You’ve hit a crossroads in your life, and you’ve got a lot of options.
A lot of good options. You’ve got the options your family will love. You’ve got the options your friends will get stoked about. You’ve got the options your old teachers will tell their colleagues about You’ve got the options that will look perfect on social media—and your future resume or CV.
This is not the time to waste six months—especially not on missions.
But sometimes wasting six months can change everything.
I was 21, and just graduated university with my teaching degree. I was looking for jobs, and I had some great options for next steps. I had a clear plan—get a few years’ experience, pay off my student loans, and maybe consider becoming a missionary, way down the line. Oh, I’d gone on a missions trip in high school and it changed everything. Teaching those kids in Cambodia was the reason I wanted to be a teacher in the first place.
But missions was an optional extra, right? Not a career.
Then I started getting this nudge that I shouldn’t pursue some of my job opportunities. It didn’t make sense. I started a part-time tutoring job, unsure what to do next.
That’s when a friend asked me: “What if you did DTS?”
I’d heard about DTS my entire life—”Discipleship Training School”. I could repeat it verbatim: a 5-6 month missions experience where you get to know God and make Him known in the nations. Yet instead of flat-out refusing it as an option, I was shocked. As soon as my friend asked the question, I knew it. I actually wanted to do DTS.
And wasting six months of my life on missions really did change everything.
So, here are 7 reasons why your Discipleship Training School might not be a waste:
1. Get solid, set-apart time to go deeper with God.
The Greatest Commandment is simple. Love God (Mark 12:30-31). Whether you grew up in church or only just started following Jesus, you’ll never regret taking a set-apart season to know God more. I’d been a Christian since I was seven, but my Discipleship Training School was the time where I got to experience God’s love on a whole new level. I discovered Jesus was so much more kind, faithful, and FUN than I’d ever imagined. I experienced the presence of God in tangible ways during worship and prayer. And that’s only a fraction of the stories I could tell you.
Your first 3 months of DTS, Training Phase, is where it all starts. Training Phase is designed to help you go deeper in your relationship with God, explore your calling, and get training from leaders who have years of experience in missions. Each week has a different speaker and different topic, such as Hearing God’s Voice, Bible Overview, and Relationships. Your schedule also includes worship, prayer, Bible study, small groups—every day is an opportunity to go deeper than you ever imagined.
2. Make epic friends in real-life community.
You already know it: our generation has never been more connected—and never more lonely. Technology is a gift (you found this blog post because of it!), but we weren’t designed to stay online. Social media, at its best, is a bridge to real community. Gritty, awkward, and beautiful community.
During your DTS—yes, you usually share your room and living spaces. Sometimes with a lot more people than you’ve ever lived with. It’s not always comfortable. Sometimes it’s crazy loud—and you can’t just turn on “do not disturb”. But that’s the wild thing about living in community, no matter how hard it can be—you make friends. Then? You travel the world together. By the end of DTS, you’re crying at the airport (and maybe even deciding to come back to England together).
3. Discover your calling—and do it.
Okay, you might already know what you’re called to. I showed up to DTS with a teaching degree and knew I was called to reach kids and youth. I had the opportunity to serve with a youth ministry each week and even got to teach other missionaries about effectively reaching students. However, I also had no idea how much God wanted to also use my passion for writing, art, and music on the mission field.
One night during street evangelism, I got this sense I should draw a picture of a waterfall. I felt like I was cheating, just doodling and not talking to someone. But I stuck with it for over 20 minutes. Then a teammate came to me and mentioned that she’d noticed a girl working in Subway, and wondered if we could bless her in any way. That’s when I knew. I wrote a prayer and a Bible verse on the drawing—and it turned out to be the encouragement that girl desperately needed that night. I learned that God loves us to just wanted me to be me. It transformed how I see missions today.
4. Get discipleship in your day-to-day life.
If you grew up in church, faithfully going to Sundays, youth groups, and camps, you know how much it means to have wise leaders walking alongside you, giving input on your walk with Jesus. However, you also know that it’s hard when they only see a tiny slice of your life, once in awhile.
On DTS, you get week after week of discipleship on-the-ground. Your staff and leaders are living alongside you, every day, and you have the opportunity to grow and learn in new ways. They are not a substitute for professional counselors or therapists (though many staff have training in these areas!) and they can’t support you in every aspect of your life. However, your staff and leaders are committed to pray for you, encourage you, and call you higher. When you want to grow—this is the best gift you could get.
5. Get equipped for your unique mission field.
During your DTS, you don’t just get spiritual, ethereal experiences that are helpful for “church-type stuff”. You get equipped in skills for MANY mission fields, even the ones you don’t expect.
Your track is a weekly timeslot in DTS Training Phase where you grow in skills in an area of your passion or calling. These times are a combination of workshops and opportunities to put your learning to practice. Depending on your DTS, potential tracks are Media, Culinary, Barista, Worship Leading, Sports, and more.
And the skills you learn and practice aren’t just for the international mission field. They’re designed to help you serve God and people in your workplace, your university, or wherever God sends you next. And if you’re wanting even more training—YWAM offers short-term, specialized courses and seminars that give you even more opportunities to put your learning into practice.
6. Stop watching travel videos, DO the Great Commission.
It’s one thing to watch a vibey reel about the Himalayas or the Middle East. It’s totally different to trek to the foot of a mountain range and preach the gospel to a goatherd who just had his knee healed or to play Spikeball in the middle of the desert.
I grew up hearing incredible testimonies from missionaries who traveled the globe. I knew I could do the same, one day, maybe. I knew the world was bigger than my hometown. But my DTS gave me the opportunity to actually do it. I got to step out of my comfort zone with like-minded people and see God do the rest. You weren’t made to watch someone else’s life on a screen. From the start, we were called to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). DO it.
7. Make space to decide your next steps.
You’ve hit a crossroads in your life, and you’ve got a lot of options. A lot of good options. DTS is one of them, but it can feel like a waste of time and money, I know. Especially when some of your options include a steady paycheck or a full-ride scholarship.
But here’s the thing. It’s six months (sometimes even less, depending on the schedule). You can jump straight into a full-time job or more school or an internship and five years can disappear without you blinking. Or you could take six-months-or-less, step back from your life plans, and make time for God to speak to you about His.
It might just change everything.
Ready to take the next step? Check out our upcoming DTS and find out dates, costs, and more:
CHOOSE YOUR DTS