STORY: RESCUED FROM THE STREETS
FALL 2008
CLASSROOM PHASE:September 23 - December 21
CHRISTMAS BREAK:
December 22-30
OUTREACH PHASE:
December 31 - March 7
COST: $4,340
(includes lecture phase and outreach ground fees, but does not include outreach airfare.)
I sat cross-legged on the floor
surrounded by eighteen kids... eighteen kids who’d been rescued from
the streets and now lived in a home for children at risk. They were
children of prostitutes and beggars and thieves.
Now their
voices rang out. Singing loudly and really badly. But somehow, it
sounded so sweet. I looked around the circle. These children
represented so many stories. Little girls as young as five, who’d
dressed like boys to avoid forced prostitution. Little boys who’d slept
in dumpsters and turned to drugs. Little children who’d seen their
parents die from diseases like AIDS. I shut my eyes to hold back the
tears.I remembered my own childhood, sleeping in a warm,
comfortable bed, eating good food and being loved by my parents.
These
kids had never known the warmth of a family. Oh God, help them.
Finally,
the singing died out. Little David snuggled up next to me. “Can you
pray for my mother?” he whispered. “She might be having another baby.”
David’s mother was a prostitute, forced into the trade at age nine. She lived on the streets with David’s little brother.
I
squeezed David’s arm and nodded. “I’ll pray for her,” I whispered. My
heart longed for David to know what a real family was like, to be that
family for him, for all eighteen of these kids. But these eighteen
represented such a tiny portion of all the children at risk. In just
their city of Pune, India, nearly 100,000 other kids roamed the streets
– homeless. Who would help them?
CHILDREN @ RISK
The
stories of children around the world are staggering. Throughout the
world millions of children are orphaned through war, through disease,
through AIDS and leprosy. Every seven seconds a child dies from a
preventable disease. Drug addiction runs rampant. Children are sold
into prostitution or forced to become child soldiers. They’re lost and
they have no place to live. These children have no hope. And these are
the ones that are on the heart of God.
Rescue Ops DTS* will
focus on the needs of children around the world and the issues that put
them at risk. We will also focus on the heart of God who promises to be
a “Father to the fatherless, who sets the lonely in families." (Psalm
68:5,6)
For three months, we will examine strategies to help
these kids and pursue ways to assist poor communities around the world.
And then we will go, spending two months overseas (potentially in
India), working with children at risk and with slum communities.
WHAT IS DTS?
*
DTS = Discipleship Training school. Rescue Ops DTS will be hosted in
Madison, Wisconsin, beginning in September. DTS is a missionary
training school run by Youth With A Mission, and is a part of the
University of the Nations. DTS helps young people (age 18+) discover
their place in the Great Commission and embark on a lifetime adventure
with God. Students spend the first three months in beautiful Madison,
Wisconsin receiving teaching on a variety of topics, like hearing God’s
voice, Father Heart of God, relationships, missions and spiritual
warfare.
Following the training, students head overseas for two
months. In Rescue Ops DTS, students will work with street kids, AIDS
orphans and slum communities, as well as reach out to people of all
ages through evangelism.
If you are interested in receiving more information or attending, please contact:
dts@ywammadison.org