Student Testimonies

Daniel van de Kamp

Originally I signed up for a DTS because I wanted to have a 5 month period set apart to see what missions was all about. I could have never imagined that these 5 months would turn into 6 years of missions work.

The outreach of my DTS was probably the most amazing experience ever. Just seeing how God can use simple people like me to touch other peoples lives. Oak Ridge will always have a special place in my heart, cause it was there I had a true encounter with God and got to know Him in a real way.

Matthew Guddat

DTS is never what you expect. Whether you sign up for an adventure DTS or not, an adventure it will be! It was a time for me to set apart my life for God and to know what that means. I have since matured in my relationship with God and grown in my relationship. For me DTS was not and answer to all life’s problems but the beginning of life and its problems and answers. Here I had an opportunity to plunge in over my head with God.

Joel Mercier

I was a good kid most of my life. Things got crazy, I got crazy, a little too crazy. I knew that Jesus was the only one who could save me from the life I was headed for. A friend and I, on a Friday with Mary smoke session, decided to do a DTS, and there I found Jesus. God is good all the time and all the time God is good. There is no high like Jesus my friends. Stay close to him and He will stay close to you. Be blessed friends.

Janelle Cadamia

It's so freeing to be in a place where you are a fresh face to everyone around you. You are not limited to the expectations of the people that already know you to be a certain way. You break out of that box, and you feel more open to become who God intended you to be. On my DTS at Oak Ridge, I really felt like God was able to bring me to a place where I could be honestly and completely me!

Joshua Millar

BLS at Oak Ridge really was a life changing time for me and challenged me to step up and help others learn more about God. I loved watching people change and grow and it always blew me away that God could use me to help change someones life! I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about leadership, it is not an easy course but it is rewarding and will live with you for the rest of your life.

Ellia Meade

When in Vanuatu on DTS outreach, for one week we stayed with a local family whilst building a water catchment system for her house. While we were there our host showed us so much kindness and love. She cooked us lots of food and even massaged our sore backs. By the time we had to leave I realized she was my Vanuatu Mummy. It was hard then to leave my second home!

Katie Reding

On outreach in Vanuatu I met a poor boy in a village who loved to play the guitar… however his uncle had taken his guitar from him, so I decided to give him my guitar which I had taken with me. A huge smile came over his face as I handed him the guitar and he couldn’t stop saying “THANK YOU”! It was such a great experience to bless this boy! I loved it.

John McNicholas

For me, my faith had taken less importance and God had become distant, then I decided to do DTS. It's given me a fuller and more accurate understanding of God's character and how real he is! It's really helped breath life into my faith; and wasn't all that cheesy in the end! So relax and go for it - really worth a few months of your life!

Christine Westling

Reaching a point in life were it seemed my faith had hit a plateau, a big leap needed to be taken for any change to happen. Hearing about the adventure program at Oakridge I knew that was my leap. I threw myself into everything from the get go wanting to get as much out of every moment as possible. The more I let go the more gifts God gave, for example writing poetry for the first time in my life. If there was one word to describe my DTS it would be FREEDOM.

Justin Moser

While on outreach in Vanuatu we were able to run a night church servie. After the Chief asked me for prayer for his sickness he had had for a few weeks, so I prayed for it to go. He was very thankful and shook my hand. The next day at breakfast he came and shook my hand again and went on to tell how his sickness was gone when he woke up that morning. He was so exited about it and we were too.

John Paul Kemmenoe

All throughout DTS, God has been revealing to me my wild and adventurous side. He’s been showing me that I honestly love getting dirty, tramping around in the bush, taking risks and jumping into things. He’s shown me that he’s a bit wild himself and that as His son, my nature reflects his. He’s inviting me to submit my mind to him for transformation, to live with a far more radical faith, and to rely on his wisdom and strength instead of my own.

On outreach - A few of my highlights included jumping off 40ft cliffs into deep sea, climbing to the top of an enormous banyan tree, preaching a sermon on “Love & Obedience,” teaching a class of 4th & 5th grade students for a week, swimming in volcano-heated hot springs, flying in tiny planes, sitting on the front of boats in the open ocean, and trusting God throughout it all.

I’ve been stretched a lot in learning generosity and confronting the core issues of selfishness and fear in my heart that make living truly generously so difficult. I’m learning heaps about the blessing of living in community, but that this requires the lifestyle of love that Paul describes in Romans 12 as being a “Living Sacrifice.” I’m growing in God’s grace with others and I realize how much grace God pours out on me daily.

I’m discovering the beautiful simplicity of relationship with God that Paul describes in Romans 3-5, and that Christ talks about constantly in the gospels. - It kills me to think that I’ve missed so many of the basics that Christ taught until now.

Linda Wall

The YC DTS has meant a lot for us! It was amazing to be able to do this adventure togheter with my husband, something that I have dreamed about for a long time! It was very challenging but so good for our marriage and for us as individuals! God showed us important things in our lives and for that I'm so greatful! Me and Per are now much closer and we have more fun togheter and really are the best of friends! We are longing for to serve God even more with our lives. We want to continue this adventure in our own city!

Hanna Fischer

Im amazed how God gave me the key to different struggles in my life during this DTS. It was sometimes painful at first to unwrap old wounds that never really healed until then. But as soon as I did, God rewarded my courage to take a little step and took a big step together with me. When he touches your life, he heals completely and fulfills. And the best thing is: You have friends on your side going this way with you and youre able to celebrate together the power of Christ`s resurrection, that moves your life and the lives of people around you.