March, 2005
HELLO ALL MY FRIENDS!

I am currently and gratefully receiving warm welcomes from friends and family, as I returned on Saturday
from 5 months in Southeast Asia completing my DTS, [discipleship training school], at YWAM, [youth with a
mission], Penang, Malaysia. I have millions of stories about God the hero and how He changed me, taught
me, protected me and my team, humored me and most of all loved me through all the ups and downs.

The first three months from Sept. - Dec. was "lecture phase" where we learned in the classroom and studied
the Bible and received ministry. I went into DTS with little understanding of what I would be doing and where
I would be going, but with trust in the Spirit's leading. I knew I wanted to help people, and learn more about
my faith, and that's about it. Well, God blew me away from those pathetic expectations and wowed me with
His power and grace. There were many tears and times of healing. I learned sooo much about the love of the
Father and through the guest speakers began to start a deeper journey with God.

Dec. 20 – Feb. 20 was outreach phase, when we used what we learned in the classroom and brought it to
the outside world in sharing our testimonies and faith, applying the truths from our lives, transferring God’s
blessings for us into blessing and loving on others to reach the lost.

I had the opportunity to travel quite a bit. Within the 5 months I was away, I visited 6 countries: Malaysia
for my actual DTS lecture phase, Thailand for a weekend in October, Indonesia and Singapore with my family
vacation in November, Taiwan in December and January for outreach, and the Philippines in February for
outreach as well. I was able to learn about so many people, cultures, traditions, foods, religions etc...it was
amazing!

Last Friday we had Graduation, that means it was the end of our school and we got the certificates for
completing DTS. So here's an overview...

What happened
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It is impossible to tell everything, without having to write a complete novel. So I'll just pick out some things:

Highlights:
* The people. We met so many good, lovely people! I enjoyed meeting all those people and still being in
contact with some.
* The market in Taipei, Taiwan. A wonderfull, traditional market with food and clothes.
* The many cities I got to visit.
* Sleeping in an ATM bank machine room on New Year's from 2am to 4:30am waiting for the MRT skytrain to
run again...we missed the last train due to our partying in downtown Taipei at a large concert, and taxis
were expensive.

Challenging:
* In Taiwan and the Philippines we were confronted with the phenomenon, that you don't throw your toilet
paper into the toilet but in a bin next to it. I don't know why, but it is that strange, it's not so difficult after
a few days, and then you realize, that it is not that much different, and especially not worse.
* The Philippinos were very hospitable, as we casually visited and invited ourselves into their homes in
community visitations to pray for them and bless them...it took some time to feel comfortable in this
situation.
* In Malaysia and the Philippines it is so hot and humid all the time even during the night that you wear tiny pajamas and no blankets, with fans on hi, but still manage to wake up in a sweat, needing to shower
morning, afternoon and before bed sometimes!
* In the Philippines you wash yourself by filling up a large plastic garbage bin with water in the morning (the
only time there is running water) and use a small bucket to dunk yourself repeatedly with freezing water. But
it is so dusty and windy outside that once you walk outdoors, you are already a dirty sweaty stickiness once
again!

Facts:
* My team was in three countries, worked together with 10 churches, presented our message to over 15 schools for 90 classes of english lessons, helped in three kindergartens, ministered to 2 youth groups,
prayer walked in 3 cities, in several universities, in 3 hospitals, visited 2 elderly homes, 2 prisons, and one
orphanage.

Funny:
* In Taiwan I almost choked my little handicapped friend, Nano, with a skittle but he survived and we had a
little bonding time of building back our trust as I pushed him along the offroading nature trail in his wheelchair.
* One of our team members, Sonja Wicker, is from Germany so she has trouble with grammar sometimes... her
nickname is fruelein like from the sound of music, and one time she heard a sound and said "what is that" and
Josh nonchalantly says "your mother" and she sincerely asked back "my mother?" with expectation of her
actual mother's presence in Taiwan... we kept "my mother" quote around for a long time...she was also very
clumsy and loved singing out loud while listening to her music, so whenever we heard a thunk or painful
random tunes we knew she was near. She was a good sport:)

Reflective:
* It is sad how many people in Taiwan know the Gospel just with their mind, but don't want to go for it. We
experienced that when we talked with the people in schools and youth centers.
* It is also sad to see the simplicity of life in the Philippines and the hopelessness of monotony they face
each and every day with tons of children to feed with such little pay.
* God provided us with all we needed - an example: the day before outreach started many of us were very
short on funds, but through people's generosity and mysterious blessings, we actually ended up with extra
cash to return back to our team at the end of DTS!

Short wrap-up:
* So much more happened, and I do not regret at all that I did this program! It expanded my horizon
enormously, and that was great. It increased my hunger for more east Asia. Where that will go to, the
future will show. Actually, there are no conctrete plans (yet), only options needing prayer.

Testimony:
I believe this whole experience of travel, knowing God and making Him known, understanding myself and how
I can fight this battle of spiritual warfare in life has pushed me further into my identity in Christ and becoming
a truer disciple of Christ. I learned so much about humility and forgetting the past, pressing onto the
new…dead to self and alive in Christ. (Philippians 3:13,14 -- "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have
taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.") There is nothing
sweeter or more natural than the confidence in the knowledge and identity we can have in our Almighty God;
accepting His truth and applying it to our lives to become more like Him every day. DTS ingrained in me the
desire of striving for a more intimate relationship with our Father and brought me to understand the
importance of this quote from brother Lawrence in Practicing the Presence of God, "In the Christian life, to
not advance is to retreat". Always grow with God, for there is no condemnation in Jesus.

Blessings and peace in Him,
Joanne