Youth With A Mission

DTS Lecture Phase –To Know God

The lecture phase is more than just information it’s transformation. It’s not just a school but also an experience with God. For twelve weeks students take part in heart-changing teaching from world-class speakers who will share their hearts on what it takes to impact our world. DTS lecture phase is an excellent time of interaction and impartation from those who are in Christian ministry and world missions. As a student, you are in a “live and learn environment”. You will be participating in work duties as well as times of fun fellowship with other students from North America and the world. This is a time to build memories and friendships that will last for a lifetime.

A typical day might look like this:
7:00-7:30 Breakfast
7:30-8:15 Personal Devotions
8:15-9:15 Worship/Intercession
9:15-12:15 Class/Lectures
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-3:30 Work duties
3:30-5:30 Small Groups/Study Hall/ Free time
6:00 Dinner
Nights may include study hall, local outreaches, additional class time, or free time.

The following activities could be a part of your DTS experience:
Group intercession
Corporate praise and worship
Classroom lectures
Small-group sharing
Personal study
Planned one-on-one weekly meetings between students and a staff member
Reading assignments
Special interest workshops
Book reports
Drama practice
Preaching workshops
Child evangelism preparation
Language acquisition
Work duties
Private devotions
Outreach opportunities
Panel discussions
Group work/service projects/integrated work duties
Personalized mentoring program
Prayer vigils
Research projects
Apprenticeship opportunities

A Unique Experience
Unlike most university or college classes the DTS experience really focuses on you and your relationship with God. With a typical ratio of 1 school staff for every 6 students, every DTS student is involved and plays a role in their DTS. Depending on which base you choose, some Discipleship Training Schools have as many 100 students and many have less than 20 students. Regardless of size, God uses each student and staff to make every DTS unique to accomplish what He wants in each student.
YWAM has been offering DTS schools for over 25 years and has seen the DTS change over the course of time. A few years back, YWAM established the International DTS Centre, based in Budapest Hungary, to develop an international team to help all YWAM school leaders and staff with the task of running effective Discipleship Training Schools. Working together with YWAM’s Global Leadership Team (GLT) and the University of the Nation’s International Leadership Team (ILT) they established a curriculum to insure a greater degree of consistency and quality in the content and learning context of DTS schools worldwide.

The following is an overview of the International DTS Centre Curriculum

Within the context of this curriculum each YWAM training facility structures their DTS around the specific ministry focus to which God has called them. Some YWAM locations focus on mercy ministries, others on evangelism and still others on sports or music.

Speakers/Teachers Visiting lecturers
In college, you usually meet in the same classroom on the same days of the week at the same time to hear the same professor to speak. But in DTS it’s different, sure it may be the same classroom each week, but not the same teacher. One of the things that truly make the DTS unique is its approach to teaching. Instead of hearing the same Professor share each time, you’ll most likely hear a different speaker teaching on a different topic each week. Whether in person, by video or video-conferencing, having different speakers share on the various topics sheds new light and brings variety to the teaching environment. It’s not uncommon to have a local pastor who may come in and share what God has been teaching them on a particular topic or you may have a YWAM leader from another country come and share on what God is doing in their region of the world.
Since each of the 12 weeks in the DTS covers different topics, every week a new speaker with fresh revelation and insight on that topic shares from their heart what God is showing them on that specific subject.
Throughout the 12 weeks you’ll be challenged and grow from the different topics, variety of teaching styles and the different speakers as God uses these men and women to deepen your walk in the Lord.

Worship
Training will also include corporate times of praise and worship that will bring you into the presence of God. Worship is a crucial part of your DTS experience because worship is what God created us for. It has been said that missions exists because worship doesn’t.

Intercession
Intercession is a vital part of your training. Three hours per week or more will be dedicated to time in prayer that can impact and forever change the nations for Jesus Christ.

Small Groups

Each week you’ll be a part of a small group of 4-7 people where you’ll meet with your peers and one of the staff, your small group leader, to share together what God is doing in each of your lives and how it applies to what your learning. You will also have weekly one-on-one interaction with your small group leader for accountability and weekly discussions. These intimate and personal times often develop into relationships that truly last a lifetime.

Community Living
Scripture tells us to break bread together and to bear one another’s burdens, and rarely does this happen better than in the DTS. Living together in dorms and going to class together daily is a great way to get to know each other and to grow as sometimes “iron sharpens iron”. Unlike a typical college dorm environment where all to often accountability is lacking, the DTS community living environment is a place of growth for students and staff alike. In most YWAM training facilities the students and the staff share the same dorms, housing and eating facilities. This level of interaction between students and staff provides opportunity for discipleship and mentoring that goes far beyond the classroom.

Since each YWAM facility plans their lecture phase and outreach portion of the DTS according to their specific ministry focus, their schedules and activities may not be the same as described above.

Information on the DTS Outreach Phase

Outreach testimonies from YWAM students and staff