Many mini miracles
In 2018, I planned to go on a mission trip to Haiti, but because it was our church’s first trip, they wanted a group of guys to go the first year to check it out. With that being said, I had plans to go the next year.
My dad went to Haiti in 2018 with the church team, and they decided they wanted to go back in 2019. So, I figured I would tag along this time. We had team meetings and started fundraising, but then we got the news that a civil war had broken out in Haiti. I was devastated, heartbroken, and confused. I felt these things not only for the people of Haiti, but also for myself because I truly thought the Lord was calling me to missions. Little did I know, God was just telling me “not yet.”
In November of 2019, I went to a Youth Evangelism Conference. On the last night of the conference, they had us pray at our seats about what God wanted for our lives. In that moment, I felt God calling me to surrender my life to missions and ministry. I hesitated because I felt like I had been there before at the beginning of the year and ended up confused and frustrated. Unwillingly, I went down to the front to talk with a mentor about what that could look like for my life. I told her the struggle I had faced earlier that year and she said to me, “Hannah Beth, God is just getting started my friend.” I had no idea what this would mean for me.
Fast forward to 2020, an opportunity arose for me to go on an extreme hike mission trip to Honduras with a group of high school seniors and college students. I was super pumped for this trip because it was a good group of young like-minded Christians, and nothing seemed to stand in our way. That was until Covid hit two months before we were supposed to leave. Of course, the entire world shut down, and I had lost all hope that I would ever go on an international mission trip. During our quarantine time, I prayed a lot about what God wanted from me and my life. Keeping it real, I also cried a lot because of frustration.
I have been working at Royal Family Kids Camp, a camp for children in foster care, since 2018, since I was 16 years old. At 16, I didn’t realize how much of a mission trip camp truly was. So in 2021, I felt that God was calling me to missions in Louisiana. I served at RFK NELA in Monroe, Louisiana, RFK Minden in Minden, Louisiana, and Teen Reach Adventure Camp in Shreveport, Louisiana. After serving at all of those camps, I asked God what’s next. I was truly praying that it would be an international mission trip. But, in 2022, God opened doors for me to be able to serve at RFK camps around the States. Finally, I saw what the Lord was doing. My life was following Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witness, telling people about me everywhere– in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.” That summer, I served at four camps in Louisiana, Ohio, and California. That was an incredible summer full of blessings in disguise.
Finally, towards the end of 2022, my church announced that they were taking a group to Honduras. Of course I jumped at the opportunity! I prayed and prayed that if it was in God’s will that He would call me to this trip and open every door possible, and that is exactly what He did. In the summer of 2023, I finally made it to Honduras. And it was oh so sweet. I truly believe if I hadn’t gone through that entire five year process from 2018-2023, that trip would not have meant nearly as much to me. I remember just being in awe and being so grateful to be there. It was because of God’s grace that I was there.
God’s answers aren’t always “yes” and “no”. Sometimes, they are just “not yet.” The Lord is never late. His timing is always perfect. And while waiting is hard, I see now that He was using each step of my journey to shape me for His mission.
