Hello everybody! For those that know me, you probably know my testimony for the most part, and for those who don’t, I hope you’re buckled up for this rollercoaster! ;) 

My Beginning:

I was raised in Wellsville, Pennsylvania, with my parents and my older brother. Back in PA, our family had a farm, with longhorns, chickens, our goat Lila and a few other random things. With that being said, our family went to church, but there was often ‘too much’ going on at the house for us to be able to go on Sundays. (#lukewarmmuch?) Also with our church in PA, which I love and miss very much, my brother and I were literally the only two kids, unless another family was visiting. Which was a positive and a negative on its own. It was awesome, because Mr. Bob was able to really focus on our relationships with God, but also negative, because we had no other kids to lessen and grow with.

My Downfall:

In 2019, our family moved to Virginia. I was in 8th grade when we moved, and of course, we moved in November. Right in the middle of the school year.  As you can imagine, all of the emotions of a 13-year-old girl were in place here. I had just left everything I had known for my entire life, as my family uprooted itself and left all of my friends and family. On my first day of school at this new school, I tried out for the basketball team and made it.  So with that, I had high hopes of making friends quickly! That went terribly, as many of the girls on the team were not very kind, along with many other kids at school, which fed into my slowly growing depression. I soon found out, one girl at the school had made a fake Snapchat, pretending to be me, and had been sending incredibly rude messages to a lot of people at this new school. Because of that, I had such a hard time making friends and felt so lonely, quickly falling into the trap of depression. Not long after all of this, in 2020, the world shut down because of covid. I had finally found a few friends before this, and now it was all gone again. During this time, the devil had such a strong hold over me with depression, I couldn't see the light anywhere. There were many nights during this dark time in my life, that I was in my room, throwing things, screaming at God, praying for Him to ‘bring me home’. I wanted Him to kill me. I wanted to kill myself. I just did not want to be here anymore, I couldn’t see the light anywhere. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, that was God’s protection over me. 

The Light:

At some point during that time, our family started going to Mountain View Chapel, and my parents fell in love. One of the kids who’s family also went asked me if I wanted to come to youth group with them, and I said yes. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as my youth group attendance grew, my friendships grew. God was using that opportunity to help me feel at home and welcomed here. And it worked. I began going to youth group, high school bible study, and church. But I was still lukewarm. If my brother's group of friends were going to go to a truck meet Wednesday night, oftentimes I would skip youth and go. Which leads me to:

DR 2023:

In 2023, our church brought back their biannual youth mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Sadly, Covid had shut that down, along with the rest of the world, but they were back. My mom had many long talks with me, in regards to this trip. It was not something that I had necessarily wanted to do, but she encouraged me to go anyway.  Man, am I glad that she did that. God used that trip as a turning point in my life, and truly opened my eyes to Him and His sovereignty. After seeing how God worked through everybody's hearts and the situations that we were in on that trip, it ignited a fire within my heart and soul. When we made it back to Madison, my heart was burning for Christ. After the trip, two other kids and I started a Bible study for the school football team, and God really showed me during that time the reason that I was here. I began consistently going to youth group, church and high school Bible study. I began deep diving into my Bible and trying to have a personal, close, growing relationship with Him.

My Dream:

Some people say that God doesn't use dreams anymore. I disagree. Less than a year after we returned from the Dominican Republic, I had a dream. It was one of those dreams, that you don't know how to explain how you knew, but you are aware and perceptive to everything around you. That night, I had a vivid picture of me, standing in the presence of a man. I could immediately tell that the man was Jesus. He and I were standing by this threshold, a glowing opening that led to another place.  That place? You’ve probably guessed it, Heaven. There were crowds of people running towards us, an uneasy feeling that something was trying to get them (satan). Each and every person came to the opening and took our hands, as we helped lift them into Heaven. Hundreds of thousands of people, and we stood there and helped each one, never growing weary. The cool part was, no matter how many times I looked, I could not see into Heaven. All I could see were the people we helped fading into the glowing comfort of home. It was not my time yet. That morning, I woke up physically shaking, and I felt as if my eyes were fully opened.  It was as if God had spoken to me, although I hadn’t heard a voice. This is what I am here for. I am here to bring people to Jesus and help them into Heaven. That is what God put me here for! (I wish I had a more visual way to explain this dream, but there is truly no way to put it into words. It was absolutely ineffable.)

My Now:

I have been doing my best to be living for God, especially after graduating in 2024. I have spent my weeks helping teach Sunday school and youth group on Wednesdays, along with various projects and small groups! I love nothing other than serving others and showing them God’s love for them. For the last two years in December, I put together a gift drive for our local nursing home, and our youth group kids meet together and spend time with the residents. They are able to give them gifts and to pray with them. This year, I started a small group on Tuesday nights for some kids that wanted to dive a little deeper, but wanted some help. I also began this year, a once a month get together for our youth group girls. Your relationship with God is important, and so is your relationship with Godly friends!

My Journey to the Race:

When people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would tell them to be a Blue Angel Pilot or a lawyer. As I grew in my faith, I felt a different nudge on my heart. Once I truly started to lean in, when people asked what I wanted to be, I would tell them a missionary… But I’m too young for that yet. But one night, I was having a conversation with a family friend who kept saying ‘Why not now?’, when I kept making excuses for why I couldn’t be a missionary yet. Those three words really stuck in my head for the next week. I got on my phone and started typing ‘Mission Trips for 19 Year Olds’. The 1st one that popped up? World Race, Gap Year. I began investigating and researching, finally set up my first phone call and was accepted! But I still wasn’t fully sure if this was what God wanted or what Hannah wanted. So I decided to spend some more time praying about it. During this time, I was going to a small group on Thursday nights. I had got off of work on Thursday and it was just one of those nights that I didn't want to go, it had been a long day and I just wanted to stay home and go to bed. I found these are the days that I usually need to go, so I hauled my butt up and I went. Sure enough, that night as we were going through Ruth and talking about obedience, the conversation kept going back to listening to what God is telling you to do, obeying and going where He needs you. So I said okay Lord, I hear what you're telling me. December 8th, I put my $200 commitment fee down and committed.

My Why:

This seems simple enough… The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19+20 ‘“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”’. What am I here for, if not to tell people about God, in hopes that they will come to Him themselves? Which brings us to my life verse, which has a heavy influence over this trip. Isaiah 6:8 ‘“Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”’.

I am here for the Lord to send, so here I am Lord, send me!