What exactly is a Martus DTS?

The Martus DTS is a training program designed to launch you into ministry, missions and a deeper walk with Christ. Specifically, this DTS will train you in frontier missions, Christian worldview and open your eyes to the religious persecution so many Christians face worldwide. This is achieved through lectures, studies, worship, intercession and personal quiet times as well as actual experience on the field.

Martus (pronounced mar-toos) is Greek for “witnesses” but the connotations are much deeper. Jesus instructed His disciples to be martures (mar-too-rez, plural form of martus), a word that meant much more than simply telling others about the Christ. It meant to believe something so strongly that you would be willing to die for that belief. It is from this same Greek word that we get the English word “martyr”. Now reread Acts 1:8 with that translation of the word “martus”-

“…You shall be My martyrs both in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

In truth, all but one of Jesus’ disciples died for their belief in Him, they truly lived the lives of a martus.

So how does this concept influence the Martus DTS? We are focusing on a geographic area that is generally closed to the Gospel and therefore many Christians see that as a danger or an inconvenience, so they simply don’t go. We were not called by God to go when and where it was convenient however, He called us to be martures. Therefore this program is designed to change the mindset of the believer, showing the ugliness of the world for what it is and challenging our students to love and reach out with the authority in Christ to the nations passionately and zealously. For Jesus said,

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:35 (NASB)

The Martus focus in this DTS will basically differ from a normal DTS in two ways: It will ensure every outreach is sent to the 10/40 Window and it will equip you as such. To do this, in addition to the twelve hours of lectures each week there will be three hours of Martus Agoge (uh-goe-gee) which includes:

• Evasion techniques


• Breaking out of handcuffs and other restraints


• Dealing with high stress situations


• Basic self defense


• Wilderness first aid


• Desert survival school


• Comparative religion studies covering Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism

The Martus DTS also differs somewhat in intent from other DTS programs. We hope that through this introduction to frontier missions that students will not remain students, but step into full time ministry in the 10/40 Window. That is not to say that all prospective students must be interested in full time missions, but that this course is designed to help interest people in the mission field by giving them a taste of what it's all about.

10/40 Facts:

• Over 95% of the world's unreached people groups live in this region.


• Only 4% of all Christian missionaries minister in this region.

Why?

• Every year over 170,000 Christians are martyred.


• Today over 200 million Christians live in societies where they daily face the threat of being imprisoned, tortured or killed for their faith.


• Most of the Christian persecution in the world is concentrated in the 10/40 Window.

It has been said that there are only two things that keep the church thriving and on the edge; missions and persecution. Christians who are not involved in missions and who are not persecuted have a tendency to be very shallow in their faith. Unfortunately this describes a great many number of western Christians.

The western church has become lazy, comfortable and apathetic. So much so that even our missionaries are only willing to go to easy, comfortable regions of the world. The area that needs God most is not being reached by western Christians. Only recently have Christians from other regions of the world started to answer the call. Chineese Christians started the "back to Jerusalem" march, where hundreds of believers headed out on foot from China, crossing borders, spreading the gospel all the way back to Jerusalem- knowing full well they would never reach their destination. There are billions of people in the 10/40 Window and they all need Jesus. It is time for the western church to rise up from its slumber. The world needs a new type of Christian. The world needs a believer with the courage to share the gospel with them. The world needs what God has called us to be- a martus.

This program is not looking for trouble. YWAM has sent hundreds of outreaches into these areas without any problems. However it does challenge the mindset and perspective of the student and brings them face to face with reality. This is accomplished by having weekly teachings on the state of Christianity in other countries and training the student how they would be if they lived in a religiously persecuted area of the world. All this course material is provided to equip you mentally, physically and spiritually to be able to sympathize and relate to the people you will come in contact with while on outreach, making you an effective witness for Christ. The rest of the course material and topics are standard for DTS’s making sure that while you may have a different experience in focus, the core set of principles and teachings of the Martus DTS are the same as any other Discipleship Training School in YWAM.

Outreach location will vary from school to school, however for the Martus DTS all outreaches will be in the 10/40 Window (Northern Africa, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia). Final locations generally are not known until close to the beginning of the school’s lecture phase and depending on number of students, there may be more than one outreach team and location to chose from. Please feel free to contact the office for specific details.

We are currently offering a great value price for our DTS's. We have set our prices at this level so that as many students as possible be part of this awesome program. (All costs listed below are in USD.)

Tuition: Lecture Phase (includes all tuition costs, meals and housing at the YWAM base for the 3 months you are in Las Vegas.)

Individual Students - $2,695.00 (You can find the exact price for the school you're interested in here.)

Please call 702-658-5450 for tuition costs for couples.

The DTS cost includes tuition, food, and housing.

Outreach Fees: Outreach fees are not included in the above tuition cost. The cost of the outreach phase will vary dependent upon location and we can advise you of this nearer the time of the school when locations are planned. The approximate cost of the international outreach is typically $2,500-2,800, but this depends on the location of the outreach. Please contact our office for more information.

Registration Fee: Please include $35 with your completed application forms. This fee is non-refundable and is required to review your application.

Because our housing and childcare facilities are limited, all applicants with children must be approved by the school director.