Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, a war was fought. Wait, scratch that. The war is still being fought. And it’s right here, in this world. Now when I say war, what do you think of? World War II? The Vietnam War? A book about a war? These are all wars. But I’m talking about a completely different kind of war. The war over our souls. God is in the process of fighting a war to save us, and Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” To continue the ‘war’ analogy, God is making us his ‘soldiers’. He tells us to go and make disciples and to teach people. My family is trying to help with this mission. So, right now, we are at a family Discipleship Training School (DTS) called Rancho Abierto near Ensenada, Mexico.
A DTS consists of eight weeks of training, and then eleven weeks of outreach. The eleven weeks of outreach is in another country. About halfway through the DTS we will discover the different outreach options.
Rancho Abierto is a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base focused on family DTS’s. At a traditional base, there would be people taking a DTS, but usually alone. Rancho Abierto provides the ability to take the DTS with the rest of your family. ‘Abierto’ means ‘Open’ in Spanish. Their slogan is ‘Open Hearts, Open Hands, Open Minds’, hence, ‘Rancho Abierto’. The base is situated twenty miles on a dirt road out of Ensenada. They have 15+ cabins with one family in each cabin. Every morning you get up, go to breakfast, and then roll right into session. Kids have Foundation School from eight o’clock to two o’ clock.
Our Rancho Abierto experience has been amazing so far! I have loved meeting other kids my age who also want to grow in their faith. Not to mention how close we’ve all already gotten. It’s surprising how well you know a person when you wake up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, sit in class, and then spend the rest of your day together. Wait, never mind, that isn’t surprising ;) I’ve also been learning so many valuable lessons about how to grow in my relationship with God during Foundation School. I’m looking forward to learning more mission skills, talking to staff members about their previous mission experiences, and asking them for advice.
This week my class is talking about God’s identity. Many people have this image in their heads with what they think Jesus is like based on the illustrations of him they’ve seen. Some of us picture baby Jesus with brown hair and blue eyes. Some of us picture the Jesus actor in The Chosen. Some of us picture the guy dying on the cross, with the crown of thorns on his head. Who knows, maybe you imagine something different. We are exploring God’s identity in the Bible, and all the names he has been called. We have a list on the whiteboard in our classroom, and it’s growing by the day!
What have you been learning about God lately?
Your friend, Isla