our faces during our first taxi ride...



heres a few pictures... one of the first things i noticed was in the airport in delhi everyone sat on the floor though there were plenty of chairs....

Hello my friends! I'm writing to you from my new home in Kalimpong. We live in a little house up on the side of a mountain that is 6800 feet above sea level! Its real hazzy this time of year- but hopefully by February the haze will clear away and we'll have a nice view of the mountains. We've spent the last week down in the plains doing our trainings, and adjusting to life here. Though, some thiings I'll probably never adjust to like the taxi rides [people drive like crazy people. your life will flash before your eyes. and you'll wanna cuss. also, people honk their horns constantly..... :) its good. reminds me to pray. Also, we eat with our hands here. My hand hand always smells of curry and rice.

The time in training was really good. We memorized and learned how to teach bible storying, as well and the vision for Church Planting. Very humbling, for much of the teaching is very simple bible knowledge that I didn't know. There were times I wondered what I was doing here... if maybe there was big mistake. But, its good. Lord willing, I will spend this season always in prayer- begging the Lord to do what only the Lord can. I desperately want to see people come to know Him. I'm learning to sit under his mercies that (praise the Lord), are new every morning. I'll be working with two other girls here, as well as my girl Allyson. We're planning to at some point soon take a trip into another state to do some work for a week or so. It was hard leaving my other two girls in their city... but, the girl they'll be working with is AMAZING and I trust that they'll learn much from her.

Please continue to pray for me to be faithful, I love you guys.

Hannah
[what is man that you make much of him? that you set your heart on him, and visit him every morning and test him at every moment?] job 7:17-18

oh, this has been an overwhelming season of life that the Lord has brought me through, and i'm sure that it will be completely different but just as much or more impacting in the next phase overseas where i will be serving in India. There is no way i can put into words the emotion and growth that the experiences and trainings i've been through in this process of learning what it means to follow Christ and trust in his amazing gospel. This season has been full of excitement as we had a glimpse of what it may look like to fend for ourselves in living and traveling abroad. We've hiked, repelled, lived off of spam and sausage, and learned more clearly God's calling on every christian's life to make disciples who make disciples in the context of whatever culture you are in, doing this all by the spirit of the Lord and the example of wisdom and understanding that we acquire from his Word. We've also dealt with much pressure as we learned how to handle ourselves as appropriately as possible in hostile situations that we may very well run into while serving abroad.
7 days from today I'll be catching a plane to India. I'm excited to go. This semester has really taught me to not just live and work in the [ministry world] but realizing that I need to be sharing and discipling and serving the Lord in every aspect of my life, whether I'm here in Kansas City, or far away in another land. Or in a ministry type position or just living "normal" life. My purpose remains the same always- to bring glory to Christ, to proclaim His name. I'm grateful that the Lord is giving me this opportunity. Its surreal. But, I'm grateful.

Life is going well- the Lord has been so good to grow me, and continues to sustain me. He truly covers my life. Been learning and rejoicing about how the enemy is accusing me before the Father with my sin, and because of Jesus my sin that separates me from the Father is forgiven, and I have LIFE. So, I'm seeking to walk in that life. Romans 8:1 (there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus) takes on a new meaning when I picture the enemy accusing me before the Lord, seeking to take my life back.

Praise the Lord for his goodness to us!

Training has been going well. We went last week on my first backpackin' trip. It was so fun. It was really cold at night- it was so great that first night we got back to Kansas City, to sleep the whole night through without waking up with cold feet. :) Tomorrow we leave for our transportation training where my team, (one of my girls, Allyson, and three of the guys + me) will travel around America hitting up different points. I'm excited to see America! :)

The Lord has continuously brought this passage before me the past few weeks. Its the first part of Isaiah 43: "But now thus says the LORD, Fear not. For I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel."

This fills my heart with overwhelming gratitude. I have done NOTHING to deserve such love. Its only by HIS mercy towards me that I am a disciple of Christ, that I desire Him. Apart from how He changes my heart I don't desire anything good. But HE OPENS our EYES. He changes our hearts. Its beautiful.

John 15:8 [By this my Father is GLORIFIED, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.]

So, what do I do with that? Will I squander away the grace He gives and gives and gives and gives? Will it be to me a treasure, that I'll go and sell everything I have if I can just possess it? (Matthew 13:44)

[I miss my mountains]

Everything is going well. We've been in surveillance training most of the week. We'll be going out tomorrow and Monday on our first transportation training. We'll be staying on the streets of Kansas City tomorrow night. That's exciting.

My girls are doing great. Struggling with juggling homework + classes/ fusion +training. But, the lord has really grown all of us together. I see him teaching them how to deal biblically with community and relationships. Its really encouraging to watch the Lord grow them. Pray that the Lord would capture their hearts and teach them to [fear the Lord, and serve Him faithfully with all their hearts.] [1 sam 12:24]

Please be praying for me to find and take time to steal away and quiet my heart before the Lord. Seeking the Lord with everything that I am, everything that I do, and think is something I've grown to see as CRUCIAL for my life in Christ to be sustained--but its difficult to be disciplined to do so. I'm learning all the more of this war inside me. Please pray that I would be daily reminded that apart from Him- I can do nothing--that everything that I am is His and that I would remain bowed down before Him. I need that more than I need anything. Right now I'm weary. I'm finding myself constantly reminding myself that there IS purpose in training in godliness. I'm so undisciplined. The more I see the struggle the more I rejoice in my salvation- the Lord has been good.

1 samuel 12:20, 21[Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve Him with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. for the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great names sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. ]

wonders of wonders!

Several weeks ago, as part of the ground school training we went downtown Kansas City and did some street evangelism. This was a stretching experience for me-- the Lord really had to do a work in me to build the courage for be to approach folks with the good news of Jesus. But He did it. I remember walking and walking and just mentally reviewing the gospel in my head to remind me so that I would have a desire to share...the streets were pretty empty that night. I remember praying that the Lord would make it obvious who I should talk to... and then I turned the corner and there was a bus stop. I sat down, and within a few minutes a man from Honduras sat down, and I was able to talk to him about Jesus. He was a joy to talk to- very hungry, and was interested... I could talk to him for hours... I had to pull away that night from the conversation because our teams were leaving at a certain time--- so I said farewell.

This morning I went to the farmers market- and low and behold, there he was playing his guitar in the streets at the market! My friend Jenny and I talked with him for awhile, and he asked if he could come to church with us... so pray for him that he would come, and that he would grow to know Jesus. He knows alot of information about Jesus, and the bible, but I'm fairly certain from our conversations that the love of Jesus hasn't been made real to him. So pray for him to come, and for the students and folks that will be interacting with him hopefully long term during our time here in KC.

The Lord has indeed pulled me out of what was comfortable to me, and is teaching me to worship Him anew. He's engaging my heart in a deeper vision for the lost to know Him. He's blessed me by surrounding me with brothers who I daily hear say, "Jesus has changed my life and I just desire to see people know that Jesus Christ is the good news." He's allowing me to see how this desire has burned deep into their hearts, and encompasses every part of their being. Its not just a routine, or a habit of the christian-- its a desire that truly burns in their hearts and flows out of every conversation. Jesus is our highest treasure-- for He is our Savior, and our Father.

I heard a song by Bethany Dillon tonight called, "Hallelujah." Some of the lyrics say, " whatever is in front of me- allow me to sing Hallelujah." Amen. Though Evangelism is a daunting cloud over me, the Lord is good to begin to engage my heart with a burden for people to know Jesus. Another lyric is, "and only you can see the good in broken things, you took my heart of stone and you made it home, and you set this prisoner free." I like this because I see how my flesh is broken, and I rejoice in that because it reminds me daily to turn to him, again and again. I can't fix myself, and then present myself to Him for his service. Only He can clean me up. Praise the Lord that we really are "agent of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18-20)

Bottom Line, Praise the Lord... He's good.

new beginnings

Well, August finds me in Kansas City, MO. Several times I've found myself thinking- "I, Hannah Morgan am in Kansas City Missouri. This is crazy." Its been really good. The Lord has been very gracious to establish me into this program, and community here. For those of you who don't know I'm working with FUSION. You can go to www.gofusion.ws for more information. We're here on campus of Midwestern Baptist Seminary for the fall, where the students are taking classes and in training with Fusion- and then in the January of 2011 we''ll go overseas. I'll be leading a team of 3 girls to South Asia. Ground school is over- and starting tomorrow classes begin. I'm excited to begin building relationships with the girls on my team, and to begin serving them, encouraging them as they are seeking the Lord in this time.

I love it here. I keep praying that I wouldn't just be content because it has been easier than expected to become immersed here in this community, or just because I enjoy what I'm doing-- but that I would find my joy in the Lord so that even when it does get harder I would still rejoice. The Lord has been reminding me the past few weeks of why I'm here- the gospel. This isn't about me. He's growing in my heart an urgent desire to share the Truth, the hope I have in Jesus that others don't have. Fusion is giving me an avenue to do so, so I pray that this year would be a time of the Lord stripping me of myself and that He would use me to reflect the Truth. The Fusion creed is becoming a cry of my heart---

As a follower of Christ, I am called not to comfort or success but to obedience. Consequently my life is to be defined not by what I do but by who I am.

Henceforth, I will proclaim His name without fear, follow Him without regret, and serve Him without compromise.

Thus to obey is my objective, to suffer is expected, His glory is my reward.

To Christ Alone, be all power, all honor, and glory that the world may know. Amen.