Discipleship Training School (DTS)

Hi Everyone,

First, I want to say thank you for supporting my family and I as we walk into a whole new chapter of our lives. After I wrote my first post last night, I began to wonder and pray about the future of this blog. This morning, I felt it appropriate to update everyone on who I am, where I am, testify God's awesomeness, and explain the path God is paving before me.

I am an individual, unique, and loved child of God. You may read that and think, "yes, and so am I..." or maybe you think, "funny, who are you really?" At the end of the day I'm trying to provoke the question: Do you know, that you know, that you know you are an individual, unique, and loved child of God? And do you truly, deep within your heart, believe this truth? I want you to know YOU ARE! Start walking in that truth.

We all are individual and unique, so let me tell you about me. I am the baby child of my mother and father, Robert and Donna Schuller. I was born into a family of pastors. My grandfather, my father, and my brother are all pastors. Ever since I was young, I had not known anything different than what I lived; a "Christian" life. On Sunday mornings, I would wake up, dress myself properly, and go with my family to church. This was all I truly knew in my heart. My faith had become that of my parents. I believed because that's what I was told. I had no genuine faith of my own. My faith was like a tree that's roots are shallow; when a storm comes, the tree is blown over. After some years, people began to ask me, "Are you going to follow in your fathers footsteps?" At first I would shyly say, "no" until it became a very repetitive question. After a while, I was blown over from something so simple, I began living a rebellious life where I wanted to be different.

Fast-forward more years until I was 17 years old and was attending a youth organization called Young Life. With this group, I had gone to a youth camp for a weekend retreat at the end of my third year in high school.

One of the nights we were there, our leader Ken Clark was speaking. I remember when he was done speaking, he asked us to go outside, underneath the stars, find a solitary place and spend time listening to God. "Don't go with anyone else," I remember him saying. So I left and found my spot upon a big rock. As I sat, I remember looking up. When I saw all the stars, the very fingerprint of God's creation, my past life flashed before my eyes and the very questions that everyone asks entered my mind; "Who am I and where am I going?" At that moment, I will never forget the presence of God. As I sat crying, God spoke softly saying, "Don't worry about it. I'm holding you." It was an overwhelming inner knowing that I can never deny. The creator of everything living and nonliving was guiding me. This was the moment when the faith of my parents became my own, personal faith in God!

Now, I am writing from Townsville, in Queensland, Australia. I have been here since July this year and will remain here until December. How did I get here and what am I doing here? The short story is that God called me here. I am now participating in a program with Youth With A Mission called Discipleship Training School (DTS). DTS is a two stage program. First, the program focuses on teaching through lectures and discipleship. Secondly, we are sent on outreach to share the Gospel. God called me here so I would seek wholeheartedly, a personal relationship with Him (Jeremiah 29:13-14). Let me tell you, "seek and you shall find" is one of many true statements in the Bible. I found God and now I know Him. I am not saying to find God you must travel halfway around the world to find Him. This was my individual and unique calling from God. Now that I know God, I must make Him known! In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commissions all who follow Him, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Great Commission is now something I am called to. So, what does this look like? At the moment, I am still finishing the lecture phase of the program. I have been taught thoroughly, through the subjects of Clear Conscience, Relationships, The Father Heart of God, Identity, Lordship, Evangelism, Holy Spirit, and Hearing God's Voice. I still have the subjects of Spiritual Warfare, Biblical Perspectives, and Missions before we are sent to outreach.

However, in the immediate future, God is calling me to outreach in Papua New Guinea. There, a team of 8, including me, will be reaching some remote villages that may have never heard the Gospel. Ultimately, we will be sharing the love and truth of Jesus Christ. We are also paving a way for a ship tour that our base is preparing in order to reach these remote and unfortunate villages. Their mission is to follow the example of Christ, loving and providing for the less fortunate. Please watch the following video for a greater understanding of what the ship tour is providing. This is just a glimpse of what God can do through those who surrender to His will.