Who I Am and My Journey in Missions

Hello all of God's beautiful children! Isn't it such a blessing we all get to live out the plans God has for us and learn about the fullness of our identity in God? This isn't just what the select few "holy Christians" get to partake in, it's something EVERYONE who trusts and walks with the Lord can do; and that is what I am doing.

Feel free to read the entire document, there's lots of great things the Lord has done, but if you are reading to gain insight on a specific time in my life in missions, I won't be offended if you skip to the sections you prefer.

My Mission Vision:

What the Lord has revealed to me through my life and prayer is I have a heart for so many different struggles in the world, but I can’t do it by myself. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to disciple others into what God is calling them to, bring revelation of who God is, to light and stoke the fire of the glory of God in people's hearts, and to preach love and truths that God has a heart to share. I want to help people accomplish their goals with Christ and for the lost to be saved and brought back to right relationship with God. Long story short, know God, and make him known.

History Of Me:

I hail from the great nation of America in the Pacific Northwest, Washington State. I love the nature of Washington; the evergreen trees, lakes, mountains, ocean, grasslands, etc. you can see the Lord's creativity in that state very well. I always had a heart for adventure and Washington was a great place to explore that.

Ever since I was little, I was a "natural born leader" (as my teachers would say in school). I was kind and compassionate before I knew how to spell the word. I loved helping people and getting things done well. As I continued to grow up, I would find myself in more and more opportunities to lead others, and I LOVED doing it.

When I was about 16, I got my first job at Wild Waves Theme and Waterpark. It was busy, I had responsibility, I got to live out my work ethic, and I loved to be recognized for my hardworking personality. As I continued through the years, I got promoted to Head Guard at 17 and at 18 I was a supervisor and lifeguard instructor. I found the Lord when I was 17 and with God's love for me, he still sent Godly friends to help instruct me in this newfound faith. But discipleship is also instruction and teaching of the faith from someone who is intentionally discipling you and unfortunately, because of my lack of one-on-one personal discipleship, I would still do things for the approval of my team, and my bosses falling into the bad influences around me. But there was one thing I always valued, the wellbeing of who I was leading. I always cared for the lifeguards and made sure I communicated with love, truth, and integrity. I realized later that naturally, some people didn't have this. This was a gift from God to lead people the way that God intended. And I want to use this gift that I have in the mission field.

My Introduction to YWAM:

My mom told me about to Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and I signed up right away. I applied for the Life and Liberty School in September 2023 in Kona Hawaii. I thought there was only one central location for YWAM and clicked the first link that popped up on Google. I filled out my application, sent in my documents, and I was APPROVED, YIPPIE! I told my good friend Sara I had applied and to my surprise she applied for the same time I did! After an hour or two of chatting about our Disciplship Training School (DTS) we realized I had signed up for a different YWAM Base then the one she signed up for. I looked back at my application and said, "what the heck is YWAM Ships?" and that's how I picked my base location.

What is YWAM?:

YWAM is a global, decentralized mission organization of Christians from many different cultures, age groups, and Christian traditions, dedicated to serving Jesus throughout the world. We unite in a common purpose to know God for ourselves and to make Him known. Each base has a different calling and purpose to glorify God, but the heartbeat of their calling is to know God and to make him known. For example, the base where I did my DTS, YWAM Ships' base vision and mission is to serve isolated islands and remote shoreline villages through health and healing services. A Discipleship Training School is the entry level training for everyone with YWAM. Students spend three months deepening their relationship with God in a community environment while learning from experienced teachers. Students then go to the field for 8-12 weeks to serve in evangelism in the nations. A Discipleship Training School is the entry level training for everyone with YWAM. Students spend three months deepening their relationship with God in a community environment while learning from experienced teachers. Students then go to the field for 8-12 weeks to serve in evangelism in the nations, and this school changed the trajectory of my life.

My DTS Experience:

I went to my DTS fully expectant to grow with God and see Him clearly. But of course, you don't know what you don't know, so my first week of DTS I was completely wrecked (in the best way possible). I had no idea you could actually hear God's voice and once I learned I could, nothing was stopping me from listening to his instruction and knowing the love God felt for me. God healed past hurts I was still holding onto, pain I never processed with God with my dad passing away in late February of 2022.

I learned more about Jesus and how he walked on the earth, fully God and fully Human, living a life completely without sin but was tempted in every way possible. Who showed humanity how to walk the way God created, in pure love and truth. and was brutally beaten beyond recognition and was displayed on a cross, crucified so that we did not have to live in shame and condemnation, but are free from all of our sins. Jesus took on all our sinful desires and actions so that we didn't have to be SEPERATE FROM GOD ANYMORE! Jesus then rose from the dead on the 3rd day and ascended back into heaven giving us the Holy Spirit to not only dwell in Jesus but in us, giving us the literal presence of God inside of us for all who accept this FREE gift so we will never be separate from God again. I learned that the Holy Spirit is a person with emotions and desires. He is a comforter and instructor; he is my friend that I get to talk to, and he keeps me walking in alignment with God. I gained a deeper personal relationship with God on my DTS and after my lecture faze, I was shocked at the information I didn't know I needed.

When I Decided to Stay in Missions:

During the second week of my DTS I felt from God that this was what I was meant to do. I didn't know all the details as to what "this" was, but I was ready to jump all in. All I knew was I wanted to staff the future DTS's, but I didn't know when or how I would do that, so I surrendered my own plans and desires to God and called my mom and said "Mom, I'm never coming home." And she was all in too. God bless my mom for being so supportive and loving to this mission. She's my biggest supporter and knows surrender. She surrendered her sweet 18-year-old daughter to a life fully surrendered to God, and that's hard. Who knows where I'll go, where God calls me to, it's a lot of faith to trust God with her daughter, but we both know we serve a God that loves me WAY more than any other person could possibly love another person, so we know He will take care of me.

Extended Outreach in Papua New Guinea:

My Team for PNG

Usually, a DTS is 3-month lecture faze and 3-month outreach in another country applying what you've learned from lecture faze. But my school had to opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea for all together 9 months. We would go on our student outreach for 3 months, graduate in PNG, then be on base staff with a pioneering base in Madang, Papua New Guinea. At first, I was thinking, "that is way too long I am definitely not doing that." But then I felt God telling me "If you want to grow the most, go on this outreach. It will be hard, and stretching, but you will learn so much more during this time then if you went only 3 months. But I will bless you wherever you choose." I knew this was from the Lord and wanted to take every opportunity to grow with God, so I went to Papua New Guinea for 9 months.

I was in a team of 10 girls and 1 guy led by two leaders, Juda being 19 and Kira being 20 (I turned 19 during my DTS). I was being led by people my age! What a wild concept but this is what YWAM is all about. The organization is literally youth with a mission. We aren't discounted because of our age because the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the grave, is the same Spirit that dwells in every one of us. We had an amazing outreach that was well led by the leadership. I am very thankful for my team and all my teammates. I learned different lessons from each and every one of them that I still apply and use today. PNG is a nation in the pacific close to Australia and connected to Indonesia. PNG has a beautiful culture with some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. PNG is technically a Christian nation, but they are more culturally Christian. There is still a wide range of abuse, alcoholism, and idolization of foreigners or "white people" as they would say. We preformed and preached in open air markets, schools, and churches; I got very good at preaching since we were preaching sometimes twice a day. I felt from the Lord to preach a lot about how I was not better than them because I was white, but they can also live a life for God praying for the sick, loving your neighbor, and telling people the good news of Jesus because they too can have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. We went to many different parts of PNG, which were all very different from one other. For evangelism, we passed out bibles, prayed for people in their houses, hospitals, schools and villages. We saw many healings, salvations, and joyful souls being touched by the true presence of God. We then graduated in PNG and started this next chapter of our commitment.

Base Staffing in Papua New Guinea:

Volunteering at the school

During the 6 months, my main job was hospitality at the YWAM Madang base. Most of the staff who were a part of base operations previously, switched priority to be a part of the Oral Bible Translation school (OBT), to get the bible translated in people’s mother tongues. So, my team was there to fill in for their daily duties so they could focus on this project. It was such a blessing to be able to be a part of this huge project for the kingdom. I did everything from housing for outreach teams, housing for staff, preparing for outreach teams, celebrations, cleaning, organizing, shopping for cleaning supplies, furnishing houses and more. This part of my outreach was so growing, and I realized this is what God was talking about when he spoke to me about deciding to come to PNG or not. I even had the opportunity to volunteer at a local school 1-2 times a week. I helped with math tutoring for the 8th and 9th graders and 4-year-old morning class. Helping those kids understand what they need to know, brought so much life to them. The 4-year-old class was definitely a challenge that made me appreciate the teachers for what they do. Thank you, God, for that season of my life.

Seeing My Family:

I then flew home at the very end of August to see my family since I started my DTS 11 months prior. That was the longest I have been away from home, and let me tell you, it was difficult. My mom adopted a baby during my DTS, and I never met him until I got home from PNG, he was 9 months old. Caleb is such a strong little dude that I love SO dearly and it hurts my heart I don't get to see him every single day, but I know God loves him more than I could ever, so I know he is in amazing hands. And I know the AMAZING mother and sister we share so I know that little man will be raised to be a strong man of God. But God was still speaking to me about a life lived in missions and I got my next direction, DBS. If I'm going to eventually be a part of discipling young people, I felt to have more of a biblical foundation to help these students with wisdom from the source, the bible.

My DBS Experience:

The Discipleship Bible School (DBS) is a 12-week secondary school in YWAM that is an introduction to the Bible. I was given an overview of “God’s story” and discovered the purposes of God throughout. I read the entire Bible from cover to cover, observe the chronology of biblical events, place each book in its historical context, understand the harmony between the books, and consider the author’s original intent. I did my DBS at YWAM Queenstown in New Zealand learning in a very beautiful country. I learned SO much about who God is and who the "God of the Old Testament" is. I put that statement in quotes because God is not different in the Old Testament then in the New Testament, he is the same, never changing forever. DTS was like the building of a house and DBS was like the interior design. The furniture and appliances are what makes a house a home. You're constantly working on the little details that don't seem like a big deal until you take a step back and saw everything put together. I didn't realize how much I retained until I started speaking about what I've learned to others, it's beautiful how much the Lord revealed himself to me during my time in DBS. I knew my heart still desired to one day staff a DTS and disciple young people into who God has called them to be, so I was searching for a base to place my roots in. Was it going to be in Kona? Europe? Maybe New Zealand where I did my DBS? I felt from God not to worry about what was next but to stay present in the season I was in, so I locked in and focused on my learning.

At the end of my DBS, my school of 6 girls (which I love and adore SO much) got invited to staff the 2025 January DTS. I instantly KNEW this was from the Lord, so I committed to staffing the DTS! I had a quick turnaround from DBS to DTS Staffing, I went home for Christmas, went to the 2025 Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and flew 30 hours back to New Zealand.

Staffing DTS:

During the writing of this document, I am staffing the 2025 January DTS, and we are almost finished with lecture faze. Being staff for DTS has made me realize my true calling in life. I now understand where the Lord has taken me and where he wants to take me in the future. I still don't have everything figured out but that just the fun of it. I get to constantly trust the Lord for finances, direction, calling, and more every single day. God has been SO good to me and always will be. I am dedicated to surrendering my life for God, and not just dying for God, but living for God. What a beautiful life I get to live in the arms of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I will write more about my time staffing DTS in a sperate document and in more detail.

If you made it this far, congratulations! Now you are all caught up. I want to be more intentional with my updates and steward the ministry the Lord has given me. God bless every single one of you, I truly love you all.

Peace be with you,

Destiny Gentry