Mission & PurposeSchools

A day in the lifeof a DTS student

What a typical day looks like for a DTS student at YWAM Cáceres: mornings with God, classes, work duties, afternoons in the city and life shared with people from other cultures.

By the YWAM Cáceres team

A day in the life of a DTS student in Cáceres usually mixes time with God, classes, practical service and community life, all in a small, calm city where you can walk almost everywhere. No two days are exactly the same, but there is a rhythm that repeats, and little by little it shapes habits that many students carry for the rest of their lives.

Here is what a typical day often includes during the lecture phase of the Genesis Lab DTS.

How does a DTS day start?

Mornings begin with breakfast and time alone with God. It is space to read the Bible, pray and journal without rushing, before the noise of the day kicks in. For many people, it is the part they miss most when the school ends.

Then comes a group time of intercession or worship. In intercession you pray for the city, the nations and specific needs; in worship you praise God together, sometimes with music, sometimes in more creative ways. The idea is the same: start the day looking at God before looking at yourself.

What are the classes like?

The rest of the morning is for classes, with a coffee break in the middle. Teachers come from different cultures, ages and backgrounds. Because the school is bilingual, teaching happens in English and Spanish.

The topics cover the essentials of the Christian life:

• Knowing God and hearing His voice.
• Intercession as a way of partnering with Him.
• Identity, gifts and calling.
• Relationships and sexuality from a biblical perspective.
• Sharing the Gospel today, and the role of faith in the city, the nations and society.

Classes are not just about information. There is room for questions, personal prayer and turning what you hear into something you actually live.

Lunch, work duties and life at home

Lunch comes in the early afternoon, Spanish style: unhurried and around the table with everyone else. Afterwards there is a time of work duties, when everyone helps clean and care for the shared spaces.

It might sound like a small detail, but it is not. Washing dishes or cleaning a bathroom next to someone you are not quite getting along with today is one of the best character schools there is. Jesus washed His disciples' feet and asked them to do the same (John 13:14-15). In a DTS that becomes very practical.

Students live together in a flat or house prepared by the base, with separate rooms for men and women. Sharing a home with people from other countries and habits brings laughter, learning and the occasional friction. Learning to work through it with honesty and forgiveness is part of the training.

Afternoons of workshops and activities in the city

In the afternoon there are more classes, but also workshops, rehearsals and hands-on activities around Cáceres. In the Genesis Lab school, with its focus on innovation, art and creativity, that might mean preparing an art piece, working on a group project or going out to serve and share your faith in creative ways.

These activities stretch you beyond the familiar. Often that is where the first steps of faith happen: talking to a stranger, praying for someone, showing something you made that grew out of your relationship with God.

Evenings, free time and the city

After dinner there is more free time. Some use it for school reading and assignments; others simply rest, talk or watch a movie on the sofa.

Cáceres helps with that balance. It is a city of about 95,000 people and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a monumental old town of cobbled streets, palaces and golden stone towers. Walking through the Plaza Mayor, passing under the Arco de la Estrella or wandering the old quarter quickly becomes part of the routine. To learn more, see our page on why Cáceres.

What the schedule does not show

Some things do not fit on any timetable: the long conversation after a class that stirred something in you, the spontaneous prayer for a classmate who is struggling, the moment you finally understand something about God you had missed for years.

Every moment in the DTS is a chance to hear from God, serve others and grow in faith. When you clean the house, walk around the city or support a church in another culture, God keeps teaching.