Why Dunham?

You're probably wondering why I chose to do an Arts and Music Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Dunham, Quebec. To be quite honest, I wasn't the one doing the choosing. God directed me to this DTS. (And now you see why I named the blog the way I did.) It's a neat story, and I'd like to share it with you. It started some time ago. . . .

Mom and Dad met each other on a missions trip with Operation Mobilization. Consequently, I have grown up surrounded by missionary stories: from my parents, at church, by reading books, from other missionaries, and online. I've always wanted to be a missionary, and these stories inspired me. So when I heard about YWAM and DTSes (probably in my early teens, I don't remember exactly when), I wanted to do one someday.

After school I went directly to college, even though I considered going on a missions trip. It just wasn't the right time for YWAM. I spent three years at college, and contented myself with enjoying other people's YWAM stories. I graduated this spring, and looked into what to do next. During my time at the Canadian Badlands Passion Play I researched many different DTSes, and narrowed the list down to about 10, and then to about three. I was looking for a school that had a creative focus, preferably to do with film-making. I didn't mind where the school was, since I enjoy traveling. Finally, I chose the Media, Art and Photography DTS in Perth, Australia, as the most likely candidate. And I started praying about it.

After the Passion Play finished, a couple from YWAM Medicine Hat came and spoke to our church. Joel spoke about hearing the voice of God, which is easy. He said there are four main peoples that we can hear from: ourself, God, satan, and other people. So we pray that God would silence our voice, the voice of the enemy and the voices of other people, and ask that we would listen to God alone. Then the first thought that pops into our head when we ask God a question is likely Him. (Now, you do have to test that against the Bible.) So after the service they were praying for people, and I went and told Joel that I thought the next step in my life was to go to YWAM, but I wasn't sure where. So we prayed.

I asked God, "Should I go to YWAM Perth?" and the answer was "YesNo". And my response was "What kind of answer is that!?"

A few days later, God made the answer clear to me. I had actually been asking two questions: "Should I go to YWAM?" and "If so, Perth?" So, yes to YWAM, no to Perth.

So I did some more looking at schools online. I came across the YWAM Dunham website, and found what seemed to be perfect: A Media DTS. It was in January, when I wanted to go. It taught about film making, using social media, photography, and all sorts of other things I'm interested in. The course can be used as a prerequisite to University of the Nations courses. And it was still in Canada (no currency exchanges and visas - woohoo!). On top of that, it was in Quebec, which is a gorgeous province, and I could practice my French.

Still, I didn't have 100% peace about it, even though everything seemed perfect. A couple weeks later, I found out why. I asked about the Media DTS on YWAM Dunham's Facebook page, and found out the school had been cancelled. I was miffed, but then I reasoned that God must have a better plan.

One of the people from Dunham Facebook messaged me, and told me about the Arts and Music DTS instead. It wasn't my first choice. (Hah! Not even my second.) But I kept it in mind. I prayed some more, and got the impression that God wanted me to wait, and He would tell me which school I would go to on my birthday, which is in the middle of November. This might sound a bit weird, but I'm the kind of person who plans and over-organizes, and jumps in with both feet once I know want to do something. I get a bit over-enthusiastic, and I believe God wanted me to focus on Him for a while, not YWAM plans. So I waited and went about ordinary life.

The Arts and Music DTS grew on me. By the time my birthday rolled around, I had complete peace about going, and I was super excited about it. I applied, and was accepted about 3 weeks after my birthday. I believe God wants me there, and I have peace about going. And lots of excitement! So that's why I'm going to Dunham, Quebec.


(P.S. If you have any questions, or just want to comment, I love hearing from people!)