Growing Up In Ministry

By Katherine Hetland

By Katherine Hetland

Katherine Hetland, youngest daughter of Leif and Jennifer Hetland, is currently a DTS (Discipleship Training School) Staff at the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Kristiansand Base in Norway. She’s passionate about God’s kids feeling confident in their identity and pushing them to take leaps into God’s calling in their lives.

I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” 

-2 Samuel 24:24

As the daughter of a passionate speaker/missionary/minister or whatever you want to call him (I just call him dad) and a fiery friend of Jesus (mom), I guess you can say that I’ve been involved with ministry since I was a mere dream in my parents’ hearts. 

 

Growing up, I recall waking up and asking mom questions over breakfast like: “Where did dad go this weekend again?” “Are we going to that conference or do I have to go to school?” “Who’s coming to visit the house?”…  It was a wonderful upbringing and I’m quite grateful. However, at times the magic of ministry isn’t so magical. Sometimes it’s practical. Sometimes it’s controversial. And sometimes it’s a beautiful revival. 

 

My inheritance in dreaming allowed me to pursue different passions and ideas, like working a design job while serving in ministry on the side, or going to the UK for a month. I’m grateful that my parents value following my heart and encouraged me to discover what I truly love following high school. I remember God marking me during a random science class my senior year of high school. My teacher showed a video about the environmental challenges in southeast Asia. When I caught a glimpse of a young girl, I immediately broke out in tears. As I hid my tears from my classmates, God met me in a powerful way that I hadn’t experienced. Until then, I was passionate about personal revival and my city’s revival, but on that day, God marked my heart with the desire to see the revival in the nations.

 

This brings me to my decision to pursue YWAM (Youth with a Mission). I am currently serving as a Staff Member for the Revive DTS (Discipleship Training School) and I couldn’t be happier. It’s definitely proved challenging; moving away from family, growing in a new language, understanding a new culture, and just truly not knowing whether there will be ground to catch me with each step I take. However, this is where the fun part of trusting God to order my steps comes in.

 

I have truly never been more dependent on Jesus than I am right now. Through the highs and lows, there’s no place I’d rather be than dependent on my best friend. This is why I said yes to this challenge of stepping out, pursuing Jesus on the mission field, and it’s why I’ll continue to say ‘yes’ every day because “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing” (2 Sam 24:24).

 

No matter the challenge, no matter the cost, Jesus is worth it all. 

 

For more info about the YWAM DTS that Katherine is a part of check out this link

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Global Mission Awareness • All Rights Reserved • P.O. Box 3049, Peachtree City, GA, 30269

Copyright 2021