Dawn

I hope your new year has gotten off to a good start and that those of you in the frozen north are surviving the cold spell.

Team News of YWAM Madison

· A team of YWAM staff and local church people just completed a two week outreach in Mandeville, Jamaica where they were able to do a wide variety of ministry, including teaching in primary schools, helping in an orphanage and visiting WWII veterans.

· Our School of the Bible will be in Minnesota and Illinois this week, doing outreach in schools and on university campuses.

Personal News

Fall DTS

After completing the lecture phase, the DTS team headed to the Caribbean for the outreach portion of the school. It is quite a diverse group - 18 people from five nations, ranging in age from nine months to 64 years old. As they prepared for outreach, this team felt they should focus on ministry to children and prostitutes in the Caribbean. In Trinidad and Tobago, they spent time with children from a nearby Hindu community as well as working in an orphanage and a Teen Challenge drug rehab center.

In the Dominican Republic, they worked alongside a missionary family reaching out to villagers living at a dump and children in an orphanage. They also partnered with YWAM there to hold evening evangelistic meetings in various neighborhoods. Last week they moved on to Haiti, where they will spend the next three weeks. I want to thank those of you who prayed and gave financially to help students in this DTS. Because of you, all of them have been able to go and be a blessing to the people of the Caribbean!

Life After DTS

In January I was able to go to Minneapolis for two family weddings (first my niece Rebecca and then my nephew Daniel). I also finally met my newest great niece, Julia. It’s hard to believe that three of my brothers are now grandfathers! It’s times like this that I realize the years really are flying by! Following the second wedding, I was able to get away for a much needed vacation. Friends let me use their condo on a lake near Wisconsin Dells. It was a wonderful week of rest, relaxation and time with God.

Now I’m back in Madison preparing for the 2007 Discipleship Training Schools. That means a lot of prayer as well as time on the phone and computer, booking speakers and communicating with potential students. If you know someone who is interested in DTS, have them check out our website: www.ywammadison.org or email us at dts@ywammadison.org.

For some time now, I’ve sensed that I was in a time of transition, stepping out of the old and into the new. I believe that 2007 is the year for me to step out of being a DTS school leader. I’ve helped train one young couple and am now trusting God for another individual or couple to lead our second school. I will continue to oversee the DTS program, but will also be working with training as a whole at YWAM Madison.

NE India

In March, I’ll return to Shillong in NE India. This time I’ll travel with our director, Warren, and my friend Elaine. We will meet with YWAM leaders there as well as other ministry partners from our previous trips to talk and pray about YWAM Madison planting a work in the region. We desire to reach University students there with the gospel as well as train and send out missionaries from that region into the surrounding nations. We believe young people from this area will be key workers in these nations that are officially closed to the Gospel. Elaine and I will also teach in the DTS in Shillong during our time there.

Praise Reports

· During my vacation, I spent some time reviewing old journals. It was so amazing to look back over the years and see the goodness and faithfulness of God in my personal life and ministry!

· I mentioned in my last newsletter that I was having problems with my computer and was praying for a new one. God provided a beautiful new computer in late November. I love it!

· I was also able to purchase my first digital camera - a wonderful blessing and another answer to prayer!

· God faithfully worked in the lives of our fall DTS students during lecture phase. He revealed Himself, changed their lives and began to give many of them His heart for the nations and for their generation!

Prayer Requests

· Please pray for the 2007 DTSes - that God would send us the right students and provide the visas and finances needed by the students.

· Please pray the right leader(s) for our 2007 fall DTS.

· We’ll also send out a DTS outreach team this summer. Please pray for me as I make decisions regarding the leadership and outreach location for that team.

· Please pray for God to bring people to take over some of the operational roles I’ve been filling these past three years. I believe it is time to step out of those areas as I move into new areas with training.

· Please pray for my upcoming trip to India. I leave March 22 and return April 15.

· Please continue to pray for direction and provision for my housing this Spring. I currently live at our DTS Training Center, but will need to move in May. Thank you for standing with me so faithfully!

Your partner in His work,

Dawn Borchers

Reminder: For tax deductible donations, checks should be made payable to YWAM with a separate note designating it as support for me. Support should be mailed to YWAM at: P.O. Box 8503; Madison, WI 53708. Those attending New Life Church can also give to me through the church. Thank you!

Team News of YWAM Madison

• Our new School of the Bible has begun. We have 12 students from the United States, England, and Jamaica.

• A team from our summer Discipleship Training School spent September in South Africa and is now continuing their outreach in Namibia. Follow their adventures at http://staff.ywammadison.org/summerdts2006.

• This year the Phos House, our campus discipleship house, is home to 21 residents from five nations.
 

Personal News

Shillong, India

In early September I made a quick, but not short, trip to Shillong in Northeast India. This is the same place where I led the DTS outreach in January and February. I was invited to speak in their Discipleship Training School, comprised of twelve students from three different states in Northeast India and one from the United States. The students were very open and I saw God do wonderful things in their lives as they responded to Him and His truth.

While in Shillong, I had the opportunity to meet with YWAM leaders there to discuss YWAM Madison’s potential involvement in the region. We believe the people of Northeast India have a key role to play in taking the Gospel to Bhutan and China, as well as other surrounding nations. We plan to send a staff team to Northeast India next year to explore opportunities for our further involvement in what God is already doing in this region.

Just before leaving for Shillong, I received an email from my friend Ayophy, who hosted our outreach team this past winter. She informed me that Shillong and the surrounding region were experiencing a revival. She told me, “Many broken families were reunited, many Hindus are coming to Christ and the church is rapidly growing. Now it’s spreading even here in the city of Shillong, especially in schools. You did not see [revival] while you were here, but what is happening is very much the answer of your prayer.”

I had the opportunity to see and hear much more first-hand while in Shillong. It is exciting to see what God is doing and a privilege to be part of it!  Thanks to all of you who prayed for me and who gave to make this most recent ministry trip possible. Please continue to pray for the discipleship of the many new believers there.

Fall DTS

Our fall DTS began at the end of September. We have eight students from the United States, Namibia, Madagascar, Germany and the Philippines. Our youngest student recently graduated from high school and the oldest is a grandmother. With so much diversity, I expect that we will learn a great deal from one another. Above all, we desire to learn more of who God is and allow the truth of His Word to change our lives. We know that people whose lives have been transformed by God will in turn impact the world around them.

The lecture phase will conclude in December and just before the new year, the school will leave for outreach. We have not yet decided the location for the outreach portion of this school.

Two of our international students still need to raise funds to pay their DTS tuition. I’ve included a small flyer about each of them. They are wonderful women who I commend to you without reservation. Would you pray for them and consider donating to our DTS scholarship fund on their behalf? If you would like to give, you can write a check to YWAM Madison and include a separate note stating who it is for.
 

Praise Reports

• This summer, God transformed the lives of our DTS students (mine too!). I’m excited to see how He will work through their lives to bless many individuals and nations!

• God provided all the funds for my trip to India and for new brakes on my vehicle.

• I have a new great niece - Julia Grace Terhark, born in August.
 

Prayer Requests

• Please pray for the current DTS staff and students - I know God has great things in store for us!

• Please pray for our outreach team in Namibia. They are currently in the bush in northern Namibia.

• My computer, which has served me well for over five years, is beginning to die. Please pray for the funds for a new laptop.
Thank you for continuing to partner with me in this work!

Dawn Borchers

Reminder: For tax deductible donations, checks should be made payable to YWAM with a separate note designating it as support for me. Support should be mailed to YWAM at: P.O. Box 8503; Madison, WI 53708. Those attending New Life Church can also give to me through the church. Thank you!
 

Shillong, Meghalaya is in northeastern India. In the past few years, YWAM Madison has sent five outreach teams to this city. I led the last team in January and February of this year. Working alongside other YWAMers and churches, our teams have walked through neighborhoods and villages, praying for the city and sharing the gospel with many. YWAM Madison also prays regularly for the people of Shillong. Because our teams are only there for a couple of months, we don’t often see the effect of our prayers and work in the city. But  I did see tangible changes there when I returned in September to teach in a Discipleship Training School.

Since the early summer months, the northeastern Indian states of Meghalaya and Mizoram have been experiencing a revival. JiThu, one of the pastors we worked with in January and February, told me how young students at the school where his wife works have been affected. They came to him saying, “Sir, please pray for me - I have so many sins.” He told me, “No one had told the children to do this—it was conviction from the Holy Spirit.”

Ayophy, another of our ministry partners and a dear friend, gave me this report in early September: “Many broken families were reunited, many Hindus are coming to Christ and the church is rapidly growing. Now it’s spreading even here in the city of Shillong, especially in schools. You did not see [revival] while you were here, but what is happening is very much the answer of your prayer.”

I had the opporunity to visit Malki Presbyterian church, which is the main focal point of the revival in Shillong. It was a Thursday night and the place was packed with people of all ages. Even after the service ended, many stayed behind just to continue singing and worshiping. I was told I never would have seen this a month earlier, especially all the youth in the church. Ayophy’s church saw about fifty new converts in the three weeks prior to my visit. They’re almost all high school and college age. The church leaders are scrambling to organize discipleship groups to take care of these new believers. Please continue to pray for Shillong and the discipleship of the new believers.

News of this revival has reached BBC. You can read their article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5381394.stm

You can also read stories from our team who went to Shillong: http://staff.ywammadison.org/indiadts

Team News of YWAM Madison
· Our School of the Bible students and staff just returned from outreach in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
·Students and staff from last summer’s Discipleship Training School are on outreach in Belize, along with our ACCESS  teens and staff.
· Six of our staff are currently in a closed Asian country exploring opportunities for future work there.
· YWAM Madison recently hosted an international seminar to train staff working in YWAM’s University of the Nations schools.
 
Personal News

Discipleship Training School
We’re currently in the second month of the DTS lecture phase. We have thirteen students from the United States, South Korea, and the Philippines. They range from age 18 to 48. This has been a very enjoyable group to work with. Recently the students have been learning  about the nature and character of God, what it means for God to be their Father, and that unforgiveness is a major hindrance to relationship with God. It’s been wonderful to see them respond to God and experience the freedom found in giving and receiving forgiveness!

We’re now beginning to plan for the outreach  portion of the school. In September and October we will go to Namibia to work with YWAM in the capital city of Windhoek. We also plan to minister in the northern part of Namibia among tribal people.
 

This Fall
I will remain in Madison to help staff the fall DTS, which begins at the end of September. The fall lecture phase will be completed at the end of December. This will be the first time I’ve staffed two schools back to back and the first time in several years that I’ll be staffing the school, but not leading it. Instead, I’ll be part of the support team for the new leadership I’ve been raising up for YWAM Madison’s DTS program. I expect to learn much in the process.

I will also return to Shillong in Northeast India this fall. I’ve been invited to teach in their Discipleship Training School in September. I’ll be gone September 7 –17. I am paying my own way to do this and ask you to prayerfully consider helping me serve them in this way. The cost of my ticket is $1900.
 

Still On the Move
I remain in transition with my housing. I am living at our DTS training center this summer. I am currently asking God if I should also live here during the fall DTS or if He has something else prepared for me. I continue to believe that He has a more permanent place for me, a home of my own, and am looking to Him for that provision.

An Update on My Dad
Many of you are aware that my Dad was in a car accident this spring. He then had surgery to remove fluid that was putting pressure on his brain. His body has recovered quite well, but His mind is still not functioning as it should. Most of our family went to see him for Father’s Day, but Dad did not know any of us and could not remember our names from one minute to the next. I’ve been talking with him on the phone and it’s very hard listening to the frustration he feels about being in the nursing home, not being able to remember, think clearly, or know how to do simple things like make a phone call. Please pray for my Dad and for my siblings and me as we make decisions regarding my Dad’s living arrangements in the coming weeks.
 

Praise Reports
· God brought us a very good staff for this DTS. Previously, I asked you to pray that we would connect quickly and have God’s heart for this school. Those prayers have been answered and we are enjoying great unity.
· God is doing  wonderful things in the lives of our DTS students and staff. Several of these students feel called to work in missions full-time.
 

Prayer Requests
· The septic system at our DTS training center needs to be replaced immediately. We need almost $40,000 for this unexpected expense.
· Continue to pray for the DTS staff and students - that we would not miss anything God has for us in this season.
· Pray for the logistics for the upcoming outreach to Namibia and the finances needed by staff and students going on this outreach.
 

Thank you for continuing to partner with me in this work!
 

Dawn Borchers
 

Reminder: For tax deductible donations, checks should be made payable to YWAM with a separate note designating it as support for me. Support should be mailed to YWAM at: P.O. Box 8503; Madison, WI 53708. Those attending New Life Church can also give to me through the church.
Thank you!
 

It’s been a long time since I’ve given you an update. When I was a public school teacher, summer was my most relaxed time of the year - not so any more! In mid-May, the rest of the DTS staff joined me at the Training Center and we began two weeks of staff training, preparing our hearts and the building for the summer Discipleship Training School. I’m very grateful for the staff God has brought to work with me this summer. We have been very unified and are enjoying working with each other.

Our students arrived June 4 - thirteen of them from the United States, South Korea, and the Philippines. They range in age from 18 to 48. They are a very diverse group, but God has been fitting all of us together as a family. Living in community means learning how to lay down your rights and consider first the needs of others. Learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom!

So far we have received teaching on Hearing God’s Voice, Developing a Personal Devotional Time (Quiet Time) with God, How to Live with a Clean Conscience, the Nature and Character of God (including the Father Heart of God), Surrendering our Rights, Testings, and I did a week of teaching on the Fear of the Lord.

We spent last week in Missouri at the home of Joe, one of our DTS staff. Joe’s Dad is a missions pastor and his parents use their property (a truly beautiful place) to help prepare teams for the mission field. We participated in activities (including a low ropes course) focused on the importance of communication, strategy, teamwork and unity. Joe’s Dad also did teaching on relating with people from cultures different than our own. In the course of the week, God taught us much about relationships - it was a very good time for us as a team.

We’re now halfway through the 12 week lecture phase. We’re beginning to make plans for the outreach portion of the school. We plan to go to Namibia, in southern Africa. We will work with YWAM in the capital city of Windhoek and also plan to minister among the tribal people in the northern part of Namibia. I’m excited about the opportnities we will have to advance the Kingdom of God in that nation! I know God will also do amazing things in the lives of the team members.

When the team goes to Namibia, I will remain in Madison to prepare to staff the fall DTS, which begins the end of September. I will also make a trip back to Shillong in Northeast India, where I led an outreach this past January and February. I’ve been invited back to teach in their Discipleship Training School. I look forward to renewing friendships established this past winter! I’ll be gone September 7-17.

Team News of YWAM Madison

- Our fall Discipleship Training School students spent January and February on outreach in Haiti and Northeast India.

- Our School of the Bible students recently spent a week in Chicago and New Orleans making application of the teaching they are receiving.

- YWAM Madison just completed two weeks of 24/7 prayer at the Phos House, our campus discipleship house. Several participants reported that God was calling them to greater intimacy with Him during this time. We also see that God is working to bring a greater unity among our staff and students living in the Phos House.

Personal News
God at Work in Northeast India

Following the completion of the DTS lecture phase in December, the DTS split into two outreach teams and went to Haiti and Northeast India. I led the team to Shillong in NE India. We had a variety of opportunities to touch the lives of the people in this region. We ministered to men at a drug rehab center, children in churches, schools and orphanages, elderly people in a nursing home, social outcasts in the Punjabi colony, as well as believers at a variety of churches. We also held street meetings where we sang, danced, shared testimonies and preached the gospel.

Our first open air meeting was to be in the Punjabi Colony. The people who live there are mainly Hindus. Being from the lowest caste, they are considered outcasts by most people. One of our translators informed us, “No one ever comes here to visit.” When we weren’t able to do our planned program, we began to visit the believers living in the colony. There were 15 households of believers in this community of about 3000 people. We entered into a very simple home where the family lived in a single room. On the bed sat two women, one of whom was crippled, unable to walk. We began to pray for members of the family and other believers who soon joined us. Joe took out his guitar and we began to worship. As we sang “I Exalt Thee”, the presence of God filled that home. As we continued to worship and  pray for people,  a man entered the house and told our translator, “I want to follow Jesus from today on. Will you pray for me?” He was the first person we saw come to the Lord on this outreach. It was obvious to us that we should  return. Every Thursday and Friday evening we went door to door praying for people and sharing the gospel. We spoke with people who had never heard about Jesus before. Over the next 6 weeks, more than 20 people in this colony prayed to receive Christ.

Every Wednesday we worked at the New Hope Drug Rehab Center. We sang, shared testimonies, brought a message from the Bible and offered to pray for the men each week. Although they appreciated our visits, at times we wondered if we were making a difference. Then during our last few weeks we began to see the men open up. One evening two men gave their lives to Christ. The man I talked with told us, “I have never been to church, but I have always believed in God. I prayed to Him every night to be set free of my sins and addictions. I knew that someday someone would come to tell me how to be set free. Now you have come and I have been set free!”

Note: If you’d like to see photos of this outreach, click on the “My photos” link.

The Timing Was Significant

As the students returned home, I went on to Kathmandu, Nepal  where I joined a group of friends to prepare for our trip to a Buddhist nation. There were seven of us from various nations, denominations and organizations. We spent one week in this Buddhist nation which is so breathtakingly beautiful  that I walked around with my mouth hanging open. I have prayed for and longed to be in this nation for many years. It was exciting to finally step foot there!

It was recently announced that there will be drastic changes in this nation’s government in 2008. Many believe the new form of government will result in a greater openness to Christianity in the nation, which is now officially closed to the gospel.

Currently in this nation there is heightened scrutiny and persecution of Christians. In January two believers were arrested for evangelizing. They are still in prison. Both have wives and young children and have lost their jobs, as they were government employees. Yet, we see God at work in this situation. Through God’s intervention these men have been excused from the hard labor the other prisoners are required to do. They are actually sharing the gospel in the prison. No wonder they are being referred to as Paul and Silas! Even though God is working through them, this is not an easy position. PLEASE  PRAY for these two men and their families.

On the Move

I mentioned in my last newsletter that my lease was ending and I needed to know if this was the time to move toward owning my own home. At the end of March I moved to our DTS Training Center. This move is temporary. I don’t know all the details of what comes next, but I know God will continue to be faithful to lead and provide. These days I am identifying with Abraham when God told him to leave his home and go “to the land which I will show you”. Continue to pray with me as I seek God for the impossible.

Praise Reports

- God provided ALL the funds needed for my trip to Asia, a total of $4400!

- A “smooth move” and continuous encouragement that the day is coming when only I will be mobile, and not all of my belongings.

- All the amazing things God did in and through our team during our time in India!

Prayer Requests

- Please pray for me as I prepare for the summer DTS. Pray that God would bring us the right students for this school.

- As I train a new group of staff for this DTS, pray that we will connect with one another and catch God’s heart for the upcoming school. Training begins May 22.

Thank you for standing with me so faithfully!

Your partner in His work,

Dawn Borchers

Reminder: For tax deductible donations, checks should be made payable to YWAM with a separate note designating it as support for me. Support should be mailed to YWAM at: P.O. Box 8503; Madison, WI 53708. Those attending New Life Church can also give to me through the church.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a person of faith. There are many things God has spoken to me - promises, plans for the future, next steps in ministry, etc. As I look at the reality of natural circumstances, all these things look totally impossible. How do I hold on to what God has said in the face of this? How do I press in to see these come to pass without worrying, striving or trying to make things happen in my own way?

 Recently God spoke to me very clearly through Romans 4. This passage talks about Abraham, often referred to as the Father of Faith. God told this old, childless man that he would be the father of many nations and that this would happen through a son born to him and Sarah. Here’s what it says about Abraham in these circumstances:

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendents be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. (Romans 4:18-20)

That line in vs. 19 really struck me: “without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead…”. Abraham did not deny his natural circumstances. He looked at his circumstances and knew that naturally speaking the situation was hopeless. Yet, he did not become weak in faith because he knew the One who had promised. He knew God was able and that He would be faithful. This was the same God who had told him to leave his father and his country and go to a land which God would show him. God had indeed brought him into a good land. He knew God’s heart. He knew God’s faithfulness. He knew God’s ability to perform what He had spoken.

When we find ourselves in the midst of impossible circumstances, it is not a lack of faith to look at the situation and see what is taking place in the natural realm. But we cannot stop there. We serve a supernatural God. We must know His voice, His heart, His power. We must fix our eyes on Him and so see our faith strengthened. We must continue to worship and give thanks, even in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances. And we must continue to take steps of obedience, even if they seem small or insignificant. This gives God the opportunity to work on our behalf. And He is the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”. (Ephesians 3:20).