Ministry.

So I’m going to jump in right where I left off last time.

We started our Ministry work here in Thailand. Myself along with 5 other people started working with an orphanage. It was the best decision I could have ever made; well, that God ever made. Those children are so beautiful. There are 8 children that we worked with every day. They all speak English and have been brought up in a Christian house hold. They had time off of school so our days were filled with games, laughter, and a lot of playing tag.

On Friday, we spent working on a dance for their Church. BMK is amazing amd made up a simple but great dance for them to perform at their New Years Eve party at their church. A couple of us went to watch it that Saturday night. We had grilled meat and sticky rice (I have developed a love for sticky rice!!) and had a lot of fun playing with the children. It was fun to spend time with the kids outside of their house. After the kids performed their dance our translator, Peng, and I went to the city center to try and find the rest of our team. I really wanted to bring in the New Year with my new family. We first found part of our group doing ministry and then the second part that was out found us 5 minutes later. It was the best New Years ever. There were fireworks going off everywhere, lanterns filled the sky, and a lot of laughter. It was the perfect way to start the new year- simply magical.

Sunday we had another day off and I spent the day at Starbucks (obvi) and in the night market. God is using my time at Starbucks to talk to me a lot lately and I love it.
On Monday our school leaders joined us here in Thailand. I was really excited to have them come meet us; I didn’t really know either of them so it was fun to be able to get to know them a little more. The rest of the week was filled yet again with tag, movies, and games with the kids. Sadly, they had to go to school on Wednesday. On Tuesday we ended our day with them playing soccer. Most of you who know me know I am sports challenged. And yet, I was the goalie and blocked every shot. I was so proud of myself! Since the kids were in school, Wednesday and Thursday we helped out with practical work around the house. We cleaned the walls, filled the sand box, painted furniture, and weeded their garden. It was nice to be able to practically help them out when they couldn’t do it themselves.

Friday we spent the day as a team praying for the kids and the home. It was really nice to be able to intercede for them and pray for their future. We also planned an activity for Saturday because it was our last day with them. And it was so much fun! One of my teammates has a Polaroid camera so we asked him to come with us to take pictures of the kids. They loveeeed him. Saturday morning we girls watched the kids climb on him, run after him, and punch him- It was so entertaining. After lunch we started our project- time capsules. We decorated boxes and added Polaroids of each of the kids, toys, clothes, and letters we wrote for them. It was so fun to watch them get involved and excited for their boxes. We told them they couldn’t open it until they were 18 and many of them cried, “I’m 18 now!” It was the perfect way to end our ministry with them.

Sunday was another good day spent in Starbucks! I spent some time alone with God and then my friend from the orphanage met up with me and we walked around the market. It was a good afternoon spent here in Thailand.

Monday we had the opportunity to pray again for our ministries as finished our time with them. I love those kids so much; I pray that God uses them every day for his purpose and that they are open to it. We had team time Monday night because Tuesday we are splitting up. My plans were to go to Cambodia but through a process and a lot of talking I changed teams. I am now on the Thailand team. God has been giving me a heart for this country and I’m excited to serve Him here. We are not quite sure what is happening but I’m excited to see what He has in store for my team.

So here I sit, ready for what is to come next. My team is splitting up tonight and that makes me sad but I know that God has AMAZING things planned for each person. I’m not sure what the internet situation is going to be like these next two weeks but I’ll try to update when I can.

I love you all,

Hannah

Prayer requests: We need finances. God has provided already in crazy ways and we know that He will continue to provide. But if y’all could pray for that, it’d be great :)

A Christmas Like No Other

One thing before I start- I’m currently sitting outside on the top floor of a 3 story Starbucks in the center of Chiang Mai city plaza. I am one happy girl.

As I mentioned in my last blog post I had the opportunity to spend the weekend, and Christmas, in a village. This village is completely Buddhist and my team and I had the privilege of presenting the story of Jesus’ birth to them for the first time- it was such an honor.

Friday morning we all packed up and set out to the village. But first I was able to Skype with my family. It was hard knowing that I wouldn’t be there to spend Christmas with them- they all looked so cute and it made me miss them a lot. But I had to keep reminding myself that it’s just one Christmas. After a 3 hour car ride we made it to the village. We met our host mom and settled in. I slept next to BMK and I must say that girl is crazy (in the best way possible). I love her to death; we had so much fun together the whole weekend.

Friday night we had worship as a team and I got really frustrated with myself and with God. I asked Him to give me a revelation of His love; I really wanted to know that He loved me. And then I got so mad that He wasn’t telling me His plan for my life. I am such a planner and I want to know what my future holds so I continually worry about it. Awhile after I told that to God, JM walked over to me and started giving me a hug and it sounded like she was laughing. I asked her why she was laughing and she said that she was crying. And she proceeded to say over and over “He loves you. He loves you. He loves you.” And of course, I started crying; a lot. She then said, “He has such a beautiful plan for you. Stop worrying. He has a plan.” God is so amazing. All the time.

On Saturday morning we were able to work in the rice fields. We didn’t realize until we got there that women don’t work so most of the girls sat in hut and prayed over the village. But not me :) Our job was to repair the walkways in between each field. Needless to say it was a very muddy job. I loved it! I had so much fun playing in the mud and spending time with my friends... And I only fell twice!

That afternoon BMK and I took a nap and when I woke up I felt sick. While the rest of the team practiced our Christmas program I continued to take a nap. I felt a little better and had dinner with the team. That night I realized that it was Christmas Eve and as some of you know, I’m ALWAYS sick on Christmas Eve, in some form.

And then Christmas! Oh man, it did not feel like Christmas. But we did have a Christmas miracle. The house I stayed at had 12 little piglets in the morning! We were so excited for our mom; they were adorable! After hanging out with the piglets, we cleaned up one of the houses in the village and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids.

Those kids, man, they stole my heart. There is one little girl there, Praywah, who is beautiful. She seriously made my heart so happy every time she hugged me. I pray for her all the time, that she have an opportunity for education and a good life, that’s all I want for her. The boys were precious too. I brought coloring books with me from the States and at first they didn’t want to color but by the end of the afternoon they were all coloring.

We practiced again that afternoon, had dinner, and then had a Christmas celebration as a team. That afternoon some of us went to the 7/11 in town and got some treats to share. I was so happy to be together as a family with Christmas music, enjoying the day. It was a great way to end the night.

Monday we again went to the fields, this time one closer to our home. And once again, we didn’t do much. I spent some time praying for the fields and the village. It was a nice morning. We had our final practice for that night after lunch. It brought me back to practicing for Church Christmas programs. :) TB and I hung out after practice and had a good talk on the basketball court. I am so glad that she is our team leader- she is so wonderful!

After dinner we all gathered on the basketball court, ready to present our final product. It was kind of an awkward situation because there had been a death in the village that day so we couldn’t be too loud while playing with the kids and such. We played duck duck goose with the kids and it was hilarious! They were getting so sassy with each other and us; it was adorable. Our presentation of the Christmas story went really well! It was so exciting to be a part of; this was the first time these people had heard of this story!

It was hard saying goodbye to the kids that night; I don’t think they realized that we were leaving. I started crying when thinking of leaving Praywah. But I just kept praying that God protect her and her family; and all the kids for that fact. God has such beautiful plans for each one of them; I’m so excited to see where He takes them all.

So Monday we spent the day packing and saying our goodbyes. I was sad to leave but I knew that it was time to get into ministry in the city. I’m excited to start working with the orphanage.

And here is where I leave you, excited to spend the next few hours with a book and sunshine.
I love you all, happy holidays from Thailand!
Hannah

Bus Rides.

I decided that the easiest thing to do is to write out day by day what I’m doing and then post it on Sunday. Sound good? Good.

Monday we had another day of flood relief. I was really excited again because I love practically helping people (I think I said in my last post too). We split into teams again and were on our way. My team and I went to an elderly man’s house in Bangkok. The water line in his house was as tall as me. The water had been there for 45 days and just left last week Tuesday. It still blows my mind that there was that much water all around the city for that long. All of this man’s possessions were ruined on the first floor. It was a mess (I will post picture soon). BH and I worked in the backyard cleaning up trash. It was really hard at one point when we found a little boy’s shoes. It was heartbreaking to think of little children being so affected by this flood.

The rest of the day the whole team worked on the inside of the house, cleaning everything out and then scrubbing the walls and floors. When we left, the house looked amazing! I will get before and after pictures so y’all can see the transformation. And this was just one day of work. It’s amazing what you can do with 10 people and some hard work!

Tuesday was kind of a chill day again. We spent the morning packing up and cleaning our rooms. After lunch we started to plan our Christmas program that we’re going to put on. I kept thinking back to Church Christmas programs and how much I disliked being in them. This year will be different though, I’m really excited. We closed our time in Bangkok with prayer and worship. We were so blessed to have a week in that city. I pray that God reaches more and more people through the people we worked with.

Then Tuesday night we left Bangkok to go north. The ride was 12 hours long on a bus and I can honestly say I would LOVE to take that bus again. This was no ordinary bus my friends. We had reclining seats, foot rests, chicken for dinner, coke, MASSAGES IN THE SEATS, pillows, blankets, and so much more. And all for the low, low price of 15 euro a person. I am so excited to go back to Bangkok :)

The only downside to that is that we got to Chang Mai in the morning. Luckily we had until 12 to sleep. We then had lunch and orientation at a University Café that we’re going to work with. I am really excited to see what God is going to do through these people.

Ok, so I know that I said I would write everyday and then post my blog on Sunday but this week will be an exception. We’re going to stay in a village until Tuesday next week so I won’t have my computer to write while I’m there but I’m taking my journal. I will make a special blog post for that and leave this one here.

I miss you all so much. It’s hard being away during Christmas time but I need to keep reminding myself that this is such a beautiful way to spend my Christmas, glorifying God with my YWAM family.

I love you all,

Hannah

Welcome to Thailand.

After over 24 hours of traveling, I am finally in Thailand. It’s crazy to me that I’m actually here. It doesn’t feel like it at all!

So we left Monday morning. (I had to say goodbye to EB and CK and I’m so proud of myself that I didn’t cry!) We then took a train to Munich where we departed for Dubai! You should all go Google picture of Dubai- it’s insane! Sadly we didn’t have a chance to go explore outside of the airport but I was content to stay and rest.

TANGENT: I decided I have a love/hate relationship with flying. There are times (mostly when I fly during the day) that I LOVE flying; and I know that I love it because of the movies I get to watch. I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love (part of it at least), The Help, and The Glee movie. And then there are times where I HATE flying. And those times are when I fly at night. I hate having to sit between people that you don’t know too well and trying to sleep, it’s the worst. The first flight to Dubai was during the night and the flight to Bangkok was during the day. Needless to say, I loved the flight to Bangkok. And another wonderful thing about flying is the games you get to play. I flew with 6 other people on Emirates airline. Everyone should go Google Emirates airline to see how legit they are.

Back to Tuesday night: Thankfully everyone got through security and got their luggage. We then drove 30 minutes to where we would be staying for the next week; we literally road in the back of pickups- on the highway. It was so fun. We were all freaking out and so excited, it was the perfect way to travel through Bangkok.

After a wonderful night’s sleep, we started out our Wednesday morning with orientation. It’s so interesting to discover another culture besides your own. Asian culture is so different that western culture but it’s so beautiful at the same time.

For lunch we had our first Thai meal. PR- here is where you start reading about all the food I have eaten :) And don’t worry, I’m trying everything. I had cashew chicken and red curry chicken. And I actually enjoyed it. (for those of you who don’t know, I do not enjoy Asian Cuisine) I am promising you all now that I will try what is in front of me.

After lunch our team went on a scavenger hunt around the area. One of the things we needed to find was fruit and desserts that we had never had before. My team and I got Mangos, Dragon Fruit, and this brightly colored dessert. And for the record, we didn’t know the mango was a mango; it was green so we thought we had never had it before but then we were told it was just unripe! The Dragon Fruit was good, a little tasteless but still good! The brightly colored dessert honestly tasted like I was eating strips of flower petals dipped in sugar. BMK loved it; me, not so much. Another team brought back a bag full of fried crickets. It was hilarious watching everyone eat them. (no, I did not eat one) I have a feeling that I will be trying a lot of new things on this trip. And not just new things, gross things.

Thursday was a beautiful day. My team and I went on a prayer walk through Bangkok. We had certain landmarks that we went to see and pray for (picture coming soon, promise). I feel like after Thursday I have now taken all forms of travel in Thailand. We took a bus another place in Bangkok, I honestly have no idea where, and then took a train to a boat tour. It was a lot of fun being able to ride down a river that runs through the city. There were temples all around, it was breath taking.

Our first stop was Wat Po and The Reclining Buddha. Wat Po is a beautiful compound that has multiple towers, chapels, and The Reclining Buddha which is its shining glory. This Buddha is 46 meters long. It is HUGE. It’s crazy to me that someone (more like a lot of people) would make something like this. And I know they believe that their god is the true god but it still blows my mind that someone would dedicate themselves to all of the intricacy involved in this compound.

Our second stop (after lunch!) was Wat Saket and the Temple of the Golden Mount. After climbing 318 steps to the top we walked around and were able to take in the city of Bangkok. It was amazing to stand on top of that hill and see all that God has made. Sadly this was our last stop due to transportation problems. But all in all, it was a beautiful day to see all that God has planned for this city. God loves this city so much; all He wants is to have them love Him back. I know that He will win their hearts; it’s all a matter of His time.

Thursday night I stayed up late talking with BMK and AB. I love being around people with whom I can have meaningful conversations with all the time. I have been blessed with such an amazing team!

Friday we had the opportunity to spend the day doing some practical work by helping out with flood relief. I was really excited about this because I love psychically helping those in need that can’t afford to do it themselves. We have so much to offer; if we just step back out of ourselves to sacrifice a part of our day, our worlds will start to change. We split up into two teams and my team went to help an elderly couple that couldn’t afford the money to clean up after the flood.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I got there. I have helped with Katrina relief in grade 10 but that was awhile after Katrina hit. It was such an honor to be able to help contribute to the cause so early after it happened. We worked on cleaning out their porch area first. There are pallets, furniture, and random things all over the place. Not to mention the inch or so of standing water mixed with mud. The morning before lunch was spent taking out all the mud and cleaning the floor and the walls. It was so exciting to see how different and clean it was.

We had lunch prepared for us which was such a blessing. The woman we were helping prepared chicken with rice and sea food. And yeah, I ate the chicken and rice :) I’m just not a fan of the sea food. But it was a wonderful meal none the less.

The afternoon was spent scrubbing the walls inside and all around cleaning up their house. The top half of the wall was white and the bottom half was stained brown from the flood waters. It was crazy to be able to see that line- that is how high the waters were. I couldn’t imagine waking up to half my house filled with water. The flood destroyed everything for some people; I couldn’t begin to imagine that. All of it really makes me thankful for the home that I have back in the mitten.

At the end of the day we had the opportunity to pray for the couple that we helped. Their pastor was there to help us as well. They were so happy and thankful for the work that we did. And it literally only took us a day. Imagine if groups from all over came and helped clean one house, one day. There would be so many grateful people in Bangkok.

Today (Saturday) we had the opportunity to go do ministry on the streets. A group of us decided to go to a gas station because someone got a vision of one. We took the bus and went to a gas station and played music for a while and then we noticed a group of young guys playing guitar so we went over and played with them. They didn’t speak any English so we just sat with them and played music. We’re pretty sure they were just laughing at us the whole time but we still had fun :)

After that we took another bus to a mall and played music outside for awhile. We didn’t have anybody come up and talk to us but it was nice to just play music. I prayed for people as they walked by and such but nothing big happened.

BMK, BMH, AB, and our translator Pang went into the mall to shop for awhile after that. Yes, we shopped. And it was GREAT. They have a movie theater at the mall (this mall is 5 stories tall) so we decided to go back tomorrow on our day off and see the new Twilight movie. I cannot wait! We decided to make it out Christmas present to ourselves :)

So Monday we will do more flood relief and then we will travel north. I cannot wait to play with a child, that’s all I have wanted since I got here!

Prayer requests: Our team is still in need of money. If anyone feels led to donate let me know!

I love you all!!
Hannah

It's official.

It's the worst when you have to pack up the room you've been living in for the past 3 months. And what's worse is leaving the people you love with all your heart.

This is what I've been going through the past week. Outreach is here. Finally! This week has been full of preparations for our trips. We have packed up our rooms, finished our art tracks, and started to say our goodbyes. My team spent 24 hours in pray in preparation for our trip as well. It was a great way for us to join together and seek after God's heart for Cambodia, Thailand, and Bangladesh.

So, the final part in what was keeping me from leaving for Thailand was my visa. And praise God I finally got it yesterday! So I officially leave Monday for Thailand! I don't know how much internet access I will have while we are there but I am going to try to update as much as I can.

Prayers and encouragement is very much appreciated!

I love you all, see you in 4 months!!

Hannah

Another iPod

Here starts week 10- I only have 3 weeks until I leave for outreach. That just blows my mind. Time has flown by lately!

In my last blog post I talked about our generosity day. Another gift God blessed me with was a trip to Prague, Czech Republic. CS told me that she felt like God was telling her to bless me with a trip somewhere that weekend and said they had an extra seat if I wanted to go to Prague with them. And of course, I said yes (who wouldn’t?!). It was an amazing day- a very long, but extraordinary day. Everyone should go Google pictures of Prague right now to see how beautiful it is. I was blessed so much that weekend- not only with the trip itself but with a French press (I have been wanting one for ages!) which is AWESOME. Ahhh, such a wonderful day!

The last three weeks we have had speakers on worldview, minding the gap, and principles of outreach. Tim spoke on minding the gap. All around us there are gaps- gaps between cultures, people groups, and communities. It’s our job as Christians to mind those gaps. It was amazing to hear that put in a different perspective. Sean spoke on the principles of outreach which was really informative and practical- it all comes back to abiding in Christ. If you abide in Christ, everything else will come together.

I guess I should update everyone on photography- that is a huge part of my time here. First off- I’m sorry that I haven’t uploaded many pictures- we do not have a good internet connection here and I have limited internet time. I am taking pictures- I promise. We have assignments every two weeks and they remind me SO much of what I had to do in Photography 101. That has been a struggle. I haven’t been very inspired by those assignments. But, I have been very proud of my pictures. And I will post them soon!

I have been missing home a lot lately; mostly my family. I talk about my cousin’s kids a lot and not being with them is one of the hardest things about this trip. KN posted pictures of them on Halloween and I wanted to cry! They are precious and they look SO much older. It’s hard being so far away when they are growing up so fast! I know that I’m supposed to be here, but it doesn’t make being away any easier. KN and SA- make sure they don’t forget me! And my parents; oh man, I have been missing them a lot too. I got closer to my mom this summer and it was really hard to leave her. And then I hear about all the fun things she’s doing with my sister and that makes me even more sad. BUT, I know that it will be ok; I’m planning fun things for when I come home :)

I gave away another iPod. I have come to the conclusion that I probably won’t own an iPod for more than a month. So, God had been telling me for a couple weeks to give my iPod to a fellow student. And I told Him no, that I didn’t want to give it away. Over those couple of weeks He kept bringing it up and I kept saying no. Well, on Tuesday, NS came over and said that God had been telling her for a couple weeks to give me her iPod. And then God said, “Give your iPod to ZI.” And I thought, “hm, this iPod I’ve just been given is technically MY iPod.” So I gave that one to ZI, thinking I’d outsmarted God. Ha, outsmart God, yeah right. The speaker that day talked about the Holy Spirit and how if you’re not hearing Him it’s because you probably haven’t done what He previously told you to do. I think God was laughing at this point because He knew that I hadn’t outsmarted Him. After lecture I went back up to ZI and said that she could have my iPod touch if she wanted. Her face immediately light up. She told me that she had been dreaming about an iPod touch. Her smile was all I needed to know that I did the right thing. God is a funny guy sometimes.

Our last two lecture weeks in Herrnhut are being spent with David Gava. Leading up to these weeks everyone was telling me- just wait, wait until you have David, he’s going to blow your mind. And yes, they were right. This week we have talked about The Holy Spirit and Spiritual warfare. I haven’t had a lot of teaching on these two things so I was excited to hear more about them. The Holy Spirit… it’s so hard to put description to Him. If you read the above paragraph you know that he MIGHT tell you to give away iPods. And He’ll keep telling you to give away iPods if you don’t listen to Him. The Holy Spirit moves in amazing ways! And spiritual warfare! There are SO many way the enemy can get into your life. And this breaks my heart (I’m sorry LVW!!!) but I don’t know how many scary movies I’ll be watching when I get home. I didn’t realize the hold that they had on my life. I think they ok to a certain extent. But they cross that line when you can’t get the image of a demon out of your head. That’s not good stuff. You really have to be aware of what you’re watching and reading because it will attach to your spirit. Ah, such a good week.

These last two weeks will be filled with preparation for outreach. My team and I are leaving probably the 5^th or 6^th of December. I will let everyone know the specific date. Prayers would be appreciated as we still need money and as we finalize our plans. Cool, thanks :)

Missing and loving you all.

My God Provides.

**Sorry for the length of this post- there is just so much good stuff. Please read to the end, I promise, you won’t be upset that you did :) **

And here we are at week 6. It is crazy to me how fast time goes. KV, you were right, these are going to be the fastest 7 months of my life. I already don’t want to leave this place. This community is the best. I probably talk about that a lot but I can’t help it, it’s so freaking wonderful.

I absolutely love number 7. I am blessed with some of the best roommates ever. I live in the middle of number 7 and it couldn’t be more perfect for me. I have been blessed with a WONDERFUL roommate- and only one! It has been such a blessing to be able to get to know her more and have honest hour with someone again. (TM- makes me miss you a lot!) The rest of the girls that are in number 7 are just wonderful. I love each and everyone. I know that I can go to anyone of them and they will be there for me and pray for me. That is such an encouragement.

And the staff- oh man, I am so happy that I have been getting to know them more. We have some amazing people here to encourage and support us through our walk. I’m so glad to know each of them. I spent this past Saturday with KH. It was great to get out of the apartment and spend the morning like I would back home. We had coffee and took a walk around Herrnhut. It was refreshing to relax and not feel like I had to be somewhere in 5 minutes, like I frequently do.

That night we had a love feast- SO GOOD. I think everyone should have a love feast every day. Love feasts were started in YWAM to come together and talk about God’s blessings and be thankful for all that we have. Everyone got dressed up, we had AMAZING food, and celebrated God. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday was a little stressful (at first). We have a portrait project for photography that I shot that day. It was nerve wracking just because I HATE taking pictures of people and because we had to use a VERY expensive lighting system. But I didn’t need to be nervous because it went so well! I had the pleasure of shooting a mobile DTS student, Hannah. Yup, she has the same name, first and middle, as me! She is such a gem. I loved hanging out with her, she was so easy to get along with and shoot.

AND THEN I got to see my parents!! And KN and her children. Oh my heart, I was so happy. It was exactly what I needed at that time. I talked with my parents once since I left and it was a horrible connection. I am so so happy that I got to talk with them. And then the kids! Oh my goodness I have missed their little voices so much. AJ looked adorable in her skinny jeans- she needs to learn my name though ;) And CJ! He is already so much bigger. It kills me that I’m not able to be there, to watch him play soccer and hear all about school. (I expect pictures!!) But it’s ok, because I’ll see him soon enough! It was good to talk to my BFF/second mom too. I have missed getting coffee and hanging out with her and the kids. I’m glad that we got to catch up and talk for a little, even though it’s not like our usual hang outs :) (I miss lifetime movies!!)

And so the official week begins. Our teacher this week is Dan Bouman. He has some AMAZING stories and he’s hilarious- the perfect combination! He spent 9 weeks in prison in Iran and still he can laugh at it. It’s amazing how much God has worked through him. He has told us so many stories of how God provides, it’s such an encouragement. Wednesday we talked about passion and what it looks like to be passionate for God. Passion is all consuming, suffering, unstoppable, and contagious. That’s just one thought that resonated with me. All of it was so amazing. God has the perfect way of saying just what I need to hear.

On a side note- Tuesday I fell down the stairs. Yup, I still fall even though I’m in Germany. My tailbone is sufficiently bruised. Oh and I rolled my foot last week and I think it’s sprained. Sweet, I love my life. hahaha

Wednesday night we had our first critique night. All the students had to hang up photos, read their stories, display their art, or play a song. It was amazing to see how much talent our school has. I seriously love being around so many artists. It is such a testament to God. He created each and every person here with such beautiful talents, and everyone is unique in their talents. SO COOL.

God is continually showing me that this is where I am supposed to be. I am so happy where I am. (Mom you can stop worrying :) ) I know that if I had stayed at CC, I wouldn’t have been happy. It would have probably been horrible; I would have been horrible to everyone. I am sorry to all those that I have hurt over the years with my words and actions, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I know now that my actions were not what was right or good. I know that I could have avoided many fights and hurt words if I had watched what I said. Again and forever, I am sorry.

And I need to say another sorry to my friends and family back home (aka everyone reading this); I am sorry that I have sucked at staying in contact. Please know that it’s nothing against you personally, I really haven’t talked to anyone since I left. I am working so hard on my relationship with God right now that it’s hard to keep in contact with those that are miles away, let alone right next door (not to mention the internet SUCKS). I have not forgotten anyone; I will never forget you all. I promise to work harder at keeping in contact, promise!

Please let me know if there is anything that I can pray for. I am trying really had to be a better intercessor. Prayer is something I have always struggled with so I figured the best way to fix that is to do it more! Feel free to email me with any requests you have! My email is hannahjo4@gmail.com. I would love to pray for anything, whether it is big or small, let me know :)

**Disclaimer. I wrote the above a week ago. And then failed to put on my blog. So here starts week 7!**

The end of last week was good. Dan was amazing until the very last minute. I was so blessed to hear of how he was encouraged in every aspect of his life. Friday was KC’s birthday! It was so great to be able to spend part of the day with her. She is such a blessing to me; I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her :) Saturday we spent the day in Bautzen with the photography track. Our assignment was to take pictures of people we didn’t know. PERFECT, exactly how I wanted to spend my Saturday (Sarcastic). But it turned out to be a great day. I spent it with JM and CS. Those two are so great. I love spending time with them. I met a man on the street named Erwin. He is a street artist in Bautzen. He was so nice and thankfully spoke a little English. That day in general was awesome. We got away from Herrnhut and were able to experience Germany in its finest.

Sunday I didn’t do anything. Of course. :) It was a good day to just chill and not worry about things to do and people to see. Monday was an art day. AKA nap time for Hannah. I was so tired, EB and I went back to the apartment, had a wonderful chat, and slept. It was good. I honestly can’t remember what I did that night- must not have been too important :)

AND Tuesday. Wow. So the day started out as a normal day, as extraordinary days often do, and quickly became amazing. We had a time for generosity. That is a huge theme of this school. Our school leaders are really trying to instill a sense of generosity within us. And I have taken them up on that challenge. So we had a time to pray and be silent and people started getting up and giving each other possessions, money, or words from God. I heard God tell me to give away my iPod. Mind you, I have only had this iPod for a week and it’s brand new. I told God no, that I didn’t want to give it up and kept praying. God asked me if I was ready to give everything away for Him. And I came to a point where, yes, I would give it all for Him. If He gave me someone specific, I would give away my prized possessions: my iPod, computer, and camera. And then I went on praying. A little while later I heard God say, “Give your iPod to Alisa, give it to her. You know where the reset button (on the iPod) is, give it to Alisa.” And I was like, crap, ok I guess. So I got up, tears in my eyes, walked over to my backpack and got my iPod. Walking over to Alisa, I reset the iPod and immediately started crying when it handed it to her. She said no, I can’t. And I said yes, you have to, it’s brand new and I just reset it, take it. We hugged, I cried, and I sat back down.

After I sat down I felt good. I realized that this iPod was a huge distraction in my life. It was taking me away from good conversation with God. And then another iPod fell into my lap, literally. JW graciously gave me her iPod touch because she felt like God told her to. Wow. He works in crazy ways people! Her story is amazing, if you want to hear it, let me know and I will tell you but for length’s sake, I won’t write it :) The whole day was amazing. It was so great to hear all the stories from everyone. I love generosity; it does crazy things to people (in a good way). God does crazy things. I am realizing His role in my life more and more each day. He is present in everything I do and I love that. He provides in amazing ways and surprises me in even more ways. I love hearing His voice and his plan for my life. I don't know what I’m going to do after DTS (I will be coming home, promise) and that is ok.

OUTREACH UPDATE:

Tuesday we found out our possible outreach locations!! YES. We have been waiting patiently for weeks to find out where we might go- and Tuesday was the day! Our DTS is doing outreach a little different. Usually there are multiple locations presented, specific places, and then the students have usually an hour to pray about it and come back with a choice. But not ours! We have two outreach “locations” to choose (or rather give a preference for) from: Southeast Asia or southeast Europe. Yup, we don’t know exactly where in these two regions we will go; we’re leaning on God for that. It’s crazy to think of spending 10 weeks in one of these locations- I can’t wait to see where God leads me. And here’s where you readers come in: I am not sure where I should go. I put down one region (I’m not going to tell you which) that I would like to go, but I have a heart for both. Well, I’m open to both. I’m trying to lean on God and put my trust on Him. If you could all pray about this for me, that would be great.

And if you really, really, REALLY want to know what region I put down you can message me :)

Love from Germany,

Hannah

Prayer request time! (I’m adding this to all my posts. I need more prayer in my life.)

-The burden on my school loans is on my shoulders. When I went to Calvin, I racked up some serious loans. Realizing that I might lead a life of a missionary, those loans keep popping up in my mind. I don’t want to have this hold me back in any way. If you could pray that this burden is lifted from me- that would be great. I know that God will provide, but it’s still a big worry. And I’m a worrier, so it’s hard for me to let go of that.

-I have been praying for a new computer for a bit now and I would appreciate prayers for that too. I know that it seems silly but I know that if I’m going to really put my all into my art, I need to get the right equipment to do that. And my computer is lame. Half of the time it doesn’t connect to the internet and the other half of the time it doesn’t read my photos. SO, it would be super to have a new (or used) computer. God works in crazy ways people :)