Mission & PurposeSchools

What comesafter a DTS?

Finishing your DTS is not the finish line, it is an open door. Here are the most common paths after a Discipleship Training School and how to discern yours.

By the YWAM Cáceres team

After a DTS there are four main paths: staying on as staff or a volunteer at a YWAM base, doing another school, spending a longer season in mission, or going back to your local church with everything you have learned. None of them is more spiritual than the others. The real question is not which one sounds best, but which one God is calling you to in this season.

A Discipleship Training School lasts five months: three months of lectures and two of outreach. It is intense, and at the end it is normal to feel grateful, tired and a little unsure all at once. Here is a guide to help you think through your next step without rushing.

Can you join YWAM staff after a DTS?

Yes. In Youth With A Mission, the DTS is usually the first step for anyone who wants to serve long term at a base. Many people serving on YWAM staff around the world started exactly that way: they did their DTS and then sensed God asking them to stay and serve.

Being staff means joining the team that keeps the life of the base going: schools, ministries in the city, hospitality, maintenance, intercession. YWAM staff are volunteers, so it usually means trusting God for your financial support, often with help from a church, family or friends. It is a serious decision, worth praying about and talking through with your leaders.

At YWAM Cáceres we serve the city by supporting local churches, sharing the Gospel through friendships, visiting care homes, giving out Bibles, and through things like an English conversation club and a community of artists. If you want to know how the process works for joining staff or volunteering, the best thing is to write to us and we will walk you through it.

Another school: going deeper into your calling

A DTS opens up lots of questions about your gifts and your place in the Kingdom. For some, the natural next step is a school that goes deeper into one specific area. YWAM runs schools in many fields around the world, and almost all of them require a DTS first.

In Cáceres, for example, we run SCART, the School of Culture and Art. It is a five-month school (three months of lectures in Cáceres and two of outreach) designed to deepen your artistic calling, build a solid biblical foundation and prepare you to serve the local church and society through the arts. Every week there are workshops in theatre, body expression and visual arts, and you do not need to be a professional artist. The next SCART does not have a date yet, so if you are interested, get in touch and we will let you know.

Immersion 90: a season of mission in Europe

Maybe on outreach you found your heart stirred for Europe to know Jesus, but you are not ready for a long-term commitment. Immersion 90 is a 90-day programme in Cáceres for Christians with a calling or an interest in missions in Spain and Europe.

For those three months you live the everyday life of the base, take part in the ministries, learn Spanish, get to know Spanish culture and history, and connect with local churches and communities. It is not a classroom course: it is a way to step into the reality of mission work in a European city and come home with a clearer sense of your calling.

Going back to your local church is mission too

For many people, the most faithful step after a DTS is going home. That is not a step backwards. The local church is where long-term discipleship happens, where what you learned gets tested in ordinary life: at work, in your family, in your neighbourhood.

A few ideas to help that return bear fruit:

• Talk to your pastor. Share what you experienced and ask where you could serve. They know you and can help you see where your gifts fit.
• Keep the habits. Time alone with God, intercession and reading the Bible are not just things you did at school.
• Share without showing off. Your story can inspire others, especially when you tell it with humility.
• Give yourself time. Coming home can be hard. It is normal to miss community and to need a few weeks to settle back in.

How to discern your next step

There is no formula, but some questions help. What did God show you during your DTS about your identity and your gifts? What made you come alive on outreach? What are the people who know you well and walk with you in faith saying?

Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that we can plan our way, but it is the Lord who directs our steps.

Pray, ask for advice and do not be afraid to take a small step. Sometimes clarity comes while you are walking, not while you are waiting. If you are wrestling with what your calling is, our guide on how to discover your calling may help.

What if you have not done a DTS yet?

If you are reading this before you start, that is a good sign: you are thinking long term. The DTS is the doorway into almost everything YWAM offers worldwide, from joining staff to doing further schools. Our next DTS in Cáceres, Genesis Lab, runs from January 24 to June 25, 2027. It is bilingual (English and Spanish) and focused on innovation, art and creativity.