Iraqis know how to party!

The girls (minus Pam). What a great group of women!

Last night after my commissioning, I attended a birthday party for some of my Iraqi neighbors. The party celebrated the birthday's of Ahmed (5) and Zaneb (4), Anjila and Saif's children. An interesting note, Ahmed and Zaneb were the ONLY children at the party....

Instead of herd of children running around, there were two, amazingly dressed, children, and a gaggle of adults to commemorate the event. The Hartsfields, the Pam/Jon duo, and myself made up the non-Arabic speaking bunch. My two new neighbors, rounded out the girl group. And, the men outnumbered women.

Highlights of the party that made it memorable...

*initial separation in the room: women side/men side
*Anjila & Nora's love for dancing
*the Arabic/English Happy Birthday song
*secure men enjoying dancing with one another
*learning to dance like Iraqis
*teaching a few American dances
*my pitiful Arab finger snap
*practicing/perfecting my Arab finger snap after lessons from "the teacher"
*video cameras: knowing highlights from the party will be played over and over and over for all to see
*group pictures
*no alcohol ... but still a WONDERFUL time
*the moving monkey
*the love that these Iraqi friends showed little Ahmed and Zaneb at their birthday celebration
*Anjila's hospitality

This was such a wonderful night with fantastic company!


Anjila, Zaneb, Saif, & Ahmed!


YIKES...watch out with that knife!


Birthday kids: Zaneb & Ahmed!


What great neighbors! :)


Semi-group picture


Kristin and I practicing our Arab finger snap!

Austin Stone Commissioning

Tonight was a great night of blessings! My advocacy team hosted a commissioning service for me at my church , Austin Stone Community Church.

During the service, my friends laid their hands on me and prayed for this move/life transition to England following the Acts 13:1-3 sending model. I first shared why England and what I will be doing (I will post a blog eventually---hopefully soon with this info). Then we prayed for my job, my future roommates, my community/friends, and that Lord would guide me during my time in England and use me to share his love with the nation of England. At the end, Austin Stone pastor of internationals missions, Joey, discussed a quote from a British missionary to India, William Carey.

After hearing an account of the spiritual needs of India, the secretary of the meeting remarked: "There is a gold mine in India, but it seems almost as deep as the center of the earth. Who will venture to explore it?" "I will venture to go down," said Carey, "but remember that you must hold the ropes."

Joey reminded my friends that they are holding the ropes while I am abroad. Their intercession helps lay the foundation of my work. He mentioned that on average, about 5 or so people actually pray for people when they receive prayer updates. He charged my friends to break the statistic and pray! I echo his charge and ask that you PRAY for me! :)

Below are some pictures and captions that Joey took during the commissioning that I got from the Austin Stone Make Disciples twitter account. (Thanks Joey!)


Worshipping at a commissioning service for another departing ASCC missionary -- this one to England!



Hannah was called to GO to the nations at Austin Stone on Campus 2008!
Hannah graduated with a Masters in Social Work and she's going to England as a social worker!









Prayers of the Saints for Hannah, who God is sending from us!

Thank you to the friends that were able to come tonight, Rachael and Abby for their great organizational skills, and for those of you that will be praying alongside me on this adventure!

23 to 24

H A P P Y ~ 2 4 t h ~ B I R T H D A Y ~ T O ~ M E !

23 things I will miss about the US
1. my family
2. my friends
3. Austin, TX
4. Austin Stone Community Church (thank you Lord for podcast!)
5. mexican food
6. the refugee families in my apartment complex
7. catching up on 7 seasons of 24 with Ryan, Kristin, and/or Rachel Bugg
8. the Hampton House
9. the Austin skyline driving North on Mopac over Town Lake
10. driving on the left side of the car on the right side of the road
11. hugging/kissing my nephew
12. mexican food reunions with my TCU social work girls
13. understanding the value of dollar and how much money I am actually spending
14. random times when old TCU friends all end up in FT Worth on the same weekend
15. the friends that have left or will leave for the mission field
16. Hampton House Christmas Party
17. sunshine
18. attending TCU football games
19. seeing my friends on the mission field come home
20. Hartsfield's Missional Community
21. TCU friends coming to visit me in Austin
22. being on the same time zone as US people
23. the Church body in Austin, TX

24 things I am excited for/nervous about/and or thankful for regarding moving to England
1. living in a new culture/country (excited)
2. starting a new job (excited/nervous/thankful)
3. national health care (thankful)
4. driving on the right side of the car on the left side of the road (nervous)
5. rainy/cold weather (nervous)
6. meeting new people (excited)
7. exploring England (excited)
8. perfecting my British accent (excited)
9. skype and other verison of online connectedness (thankful)
10. seeing the world (excited)
11. 2012 olympics (excited)
12. people that plan to come visit (excited/thankful)
13. learning/using British words like "the loo" (excited)
14. embracing God's sovereignty (excited/thankful)
15. finding a resturant that serves good food (excited)
16. being the one with the accent (excited/nervous)
17. seeing friends that are living abroad (excited)
18. jet lag (nervous)
19. public transportation (excited)
20. experiencing more of God's creation (excited/thankful)
21. discovering my mission field/purpose (excited)
22. receiving a paycheck to pay off grad school loans (excited)
23. understanding the pound and not converting stuff to dollars (nervous)
24. understanding degrees in Celcius (this will take some work)

Visa update

WOOHOOO!!! I have an accurate VISA!!

My mom mailed my visa to LA on Monday. I received an email from the delightful British Consulate woman on Thursday afternoon saying my visa arrived and she corrected the error. My mom met the UPS man on Friday morning with my visa in hand (how my visa got from LA to TX in 12-20 hours still amazes me).

This time, it is right! In my passport, I now have one page with a visa that has been voided and followed by an accurate visa on the adjacent page. It looks a little sketchy, but I'm hoping I won't have any trouble with it.

England here I come.....

Oh Visa...

Well....I finally received my visa on Friday, but it had an ERROR!!!

I had the visa mailed to my mom's house - not knowing when it would actually arrive. After two days waiting and missing the UPS man, my mom finally had her hands on it. I asked her to look over it to make sure it said the UK, work visa, had my picture, had accurate dates, etc. Well, the dates were wrong! It was valid from 06/07/10 to 06/03/10. Knowing that the Brits write their dates differently then the US, I discovered that my visa did not start until July 6th and I leave FEB 6th! UGH!!!

To double check before mass panic broke out in my world, I emailed the girls that I will be living with in England asking them what their dates were. All responded with dates at the beginning of February. PANIC!!!

Yesterday, I emailed my UK Pro contact and the British Consulate email address I received that said "email if there are any errors with your visa." The UK Pro contact said that something similar occurred a few years ago, and the British Consulate refused to fix the error. So, she spent the day on the phone with Kent County Council HR in England to problem solve. Their brainstorm of solutions including having me wait until July to fly over (no thanks...I've already bought my plane ticket and I would like to spend the first two weeks training with all the other new people) or reapply for my visa (again, no thanks....that process took forever and cost A LOT of money!).

Praise the LORD! I received an email from a "delightful" (said in an English accent) woman at the British Consulate telling me to mail my passport back to her and she will fix it! HORRAY!!!! Both my UK Pro contact and I did a little jump for joy! :)

So, my gracious mom sent my "most important identification document," yet again, through the US mail in hopes of a better outcome this time around. OYE!

The Month of Goodbyes

I realized on New Years Day that this month (January) will be marked with many goodbyes.

Now, if you know me well, you know that termination (the fancy word we use in social work for endings) is not my most developed skill. In social work, saying goodbye is pretty bitter sweet. Most of the time it means that my client has gained new skills to manage life well without my services (YAY!), but it also means that I won't see that person anymore (BOO!).

Now in my personal life, I HATE GOODBYES!!! I usually fight off the final goodbye until the last possible minute and then cry for awhile when I/the other person actually leaves.

I know that this time, I am the one choosing to leave, but it is still so hard. It is even more tough to think that I may not see some people for a very very very long time --- or even worse, ever again. I have many friends planning to move abroad in the next 1-5 years, and some may not be coming back for a long time. :( On the other hand, I know that these people are/will be doing amazing things; so I guess I will just have to wait to see them at the end party!

Michelle Euperio's going away party on 01/01 in Dallas brought this Month of Goodbyes to my attention. Michelle's venturing out on the World Race for 11 months and will be back to Texas in December.



I thought all the goodbyes were going to be aimed at Michelle that night. But at the end of the night, some people had to say their final goodbyes to me, since they would not be around Fort Worth before I left in February.

The next day, 01/02, I drove back to Austin in a rush to say goodbye to Karen Wheeless, who will also be on the World Race for the next 11 months.

In the next four weeks, I have to say goodbye to my life in Austin: my current job, my neighbors, my current ministry, my church, and my friends. Then, I will travel to Fort Worth to say goodbye to my friends and family there. And then, off to England to meet new people that I will eventually have to say goodbye to. Its like a never ending cycle! I should just stock up on klenex now!

Awhile back I wondered whether it would be better not to develop such strong relationships with people, since I knew I would eventually have to say goodbye. Later I realized this was ridiculous since I have such God given and blessed relational skills. I guess goodbyes are just apart of life.

(Thankfully with technology, we are so much more connected these days! Hopeful plug to find me on skype! :)

New Years Excitement From the Youngins

Christopher and Bella have been really fascinated with the camera attached to my computer. We decided to make a little Happy New Year video on New Years Day!

H A P P Y ~ 2 0 1 0 !

It is weird to think that we are starting a new decade. I realized earlier today that I have now lived in 4 decades (the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and now 2010s). This makes me sound old! The local news polled earlier to find out what people plan to call this year: twenty-ten or two thousand and ten. I kind of like the sound of twenty-ten. Hey, what do we call this decade anyways? The Tens? To me, that sounds awkward. What about the teens? No, because 10-12 are not teen years. I've got it! The Tween/Teens? That is a mouthful, but it could work!

How did I ring in the new year? Well, I had lunch with two TCU friends - Anntoinette donated a big suitcase for the move to England (more on that in later postings) and then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening hanging out with another friend from TCU. We ventured to Borders for coffee, Academy in search of a cooler for a gift, TCU to see the Christmas tree, Barnes and Nobles to use their facility and Kerby bought the book I want to read next (Betrayed: Escape from Iraq), Fuzzy's (mmhmm...my favorite!), and finally we saw the movie Invictous - with Nelson Mandela and the South African Rugby team, all the while discussing our love for refugees, other countries/cultures, and the seemingly fast pace of life after college.

After the movie, Kerby and I parted ways and I spent the final 2.5 hours of 2009 at home with my mom and two toddlers. Mom and Bella crashed out before midnight, but my nephew, Christopher stayed up LATE watching cartoons and asking, "Aunt Hannah, what are you doing?" over and over. I did manage to change the TV station to watch about 5 minutes of the New Year's Eve NYC ball drop and gave Christopher a big kiss on his cheek.

Since its a new year, I thought what better to do than start a blog! I felt a little inspired by the adventurous/unknown year that lies ahead of me. Hopefully, I can keep up (and y'all updated) with this little guy. No promises though! :)

Here's a picture of little Christopher and Aunt Hannah working to create this blog. Now, we need to go to bed.