Hannah is a university student from West Virginia. She recently stepped out of her busy student’s schedule and joined us for an internship. In this second of a two part post, she shares her heart about what God did in her through the experience. Read part one here.

As I type the words on this page, I have only been in Central Eurasia for a mere two and a half days, and I cannot even begin to express the radical transformation that the Lord has already begun implementing in my heart and life.

He’s giving me a new perspective. He’s teaching me to love a group of wonderful and amazing people who have been misled and corrupted by the false teachings of Islam ever since the day that they were born.  He’s immersed me in a culture almost entirely unlike my own. I’m learning a new and unfamiliar language through a native Muslim, who after only spending a few hours with I can call my friend.  The Lord continues to show me my need to die to myself and my selfish desires in order to be fully alive in Him. Truthfully, I have no idea what this trip has in store, but I am confident that the Lord is going to do some amazing and radical things in and through me.

To be even more honest, I truly feel so unworthy of serving the Lord in this foreign land. I know so little about Islam. I don’t know the language and I’ve struggled with the little amount that we’ve been taught. I have personally failed the Lord time and time again. That is one of the many things I love about the God we serve. He does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. Paul says,

“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-11

Simply put, we are not God and we can truly do nothing without God. We are an empty vessel that can only truly be filled by Him. We are an imperfect and broken people. It is only in Christ that we are strong. It is only in Him that we can do the impossible, the unthinkable, the unimaginable! All He asks for is a willing heart.

I am currently learning to truly trust Him for my strength, to resist doing things in my own power and by my own will. I am learning to rest and abide in Him and Him only. I am learning that it is okay to not be perfect and to not have everything together. God uses what we have and who we are to bring Himself glory. In my own brokenness and imperfection, the Lord led me to Central Eurasia. The Lord gave me a heart for this nation and for these people. He has opened my heart and mind and renewed my spirit. I know He is preparing me for my future, whatever and wherever that may be. But for now, I will enjoy the present. I will appreciate the beautiful moments I am currently experiencing here. I will adore the friends I came with and the friends I am making along the way. Wendy Pope says in her book Wait and See, “Waiting well looks forward to the future while staying present in the present. Waiting Well means remaining open to God and allowing Him to move me toward the future He planned in his time.”

Thankfully my future and your future are both in the control of the Almighty. In the words of the great Christian rapper KB, “I don’t know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future.”