My life in Hammond, Louisiana

Hey everyone! 

I am currently into my first week in Hammond, Louisiana working with Samaritans Purse. For those of you who do not know, Samaritans Purse is a huge organization that does various different ministries. Specifically here in Louisiana we are doing disaster relief. As the squad is split up into their teams of 8-10 people this week, I get the privilege of jumping around from team to team! I have very much enjoyed my time here in Louisiana and I am so thrilled to hop into our last week here! 

Everyday I wake up at five am to spend time reading my Bible and hanging out with the Lord. This looks like praying over the day and listening to what he is saying to me specifically! At six-thirty am we have breakfast and someone gives a 5 minute talk about a scripture from the Bible just encouraging us for the day. It is such a blessing to be encouraged by the word of God and what the Lord is speaking to a person in the morning. We then load up the big trucks and get ready to go to homes at eight am. This past week I have gotten the opportunity to serve many different home owners and complete many different tasks all in the name of Jesus. I have gotten to learn how to use a chainsaw and chop up many trees and branches, go through yards and pick up all these branches and sticks and put them in neat piles, clean up inside houses and knock down walls that are covered in mold and most importantly, I have gotten to love on the homeowners I have met. At 5 pm we pack up and go home for dinner! We then eat a wonderful home cooked meal prepared by volunteers at samaritans purse. We end off the evening with sharing stories about what God had done through the day. 

They are long days but they are fulfilling days because I get to witness God in so many ways. Like the first day for instance.  I met the sweetest lady at her home. We got to talk and just hear about her life and she had told us that around this time last year, her husband had passed away. Through the day of doing work around her house, I got an opportunity to sit down with her. Her and I sat down on a little bench that sat right in front of a memorial she had created for her husband. It was such a sweet sight. She got to talking about her husband and how much she loved him. She never said a bad thing about him. The Lord prompted me to ask her what her favorite memories are with him and she began to tell me they loved to dance and how even the day before he passed, they danced. Her face would completely light up when she spoke of their love for each other. All I could do was praise the God of the universe at that moment. I was honored to be in the presence of this sweet woman who had so much joy from the Lord. She taught me more then she probably knows! At the end of the day, we got to present to her a Bible with an engraving of a storm with a cross in the middle of it. This Bible was to remind her that she had lived through the storm and she can praise the Lord forever and remember all he has brought her through every time she sees that symbol. 

God taught me so much last week within the midst of working. I have never prayed for strength and against the enemy as much as I did last week. My faith grew and I became more aware of the work of Christ and the schemes of the devil. To give one example, I worked in a house covered from head to toe in mold. The roof leaked and everything in the house got wet from the storm and has been sitting wet for over a month. We had to suit up in these tyvek suits and wear masks and goggles and all the things to protect us as we went into this house. It was a very smelly house. From the mold and water just sitting it was hard for all of us. There were so many times that I had to run out of the house throwing off my mask and gloves on the verge of throwing up but during that process, I ran to prayer every single time. I prayed against the enemy and told the Lord I would not give up or be fearful but would continue to press on even when I feel ill. He gave me SO MUCH STRENGTH. Every single day, he gave me strength to press on and every single day I was sustained by him. 

More then anything, I have fallen deeper in love with my “H” squad. These people are a blessing to me. The Lord has just given me eyes to see this squad in a whole new way. In every way I wish I could wrap all 45 of them in my arms and squeeze them. I have seen them find joy in the middle of every circumstance and I have seen their compassion for others. I have seen them push themselves and I have seen them love one another and the homeowners well. I am so grateful God had put me with this squad. I see them walk out 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 SO WELL. This verse says “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” They have struggled but they have persevered. They have embraced the goodness of God. They have searched for him and found him. They have inspired me in every way to pursue the Lord more. 

I JUST LOVE GOD. He is the most holy and most worthy of all of my praise. He is the reason I am here. He is the reason for my joy and my passion for everything I do. He is my strength and my shield. He is every good thing. I hope out of reading you take away one thing and that is God deserves all of the glory and he is the one who is good. Thank you all for following my journey and reading about Gods goodness. 

Peace and love to you all, 

Hannah