"I had a highly unusual childhood
with hints of normality blended in."
(Home Keeps Moving, McDougal Publishing, 2010)
Heidi Sand-Hart was born in Derby, England, to a Finnish mother and Norwegian father. Her parents met while working for Youth With A Mission (a missionary organisation) in the UK. Heidi is the youngest of three, with two older brothers - Samuel and Ben. Her childhood years were spent between the UK and India, with frequent trips to Scandinavia to visit grandparents and relatives. Her early years were anything but settled (see The Early Years) and a pattern of relocation was set.
After finishing her education, Heidi decided to take a gap year and moved with her parents to India to help with her mother's orphanages. While in India, she decided against traditional further education and followed instead in her parent's footsteps, joining YWAM in 1998. It was during this time that Heidi begun to notice the impact of her highly mobile upbringing as she felt quite isolated from her peers. She noticed how smoothly she transitioned and adjusted to new cultures and realised it was a result of growing up as a Third Culture Kid*. Working with a missions organisation momentarily quenched her thirst for travel (and humanitarian work) as she spent time in: America, Mexico, Thailand, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Canada, Morocco, Spain, UK, India, Latvia, China and Portugal. Heidi did four educational courses with YWAM (including a counselling school) and also lead teams around the world.
In 2006, Heidi hung up her YWAM hat but has continued to be involved in orphanage work, predominantly in Thailand.
She was engaged to Paul Matthew Hart (a New Zealander) in 2007 and on the 19th February 2008, they were married at her beloved Kovalam beach in India.
Being of an introverted disposition, writing has always been therapeutic and the way Heidi best expressed herself; a constant throughout the many changes and challenges that came her way.
Heidi was first published in her father's book, "To the Ends of the Earth" (Lighthouse Publishing, 2001) - a family chronicle of their mission experiences in India. Writing a chapter about growing up as a "missionary kid" inspired Heidi to attempt her own book on the subject and she received encouragement from readers to do so.
She began writing "Home Keeps Moving" shortly after but found it too overwhelming and daunting a task to face during her early twenties. This unfinished work hung over her mind for the next decade until the urgency became too strong to ignore. In the autumn of 2009, after a whirlwind year of getting married, living out of a suitcase and volunteering at a Thai orphanage, Heidi picked up her fragmented manuscript and ploughed on. "Home Keeps Moving" was published by McDougal Publishing (USA) in the spring and launched worldwide in July 2010.
Get your signed copy now at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/shops/heidisand-hart
*What is a Third Culture Kid?
“A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents’ culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background, other TCKs.” - Van Reken/Pollock.
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