culture here at ywam herrnhut!

There is so much happening that it’s hard for me to pick one thing to focus on and write about. I’m in my third week of DTS. I absolutely love it. Maybe I’ll spend this post trying to describe the culture of my base.

Community – the structure is based around communities, and communities within communities. I’m a part of the town, the YWAM base, my DTS, my small group, the Justice House (where I live) and my church group. Right now I’m transitioning from trying out a church in town called Jesus Haus to a house church being held at the Justice House where I live.

Earlier today, I went to my next-door neighbor to ask her to help me open a can of soup because the house I bought a can without having a can opener. In case you don’t know, I don’t speak German. So I memorized “Haben Sie” (Do you have) and then brought my German-English dictionary opened to the page with the German word for can opener (too long to memorize when I have a headcold) and rang the bell. She knew what I needed as soon as she saw me holding my can and dictionary (ha). I found myself wishing I would’ve memorized the phrase “How are you?” instead. There were a lot of thank you’s coming out of my mouth and I tried to communicate with body language. I think she said I could come over for any reason, but I can’t be sure!

Bilingual – the base is completely bilingual with German and English. Because of this, and because all the Germans know at least a little English, I have been able to get by extremely easily with just English. Since there is so much going on, I haven’t dedicated much time to learning German. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, and it’s in those times I remind myself that my primary reason for coming to here is to learn about the Lord and how he sees justice and not to learn German. But as someone who loves languages and cultures, I hate to see this opportunity fly by without even learning the foundation of German!

Discipleship – we have one-on-one meetings with group staff. There are five staff leading the thirteen students in my DTS. My one-on-one is Mona, and she is incredible! She is the one who is leading our group. She is an amazing artist and a wonderful leader. I am excited to be able to process things alongside her.

Many Schools Simultaneously – this YWAM base is hopping! I went on a tour of the town and the tour guide told me that the Herrnhut YWAM base was the biggest in Europe. I haven’t really checked into that fact, but I’ll go with it! :) I am in the Justice DTS, but there are three other DTS groups on the base currently (Fire & Fragrance, Mobile & Marriage of the Arts). When I arrived, there were two secondary schools finishing up. Secondary schools are more focused schools that can be taken after completing a DTS. The MOTA (Marriage of the Arts) school is by far the biggest! They have 120 students and started a week after I did. I love that the average person here is artistic!! Most of our lectures are separate from each other, but sometimes we are together. For example, this week we have a visiting speaker who is teaching on Intimacy and Fear of God, and he is speaking to both my school and the Mobile DTS. As far as lectures go – we officially have two a day but usually there is at least one more event that is as wonderful and insightful as a lecture for a total of three!

Feel free to ask questions! I only bring my computer to the castle about once a week, so my responses might be a bit delayed, but I will answer. :)