp. What is that exactly? It's taking a few topics from a normal DTS lecture and condensing it to 2 days. Our speaker name was Mirisha (from South Africa and working at YWAM Perth). She did a wonderful job speaking on Repentance & Forgiveness and Lordship. My small group was legit...for adults it was: Aiden (from Malaysia), Silas (from Switzerland and on the Perth DTS), Andi, Oy, and I. For students there was Trisha (16) and Nigel (14). Let me tell you a little about Nigel...this kid is a genius. He has built his own computer. No lie. Seriously though our group rocked. We conquered for the talent show and dance off (basically Aiden, Nigel and Andi are amazing). Our last night we had clean up and our small group was assigned to clean the kitchen. We ended up having a leftover noodle mini disaster but it even though it took longer then planned we had some great laughs. Since we are talking about food: I have NEVER been to a camp with this good of food. And it felt like we were eating all the time-cause we were. Shaneen and I soon came to the conclusion that the camp had a Hobbit (Lord of the Rings) meal plan...breakfast, 2nd breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. During our game time it started to pour so we all got absolutely soaked :) I was told that I have a strong American accent by a Canadian (whatever that means). And eventually people began to point out that I have my own accent. I think every word I have a hard time pronouncing came up that weekend. After talking to a group of the girls at dinner I discovered that nearly every zoo, theme park, museum in Malaysia is attached to a mall. For real. The last night of camp (and the last morning) we had spontaneous dance parties! It was hard to say bye to the teens, I really wish camp was longer.

After arriving back to KL Val, Santy, Amanda, Kayla, and I headed to the downtown area to shop and go to a place with authentic Malaysian and Chinese food. Downtown is pretty at night (they still have Christmas decor up lol). We managed to run into Rina and our camp speaker while we were there too.

The next day (Wednesday-only a week until graduation!) was our day off. So our crew along with the other Perth DTS took a unexpected 4 hr bus ride that Rina rented for our group and 30 min ferry ride to a island. We camped out on the beach. It was BEAUTIFUL and so worth the trip! Kara (Perth DTS-American but grew up in Kirgiztan as a YWAM missionary kid) and I kayaked to a few little islands nearby. It was so much fun to dock and climb on the rocks, watching different sea creatures in the water (the water was really clear!) and get out to swim (the water was the perfect temp). It was a good last day in Malaysia :)

So quick update of what my life in Malaysia was like last week:
The flight to Malaysia was super relaxing actually. Bonus! Malaysia is a Muslim country which added a different feel to trip. When we traveled to our accommodations we traveled in separate groups so we wouldn't attract attention and be followed. There are a LOT of Muslims but Malaysia is full of different people groups. A large majority are Indian, Malay, and Chinese (Malays are the Muslims). Our first full day we were taken to the KL Twin Towers to pray and then we hung out in the mall (and went to see X-Men!!) until we had to be back for a meeting. The next day we were off to a Burmese refugee youth centre. It was a pretty nice place that the teens are able gather at. The centre is supported by the American government! I have to say America is really doing something good by investing in these students-they are so amazing :) We had lots of fun playing games with them. Our music team joined us later and did a music workshop and concert. The next day we got to go to another refugee teen centre. Thankfully we got to hang out with these students a little longer, playing games and playing music :) Friday was just a prep for camp day with Rina. I totally loved getting to work with Burmese refugees again (I got to work with a people group from the country when I was in Thailand last summer)!

On my way to the airport. Debrief week in Bangkok here I come! 10 days until I am home :)