LIFE Update (& pics from Thailand)!

Pot, Mimi, Me & Bebe

Hey, everybody! I've been SUPER busy so I haven't had as much time to blog, but I still want to update it as often as I can, despite my crowded schedule! Here are the main three things that are going on right now in my life:

1.) College. Right now I'm living at home and commuting to my college campus for classes. I JUST finished my first college class (english) last night with an A! I was initially afraid that the transition from home-schooling to commuting to a secular junior college (in order to remain debt free) would be difficult academically. However, I was wrong. At first I had to get used to the expectations of each different professor, but after getting used to the different expectations, the transition went smoothly. My dad is driving me to campus everyday right now, too and we've had some really good conversations on the way to and from class. So, as of right now, I am going to college full-time, have an A under my belt, and, more importantly, I am completely DEBT FREE! Praise The Lord!

Wearing the Pillowcase Dresses @ church

2.) My job @ ROOTS Family Church. After returning from Thailand in July, I was presented with a wonderful job opportunity from the elders at my church. For those of you who don't know, my parents are church-planters, which means that they start new churches. The ministry that The Lord has led us to right now is to plant a network of family focused house churches. However, when each of these new congregations start, they are in need of a worship leader. My job at Roots is to be a "worship catalyst" by going to each of the new house churches and launching the worship ministries for each congregation. My goal will be to train and raise up a worship leader within the congregation, essentially working myself out of the job. I LOVE my job!!! However, I'm raising support (my own salary), so it is still hard work! This is also helping me start a support base for my orphan ministry that I dream of starting four years down the road (after graduating college).

Sweet Chai & I

3.) Discipleship. One of the biggest things I got out of my trip to Asia this summer was a passion for discipleship. The staff members at Sending Hope International did a fantastic job investing into the girls’ lives and giving the children opportunities to lead the Bible studies, the worship and the prayer time. When these girls prayed and worshipped, they were passionate. They were in love with and on fire for Christ in a way that I had never seen before in America. I then thought about the girls in my life back in California and just how wonderful it would be if those girls were just as on-fire for Christ as the orphans at Sending Hope. After praying about it and talking with some trusted authority figures in my life, I have decided to begin doing one-on-one discipleship with junior-high girls who are thirsty for Christ and committed to growing closer to Him.  I have already begun meeting one-on-one with two girls on a weekly basis. The girls love it and I love it, too. I am super excited to walk alongside them during the most formative years of their life and watch as they grow into beautiful young women after God’s own heart.

Chai, Pawn & Jintinah in their Pillowcase Dresses!

Soooo.... God's been doing some awesome things in my life, lately. It's a CRAZY stage of life, but a good stage of life. I would really appreciate your prayers as I raise support for my job, continue college and continue further investing into the tween girls that I'm discipling! Thank you SO much!!

In His Service,
Hannah Boyd
~Philippians 1:21

Hello From Thailand!

Our week in Cambodia went by faster than I ever thought possible! On Saturday, Anna Minnear and I led worship at the student center again and Dave Atkins preached. Anna and I had some fun window shopping at the market that afternoon before meeting with a sponsor of Sending Hope International that evening. We both enjoyed riding a tuk-tuk (basically a motorcycle with a wagon attached to it) for the very first time on Saturday as well!

On Sunday, we went to church! The owner of the guesthouse that we were staying in is also a church-planter. We went to his church on Sunday and had an amazing time! It gave me chills, listening to everyone singing one song, but in different languages. Anna and I had the opportunity to lead two worship songs for the church, as well. It was a wonderful experience! We had so much fun. 

After church, we went to visit one of the orphanages that the Atkins started eleven years ago. A lot of the children at this orphanage were older, because the orphanage had been founded so many years ago. This year, five of them will be going to college! It was so inspiring, meeting college aged orphans who had benefited so greatly from Dave and Joyce's ministry. The bond between the kids in that orphanage was very strong and the love between them was immense. Anna and I had a great time singing songs, riding bicycles, telling stories and braiding hair with the girls. After spending the afternoon at the orphanage, we took a tuk-tuk back to the guesthouse, ate dinner, then had a nice, long night of sleep.

On Monday, our team had the privilege of helping out at a local school for students aged 2-15. We sang songs for the kids, played games and taught a bit of english. Everyone had a lot of fun especially playing duck-duck-goose and doing the hand gestures to the song we sang called "Every Move I Make." After volunteering at the school, we went to an indoor market and then to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Tuol Sleng was the place where the Cambodians were tortured before being marched off to the Killing Fields. The remainder of our day was very solemn, as we reflected on the dark history of Cambodia.

On Tuesday, we left Cambodia. After two one-hour plane rides, we arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, then drove an hour and a half to get to Sending Hope International's Thailand orphanage. Upon arriving, we were greeted by thirty beaming, innocent little faces. My arms were sore and my lips were salty after giving over thirty hugs and kissing thirty sweaty little foreheads. They each pressed beautiful homemade, hand-drawn cards into my hands. I read each one aloud, choking back tears. They wrote simple things, such as "I pray for you everyday," and, "I love you so much," but they each beamed with pride, as if they were presenting a novel to me. The connection I felt with the girls was immediate.

That night, we gathered together for the girl's nightly worship service. I was truthfully not prepared for what I was about to experience. When these girls praised God, there voices were so loud that it was overwhelming. They raised their arms in worship, danced around the room, hugged each other, prayed, laughed, cried and praised God during that worship service in a way that I had never seen before. It was just so pure and innocent. Some of them yelled and were completely off pitch, but they were the most beautiful worshipers I'd ever seen or listened to. I couldn't help but sob my eyes out the whole service! After the worship, the girls had the opportunity to stand up and share a bible passage or a memory verse. A few of them shared and then it was time for bed. We all gave many more hugs and many more salty kisses, then said goodnight.

Today (Wednesday,) we relaxed, settled into our campus guesthouse, went to the market to buy groceries and played outdoor games with the girls after they got home from school. I also gave them some miniature stuffed animals that a family from my church donated to the orphanage. They LOVED them! We ended the evening with another nightly worship service. This time, Anna and I finished the service with a couple songs (Father Abraham and Hallelujah, Praise He The Lord.) The girls had a great time singing the songs with us and we had a fantastic time praising God with them.

I look forward to keeping you all updated as the trip continues! We have three weeks here in Thailand. Please continue praying for my health and please pray that I can share the love of Christ with these girls as I interact with them on a daily basis. We have many things planned for the following weeks, such as teaching english to the staff and girls and ministering to the Hill Tribes. Please continue to keep me in your prayers! 

In His Service,
Hannah Boyd
Philippians 1:21

College Decision: One Step Closer!

     Well, I finally made a decision on what I'll be doing for college this fall! Instead of going straight to a four year Christian university, I'll be staying home and taking college classes at my local city/junior college for two years and then transfer to a Christian university. Since I'm going into full time ministry I know I won't be making a lot of money and private Christian university's are really expensive in comparison to a JC, so financially going to a JC makes more sense then heading straight to a four year. My goal with college is to graduate completely debt free. It may seem impossible, but as I've been searching for a way to do this I have met many people along the way that have successfully graduated debt free and I feel like I will be able to do this! Of course, I am looking for a job so that I will be able to pay off any college expenses as they come instead of acquiring loans.  I will also be living at home, which gives me an extra two years of training for adulthood without being on my own just yet. I have a great relationship with my family so I'm fine with still living at the house. We DO get on each other's nerves sometimes, but that's what family's are for, right? ;) Anyway, this brings me one step closer to a final college decision! It may seem like a little step, but it's a step that took me a long time to make. I really needed my family's support and confirmed affirmation from God before taking any steps forward! I feel like I have that now and I'm really excited to see what God has in store for me in the months to come!

Still, My Soul, Be Still

   

     So, for those of you that don't know, this year I decided to take on the challenge of completing two years of high school in one year, so that I could graduate a year early! Though this is super exciting, it also gives me less time to look for colleges and pray about what to do with this next step of my life.

     Lately we've been really busy and I haven't been spending much time researching different college options. I started getting really stressed and felt like my mental 'to-do' list wasn't getting done everyday. On top of that, I was still having symptoms that the Candida Diet was supposed to cure and we were having issues getting ahold of my doctors. Now I felt sick emotionally AND physically.

     This morning before getting out of bed I stopped to pray. I prayed that God would give me a sense of direction about where to go to college. "Anything at all." I whispered.

     Peace. For some odd reason, that word popped in to my head. I thought maybe God was trying to tell me something. I sighed, then finished praying. "Yes... I need peace."

     After praying, I pushed my emotions aside and put my IPod on shuffle while getting ready for my day. The first song that started playing was Still, My Soul, Be Still by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Here's how the chorus goes. 

God, You are my God

And I will trust in You and not be shaken

Lord of peace, renew

A steadfast spirit within me

To rest in You alone

     

    When the chorus started playing, I paused what I was doing and just listened. I felt like those words were meant for me. Lord of peace renew... I will trust in you and not be shaken... a steadfast spirit within me, to rest in You alone. I thanked God as the song ended, but then continued my day and completely forgot about it.

     After finishing my schoolwork, I decided to do my daily bible reading. Some days I feel the Lord really speaking to me during these times, other days I feel like it's more mechanical. Today I guess I was expecting it to be more mechanical or something, because I know that I wasn't expecting to feel God's presence the way that I did.

     I opened my bible to the passage I was supposed to read that day and one of the first verses included the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." I stopped and just shut my eyes. The Lord was giving me this moment to just be still. I felt this warmth spread through my body and just felt like the Lord was telling me to trust him. To be still and rest in him. Suddenly I didn't feel worried about this whole college transition. I didn't feel worried or scared about what to do. And most importantly, I finally felt like God was giving me a clear sense of direction. He was telling me to just trust him. 

     I felt so lighthearted as the day went on. Now, as I'm writing this, I still don't know what college I'll be going to. I don't know what this next year is going to hold for me, but I do feel God's peace as I continue trusting in him! Just think, by this time next year, I'll be halfway done with my freshman year in college!

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UPDATE

   
     Alright, well, I wrote this post last night but decided not to post it since I finished writing it really late and wanted to read over it once more in the morning. This morning my devotions were awesome! They were all about trusting God and about how he has bigger plans for us than we could ever imagine. But the best part of the devotional was definitely the scripture! Here are the verses that were assigned to me this morning.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

     Well, needless to say, reading that scripture this morning was a total God thing for me! I felt like it was just another way in which God was telling me to trust him. I was so worried about not feeling a clear sense of direction, but the last couple days I've really been feeling God's peace within me. I am so excited about this next step of my life and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!

     God Bless,

     ~Hannah