Trusting the process..

TRUST IN THE PROCESS, TRUST IN THE STILL QUIET VOICE. 

A while it has been, since I last posted on my blog. A lot has changed, a lot has happened and a lot of things I have learnt. My biggest lesson in the last six months has been Trusting the Process. There have been so many times of uncertainty where all I can do is rely on God and trust the process and the journey He is taking me on in this season. Time after time God has proven to know me far better than I know myself. His plans for me are far better than I could ever imagine. So for me, to walk passionately pursuing the Lord is all I can do. In that I know everything will come to be for the greater good. Gods faithfulness everyday overwhelms me. 

When I got back from overseas I felt strongly that the Lord didn't want me to get a job, in that I needed things to do so I would help out in my church Pukekohe Community Church in any way that I could. Through that I have had the incredible opportunity of being my Pastors P.A, a Childrens Leader and most recently the youth pastor. Knowing that Revival is coming to our nation, I am so excited to be part of a team and a church that is so ready for it. I am so expectant for lives to be changed, for the youth in this nation to walk out in greater understanding of who Christ is and who they are in Him. For freedom to take place in the hearts of those who are broken. For a love that encapsulates every soul. Jesus is so worthy to be praised among this nation! It is happening, and God called me home and I get to be part of it! 

I am learning so much being in my church environment, being under the leadership of a Prophet and an Apostle is awesome! My Pastors have so much wisdom to offer and I consider myself so blessed to be able to walk with them and learn from them. 

An opportunity came up to apply for a job, I prayed about it and felt it was a great opportunity so.. I now have a job after over a year of not having an income I now have one! I am now the sales manager for a christian bookstore in Pukekohe called Epic Christian Bookstore.  What I love so much about this is that this store supports a ministry called Voice Of The Martyrs. Voice of the Martyrs work at the sharp edge of Christian persecution, in countries such as: North Korea, the Muslim states, Africa, Asia, Chine and the Russian steppes, supporting churches and families widowed or isolated from spouses imprisoned and tortured. VOM supplies practical help (food, medicine, clothing, generators, pumps, repatriation, safe houses, bibles, legal help) to persecuted Christians. 

So for me knowing that in what I do in the store is actually supporting persecuted Christians around the world brings me so much joy in the work that I do. Everyday myself and a co-worker have a prayer meeting for different villages and persecuted Christians that we are updated on regularly.  To go to work and be able to have prayer meetings for the persecuted, to see the faces of those in prison for their faith and to read their testimonies is so humbling and makes me so incredibly thankful everyday! Hebrews 13 v 3 says "Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." Everyday I get to walk out in this, remembering those who are suffering for Christ.  

With my church and my work being the two main things I am doing in my daily life, none of those would have come to pass if I didn't trust the Lord in the process and His timing. So much of me wanted to go back overseas, so much of me wanted to do everything else that didn't include living where I am now. But if I didn't walk out in obedience in following where the Lord was guiding me everything else would have been useless. I can now say I am happy where I am, I am happy where the Lord has got me and the journey I'm in. It wasn't easy at the start. But following the Lord was never promised to be easy, but was always promised to be worth it. And He is SO worth it. Matthew 7 v 13-14 says "You can enter Gods Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." I choose Life. 

What's next for Hannah?

Ask me that same question (What's next for Hannah) three months ago and my response would have been, I have no idea.. 

As some of you may know I was wanting to go back to Hawaii in September to do what is called a 'Leadership Track' which initially is leadership training for three months, to then go on to staff next years January DTS (discipleship training school) which is what I did January this year. I loved every moment of my experience with my DTS and loved the idea of going back to disciple the new students coming in and go on a journey with them with discovering who they are in Christ and falling more in love with Jesus, then to lead a outreach team overseas would have topped it all off! All things in which I am passionate about- Jesus, discipleship, people, & travel - so for me this seemed perfect for the next season in life.. 

BUT

there always seems to be a but with plans that I make

God did indeed intervene in these plans that I had made and changed the direction in which I was planning on going. While I was on my outreach in Costa Rica I had a series of dreams of the Lord calling me home. First of all when thinking about what to do next, home wasn't even an option for me. And if we're being completely honest it wasn't even part of the list of options I had after the incredible experience overseas. But it started to become more and more clear to me that home was where I was meant to be in this next season. Why? I still had no idea. But I had vowed to radically obey God no matter what the cost.

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.

-Philippians three v eight

Besides, by following the Lord I know my life will be better than I could have ever imagined.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

-John ten v ten

So home it was for me. But the location of 'home' changed while I was away. My parents moved while I was overseas so moving back home was a completely new experience in itself. I now live a minimum of one hours drive from any of my friends, in a small town where not a whole lot happens. The incredible thing about it though is I live right on the beach. And for those of you who know me, will know how much I love to be by the water. But still, what am I doing? Why has God called me back to this new home? How long for? These are the questions that would frequently run through my head, it still seemed very logical for me to go back to Hawaii. But God doesn't always run on so called logic. And indeed He kept me waiting patiently praying and spending time in His presence until He revealed why I'm home. Although I didn't hear an audible voice, I do have peace about being home.

without explaining the how, what, when and whys..

I am now studying Freelance Journalism through correspondence, and am also a leader at the new children's ministry my church has started. I have been looking and applying for jobs, but that is looking harder than I thought. I was wanting to save and go back overseas in December but I have recently had to lay that down before the Lord and believe it will all happen in His timing. He knows the desires of my heart so trusting in the Lord with them is all I can do at this stage.

But this children's ministry I do have to tell..

It is run on a Thursday afternoon, after the children have finished school and runs for about two hours. Ages from 5-12. Majority of the children that are coming come from unsaved homes, some of them hadn't even heard the name of Jesus or stood inside a church. We do different activities with them and incorporate a story from the Bible or a teaching on Jesus in with it all. We have just gone past our third week running this programme and there are around 25 children coming! The unsaved children also have started coming along to church on a Sunday and love it. Through this, the children's parents are asking questions and some have started coming to church also. Revival is coming through the children! We must never undermine the influence a child can have on the kingdom. We are already seeing changes in these children's lives, the fact they now hug me when they see me is actually really huge in itself. I'm really excited to be part of this, and see revival come to my nation! 

Watch out New Zealand, We're next!

This being said I know this is part of the reason the Lord has called me home, at this stage I'm still not sure how long that looks like. As travelling is still a desire I have. And don't get me wrong, everyday I miss my incredible friends I had made overseas and would give anything to be with them again as it seemed to be the first time in my life I had real friends who understood everything about me. Everyday I have to remind myself that I am in the will of God for my life and I must obey Him in everything I do. So for now I am focused on what the Lord is doing here and being part of the revival that is coming. Our church has had prophetic words about revival coming, and that our church is the embassy of heaven, plus many more exciting things. Watch this space!

For now I will leave you with a few photos from the time I have had at home so far. 

I got to spend time with my incredibly handsome brother on my stopover in Australia on my way home.

I had the privilege of hearing my brother in-law, Ps Logan Craig preach at their church

And the privilege to spend time with  my big sister that I hadn't seen in nine months.

Some say we look like twins.. We don't see it.

Apparently Wellington (City where my sister lives) is known to be windy.. Photo with my friend Julia.

re-united with my girls, from left, Taegan, me, Bethany & Julia

Quality friendship right here.

Visiting Wellington. Again.

For three nights I got to babysit my step sisters children, this including taking these two to the theme park.

Continually in awe and extremely thankful that this is my backyard

Hanging out in the backyard with my step-dad.

Consider it a blessing everyday that this is even a choice of exercise for me

So when friends visit, we paddle. Rain or Shine.

This is New Zealand.

Spending Jesus time in my backyard.

Until next time

God Bless

Ubicación del número tres // Location Number Three.

Location- San Jose

Temperature- High of twenty three degrees low of eighteen degrees. 

Humidity- Around fifty percent humidity. 

Duration- Three weeks
Ministry- Working with children in a local ghetto.

We can now say goodbye to ridiculous heat and hello to what we would call 'Normal Weather'. 
For the last three weeks of Outreach we committed out time to a local ghetto called Sinai, which was only a ten minute walk and a thirteen minute bus ride away from the YWAM base we were staying at. 
Our time there consisted of..
-Playing football with the kids
-Showing the Jesus film
-Making jewellery 
-Sharing Bible stories
-Arts & Crafts
-Making paper aeroplanes then having competitions
-Comforting the lonely
-Bringing Joy to the sorrowful 
-Sharing our love with them
-Giving regular hugs and encouragement

Sharing the love of Christ to children who don't feel loved in their own homes.
Telling them how important and special they are in Gods eyes.
Giving them a sense of Hope and a future.

We committed our time to help with the local christian church in this ghetto every week day, only to actually find the night before we were to arrive there was a drug deal gone wrong in the house next to the church and there was a shooting resulting in a murder. But we were still standing strong knowing this is where the Lord was wanting us to spend out last three weeks. 
It did not take us all very long to fall in love with the children that came everyday, being able to join in their pure joy and excitement despite the circumstances. We had roughly fifty children that came altogether, girls and boys varying in ages. This quickly became one of the hardest places to leave and say goodbye to all the children, and even the church family. Hearing the children say I love you or trying to learn some words in English, hearing them ask when are you coming back to see us?! did not make saying goodbye any easier. For me being naturally an emotional person hearing all that hit me hard. You could say my heart broke for those children and they all definitely hold a special place in my heart.
One day I would love to go back and visit not just Costa Rica itself, but the people, the ministries we worked with and if there would be any chance, to see all the children again.
So here are just a few photos for you to enjoy..

Local homes

 Little boy showing off his sick moves

TJ leading worship at the YWAM base

Walking down into the ghetto 'Sinai' 

 Preparing some of the crafts. + some of the children

Arts + Crafts 

Making Jewellery  

Three of the worlds most precious boys

Now there was one particular boy who stole my heart. 

On the first day at the church I was standing outside with Ruben (One of the males on my team). Walking past was a Nanny holding a little boy aged twos hand. As they walked past the little boy looked at me, quickly let go of Nannys hand and ran straight towards me. Naturally I went to meet him thinking.. Oh cute little boy. He ran straight into my arms giving me a big hug and a kiss. Please note I had never seen this boy ever before. He just kept looking at me laughing and smiling before his Nanny came to pick him up and go home. That only led to him crying and yelling out "Cha Cha" Ruben then explained to me that he would be trying to say Muchacha which is girl in Spanish. He managed to get away from his Nanny again and quickly ran back into my arms, so we explained to the Nanny that we would be here everyday for three weeks and we would love them to come and join us. Also formally being introduced to the gorgeous little boy named Samuel. Sounds like Sam-well in Spanish.  So off they went hoping to see them again the next day.

Two days later was the next time we saw them while we were waiting at the bus stop, they were across the road from us. As soon as I saw them I ran across the road, and once again Samuel ran straight into my arms, followed by a big hug and a kiss. There too we met his big brother Gabriel. Samuel was so excited he kept running around but quickly running back to grab tight of my legs! The Nanny explained that he was too scared to go away in case I left him as he turned away.

Nevertheless our bus soon came so we had to say goodbye for that day. Everyday they would arrive the greeting always remained the same, being embraced by a big hug and kiss from my precious little man. Every time I was with him he couldn't be away from me, even if I just walked into the next room he would be quickly running behind me. I think it's easy to say I had never experienced a child loving me so much and loving them back so much in return, one of the most special feelings in the world! I knew saying goodbye to Samuel was going to be one of the hardest things to do. And it was.. I may or may not have shed a few tears. Knowing that there is a little boy who lives in a small ghetto in Costa Rica, who I had actually never had a conversation with/not actually being able to understand a word coming out my mouth, a little boy who I genuinely had so much love for holds a piece of my heart and I may not actually see him again.

Myself holding Samuel and his big brother Gabriel.

One of the many precious cuddles shared with Samuel

Playing Broooom Brooooom as Samuel loved to do

 So much love for this little man

And then it was to say goodbye to the family and friends we had met and all hold a very special place in our hearts, and venture off to finish with de-brief. You can only guess Gabby and I were shedding more than a few tears saying goodbye to these amazing people. 

My heart had been captured

My heart has been broken

My heart has been mended

 My heart has been ravished and consumed

My prayer to God was..

Heal my heart and make it clean

open up my eyes to the things unseen

show me how to love like you have loved me

break my heart for what breaks yours.

My prayer was answered. 

Ubicación del número dos // Location Number Two.

Location- Shiroles, Talamanca

Temperature- High of thirty five degrees low of twenty seven degrees.

Humidity- One Hundred Percent 

Duration- Seven Nights.
Ministry- Teaching in the local churches everyday.  

After various bus rides and one off ministry opportunities we now found ourselves yet on another long bus ride, this time heading to the Caribbean side to a place called Shiroles. 

After the nine hour bus ride we then got on a rather smaller bus to the final destination. Only to find the bus only sat about fifty people on it, but that definitely didn't stop everyone getting on. We found ourselves back to back, sweaty face to sweaty armpit, I guess you get the point. There was not a lot of room considering there was probably around ninety people on the bus. After forty minutes of driving 10kph on a bumpy road through water and jungle, then walking twenty minutes carrying all our gear we finally made it to our home for the next seven nights.

The primary reason we came to this location was to teach in the local churches in the area each day. We each had a different topic we were going to speak on and different days we were to do it. Speaking in churches was generally in the afternoon/evening so in the mornings we went from demolishing a playground so the local boys couldn't sit on it and get high, and cleaned and painted a pastors house!

Ruben was the first to speak on the monday night, after walking in the dark on a dirt road in the jungle for forty minutes to the church. He did such an incredible job preaching! His first time ever preaching and he did it in spanish. The congregation were all very encouraged and challenged by the words he spoke. So encouraged one of the men in the church invited us to come to his home for dinner during the week. Food is one thing our team would never ever turn down. Tuesday was the day for TJ and I to preach. After nearly an hours drive through a different area we arrived at the church only to find there was miscommunication with the church and they had been waiting an hour for us. Nevertheless they were waiting patiently with a sense of anticipation. I spoke first on 'The Reality Of The Cross.' Then TJ spoke on 'The Holy Spirit.' After we spoke TJ led everyone in a time of worship and invited the congregation up for prayer. Majority of the church were eager to receive prayer from us. By the end of it half the church was sleighed in the Holy Spirit, two were manifesting and one woman literally threw up! For myself that was the first time I had ever prayed for someone and seen such a huge impact of the Holy Spirit. I definately know I didn't do any of that! We were all overwhelmed by the strong sense of the Holy Spirit that afternoon. God is SO good. 

After driving for ten minutes once being picked up, the truck broke down..

We found ourselves in the back of a pick up truck, outside, pitch black, literally couldn't see my hand help out in front of me (maybe something to do with the fact i wasn't wearing my glasses) we could hear animal sounds around us, in the middle of a jungle, on a narrow dirt road. 

What do you do when you find yourself in a situation like this?

WORSHIP!

That seemed to be the only logical solution for us, little did we know we were going to be amazed whilst doing it. TJ pulled out his guitar and we just simply started to sing. Nothing fancy, just six different people, six different voices singing together with one guitar. We noticed fire flies started appearing only to my amazement as I had never seen fire flies before. The more we sang, the more they appeared. At one point we found ourselves in the middle of what looked like the sight of lit up christmas trees. I have never seen such a uniquely beautiful sight in my life, I think it's safe to say I have never seen anything like it before. Only to actually think how symbolic that short moment was, we were in a area that was one of the most spiritually dark areas we had been, but amongst it we would find little pockets of light. We would meet someone that loves Jesus with all they are and do all they can to share it. Just like the fire flies in the dark, amongst all the darkness there is always light.

After an hour waiting another pick up truck came to pick us up and dropped us off at the mans house who had invited us over for dinner. He just happened to own his own pizzeria! Excited to see us he invited us in and told us to make ourselves at home and gave us different things to do to help make the pizza and fresh drinks. That pizza was hands down the best pizza I have ever eaten in my life. 

By the end of the week each of us had preached, whether it be for our first time or for our first time with a translator. 

We had bathed in a river to clean ourselves, killed a chicken for dinner, cooked every meal over a fire resulting in constantly smelling like smoke, and hadn't seen our reflections all week. It was a time of highs and lows, a lot of tears and laughter as our team became closer and saw each other by far at our worst, but most of all, we all drew so much closer to God in the midst of it all. 

One week in Shiroles, one of the best weeks of my life. Memories I will never forget. Who would have some of my favorite memories would be in a place like that! Something tells me I was made for this. 

Until next time, until the next location.

God Bless.

Ubicación del número uno // Location Number One.

Location- Golfito, Costa Rica

Temperature- High of thirty seven degrees, low of twenty six degrees Celsius

Humidity- One Hundred Percent 

Duration- Twelve Days 

Ministry- Bible Distribution

After the eight hour bus ride from San Jose to Golfito we had finally arrived. We finally were on 'Outreach'. I think this was the first time it had hit all of the team that this is our reality for the next ten weeks. Despite the heat when we first arrived, having to carry ten weeks worth in one bag on our backs, and not being able to understand anyone. I was extremely excited for the next ten weeks and had a sense of anticipation to see what the Lord will do through us and around us. 

Our schedule looked a bit like this..

six thirty start, cooking breakfast for everyone

seven, breakfast

eight - three thirty, ministry time

we would then generally have a cold shower, not that a hot shower was actually a choice but we thanked the Lord anyway as there was no way we would want to have even a slightly warm shower by the end of our ministry time, we were all dripping with sweat! I experienced areas that i never knew could sweat. If caring about what you looked like was some what of a priority for you, that certainly would have been crushed the first day there. 

Once we were all organised we would come together as a team and have our 'Team Time' which consisted of a time of prayer and worship and the natural excited talk of everyone speaking over each other as we all wanted to share stories at the same time. Our team did eventually get good at listening and talking one at a time. 

We would then have dinner from around six o'clock then afterwards we generally would have walked to the local store to find something sweet or hit the hay. (go to bed)

We had one day off a week which was spent at the pool down the road. 

So that was a basic day for the duration of the time we were there.

These twelve days certainly was a time to test our patience with one another, there definitely were times when we didn't talk to one another! Being the first time living with each other, being with each other 24/7 we certainly got to know each other very very well. TJ and i would say we have spent TOO much time with each other. Fortunately after a few days in Golfito we had two other outreach teams from different YWAM locations come join us for the rest of our time there. Everyday we all got split up into different teams to go house to house which gave us all an opportunity to get to know everyone, including the locals that came to help us. I became good friends with one of the guys in one of the other teams. Some would say he was a boy version of me, where all our conversations consisted of jokes. I think we had one serious conversation the whole time we were together, but a serious conversation that was!

Now you understand what the days looked like for us i shall get into the nitty gritty of it. The glory stories. Did the Lord move? like never before. What is the greatest miracle of all? Salvation. Did we see it? Did we ever! We saw over one hundred salvations just in the twelve days we were there. Now i am almost sure heaven would have been having the biggest celebration cause we certainly were praising Him everyday as we would share our 'glory stories' with one another. Not only did we see the greatest miracle which is salvation, we saw healings as well! If you were ever in a place of doubting healing and if it's so called 'Legit' you would not be doubting after our time there. We saw healing from headaches gone to back pain that was there for years gone! Our God is a big God, nothing is impossible for Him if we just believe. 

Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Seeing the faces of the people we had just prayed for lit up was one of the greatest things i saw. Every home we went too were so hospitable, there was no question about it they would invite us in and give us anything they had, whether it be a glass of water or some pineapple. They would give us anything and everything they had, even if it meant they would go without. For they wanted to do all they could to bless us as they felt very blessed for us even just knocking on their door! It truly is amazing what such simple acts of kindness can do for someone. 

This time definitely made me check myself. Am i doing all i can to bless others? Do i constantly show continuous acts of kindness? Am i actually a nice person? There is always things you can do to make someone else day, to make someone else feel like a princess, to make someone else feel 'special'. And it's so simple. 

If our twelve days in Golfito was all we did for outreach, my life still would have been changed. The people i met, faces i saw, tears to laughter, sorrow to joy. My relationship with God and my love for him grew so much during our time there. 

But that's not all God had in store for us...

Teams reporting for duty

What you can handle you hold. Plus some.

One of the teams going house to house

This is what everyday looked like

This is Vernon, Lover of Jesus, translator (although we struggled understanding each other) and new Pal.

Ruben and his natural ability to make new friends

Two of the loyal locals that helped us everyday

Family photo, three teams together from different locations 

To this day i stand amazed at the lifetime friends i made in this location when i would have never met them if i didn't go to Costa Rica.

This gives you a little taste of what the first twelve days of outreach looked like, for more photo's check out my 'This is it' blogpost. until next time, until the next location.

God Bless.

Engage DTS '13 - Team Palau

This video shows just a small portion of the things you can get up to during outreach. This was one of the teams from my DTS that went to Palau for their outreach. As well as the incredible things we do during ministry times and seeing the crazy things God does, we also always have a lot of fun through it all! 

Check it out.

The Greatest Sacrifice

When he prayed in the garden it was us that he did see, knowing that he had to die so we could be set free. When he stood before the people and they shouted, "Put him on the cross" He could have called ten thousand angels but he knew that we were lost. When they stripped him of his robe and beat him to the ground, he could have called his angels, but he chose not to make a sound. For it was his love so great, yes his love for us that made him stay right there. For he knew it was a must as he walked up that road with each end every step he could have used his power but it was his love that kept him moving towards that hill where he knew that he would bare our sins upon his chest. Oh how greatly he does care, the nails, they were driven into his feet and hands for it was the only way to complete a mighty plan there in the middle of two thieves they placed his cross, what did he see that day. He seen how we were lost, he could have called his angels and they would have come indeed but it was us that he knew who would be in great need. Our sins, there have been many yes many in our day, yet he payed them in full, because he choose to stay upon that cross he won our battle to the end, upon that cross he bearded all of the sins all the sins of those who are covered in his blood yes he carried that cross for us. all because he loves us.