DTS (Discipleship Training School)
From September 2024 to February 2025, God invited me to serve the DTS. I worked at this school twice, this was my third time. We had 14 new students from the US, Canada, Ecuador, Germany and Taiwan in our community. I love how much our lives can be transformed when we take the time to get to know God intimately. He continued to grow in me a love for working with people from different cultures and discovering through them the richness that exists in His Kingdom.
Among other tasks, I discipled students individually and in small groups where they processed classes, devotional time, worship and intercession, teamwork and development of vocation, skills, projects and personal matters.
Liberia, Africa
In December we went to Liberia for the mission trip phase of this school. As a teenager I already had Africa on my heart. When I learned our DTS outreach was going to Liberia, I was overwhelmed!
About 3 years ago a great friend of my family and missionary supported by our church came to visit us from Africa, where she serves. I remember talking to her about my dream of going there, and she told me assured and exuberantly that God would take me to Africa.
Isn't He faithful and true? Finally, my dream as a teenager became a reality. But most importantly: God's will, word and promise was being fulfilled. And the LORD used us to reach 2,409 salvations and 143 reconciliations. Watch the recap videos and photos:
Mission Adventures (MA)
In June, July and August we run MA. Mission Adventures is a 1 week camp training for junior high, high school, youth and family groups for missions and to help the students grow in their faith. This summer we trained 5 teams (74 students) at our base for the outreaches we did and we saw 120 salvations. Praise God!!!
Joshua Generation (JG)
July was here and with it our Joshua Generation! Joshua Generation is a 2-and-a-half-week program for students aged 12 to 18 to learn how to share the Gospel with others.
This year my team and I performed the dance and drama and shared the love of Jesus in parks and squares throughout the streets of Philadelphia. I was a staff on this program the last 2 years and this year was my third year. JG'23 we all (69 students and 63 volunteers) saw:
- 13 healings
- 204 rededications
- 2.516 salvations
DBS (Discipleship Bible School)
WHY DID I SAY YES TO STAFFING DBS?
I have a passion for the Bible and helping others dive deeper in God's Word! I was a student at this school in 2022 and, this year, from March to June, I was staffing this school with 6 students.
DBS is a 3-months Bible School, where the students read the entire Bible, observed the chronology of biblical events, better understood each book in its historical context, understood the harmony between the books, were able to recognize the different genres of literature, and major themes found in these 66 books. The students learned the foundational truths of Christianity by going directly to the source. As a result they are able to share their faith more confidently with those who are seeking (evangelism) and explain the Word of God more accurately to those who’ve already come to faith (discipleship).
The DBS is a secondary school, meaning that to attend it you must have completed DTS. In DBS students continued the discipleship process begun in the DTS by addressing a variety of topics illuminated in the Scriptures, by building godly character and developing a lifelong hunger and love for the Word. This was not only accomplished in the classroom, but also outside the classroom, through one-on-ones, small groups, plus evangelism and mercy ministry in the community.
TEACHING DBS
God has placed a love and a desire to share His Word with others and I believe God is raising me up as a teacher. In this school I had the opportunity to teach one week of the 12 weeks and the topic was Paul and his 13 letters.
In this week we began to appreciate Paul and his influence on the early Church. We looked at some of the themes in each letter, its main idea, the reason it was written, the specific problems each church faced, etc.
We covered discipleship topics: Justification and grace (Galatians), humility and joy (Philippians), the need to live a godly life while expecting the Lord’s return (1, 2 Thessalonians), unconditional love, Holy Spirit, the power of God (1, 2 Corinthians), condemnation, salvation, sanctification and relationships (Romans), unity, identity and spiritual warfare (Ephesians) and pastoral care (1Tim, Titus).
EVANGELISM ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
Once a week we visit the local campuses of the University of Pittsburgh (PITT) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and share the gospel in relational and creative ways.
PITT and CMU also have a large number of international students, many of which come from lands far away, and closed to the Gospel. We have a unique opportunity to reach these nations while they live in ours.
We believe everyone should have a chance to hear the full Gospel in a loving way, so we aim to purposefully reach these students at their “Pitt-stop” in our neighborhood.