Hi, my name is Kaiya and I’m 17 years old. I’m Korean American, and born and raised in Taiwan. I have recently been praying about what I’m supposed to do when I turn 18 and I felt like I was supposed to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to go to Hawaii because my parents would always talk about when they did their DTS in Kona. It’s the place where God changed their lives and also the place where they met and got married. I have always been curious about what could have changed their lives and made them become missionaries in Taiwan.
This past year, we had an outreach team from Kona come to our base for about 3 weeks. They were an all girls team from the 'Fire and Fragrance' DTS and they were some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Meeting these girls with such a heart for others and to share the gospel in a different country and way outside of their comfort zone. It was amazing and it made me want to do and experience what they were doing. I was sure that Kona was the place to go and even before they came I was praying about where I should do a DTS. I felt like God said Kona, but I was still hesitant about it. Meeting the team made it clear for me to go to Kona, but I didn't know when I was going to go or which school I wanted to go to.
Two weeks after the Kona team left, our family went to Korea, Jeju island where my parents did a Leadership Training School with YWAM. But before we decided to go to Korea, we had a family prayer time about what God would say about us going to Korea as a family. When I prayed about it, I got a strong 'yes' from God and I just asked, “Why?” Almost instantly I felt like God said He has something for me in Korea and ever since He said that, I started feeling excited to go.
In Korea, I met some amazing people and got to make some new friends in class. At the same time I was learning sign language and I learned a lot about my identity. I thought that this was the reason God had me in Korea to learn more about myself and to learn some life skills.
Some leaders from Kona told me about a DTS that they are leading next year in April. It is an Asia Pacific DTS and when I told my mom about it she told me to pray if that’s the one to do.
During one of the worship nights in Korea I felt like God was reminding me that he had something more for me in Korea. I didn’t realize that it had something to do with these next steps. I asked God to speak to me at the next worship night and he did! He gave me two words, “Trust Me.” And it was like he engraved it on my brain. Every time I had some fear come to my mind or any doubts I would instantly hear the words, “Trust Me.” On Saturday I was walking on the beach and God spoke to me gently saying, “If you can learn to trust me now, you will be able to trust me in even harder times.” So Sunday morning I told my mom I’m just going to go for it. The little voice that said trust me kind of slowly disappeared, but was still there.
I know all of this is from God because a few weeks earlier our teachers were praying for us and one of the teachers got the words, “Go for it.” I had completely forgotten about that little note she gave to me. It wasn’t until after I had told my mom my decision that I was reading through the letters that I had from all of the teachers. So I know that He will take care of me even when I can't understand anything. I will trust Him and know that the best place for me to be is where he leads me.
I would appreciate some prayers from you for this next step that I’m taking and for my fundraising. This is all very new to me, so please be praying that God will lead me in every step of the way.
For the fundraising, I need to raise about $2,079 for the DTS lecture phase and about $6,500 for the outreach phase. The total is about $8,579. Because the DTS starts on April 14, 2027, my goal is to raise everything by April 1st, 2027.
Would you prayerfully consider supporting me,
either monthly or a single gift, towards my DTS?
Thank you for taking the time to read and for your prayers, I really appreciate them.
