Join us every week for the next five months as we check in on Kim Hart, a young woman from England doing her Discipleship Training School (DTS) at the Youth With A Mission training center in Harpenden, England. Kim will tell us about what she’s learning, what it’s like to live in a community with other young Christian missionaries-in-training, and how God is changing her. Then we’ll travel with Kim and her classmates as they take what they’ve learned to another nation to serve the people there. Editor, YWAM International Communications Network.
I can’t believe week two is done…. it seems unreal that things are going so fast already! And what an eventful week it was…

Last week we all went into downtown Harpenden with the aim of making God known, trusting Him to put the right people in our paths. It was a great experience. To be honest, I was nervous… I mean, how do you strike up a conversation with a complete stranger about life and faith? The answer? You just take an American with you! We met a lady at a bus stop and chatted for a while, then decided to offer her a coffee in a local coffee shop. She declined, which was a blessing in disguise because the café was actually closed. …but it was still a worthwhile conversation and I am sure there will be many more such visits in coming weeks.

This week we have been learning about the ‘Nature and Character of God’ with a great guest speaker, Emmanuel Entee. We took some time to admire everything God has created, then discussed what we see about God’s character in everything He has made, from the vastness of the universe right down to the amazing intricacy of flowers, even the ones we would describe as weeds. I spent some time in the fields just enjoying the sunshine (even in England, the sun occasionally comes out) and was reminded just how incredible it is that a God so vast would long for relationship with me.

This week we were joined by a new student from Melbourne, Australia, and today we are waiting to hear news of our final student who is applying for a visa in Tanzania (which will mean another roommate for me!). With the Tanzanian student, our group will be complete and the fun can really begin. That’s certainly not to suggest that we haven’t been having fun already…. last weekend a few of us helped to serve at a wedding held on the YWAM property here and then attended a Welsh ‘celiah’ dance at the reception in the evening. It was a fabulous time, though I sustained a thumb injury that drew blood and it appears that we YWAMers were standing too close to the wedding party so we ended up in the official wedding video!

Living with people from other cultures is great because everything is an adventure. What should have been a 20-minute walk to the Tesco store yesterday turned into an hours-long hike, only to find upon our arrival it was a garage and not a store. I’ve also been learning more about English culture, not something I was expecting considering I was born and raised in England! Apparently, I should work on being more like ‘oatmeal’ as that is what the world apparently assumes the English are like: plain, dull and boring. I might have been offended had my fellow students not told me that I couldn’t be oatmeal even if I tried. What lovely people!

Luckily for us, our 7 a.m. workout is cancelled for Friday morning so I’m looking forward to sleeping in a bit… no complaints from me! Then this weekend we’re off to London to see the sights and we have another guest speaker flying in to do some evening sessions, so it’s all good! Thanks for reading and see you next week!!

Stay tuned next week as Kim shares what takes place during Week Three of her Discipleship Training School experience.