Culture Crossing And A Little Bit Of Faith

Wednesday at 3pm I received a call from Adventures In Missions, congratulating me on my acceptance to the Passport mission trip to Uganda in the upcoming fall!!!:) Beyond excited! I have two weeks to pray, make my final decision and put in my deposit of $100. One thing is for sure, if I do go this trip is definitely going to stretch me in my faith. The trip costs $5,000 and I currently have... $0.00. BUT I do know that if this is what God wants for me He will provide. Although I feel very secure that this is where God wants me to go, I'm going to keep praying and ask for His will to be shown. I did a little research about Uganda culture and here are a few interesting facts I found..

Ugandan Culture

-Tend to communicate indirectly more than directly.

-Humor plays a big role in communicating but don't use sarcasm.

-Always use right hand when shaking hands.

-Personal space tends to be very minimal in Uganda. People often talk very close to each other and less than an arm’s length of space is common.

-In most situations, Ugandans are not overly concerned with being punctual. People are expected to arrive within the first hour or two after the appointed time.

-Women's ankles and shoulders are thought of to be seductive.

If God gives me the privilege of allowing me to experience this amazing country's culture I will surely be able to call myself blessed. With every fact I learn about Ugandans the more I fall in love with these beautiful people. One thing is for sure, whether or not I go to Uganda I can definitely count on my life being an adventure. I cannot wait!

PRAYERS:

-For God's will to be shown as to whether or not this is where He wants me to be.

-$100.00 for the initial deposit.

-Faith!

His Daughter,

Hannah Renee'

Miriam-I Am Apart of a Bigger Plan

Sometimes it is so difficult for me to look past tomorrow and realize that God has so much planned for my life. I have to continuously remind myself that He will use me in ways that I cannot even imagine. When I read Exodus 2 I am reminded that like Miriam I am apart of a bigger plan which I cannot see.

I cannot even to begin to imagine what must have been going through Miriam's mind. Only being a young child and having Pharaoh command that every son born to the Hebrews be thrown into the Nile, which included her baby brother Moses. After her family hid him for three months Miriam put Moses in a basket and placed him among the reeds of the Nile. How much faith and bravery that act must have taken! Without Miriam's courage so many events would have took place, including the escape of the Israelites.

It is so unbelievably difficult to obey God in difficult situations when you may never see the outcome of your faith and obedience. I need to remind myself that God sees and knows all and He has everything planned out. I am apart of such a bigger plan which I cannot see, meaning that I need to fall to my knees daily and obey God in every area of my life no matter how difficult it is. If Miriam could put her baby brother in the Nile river not knowing if she would ever see him again, I can do anything through Christ.

His Daughter,

Hannah Renee'

I Pick Ruth!

This week I have been reading and studying the book of Ruth for a girls Bible study a church. Yesterday I listened to a sermon on the first two chapters by Mark Driscoll and he was talking about how we need to make decisions about our attitude, we can either be an Orpah, Naomi, or a Ruth. We can try the whole christianity thing until it gets hard and then leave like Orpah. We can be bitter with God such as Naomi. (sidenote: What I thought was a cool perspective was that he said if you are going to be bitter with God at least be honest like Naomi was. Don't walk into church and plaster a fake smile on your face and pretend everything is totally cool when you really want to scream. Be honest with your brothers and sisters in Christ about where you are in your walk with God.) Or we could be like Ruth, unsure of our future and scared but willing to trust fully in our King.

I choose Ruth! Like Ruth we don't have much money right now, and I'm not sure how we will pay the bills or get enough food. In terms of family its pretty much me and my mom, and there is no man to provide. Plus my mom and I have only lived here a year, we don't have the neighbors next door that we've known forever and are best friends with. But like Ruth I will choose God no matter what! I will make a choice day in and day out to be faithful and give thanks to the Lord for making me strong through these trials and providing what he does. I will NOT allow Satan to mess with me. I am God's kid and I know the truth. Like Ruth, I choose God and I choose to have joy in all circumstances. Who knows, maybe I will even get a Boaz through all of this! haha :) :)

His Daughter,

Hannah Renee'