Hello Parents

My name is Grace. My husband and I have served families of prisoners as missionaries for the past 22 years. We decided to do a YWAM DTS ourselves because of the profound transformation we witnessed in our oldest daughter.

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We have five children, all of whom we homeschooled while serving in ministry together. When our oldest daughter graduated high school a year early, she chose to do a YWAM DTS for her Gap Year at YWAM Madison.

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It was hard for me to transition to having her leave for a mission school eight hours away. I was especially concerned because she always had trouble with her stomach—daily discomfort we hadn’t been able to diagnose. Knowing she was also a homebody who struggled with being away, I couldn’t imagine how she would cope.

However, during her Lecture Phase, when we spoke on the phone, she told me the stomach trouble had vanished. What we didn't realize was that her physical symptoms were partially linked to her identity, and God began to speak to her about how He truly saw her.

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Growing up as a missionary kid with clear leadership gifting, our daughter’s identity had been repeatedly attacked. Older staff members had deeply wounded her with words rooted in jealousy and resentment. In response, she had tried to make herself smaller and more invisible to avoid judgment. During the week focused on the Father Heart of God, she had a huge breakthrough in seeing herself as God’s beloved, and it totally transformed her. When she returned home after DTS graduation, she was confident, vivacious, and full of joy. Her eyes sparkled, and I knew she had encountered Jesus in such a deeply personal way that she was now fully alive in her spirit.

 

My husband and I realized if a DTS could have that kind of impact on our daughter, who had grown up knowing God but was now experiencing Him in a personal way, it could also impact the children of prisoners we served. God gave us a dream in 2015 of launching a YWAM base focused on children at risk—seeing young people set free to be all that God created them to be.

 

When our second daughter prayed about doing a DTS, she felt God leading her to be a nanny instead. She served a missionary family in an Islamic nation in Africa for seven months. I know what it’s like to sign papers saying you understand that if your daughter is kidnapped by ISIS, the mission organization won’t pay a ransom. I was criticized by other parents about "allowing" her to go to such a dangerous area, but I learned a crucial lesson: when God calls our children to GO, they are safest when they are doing His will. Whether they are called to pray for prositutes on the street corners of Eastern Europe or walk in the Sahara desert holding the hand of a nameless street child, God is with them. You can absolutely trust the heart of God with your children.

 

​Our third child, our oldest son, was in a very challenging space when he graduated high school. Looking back, it’s a miracle God drew him to sign up for a DTS in Kansas City. We knew he would be a challenging student; he knew the Bible from front to back, but he had grown calloused and angry at God for the hardships our missionary family had faced. Unbeknownst to us, he was also using drugs when he arrived at his September DTS.

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Thankfully, the staff there loved our son. His mentor challenged him, and after a few weeks, he cut out the drug use. I will never forget the night before Thanksgiving when he called to say he was getting re-baptized. He shared that he had been struggling, but he knew he had to go all-in with God. I wept happy tears that night, knowing God had powerfully answered my prayers. By the time he returned from outreach in Paraguay, he was a totally different person. His eyes held a new brightness, and he was more confident than I had ever seen him.

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In 2021, my husband, our two youngest children, and I did a Family DTS at YWAM Chico, and it had a profound effect on us. Having grown up with severe spiritual abuse, Jesus met me right there in my pain and set me free. My leaders extended grace over and over as I wrestled with the twisted teachings of my childhood and experienced the unconditional love of the Father.

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What is the long-term impact of DTS on our lives?

• Our oldest daughter became a midwife after her DTS, with a heart to help underserved women in the bush. Now she and her husband and their 4 children live in Liberia, Africa, and she has served hundreds of women living in the bush.

• Our oldest son married one of the young women from his DTS, and they staffed with YWAM Kansas City for three years. As a couple they invested in the lives of hundreds of young people across the USA. Now our son is launching his own business and has bought a home in Kansas City. He and his wife have been prayer walking their neighborhood and are already seeing God moving in their area.

• Our youngest daughter (who attended Foundation School at YWAM Chico) is now thriving in Liberia, helping in a mission school much like Foundation School. She married the missionary pilot serving there, and they are expecting their first child.

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Our experience in YWAM is not about religion; it is about relationship. If your young adult is wanting to know God more, YWAM is an incredible greenhouse for them to not just gain head knowledge, but to experience God in ways that will transform them to be all of who God created them to be.

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Sincerely,

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Grace Smith