"When God puts You on hold"

Here is a copy of a devotion, from a K-Love book, that I read the other day, that describes my life at the moment : )

"A well-known Bible teacher tells of a pilot friend who received word from the control tower saying, "You're cleared for 5,000 feet." When he got there he had to hold for further instructions. Next came the words, "You're cleared for 10,000 feet." Gradually the controller took him level by level to 35,000 feet where he was cleared to fly to his destination. God spoke to this Bible teacher and said, "I wish you would trust me like that. Instead you want to go straight to 35,000 feet in one thrust!" Try to understand this: God sees the end from the beginning and He has already mapped out your journey. He knows that if you rise too quickly there are dangers. You may be in the cockpit, but God's in the control tower. And His Word to you today is: "Trust me and I'll get you safely to your destination." God's plan for your life can't be rushed. When you try to move to quickly you end up in a tug-of-war with Him. And you lose every time!

Before God could trust David to lead the nation He first had to see how he'd handle his father's flock. It was here David built a relationship with God and developed the qualities that would sustain him through the tough times ahead when he was king. God will let you practice in a place where your weaknesses can be worked on, your gifts developed, and where your mistakes won't affect too many others. That's because He cares for them too! If God has put you on hold today, it's because He loves you and wants only what's best for you."

**If you are in the same boat, just remember that God only wants what is best for us: ) We just have to trust Him! : )

Oh so busy!

This is Tasha, Sarah, and I with our friend Ramata. She can speak English, I met her at a conference that we went to. We are at the Broadway Cafe. A fun, little American style restaurant. Papou, Kyria, and I playing with Papou's new helicopter! I just love these kids!

Family and Friends,

Oh boy, it has been forever since I have written! SO many things have been happening, and God has been changing, molding, and shaping my heart. He has been teaching me so many things, the main thing has been to trust Him, and to trust Him in ALL things! He is so good, and I am so thankful that God is in my life, trying to imagine what my life would look like without God in it, would be hard. He is just so good. Even when things seem unfair, or challenging, He is constantly reminding me that He is here with me, and wants the best for me! Mali has been amazing, God has shown me so many things while I have been here. I love the people, I love teaching English. Tasha and I taught English three times a week during September, and decided to continue on teaching throughout October. We are teaching on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then, on Tuesdays and Thursday, I have Bambara lessons, with a private tutor. She does not speak English well, so she is really helping me learn both French and Bambara at the same time : ) The team also opened an American Tea House this last week. It is a way for Malians to come and practice their English. They come and have a cup of coffee or tea, and sit around and have conversations in English, God seems to be opening many doors. Many people here in Mali are Muslims, despite that, they are usually quite open to hear about Jesus Christ, so please be praying for open doors, and that the team will have open hearts to minister to all those who come. I am no longer going to Bougouni every weekend. The team came to me, and said that they felt that it is unfair for me to be in both places, they either want me to put all of my heart into things here in Bamako, or all into things in Bougouni, but not split. I didnt really know what to think, I told them that I would have to pray about it. That night, God gave me a peace about everything. Even though, I would rather be in Bougouni, because of all of the relationships that I have built there, God gave me a peace in my heart that I would be back in Mali one day to minister to the people here, but that I wouldnt ever have the opportunity to minister to those on my team, that I have now. I will still go and visit for a day or two in a couple of weeks, but I will not be going every weekend. It hurts my heart to not be able to see the Camara family and the women from the church, but I am just praying that God will continue to bless them all, and attend to their needs, and strengthen their faith. I know that I can still continue on my ministry there, even if my prescence is not there, and I can do that through prayer! So, I have begun to pray for the women everyday, just that God will draw them all closer to Him. God is so good! I love the Lord! Even when things are hard, He says to consider it pure joy, because He is still with us, and He is going to help us develop perserverance, and will give us wisdom, if we ask it of Him. (James 1:2-5) Right now, I have several family friends going through some really hard times, some going through losing loved ones, and illnesses, and I am constantly reminded that God is faithful. Even when things seem unfair, and we do not understand why things are happening the way they are, God is still there, and He is in control. He wants ONLY the best for those of us who have a relationship with Him, He wants to hold us close, have us solely rely on Him. So, I pray that those of you reading this blog, if you are struggling with losing a loved one, sufferring from an illness, or maybe life is just plain rough now, I challenge to draw near to Christ, stand on His promises. He is always there! Always! If you have never experienced His joy, because maybe you have never decided to have a personal relationship with Christ, I pray that you will seek Him. He wants to be in a relationship with you. The Bible says that, "For God so loved the World, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, shall NOT perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16. The Bible also says, that God sent His Son to die for our sins, and that He was buried, and that on the third day, He rose again. Which means, that if you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins( because the Bible says that "For ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God") So, if you believe that Jesus died for your sins, and then confess those sins to Him, and ask Him to be in control of your life, you give everything up to Him, He will come into your life and change everything! He will give you a peace and a joy that you cannot experience otherwise. He doesn't promise that all of life will be easy, just because you have Him in your life, but He promises that He will ALWAYS be with you! If you are reading this, and havent ever made a decision to have a personal relationship with Christ, please ask me about it, I would love to tell you more about how richly God has blessed my life, because of my relationship with Him. He is so good!

Well, tomorrow I will be getting up early to make cookies for the Camara family, because Joseph is coming to Bamako for a meeting, so I said that I would send some goodies home with him. After I bake, I will then be heading off to teach English, and then head to the Tea House in the afternoon....busy day:) I am looking forward to Saturday, I can sleep in, and maybe relax...; ) It is a nice thought anyway...we will see! Anyway, thank you for praying! I hope you enjoy seeing some new pictures below!

A little update

Friends and Family,
Oh boy! So much has happened...it has been almost two weeks since I have blogged, and oh boy, have I been busy. I have been to Bougouni the last two weekends. It was wonderful to go back, I was welcomed with open arms, and lots of hugs:) I felt as though I had returned home! This weekend will be the first time I will be doing some women's ministry in Bougouni, and this week I started to teach an English class with Tasha. Yesterday was our first day, we had about 12 students, it went really well. It was actually a lot of fun! I am also going to get to have a personal tutor for Bambara, so that I can further my language skills. I am really excited about this. I pray that God will enable me to learn the language quickly, so that I can better communicate with the Malians. Today I am having two friends over, and teaching them how to cook some American food. They will be here soon, so I must hurry. God has been teaching me so many things. Especially that even if there seems to be NO way, He will make a way. "He will be my guide. Hold me closely by His side. With love and strength for each new day, He will make a way. I just have to trust Him. Some exciting things have been happening here, and once I can share them with you, I will. Until then, please be praying. Also, I received news today, that two of my family's close friends, are in the hospital. One is named Keith Bartos, and the other is Joel Wentworth, both of them need prayer, as well as their families. Please be praying that God will comfort them during this time, and give them strength. Thank you for your prayers!

Coming Soon!

Just a quick little message...tomorrow I will be heading back to Bougouni, for a weekend visit. Then, hopefully from here on out, I will actually go to Bougouni every weekend to do some women's minsitry. This weekend will be a planning period, and just a fun time for me to be back with the kids:) I am so excited...a bus ride all alone..where I will have to use my Bambara ..oh boy! It ought to be excting...I am sure I will have stories to tell next week...until then, please be praying for me...for safety, good planning, and wisdom :) Thanks!

Pictured with me is the pastor's wife, and notice the necklace that I am wearing. It is the one that she gave to me.
Here are the 3 Musketeers...getting ready to set out on their night bus adventure! : )

A whole week at once

So where to begin? I am not sure, there is soo much to tell! I have fallen behind in my blogging...I have a whole week to fill you all in on. So much has happened. I suppose I will tell you everything in the order that it happened, which means I will start with last Tuesday. The team got up early, and headed to the bus station about 6:45am, but we ended up missing our 7am bus to Segou. So, we waited around and caught a different bus around 8am. We arrived in Segou around 12noon, and hopped on a little van like bus and headed to Sibla. While in Sibla, we visited a pastor and his family. They fed us lunch( a traditional Malian meal of rice and a sauce) then we visited with the mayor of the region. Before leaving, the Pastor's wife, came up and gave me her necklace, for no apparent reason. It was beautiful...there is a picture below. She did not give anyone else a gift, so I was honored. After we left their house, we hopped back on the small van-bus and headed back to Segou, where we were originally going to spend the night, but had some thoughts off taking a late night bus back to Bamako. Long story short---(Tessa and Karlee had stayed behind in Bamako, because they were not feeling well...so the boys wanted to return home to their wives) soo...Scott, Brent, and I decided to be adventurous and try to catch a night bus back to Bamako. *Something that I forgot to mention was that morning, it poured rain for several hours...and so some of the roads had been flooded. There were actually spots where you could not see the road. FLASH FLOOD! * So, we decided to wait around and finally caught a bus around 10:30pm...We arrived in Bamako around 2am, and got a taxi to our homes. The bus ride back was interesting, because it had also rained more in the afternoon, so parts of the road were completely covered with water. Some areas were knee deep with water! Anyway...that was an experience! It was a great experience though, because I was able to talk with Brent and Scott about where their hearts are with thoughts on ministry. It was a blessing! So, I ended up staying over at their place that night, and spent the next day hanging out with Scott and Tessa, and little Ellen. We played Monopoly and ate Vietnamese food. It was a great day of relaxation. Friday afternoon, we had our international choir concert. It was quite interesting, but fun:) Not sure how you would say it turned out. We sang 4 songs as a team( which was a stretch, considering Todd and Tessa are the only ones with musical abilities) and I shared my testimony, and then there were some other choirs that sang in french and bambara. Itwas fun, and afterwards, we had several people contact us about learning English, so we made several contacts...we will see what opportunities God gives us. After the concert was over, Tasha, Sarah, and I took a friend of our's( that we had met at the Tent Maker's conference) out to eat. We went to the Broadway Cafe ( yes, a little American-like restaurant.) That was a good time of fellowship and fun. Saturday afternoon, myself and the other girls moved back over to the Avant guesthouse, because we had been staying at the Baptist guesthouse, and needed to move. The boys just moved over to day! Anyway, on Saturday night, Sarah said she needed some real bread(like a loaf..and not french bread) so she sent me with some money to the Ecole Boulangerie Patesserie( School of Bakery and Pastry)..well, Tessa went with me. It started pouring rain as soon as we started walking to find a cab..which it took us forever to find an empty cab and when we did, he didnt really know where he was going, and neither did we. So, he drove around asking people if they could speak english...and then he ended up dropping us off on the street corner in the pouring rain, because he didnt know what to do with us! So, as we standing there in the pouring rain, finally we found another cab, and called someone who could speak french, and he told the driver where to go...and after about an hour, we made it....all for a loaf of bread!!! CRAZY! :) Oh what an adventure! Let me tell you, those grilled cheese sandwiches, were amazing after all that! So, Sunday morning, I woke up and went across town to Doudabougou church, which is where Ramata goes to church. The service is in french and bambara, so I could understand a little of the french( I did study french for two years in high school...but can only recall so much) After church, she took me to greet some of her family. They invited me to come back and spend a day with them, so maybe sometime this week I will go and spend time with them. I am not sure if they are believers, she is, but I am not sure about her family...so you can pray that I will be able to have an opportunity to share with them. Ramata speaks English rather well, which is really nice :) Last night, the team just hung out and watched a movie..and well, here I am today...Scott and Tessa and Ellen, just headed off for Koutiala, and Brent and Karlee left for Bougouni. So, the singles are left here in Bamako. This next week is supposed to be our week break..we will see what that entails...who knows what stories I will share next! Time will tell.... Please keep praying, all of your prayers are apprecited and felt! :)

Shining His Light in Mali, Hannah

The Little Princess : )

Ellen and I at the Tent Makers Conference. We had a break, so Ellen and I snuck away to go down to the Niger River.

Tasha and Ellen. : ) Ellen is starting to grow on Tasha!