You have applied or are enrolled to do a YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) and now it’s time to get your finances together to pay your course fees. The money you need is more than you have ever saved before and you could use a HUGE amount of encouragement right now! You’re wondering if it’s even possible to see all the money you need come in on time.
Recognise this? Then this blog is for you!
“I’m not good at saving!”
“I don’t earn much money…”
“I have debts that need to be paid off.” đŁ
“I just had a huge and unexpected bill come in.”
“I prayed about my financial situation, but nothing changed!”
All these excuses seem fair enough and are easily justifiable, but really, they’re still just excuses!
I want to share a few of my experiences with you as I’ve trusted God for finances.
God is always more interested in what we give than what we get.
In Malachi 3: 10 He says: “Test me in this”, says the Lord Almighty, âand see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it!â
All the excuses above were once mine! But once I made the decision to do a DTS, it became my goal (free tip: set a goal!). I found the strength (Godâs Spirit in me helping me) to give my all (my time, giving up shopping and such) and through that, I learned when we give our âlittleâ God will give âheaps moreâ!
4. Be Persistent
I worked hard, didnât go out anymore, gave up shopping, saved all I could, sold a lot of my things, organised a benefit concert to raise money, sent out newsletters and most importantly, I did it all open-handed and with God! While I was trying to sell my things to raise money, God told me to just give away more than half of it! I had a whole apartment full of furniture and belongings and gave it all up. God taught me to be generous. Because I gave most of my things away rather than selling them, I found I had some spare time to rest and breath in the midst of chaos and change. I had raised half of what I needed when I suddenly received a very generous gift. Someone unexpectedly decided to pay for my full DTS! Thanks to their generosity I was able to attend DTS much sooner than I expected.
2. Be Generous
Once I had arrived in Newcastle, I felt reassured knowing I had some savings in my bank account. I wanted to save this money so that I was able to come back and join staff after my course finished. However, God wanted to teach me that all we have is really His. One girl on my outreach team didnât have all her finances and God asked me to give her a generous donation. My first thought was, âReally God? I want to save this money for after DTS!â God replied, âShe needs money now, you have money available now, what you need in a couple of months will be provided for you in a couple of monthsâ.
3. Donât worry!
Right before my team was due to fly home from our outreach in Brazil, a volcano in Chile erupted, filling the air with ash. All flights were grounded and we were stuck in Brazil for 9 extra days. In the end, we all had to fly directly home from Brazil rather than return to Newcastle for our commissioning and graduation. As you can imagine, this was going to cost a lot of extra money! We tried everything we could to have the airline pay for our flight changes but to no avail. Every person I spoke with at the information desk over the nine days told me there was no way they were able to give me a flight home.
Instead of making a quick decision, I decided to wait a little longer, giving God space to speak. He told me to share some of the stories from my outreach with people at the airport and He would look after my flight to Europe. I chatted with a group of people and we had a great conversation. Afterwards, God told me to go to the information desk once again. I was amazed to discover that this time there was a ticket waiting for me! Within one hour, I was on a free flight home! Wow!
4. Count your blessings.
Here are a few quick stories to encourage you!
For my last outreach, I needed $5000 dollars but all I had was $2000 dollars in savings (set aside in case of an emergency). At one point, God challenged me to give away all my savings. This wasnât easy for me at all, but I was obedient. That same day I received a $4000 dollar anonymous gift and within 3 days I saw the complete $5000 dollar amount come in!!
Another time I saw God provide was when He asked me to lead our Youth Street ministry at the Skate Park each Saturday and. When I said ‘yes’, I suddenly was given a skateboard; I hadn’t even asked for one! When I saw we needed more skateboards for the team, I was generously given 2 more skateboards, just like that. My birthday was coming up and I asked God for a pair of skate shoes. The big day rolled around and, at the end of the day, a friend handed me an envelope of money and a note saying, âthis is to buy yourself some skate shoesâ! I was surprised at how helpful something like skate shoes turned out to be, I was able to connect with the skaters even better than before.
My last story happened just recently. I have never been a big reader, but since joining YWAM I have become a lot more interested. A few weeks ago I tried to find some books on healing, evangelism, and human trafficking. However, because I donât know much about books, it was hard for me to find something good to read. So, I prayed and asked God for help. I expected to find someone who could help me out, but instead, three different people gave me a book, one on each of these three subjects!
A few final thoughts…
One important thing to know is that God doesnât want to create spoiled brats! However, He really does want to bless us more than we can imagine! He has been blessing me in the most unexpected ways and this has stretched and grown my faith incredibly! I’ve found that often when I make a list of possible financial supporters, I will most likely receive donations from completely different people! If you donât think you have many friends who are able to support you, I challenge you to send your newsletter to 200 different people (easily found on Facebook or through the few friends you have). Believe God will move! Prayer is very important, the Bible says âPray without ceasingâ (1 Thessalonians 5: 17). God is faithful, He has never failed me and will never fail you either!
by Dieuwke Twyerould
YWAM Newcastle Alum
