[Special Rpoert] DTS – A School of Wisdom & Character 

[Special Report] The History and Principles of DTS \

By Joshua K. Kim*/ Editor 

The beginning of DTS and its history

Youth With A Mission launched the School of Evangelism, the first discipleship school, in 1969. Students were trained in SOE to become effective in evangelism. As it was the first fruit that proceeded many, its value and importance should not be underestimated. However, it was not the prototype of DTS (Discipleship Training School) since the latter had a different purpose and history. The difference between these two schools reveals the essence of DTS.

DTS was started in the 1970s when the hippie culture, emerged in the 60s, dominated the continent of North America and Europe. As history has illustrated, God used this cultural and historical crisis for calling people into His kingdom. Through DTS, many young people became passionate about mission and evangelism, and they were incessantly engaged in street evangelism in many cities and brought many others to Christ. This evangelical movement shares similarities with the revivals in the early 1900s and became the Jesus Movement that spread throughout America and Europe in the 1960s and 70s. Those who accepted the gospel found the purpose for their lives and transformed into the passionate witnesses of Christ.

At that time, Leland Paris, one of the leaders of YWAM, asked a young convert, “What is your religious background?” The young man answered without hesitation, “My religion was drugs.” Leland was surprised at his answer and realized an important fact: those who came to Christ had no knowledge and experience about Christian truth and culture, such as who Christ is, what the Biblical says, and how the believers live as the body of the church. Leland thought that they needed to have the foundational truth in order to live Christ-centered life and to become His witness.

Leland took this matter into his heart and spoke with Loren Cunningham and other YWAM leaders. In 1974, they created a discipleship school that teaches the biblical truth, transforms the participants’ characters, and trains them to become missionaries. It was the birth of the Discipleship Training School. As its history and purpose demonstrate, DTS purposes: first, mission; second, character development; third, discipleship. All the teachings should reflect the biblical truth.

Those who had no purpose in life and no knowledge of Jesus, the Bible and the church devoted themselves to Christ through YWAM’s evangelistic effort and came to DTS. During DTS, they learned the word of God and who God is. They also learned who they were and how they should live, and the truth they received transformed them little by little into the image of Christ. They came to school as the defeated in life but left school as the passionate evangelists for the nations.

The purpose and principle of DTS

7 principles – the Great Mission, Brokenness, Application, Blending, Association, Involvement, Training

David Gustaveson was a leader in YWAM Los Angeles, and he had led DTS for a long time and had trained DTS leaders. He says, “DTS operates on 7 principles and purposes: the Great Mission, Brokenness, Application, Blending, Association, Involvement, and Training. The ultimate purpose of DTS is to create various environments to produce students who are on fire for the heart of God and the broken world. This goal should be reflected in the development of the leaders and show its fruit by producing the committed full-time missionaries.” He emphasized that DTS always has to maintain the character of obedience to the Great Commission of Christ.

DTS students experience that their relationship with God and others is changed. They become sensitive to the Spirit’s voice and obedient to Him when He teaches them transparency and leads them to a place of openness and brokenness. David differentiates this process from the “inner healing.” He clarifies, “While inner healing requires the participants of the ministry to focus on their emotional wound, we aim to raise the broken and humble students so that they desire to glorify God and witness His love that touches the broken world.” In other words, DTS purposes raising the “broken-hearted” who desire to give up their lives for the kingdom of God.

“While inner healing requires the participants to focus on their emotional wound,
we aim to raise the broken and humble students
so that they desire to glorify God and witness His love that touches the broken world.”

David adds, “DTS is a school that teaches not information but wisdom.” In other words, the key to DTS is in the application. Every day students apply what they have learned in their lives and are challenged to develop holy habits based upon the truth. The communal living of DTS trains students to practice their new knowledge in their relationships. In no time, they realize that they cannot avoid those whom they usually would not associate with. They also learn that they need to learn to get along with each other through small group activities, work duties, and worship services. David says, “The impossibility to avoid others surfaces the sin that was hidden for a long time.” God reveals and deals with anger, self-pity, and bitterness through the relationships, and He continuously cleanses the students’ hearts and lives.

David mentions, “The key to run a successful DTS depends on how the school leaders make the students form a unified body.” As John 17 says, the students have the opportunity to develop deeper relationships with others through small group and classroom participation and other communal activities. Even if these environments do not result in perfect unity, the effort benefits the students by reminding them of God’s will for unity.

Not only the small groups but also the staff are the pillars of DTS. David explains, “DTS is not run by a superstar but by the coaches.” He emphasizes that “the life is in the body.” The transformation that DTS seeks does not occur in the classroom nor by a superstar teacher but through interacting with the coaches who take the roles of the spiritual parents. The staff and the students of DTS are transformed “together” as they pray “together,” cry “together,” work “together,” and witness “together.” According to David’s principle of DTS, students experience daily transformation through the staff’s involvement in the students’ lives as well as through the lectures that provide knowledge.

Lastly, DTS demands training. As the acronym of DTS stands for discipleship training, the training aspect of the school should not be disregarded. As athletes experience growth through the painful training session, the students of DTS are trained to apply their knowledge in their lives. DTS is designed to challenge them to accomplish this goal, and they experience “No pain, no gain” through their daily struggle for growth.

The required topics for DTS lectures

David emphasizes that the following topics are the DNA of DTS from its birth: worship and humility, pride, Jesus and the Comforter, Father’s Love, Fear of the Lord, the Broken Heart of God, Taking Responsibility of Sin, Mercy of God, Apathy and Indifference (the students view the world with God’s heart as they learn that apathy to the brokenness and pain of the world is the result of selfishness), Identification (students identify the sin of the nations as their own and intercede for them according to the examples in Daniel 9, Nehemiah 9, Ezra 9, and Ezekiel 9), Idolatry, and Sin. Every DTS is required to deal with these topics in the lecture stage.

It is noteworthy that “inner healing” is not included in the list of the topics mentioned above. David remarks, “DTS is not an inner healing school. From its embryonic stage, DTS did not include the topic of inner healing in its curriculum. Does it mean that we are not interested in it? No. Inner healings naturally occur in the process of learning the Word of God. However, DTS does not invest a large portion of its time in it.” David’s word may surprise those who are accustomed to the Korean DTS, which has treated inner healing as part of the core curriculum. However, it is important to understand the DNA and direction that DTS has sought from its birth.

DTS needs to discover and contextualize the necessary elements to raise the disciples of Christ in various cultures. The DTS in Islamic culture needs to consider its influence on the students’ upbringing. In Mongolia, the DTS topics should deal with the cultural issues stemming from the prevalence of shamanism in society. In the same vein, Korean DTS’s emphasis on inner healing reflects the Korean and Asian cultural needs. However, David emphasizes that contextualization is the process of accomplishing the goal of DTS, not the purpose itself. He notes, “If inner healing is emphasized in DTS, the leaders would realize that 12 weeks do not allow sufficient coverage of the topic. They will also learn that inner healing is a never-ending process because it is a gradual transformation through perceiving and applying the truth in life.”

The flower of DTS: outreach – 7 principles

All DTS graduates would passionately talk about their outreach as Korean males would boast and share their military experiences for days. Outreach made us excited, surprised us, and humbled us. In the midst of it, we experienced the wonderful ministry of God, transformation, and growth.

David Gustaveson offers 7 “C”s as the principles of DTS outreach: Compassion, Cross-cultural, Conversion, Challenge, Character Training, Conquerors, and Confidence.

During the outreach, the students learn the heart of God toward locals, as demonstrated in Isaiah 58, 61, and Matthew 25. It is a heart transformation received through prayers and distinctive from being humane. Another benefit of outreach is learning how to bring the gospel and live out its message in other cultures.

The students also experience “harvesting where the crops are ready,” as the disciples did in Acts. David speaks a word of caution, “DTS outreach should be designed for the students rather than the outreach location.” The reason is that DTS is a training tool for students whose ministerial experiences are to be reserved for the future. David warns that focusing on the ministry may compromise the individual student’s growth and training.

Outreach is a time of taking the risk and rising up for the challenge. It allows the participants to experience the amazing works of God. The students experience deeper transformation in their character than during the lecture stage as they face the challenges of living in a tough environment. The training to be broken and transparent in the lecture stage continues in the outreach as the students face unfamiliar cultural issues.

Outreach also affords to experience the power of God and His gift. The students witness the mighty works of God as the friends of Daniel did, and they are turned into strong warriors and become confident in the gospel. If they are asked whether this generation would be transformed by the gospel, their answer would be an emphatic “amen.”

[epilogue]

DTS graduates tend to say that the experience of DTS is individualistic. God grants the experiences and growth that each person needs through DTS. Therefore, comparing experiences would not be beneficial.

However, when we examine the purpose and principles that DTS has sought, we rediscover where we are today. The time that we practiced humility, brokenness, and transparency while struggling together to rise up to the call of preaching the gospel to the nations … the time when we renewed our relationship with God on the foundation of the Words and discovered our being and calling … the time when we preached the gospel on top of our lungs in the nations and confessed that a lowly being like me could not have done this without God’s grace … these were the pictures from our DTS.

What is important is that the DNA of the Gospel still runs in our vein today. This reality challenges us to reflect upon how we live that truth today.

Joshua K. Kim – he is a graduate of 1992 DTS at YWAM Hongcheon, Korea. He pioneered the bilingual DTS at YWAM Salem in 1999 and served as the school leader until 2002. He led BEDTS in New Jersey and trained DTS leaders numerous times.