hansadventure.com
BLOg posts
First day at Hillsong and it was AMAZING! The church is located in another Township about an hour from where I stay so my driver dropped me off and away to work I went! Their actually in the midst of starting a new church which will actually be opening THIS SUNDAY! Super cool to be apart of the team! Everyone is beyond friendly and SO in love with the Lord!
Might sound funny and insignificant but there were 2 guys climbing ladders trying to hang posters and banners and the one is apparently deathly afraid of heights so his buddy was saying that "Through Christ anything is possible" and the way he said it so freely and openly just blew me away! I know as Christians were suppose to openly talk about our faith and not be ashamed, but can I ask when the last time you did that was? I'm not trying to point fingers because i'm just as guilty, its just a thought that was on my mind. It has really challenged me to consciously make an effort to mention Jesus Christ in my everyday life because He should be glorified in everything we do, right? My youth pastor would always tell us that if people aren't making fun of you or questioning you then your not doing the whole Christianity thing right. Were not meant to fit in and hide in the back ground...were suppose to be different, be a LIGHT, share the word, and love your neighbour as your self. I'm challenged with this everyday. Sometimes while i'm painting with the kiddies or feeding a child with autism it doesn't feel like i'm impacting that child's life too much because i'm not building them a better home or buying them a car to get around. I have to remember that I can't help everyone. I can only give what I can and I must keep my eyes fixed on the Lord and let him show me daily what He wants me to learn or what He wants me to teach someone. It can be a simple comment to a child that he or she may never hear at home. My work IS significant even if i'm just mopping the floors or cleaning windows at the Hillsong church because I know that on Sunday so many people will hear God for the first time and lives will be changed because of the willingness of so many volunteers. Every morning this is what I ask God to show me...a small way I can make a difference. This week has been very spiritually awakening and eye ball opening! WOW God is doing so many amazing things here! Yes, the townships are dangerous but so far i've been blessed beyond measure and have been kept safe in the hands of God. Thank you for all your prayers! You are all so amazing and I couldn't have gotten here without you or even continued to move forward without your love and support as being away from home can be tough at times. Miss you all! In Christ, Hannah
3 Comments
I truly believe everyone should have a chance to do a mission trip or at least move out of their comfort zone and throw themselves into something (not a buss or anything dangerous hahah but a volunteer project or organization) because it's amazing how much it changes you for the better! Already I feel like i've matured greatly! Just thinking ahead and buying groceries and tooth paste and walking to the laundry mat and figuring out what I need for the week. I was blessed to have a daddy at home who let me borrow his car (although he called it stealing with the amount of time I had the wheel...love you dad!) but now if i wanna go somewhere I walk...no busses or taxi's as that's just asking for trouble so my feet take me everywhere. I've learned to "walk by faith" and trust that God's hand is watching over me 24/7...even while buying banana's at a market!
I even had lamb 2 nights ago in a curry and went for thirds! if you know me then this has never happened...lamb is a no go! But man alive our house momma sure can cook! I've had to start running on the beach daily to burn off all the amazing food i'm constantly consuming! Although it hit me tonight...i REALLY REALLY miss timmies! And ranch dressing! Africa doesn't get it and its funny how often you actually use something without realizing...for example ranch and pizza crusts! yummmmmmmmmmmy Anyways as I was saying, my routine has been great so far! The beautiful sights have made me an early bird so i'm up with the sun doing my devotions and preparing my heart for the days works. God really has a way of using his creation to create such peace inside of us eh. On Wednesday I was able to spend the morning at a township called Masiphumelele (don't worry! I can't say it well yet either) where I spent my time in a classroom with 2-3 years olds! They don't have much to work with but from what i've been told they have improved their state greatly...even with gathering books and school supplies. The kids were beyond adorable! They were constantly touching my hair and face and comparing skin colours. One little boy was petting my head then started petting his bold head and looked sad as he was trying to tell me with his facial expressions that he wanted soft hair like mine. I then took the dolls skirt off that he was playing with and put it on his head so he could have something soft to touch on top of his noggin and the smile that came off his lips was beyond words could explain! He kept that skirt on his head for the rest of the day! What a cuttie pie! Unfortunately the children don't speak english in the townships, or at least most of them...but then again i had the toddlers so they don't really speak anything besides gibberish anyways...so i found the language barrier quite hard. So tomorrow i'm going to dive into the books and learn as much as I possibly can so I can attempt to at least ask questions and maybe get the jist of what there trying to tell me. Even though I couldn't physically talk to them I had something they loved which you don't need words for...I had Canadian hockey to back me up! they didn't have sticks or anything but i improvised and used logo sticks and a small soft ball and taught them our epic sport! There loved it and couldn't get enough! the teacher was quite impressed how well they slept at nap time as well...so all around it was a win win situation :) Today I was at a school called Sinethemba which is directly for children with disabilities. This was a whole new different kind of amazing! I was put in a classroom with 8 children around the ages 2-4 who all suffer different forms of struggles. Each child was extremely precious tho! Especially the little girl who was named precious! She was born with feet that were clamped up so she crawls around...and boy oh boy can she ever move! Children are incredible but pheewww what a work out in every way! I just wanna take a minute to thank every mom out there that raised kiddies...GOOD JOB! give yourself a pat on the back because its hard work...but the reward is SO worth it! Having 8 children in one tiny classroom with only me and a teacher who was away a lot of the time doing other errands was a huge learning curb. I was constantly running around chasing the 2 years old to make sure they wouldn't escape and keep them occupied while on the other hand I was dealing with 2 big boys who have autism and don't understand what "no" means. For example whenever I told the one not to chuck heavy objects at other children's faces he would get VERY upset and walked away. At first I was like "ok cool, that was easy" until he got to a certain point in the classroom where he would then turn around and just charge at me and hit me full on with his body!! Now, me not being a huge body builder, took the hits quite drastically! Long story short it was exhausting but totally worth every minute. There was another little boy names Sima who has SP and was in a wheelchair. I was blessed enough to have the chance to feed him and what goosebumps it brought me! To see a child so stuck in his body but as happy as can be was beyond me! Every time he would finish a mouthful he would give me the biggest smile I have ever seen to let me know I could fill up his mouth again. The children are a gift from God and so incredibly talented in their own unique way. A friend told me today that God will give me the energy I need to continue doing His work, and how true is that! God doesn't bring you to a storm to leave you...He happens to be the best life guard out there who walks on water so we're all set if we surrender ourselves to Him, completely, holding nothing back! I was told today that I can't post photos of the children on social media as it can be dangerous due to child trafficking and other horrid events, but i'm going to possibly ask their parents if it's ok and see what i can do because i would love to share their beautiful faces with you! Heres a quick verse to keep in the back of your head that stuck with me today. Phil 4: 4-5. "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again- rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do." God bless you all! heaps of love! Hannah Good afternoon! it's nearly 10pm my time so bare with me on the spelling! The sun has this crazy power to drain every bit of energy i have! Normally i won't have time to blog everyday but because my program is at a stand still for the time being i have some more free time to catch up with everyone. This morning I had the opportunity to visit a township with a friend of mine who works for an organization called "Emergency Disaster Responce." Him and his wife run the program and visit the townships often due to unfortunate incidents such as fires, medical attention, floods...you name it! As you can see in this picture their houses are purely made out of scrap metal and any bits they can scalage up! Seeing this brought tears to my eyes! Just thinking of the huge house I have back home, my own bedroom that is bigger then this families entire living space, and food beyond abundance really makes me excited to start my mission but also extremely nervous because I know that I can't help them all. I can't provide them a nice home, i can't provide them hot meals or lots of clothing, but i can bring joy, friendship, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. Heres a picture of their bathrooms. Just let this sink in for a second... Half of them are out of order so their down to about 15 functioning washrooms. This is devastating enough but once I found out that over 2000 people use these daily i got chills all over my body. At night it's also too dangerous to visit them as crime is escalated intensely so they resort to a bucket in the corner of their home and empty it in the morning. Please let this be a reminder to all of us, as it has been to me, that God has our back! Things might be tough with relationships, work, schools, tests, families...but we are beyond blessed! Please continue to pray that i can find a way into theses people's hearts and bring a new outlook into their daily life! (first i have to attempt to learn their language! wish me luck!) So just a sub note i think i'm going to become an official vegetarian! like LEGIT this time! As I was driving through the township I saw this poor...huge... helpless... innocent sheep lying on the side of the road and guess who was beside that poor animal? 2 men sharpening huge daggers getting ready to slaughter it so they can cook it right there and sell it in a tin hut! Oh my glory I nearly passed out! Hahah the look on the little boys face is priceless tho! Ewwww!! yuck!! Blahhh no thank you! poor little thing. Anyways heres a picture if your brave enough to look! The next few weeks i'll be in and out of schools, orphanages, townships and many other places although the danger level is quite high so prayers would be much appreciated!
i've also posted some pictures of my day in the "pics" category on the side! P.S. thank you for all your blog comments! I love reading them before starting off my adventures in the morning! In Christ, Hannah...the new vegetarian (at least for a day or two) Holliday vacation with family friends is officially over and i've started my first day at Hillsong! Unfortunately school here doesn't start till the end of the month so my program is on hold until then. Currently my team consists of 2 other guys and hopefully theres more to come by the end of the month. Today we had a surfing lesson tho! I thought i would spend the whole time doing summer saults in the waves, but I actually managed to get up and ride some! The company was roxy so they fixed us up with some cool body suits, boards and t-shirts.
The program is a little different then I had in mind. One of the guys is doing a sport coaching program while the other is doing a surfing program, so i'm the only one going to the schools, orphanages and local communities. I know this is where God has placed me so i must trust Him with the schedule, people, places and activities. I am very excited to start in at Hillsong and begin working in the townships teaching, tutoring, feeding children, providing aid and anything else i can do. The weather is plus 35 degrees here right now...so a snow pile sounds quite good at the moment! Although i'm sure your all thinking a sandy beach is the way to go :) Yesterday I went hiking up Table Mountain with some guys and wow! what an adventure! The weather was really nice, a wee bit cloudy, but we thought it would be fine to hike up, but about half way up everyone we passed told us to turn around, to go home before its too late because the whole mountain was covered by a huge cloud. It sounds all nice and pretty, but when your walking through a cloud, extremely high up in the sky it is actually very dangerous! The whole way up is very steep and sore on the legs as it takes about 2 and a half hours to get to the top. About half way up the mist and hale and wind started picking up pretty bad. It got so windy that one of the guys gave me his big t-shirt to wear because I physically couldn't stop shaking so bad from the cold! Funny thing was he was actually holding onto the shirt i was wearing like a leash as I kept blowing to the edge of the cliff! Thankfully we ended up finding a cave to hide in as we attempted to warm up before making the slippery trek back down the mountain. We got 5 minutes from the top but figured there was no point in getting hyperthermia when the visibility was zero anyways haha. It was still great fun and a much better story to blog about then "we hiked a mountain and it was pretty" LOL I'll keep you updated as to what i'll be doing until my program starts. There's a few community projects in the making here that i'll be doing, although i'm not 100 percent sure yet what those will consist of. Thank you again for all your thoughts, blog comments and prayers! I've replied to all the blog comments although i'm not sure if they actually send due to the website i'm using. God bless! XO WOW! So ummmmm the spiders here are HUGE!!! just wanted to tell you as i was trying to sleep last night that i heard this very loud weird nibbling sound...hahah so i went to turn on my bedroom light and BOOM! right there in on my floor was this GIGANTIC MASSIVE rain spider! probably about the size of my hand spread out! AH man i screamed for 10 minutes in my pillow so i wouldn't wake up the rest of the family that i'm staying with. After standing on my bed for about an hour i finally got the nerve to run to the kitchen with a pillow and my blanket and ended up staying the night right there, all bundled up on the floor!
I thought I was afraid of Canadian Spiders but their honkers are so much more terrifying! Bad news is that in South Africa every house has alarm systems and whatnot so the only place i could go to without setting of the whole house was the kitchen or the bathroom, so that was my night last night :) Anyways just thought i would share that little story! I also got really badly burnt yesterday but i'll take a burn over frost bite anyday...don't wanna rub it in too much tho lol Hope your all doing well! XO Han I'M HERE!!!!!!
thank you for all your prayers and encouragement's! I'm so blessed to be able to stay with some amazing family friends until i start my program. The plane rides were very long but after 2 days i made it in once piece :) There was 30 minutes of bad turbulence...thought i was gonna die...but whoa hoooooo all is good! the last 2 nights i have finally slept till 5 am so thats a good step in the right direction. The food and markets and absolutely everything is so cool to experience, although theres so much to learn about safety and what to do and what not to do. South Africa is extremely different then Canada but i'm quickly catching on. I'm also been attempting to learn the language here...hahahah its not as easy as you think! i've learned 4 words! taking things slowly and introducing one new word a day and saying it over and over and also saying it to random strangers to see if they understand and if i'm saying it properly! Today at church I went to the Elliott's (the family i'm staying with) and it is VERY different then Faith Baptist! I even had to wear a scarf over my head! it was so awesome to experience another form of worship. There were about 50 people, give or take, and it consisted of men only standing whenever they felt led by the Holy Spirit to share a thought or have the congregation follow in a hymn. I must admit that I love having a band to sing along to...but this was a very interesting, spiritually awakening day. I've been spoiled greatly and have seen so much already! Heres a quick picture to look at of Cape town. Just looking at this, seeing the clouds touching the mountain peeks, smelling the fresh air, seeing Gods hand at work is beyond words can explain. I've driven past the projects that I will be working in soon and my heart broke. I am very excited to start my program soon...although I know without a shadow of a doubt that it will be emotionally draining and spiritually changing. But bring it on! I know this is where i am meant to be, i've never felt so much peace and confidence before, and considering the circumstance i'm in, being away from all my family, i know this is Jesus Christ working in and through me. Sorry for the late update, trying to get into the swing of things, but once i start my program i will be updating my blog 2-3 times a week. God bless you all! MISS YOU GREATLY! In Christ, Hannah xo |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2015
Categories |