This made those first few weeks of the school very difficult (to say the least), and there was a lot of rebellion, complaining and opposition, all of which was very oppressive, and I was very discouraged. I felt like I didn’t have faith that the students could change. There were days when I really didn’t want anything to do with them and found it difficult to try and help them. I had no hope! Then God gave me the verse in Galatians 6:9
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
I know that God has been really helping me to extend His MERCY and His GRACE to the students. Let’s say that I KNOW the theory, but putting it into practice has been a real challenge and has brought me to the end of myself. It was a real battle against my “flesh” and my feeling of “justice.” Having said that, I can see that God has been (and is!!!) working in my heart and on my character.
We have had some good classes and until now have only been able to cover the basics like: The Fear of God, The Lordship of Christ, and The Person of Christ. In each one of these classes I have been translating from Spanish into English and visa versa.
God is really transforming me into a leader… a “servant” leader. I am learning so much from our dear YWAM base directors, Daniel and Norma Etchart.
God has also spoken a lot during our National YWAM Staff Conference in Mendoza. The base there has approximately 15 hectors of land. I was helping out with the Worship during the Conference as well as being in charge of organizing a schedule for all the practical work such as clean up etc. On top of that I was also the captain of the football team from Mar Del Plata. We came in 4th out of ten teams which wasn’t bad when you think that there were other bases whose emphasis was on sports!!!
During the Conference I was able to meet and get to know some amazing people, including Yoli who was from Puerto Madryn, students from my DTS and so many more!!!
The theme of the Conference was “Building our Altar” which was right on for me. It was an intense time with regards to all the responsibilities I had, but at the same time it was a time of spiritual renewal. It definitely was NOT a physical renewal that’s for sure!!!
Our return trip from Mendoza to Mar Del Plata (which lasted 24 hours on the way there) ended up lasting a lot longer on the way back home. The bus didn’t have any air conditioning and the heat was terrible! You could hardly breath!
Being on a bus full to the brim with YWAMmers without any airconditioning was hard enough, but once I was able to fall asleep I was woken up and told that we had to get off the bus. One of the YWammers had seen the bus driver with a bottle of alcohol, so they stopped the bus. The bus driver then said that he had the bottle of alcohol because one of us had told him to buy it!!!! So they made everyone get off and line up beside the bus as if we were criminals (all we needed was a number around our necks!!!). Anyway we ended up waiting for two hours until the police arrived… it was horrible. Finally it was all sorted out and we were able to continue on with our journey, but it was a really long trip home!!! God protected us that is for sure!
Points for prayer:-
*I will be working more with the King’s Kids ministry in the coming days.
*That God would continue to give me revelation and wisdom in dealing with the DTS Students.
*For the DTS and for the students.
DONATIONS: For tax deductible donations (US only), send a check to: YWAM, PO Box 3000, Garden Valley, TX 75771-3000. On the Check please DO NOT put my Name, write the check to ywam, and in a separate piece of paper in side the envelope put my name "Benjamin D Barnreuther" .
Thanks for taking your time to read!
Benji
