Week one of lecture phase passed by with life entering into a steady routine. Worship and lectures in the morning, work duties after lunch, small group, one on one meetings, hang out time, local outreach and outreach prep classes being spread out on various days.
Richard Thompson from YWAM Las Vegas came up for the week to teach about hearing God’s voice and the Nature of God. A subject many have heard about but have never really been challenged on before.
“Hearing God’s voice isn’t something that just happens”, Richard said during lectures. It’s okay if you struggle with it, because it is something that needs to be pursued and practiced. You should always be asking God what to do in any situation and expecting a response.
People come to YWAM for various reasons, to learn more about God, be challenged in a different way, to reach out to more people or just have an adventure. One thing YWAM is very good at is pushing people past their comfort zones and challenging them to see life in a different way than before.
19-year-old Sabine Hall from Switzerland is experiencing just that. For her the most difficult part has been getting used to a multicultural and multi-denominational setting.
“I’m from Switzerland. We are very reserved.” Sabine laughed, “So I’m not used to doing different kinds of worship, but I think its good!”
Sabine knew she wanted to do something for God during her gap year. After talking with friends who have done a DTS before she decided YWAM was where she was meant to be.
“Because my father is English I wanted to come to England because I was curious as to how life was in England. My dad suggested Harpenden and I thought okay I will apply there and I didn’t really look at any others because the dates were perfect,” Sabine said.
Sabine has enjoyed exploring creative ways of expressing worship, through drawing, listening to music or going for a walk in the woods behind the base. Dealing with other peoples style of prayer and exuberant approach to worship has been a challenge, but one she is looking forward to learning more about.
“I’m (looking forward) to further spend time with people and learning how to treat different people (from different cultures) and respect them.”
Sabine said she enjoyed the lecture and is looking forward to what the next week brings.
“I have heard (some of the things) before, but it’s good if not everything is new because it would be very overwhelming. So now it can really sink deeper and deeper. If you already heard this stuff before it’s even better because you can work through it again.”
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