In reference to God, the prophet Jeremiah once wrote:

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:6)

This idea of being moulded, shaped and developed by the hand of God, is what Transit is all about.  For the last two years, individuals from different nations and cultures have gathered in the UK for a year with Transit, learning about leadership through living in community, getting involved in a Boiler Room and through listening to the teaching of others.  Transit had been running before that in the USA and last year the community in Ramsdorf, Germany, also received Transit students.

At the beginning of July, this year’s UK course came to an end.  We spent two days together in West London, listening to each others stories and praying for the future.  It was a moving and exciting time.  As I write this piece, I’m trying to remember the scene and imagining looking round the room at these people who’ve become friends over the year.  I see Aki and Maria, who joined us from Helsinki, Finland.  

“I was expecting certain things in my spiritual life to get a quick fix” Aki told us.  “Instead God seems to have put things on hold and done a lot of different things.  I sense now God is saying it’s time to go back and continue to try and figure out all these questions you came with.”  Aki was particularly struck by the way God had challenged and changed the mindsets he had brought.  Transit aims to use questions and challenge what it means for us to be in the world as Christians, in a world which God made good, but also one which holds many difficulties.  Aki smiled and shared that “God has broken out of a lot of boxes I had him in.”

Transit is a place where gifts and skills can grow and be put to use.  Graham Suggs came to us from North Carolina, USA.  Graham is a photographer who has found a place for his artistic gift on and through this website.  Many of the pictures you see on the Training section of the site come from Graham’s camera.  After a time in Israel, we’re hoping to reconnect with Graham and for him to continue to take stunning photographs of what God is doing around the world.

In front of me I see Shaun Roth.  Shaun arrived from Toronto, Canada.  We’ve seen Shaun change incredibly this year – not least as he grew dreads, then cut them off and now sports a very normal and nice haircut.  Shaun loved the teaching and training element of the year – particularly God’s story, where we go through the entire Bible chronologically in one year.

“I guess the biggest thing that impacted me is the God’s story … I remember so much more of the Bible than I did before.”  

Joe Hicks, from the UK also loved the God’s story.  He told us that “In some ways I’ve re-learnt all the basics of Christianity in a much more meaningful way.”  Ever the poet, Joe continued “this year I’ve been fashioning a boat, God has instilled values in me, taught me new things and broken out of all the boxes I put him in.”

It’s reality that the potters hands of God are at work in our lives.  The exciting, but also scary news is that as well as using his own voice and his word, he tends to use people like you and me in that process too.  Matilda Gustaffson, one of our hosts on Transit put it this way:

“Throughout the year, I’ve been blessed, affirmed and loved by so many people and by God through them.  It’s given me the courage to dare to be who I am.”

We’re now taking applications for 24-7 Transit in 2007-08.  If you’d like to know more, check out our Training section.  Maybe God’s inviting you onto this Transit journey with us?