Update on our Preparations and Visa Success

A number of things have been progressing since the last time we updated the website, the most pressing issue which we mentioned, regarding our visa entry for the lecture phase of the DTS:

VISA – We are very please to report, that our application for an ESTA Visa Waiver has been approved, which give us permission to travel to the US. The Visa Waiver is the way most British citizens travel to the US on holiday, but can also be used for business/voluntary work, and gives us 90 days in the US which covers the lecture phase of our DTS (click here to find out more about what a DTS is).

Click here to download our Newsletter

NEWSLETTER – We recently produced a paper newsletter to help get the word out. The content is very similar to the website and is really aimed at those who don’t find checking websites that easy. It can be opened or downloaded by clicking here. Please feel free to send this to anyone you think may be interested.

Grace Community Church, Cornwall

SENDING CHURCH – Last week we had the pleasure of being able to go back to my (Liam) home church in Cornwall, Grace Community Church in Morval, Cornwall. We had a great time meeting with their global missions team, who were hugely encouraging to us and confirmed that they will be providing prayer support for us as a sending church for which we are hugely grateful.

FUNDS – With the events of the past few weeks behind us, we are gaining a stronger sense of the Lord’s hand in our preparation and this sense is filling us with complete faith in Gods goodness, giving us no doubt at all in His ability and desire to take care of all our needs. Through our saving plan and the incredible generosity of a number of friends we miraculously have half of the course fees for DTS. We still have approximately another £6500 to raise. If you are planning to support us in this way or feel led to support us monthly in missions we are asking people to consider letting us know ahead of time on our pledge form so that we can begin to budget for the costs ahead, this would help us hugely.

Visa Difficulties UPDATED

US Embassy London

As many of you may be aware by now, we were, unfortunately, turned down for a B-1 US Visa for september. The reason given was a lack of economic ties to the UK (jobs, house, etc) and proof that we planned to return to the UK (as we openly discussed our intention to go to South Africa after our time in the US).

All is not lost though, we still have the option of entering through the visa waiver system, for the duration of our DTS lecture phase. The visa would have given us the flexibility to stay for a longer period, but now we will just have to take an alternative route for any further stay beyond our DTS course.

After being turned down we were quite deflated about the situation and prayed in the park outside the embassy, again offering our plans back to the Lord and asking him the significance of the decision for our plans. We both strongly feel that God has directed us to attend the Kona base  to do our DTS because of the quality of the teaching and focus on ministry in South Africa, and so are fully convinced of his ability to make a way for us to do that. Please pray with us to that end.

UPDATE 2: We have now been accepted to enter through the visa waiver program, click here to read more.

Original Post Below:

We have been trying to negotiate the London US Embassy website, speak with as many people as possible and do all we can to work out the best way to get a Visa to the US. We are trying to secure a 12 month visa for us both, which we have been told is very unlikely, but as we are learning as we prepare for DTS God seems to be going ahead of us in things, so we are prayerfully hoping that this will be the same.

To explain, currently the US is particularly difficult to enter for any period of time, we have heard quite a few stories of people being turned away, and being told thye have applied for the wrong visa. We have done everything we can to research and wil be preparing over the next few weeks.

We have a Visa Interview on July 9th in London, we would appreciate it if you would pray for us as we prepare for this and during the interview itself if  you are able! To make it clear, if we were turned down for this visa it would put our chances of being able to enter the US for DTS into serious jeopardy.

Community Transformations Ministries

The DTS we have enrolled in is part of YWAM (Youth with a Mission) Ministry called Community Transformations. Community Transformations train and send out missionaries to focus locations (currently Cape Town, South Africa, Boulder ,Co.  and New York City), engaging with long term missionaries and churches to see transformation in the communities we work in. It is run by good friends of our Jeff and Bethany Reid who are full time voluntary staff members with YWAM, to find out more about them and ways to support them head over to their website here.

We will be working in a township called Masiphumele, Cape Town, South Africa:

• Population:30,000
• Average Life Expectancy: 45 years
• Percentage of population known to be living with HIV AIDS: 40% (this is a low estimate)
• Meaning of the word Masiphumele: ‘We will arise’
• Positioned at the tip of Africa, this Xhosa township is ready for transformation!

Community Transformations DTS works alongside long-term ministries in the area to ensure that the engagement with the community has long term impacts. The key long term group Community transformations work alongside are “All Nations“, a ministry in Africa focused on house church planting led by Floyd Mclung and Youth With A Mission, which has a local base up the road from our township.

All ministries which students join or start must be transformation focused and must share Jesus. This means that instead of building a house, Community Transformations will find locals in Masiphumele and teach them how to build a house, sharing Jesus and discipling them as they go.

This enables them to multiply what they learned, provide for their families, and understand that Jesus is not only going to church but is every part of life.

In this one township alone, missionaries on the ground planted 5 churches in the past year, are building a safe house for abused women and children, revolutionizing the school system, teaching principles of business to relieve families from poverty, bringing positive change through sports.

Teams are working with local government to bring solutions to violence and crime. Outreach teams have freedom to build new creative and sustainable initiatives, while partnering with amazing long-term missionaries.

Below is the Vision of Community Transformations:

“Imagine a reversal of AIDS statistics in South Africa or a dramatic drop in crime in New York City. Imagine communities stepping out of poverty because they have been taught how to farm and grow their own food.  Imagine major corporations closing child-r sweatshops because of a newfound desire to treat employees with dignity, no matter what their age or race.”

Moving House to Save money for DTS

Our Porta-Cottage!

When we really felt that God has asked us to start out in missions by going to DTS we started looking at the implications, both practical and financial, and one of the things that became immediately apparent is that we weren’t going to be able to raise the money just by saving what little didn’t go out on bills.

Our biggest outgoing was the house we were renting, we found it before we got married and it turned out to be an amazing house for the first year of marriage, in fact, it was way more than we needed, but while we had it we enjoyed using the dining room to entertain, and the spare room for friends to stay, but we both knew that if we expected God to provide for us to go to DTS and beyond, we should do everything in our power to save!

And so, after asking friends of ours, they agreed to let us move into a small annex area of their house.

It has a bathroom, kitchen area, and a lounge/bedroom. Its about one and a half times bigger than our old lounge, and has a flat roof, so when it rains it sounds like you are sleeping under a tin roof, but its actually been quite comfortable and cosy, and much less upkeep than our last place, and most important of all it allows us to save much more every month than our last place.

What is a DTS?

Lecture Phase

The DTS is YWAM’s basic training program, an introduction to the values and culture of the movement and a unique opportunity to explore God’s purpose for your life.  It is offered at hundreds of YWAM centres around the world.

Being in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) is more than just learning statistics about the suffering people of the world. It’s about gaining a heart for those people, children of God, who have faces and dreams and passions.

(Source: YWAM)

DTS stands for Discipleship training school, here is a bit more information about the one in Kona that we will be attending:

The DTS lecture phase
The school includes distinct sessions taught by speakers includes topics such as:

• The character and ways of God
  

  YWAM's University of the Nations

• How to hear the voice of God
• The power of forgiveness and repentance
• YWAM Foundational Values
• Relationships
• Personal character development
• Spiritual warfare
• Evangelism and missions
• Cross-cultural ministry

The outreach phase
Outreach doesn’t just happen during the overseas field assignment. It begins on the Kona campus. The DTS give lots of ways for students to put their faith into action around the local community, long before we board planes for “outreach.” The contribution each student brings will help shape the school itself.

The purpose of the DTS

Ohana Court, U of N Kona

1. To equip people of various ages and levels of spiritual maturity to grow in their relationship with God and develop Christ-like character.

2. To awaken in our students a burden for the world’s lost and hurting people, showing them how they can be an influence for redemptive change in whatever job or country or sphere of society God may call them to serve in.

3. To help students build a solid Biblical foundation for life, including an understanding of the nature and character of God and how to apply his truth and wisdom in everyday life.

4. To challenge Christian men and women to become active in service to their local church, their local community and in world missions and evangelism.

5. To impart an understanding of Youth With A Mission International, its foundational values, calling and opportunities for service.

The community classroom
DTS students’ learning experience goes way beyond the classroom. Much of our cross-cultural learning comes from living “in community” with students and staff from many nations. We regularly eat together, pray and worship together, and get together for various social and educational activities. Each student also serves the community through ten hours a week of essential campus work (Grounds keeping, maintenance, kitchen, hospitality, office support, etc.).

The Kona campus is a family friendly location with a variety of services and

A Recent DTS Class at UofN Kona

facilities for students with children. During class the children of our DTS students are encouraged to participate in our Foundation School. Some quarters we also offer English as a Second Language training for kids.

A fluid and innovative approach
The DTS has a regular weekly schedule of corporate teaching sessions, but there will also be times when the class is split into smaller groupings according to age, gender, interests, calling or needs. We purposely hold the structure and form lightly because we want God to be able to do something new and innovative with us.

We want this school to be integrated, interactive and dynamic. We will offer optional sessions on a variety of topics, and we expect that there will be many student-initiated activities.