I’m Hannah! I’m entering my third year at UofT in the fall & my favourite memories over the summer have been in making new friends and meeting stray cats ^^
How has following Jesus impacted your goals and plans this summer?
This summer, Jesus brought me into a group of students to experience a new place and a new culture through the desert rain trip with p2c! As I’ve returned from the trip, He has continued to encourage me to be more intentional in sharing Jesus with the relationships I’m building at work and at home too.
Why is engaging in missions important to you?
It’s important to me because God calls us to be witnesses to the end of the earth & there are so many people who still have not heard about Jesus.
Can you share about the spiritual climate or ministry overview during your time on your missions trip?
On our trip, someone shared a passage from 1 Kings 18:41-46, to describe the spiritual climate as having just seen this cloud on the horizon. This imagery stuck with me throughout the time I was there because I had expected a lot of difficulty in starting conversations and sharing the gospel, but local friends our age (university) that we interacted with were so open to hearing about Jesus and demonstrated curiosity towards Him in a way I never would have expected. Our team was so blessed to make friends that came from a range of backgrounds, communities and even religious beliefs, and get to share what Jesus has done in our own lives with them!
How would you encourage someone looking to get involved or engaged missionally? Any specific resources, tools, or communities to connect with?
Come join missions hub! I’ve learned so much about global missions through their missions disciplers program & I got to meet other students who journeyed together with me in preparing for my trip this summer. Listen to stories and connect with missionaries your church supports or from your fellowship— most importantly, talk to Jesus about it in prayer!! He might just lead you to someone or somewhere you would never have expected.
Any other specific stories you'd like to share?
To be honest, I struggled quite a lot with making friends in my first week on the trip. We had entered the city right after a big holiday, and many businesses remained closed, while the businesses that were open were often empty. Even in hindsight, I’m surprised by how restless, impatient and frustrated my heart became from not immediately making any friends and striking up gospel conversations. But as I wrestled with fears of being unsuccessful and unworthy of being sent, God kept pointing me back to the success criteria our trip had defined, based on Mark 12:29-31 (the Great Commandment), which was “Love God, love team/fam and love our neighbours/friends”, reminding me to trust in His perfect timing and to first love Him and love my team well. As the weeks went by, Jesus provided for us so abundantly, in times of rest, in friends and in conversations, or even in feeding us with the most delicious meals.
