Heading out..

Hi everyone! 

Our last couple weeks have been filled with things, things, and more things. It seems to be the nature of DTS, especially toward the end of lecture phase. A couple of "things" I am describing are plenty of great lectures, preparing the last details and dramas, dances, and testimonies to go on outreach, thanksgiving, and having Jason's dad here for a week of teaching. That week turned out to be a powerful week for a lot of students and staff members. God ministered to people in such a unique way, bringing healing and encouragement. He also taught a lot about how to be an evangelist through the adventures that John had in the past. It was an incredible time, to say the least. 

Now that lecture phase is over, the moment we have all been waiting for has come: outreach to Thailand!  Each and every one of the team members is excited about heading off to Phang Nga in the south, as well as Phuket, and then for the last couple weeks in Chiang Rai up north. Some of the ministry we will be doing there together is prison ministry and working with prostitutes in the bars of Phuket, showing them God's love.  We will also be doing kids ministries, street evangelism, working in a smoothie shop trying to get to know local college students and tell them about Jesus :), as well as many other ministry opportunities. All this to say, we all feel very privileged to partner with God in serving the people of the world. Thank you ahead of time for your prayers and thoughts about us. We appreciate you guys. 

This is our team that we'll be with for two months! We'll be updating about our adventures on this blog; so look for news about what God is doing in Thailand here!  Please keep us and these lovely people in your prayers.  We love you all and will miss you!  Have a wonderful, blessed Christmas!

Love,  Jason and Erika

DTS lecture phase is coming to a close!!

   The past couple of weeks have breezed by so quickly!  We had a fabulous week of teaching about prayer/hearing God's voice, followed by a week of teaching about the Holy Spirit/spiritual gifts.  It was so exciting to watch the students stepping out more in their giftings and praying for and encouraging one another.  We have seen so much growth in them, particularly as they gain a deeper understanding of how much God loves them, and how their true identity is who God says they are.  This is such a simple thing, but so important for all of us.  We get so many mixed messages about who we really are, every day.  It is so easy to define ourselves by what we do, what our hobbies/talents are, or simply what people say about us.  It is vital to understand that we are the beloved children of God, and to measure any other messages about our identity by that standard.  This is the heart of what we will be discussing in DTS this week, and we are really looking forward to seeing how God impacts all of our lives deeply with this truth.  I highly recommend this video by Henri Nouwen if you are looking for some excellent teaching about your identity as a beloved son or daughter of God.


   Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  The thoughtful notes we get from some of you mean so much to us; thanks for taking the time to bless us.  Though we are really far away, it makes us feel closer to know that we are not alone in what we are doing here and that you all are praying for us.


   It's hard to believe, but we leave for outreach in Thailand in a little over 3 weeks!  Our team is bonding together more and more and growing very excited about the opportunity to minister there.  We have had a lot of team meetings where we've learned about Thai culture and religion/worldview, some language basics, as well as learning how to share the gospel and preparing dramas for outreach.  We've even gone over some practical team building stuff, like learning our Myers-Briggs personality types, and how we need to relate to each other in love.  : )  For Jason and me personally.....as we prepare for a two-month outreach to Thailand, we are still in need of partners who feel called to help support our missions work monthly.  If any of you feel led to participate in what we are doing as a member of our financial support team, please contact us.


Thank you for your love and support!  We love hearing from you!

New photos

Today, I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures that cover our last few months.....enjoy!  Some of them are a little old....I somehow missed posting a lot of our SBS photos.  If you want to keep current with photos, check out facebook!  We have many more pictures there.  :)

Here is our SBS class photo!

Here we are with our SBS graduation certificates!  We did it!!

This was at our fancy SBS graduation dinner.  

We went to South Carolina/Virginia this August for Jason's brother Sanders' wedding.
This is the whole family!  We had such a lovely time.

Here are Jason's aunts, cousin, and mom at Sanders and Jessica's wedding.  

Last week in Salem, Oregon, our outreach teams did a ropes course together for team building.  Jason and I jumped together off a 75 foot platform swing.....it was crazy!  A free fall, and then swinging in the forest.  

We made it!

Mini-outreach for the DTS

The Fall DTS just returned from a wonderful week of community outreach and worship/prayer in Salem, Oregon!  We joined with the DTS class in Salem for a week of seeking direction from God, and then going out to tell others about his love.  Our mornings had a similar format to class in Montana: worship, then prayer/intercession, with a speaker giving a message/challenge afterwards.  The students (and us) the hit the streets in downtown Salem, giving out hot chocolate, talking to people, and posting prayers for the city on the bulletin boards of various coffee shops and restaurants around town.  In addition, we took turns walking around downtown silently carrying a wooden cross.  This was so that we could see what it means to take a stand for Christ in a peaceful manner, and to identify with his sacrifice in a small way.  Finally, we drove to nearby Portland one night and worked with a homeless ministry there.  This involved serving a hot meal, giving away clothes, cleaning the area, and even haircuts and foot washing for the homeless guests there.   Most of these experiences were very new for the students, and a great way for them to begin to get out of their comfort zones and share their faith before we go on our two-month overseas outreaches.  The students are being so filled with God's love and being healed from past burdens, and are really starting to believe that God can use even them to reach a hurting and dying world.

As part of the week, many of the students chose to go "unplugged," meaning that they left their laptops, phones, and ipods at home for the week.  Many of them were really impacted by this and felt that they had a special time of hearing from God without all of the distractions in the way.  It is so exciting for us to see them having such huge breakthroughs in their lives!!  This is what we've been praying for months now.  Many of the students are truly starting to find purpose and direction for their lives, which is something that most came here feeling that they were lacking.

This week, we are focusing on relationships: family, friends, romantic, work, church, and other human relationships.  This will be such a key week of healing and freedom for many, I think.  Please be praying with us that hearts are open to receive what God wants to do this week!  Thanks for your love and support for us!!