We Done Did It

Ya'll, we did it! The Kingdom Discipleship Training School of 2020/2021 graduated on 5 March 2021. Words can't express how proud I am of both our participants and the staff team. The last five months have been full of lots of challenges, including a cancelled international outreach, that is for sure. But we made it through, and God definitely moved and led throughout this entire school. Each of the participants have grown in the big ways and the small, and if I've been able to teach them half the amount they taught me then I'll consider my job well done. Staffing my first DTS has been hard, but so worth it. The amount of energy, time, effort, and care put into every aspect of this school was a bit exhausting and I learned a lot about boundaries and time management as I went along. More lessons will come in hindsight (I hope) but I've no regrets and I'm excited to staff again in the future. So what's next for our participants? All of them have decided to stay with us through March and I'm excited to have them around for an extra month! They'll be put on different teams around base and be volunteers for the time being. In April a few will head home to continue their lives in their home countries, some starting university and one hoping to join the mission field full time! Two participants will be staying on complete a second level school called EQUIP with us. These last two weeks I've felt such a mixture of pride, a tinge of sadness amongst the joy, and excitement about what's ahead for each of them. God has wonderful stories planned for each of them and it has been a privilege to be a part of this chapter.

After this week of debrief, I'll have some time off (that I'm planning on spending in bed with the stack of books I've neglected the past few months) and then rejoin the base rhythms. I'll be joining the personnel team and helping the hospitality team here on base, while also being a part of the logistics team for the Connexity Conference happening this November in Cape Town, South Africa. The rest of the year will have its own number of things to do so I'm trying to enjoy the slower pace for now and not jump straight into the next thing.