Crisp morning air filled the lungs of both staff and trainees as the wandered onto the open field for the early morning “creative worship exercise” planned by DTS staff leaders: Beth Konrath and Amy Jacks. The objective, to embrace the darkness that would soon envelop them and work to together as a team to find the unique treasure that awaited nearby.
With hands outstretched each participant received a blindfold and was led to an open point within the football pitch. After the team was completely scattered, each received an item, some a teaspoon and others a paper cup. Then, using only animal noises to guide them, both staff and trainees had to find every member of the team that held the same item. After a substantial amount of time fumbling the groups were able to come together, forming their outreach teams.
Trainees and staff took such delight in the surprise in front of them. “It was such a creative and memorable way to tell us,” commented July DTS trainee Saskia Casey, “We are all very different but we come together really well as a team.”
“It was a very fun and mysterious way to share this news with us. It was a shock as well as a bit misleading, but at the end we had bonded just coming together as a group and we were incredibly happy when they revealed our teams to us.”
-Bekah Smith, DTS Trainee
Each team consists of an excellent mix of different gifts and personalities. 
Each member is driven by a passion to plant seeds and share God’s amazing good news in the discovered outreach locations in Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries. Team members are increasingly excited to begin putting what they already have learned into practice.
A portion of the teaching this week involved meditating upon the idea of Shalom, a word reflecting not only peace, but a sense of completeness out of chaos. It is God’s desire for a whole and complete relationship with the world. This experience has given team members a reinforced and reignited passion to see the idea of Shalom out in the world.
Photos: Hazel Laquindanum