Just the beginning!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to You. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart. " Jeremiah 2:11-13.

For the past couple of years I have grown tired of my apathetic life. Jesus states that the greastest commandment is to love God and to love others. I began to pray that God would break my heart for what broke His. In His perfect timing He has slowly been revealing this to me. As I prayed more about this; God put YWAM (Youth With a Mission) on my heart. I applied to do a dts (disciple training school) this spring and on March 29th, I began my dts in Salem, Oregon. The dts I am attending is a special focus school. There main focus is Social Injustice in the world-human trafficking, child soldiers, poverty and hunger, orphans, abortion, and unclean water. During this school, we have a 3 month lecture phase; in which we prepare our hearts to go out and give back to others who need to see God's free love. The last 6 weeks of our school is an outreach phase. This means we will get to visit another country and apply what we have learned.

The past few months I have spent in preparation for this. It was not easy to leave my job, family, friends, and comforts behind. I got the oppurtunity to spend a week visiting family and friends which was fun, but far too short. It was a good to explain to everyone what I was about to venture into and to feel their support. I wish I had time to do this with so many more of you. But know that I am thinking and praying for all of you.

The biggest lesson I have learned in this is that when you follow Him into the unknown, He is faithful. The safest place to be is in His hands. Even if I have fears and reservations...it is somewhere He has already been. I continue to pray that God will give me this undescribable peace and strength. I continue to pray that I can be more open and vulnerable to whatever it is that He wants to do. I am so excited to see what He is going to do in all of this.

To all of those who have encouraged me and been supportive in all of this, Thank You. I am so blessed to have all of you! Please continue to pray for me as God stretches me. Please continue to pray for my finances for the next 5 months. Pray for my dts staff and fellow students because the enemy has and will continue to hinder what God wants for us. I love you all and miss you so much. Please keep in touch with me.

My new address is

YWAM-Denise Schlegel
7085 Battlecreek Rd.
SE Salem, OR 97317