A story of redemption

A story of redemption 

  Long time ago there lived a girl named Hannah. She was born and raised in a Christian home, but when she hit middle school her life began to change. She started testing her parents and was really not to fond on going to church. Once she hit high school she made a bigger turn from God and all that her parents had taught her. She started partying and really got lost in that world. At 18 she started hanging out with a couple we will call them Jack and Jill. On Jack's graduation night we had a little party at Jill's families house. After a few drinks Jack cornered Hannah and tried to kiss her but she pushed him off and told him that he was dating her best friend. Hannah went on throughout the night really not giving any thought to what had happened. The next morning she woke up to something that was not right, Jack was laying on her left and Jill was laying to her right and his hand was somewhere it should not be. Hannah immediately stopped it and got up. Her mind was racing! She could not believe what just happened and she was going on a trip with them that day. Oh she was scared, she didn't know what to do. She ,stupidly, went on the trip. It was one of the most difficult trips she had faced in her life. Once she returned home she pulled  Emily to the side and told everything that had happened. Emily told Hannah what she needed to do.  Hannah had to face Jill and tell her what happened. Lets just this, that weekend was one of the hardest weekends, full of everything she was afraid of. 

  A year later Hannah was deeper into the partying lifestyle. She ended up meeting a guy named Richard. At first Richard was a real awesome guy. She took him to meet her parents a few months and they approved, but little did they know things were about to get really dark. A while into the relationship Richard started showing his real colors. He was very controlling, very lost, and emotionally abusive to her. Hannah stayed in the relationship because she thought that if she stayed here she would at least always have someone, no matter how unhappy she was. As the year went on she moved in with Richard and  things just got worse. She lost the majority of her friends and did not talk to her family. This was unlike her because no matter how much she disobeyed or fought with her family she was very much a family oriented person. Things got so bad that she called her real dad Beau and asked if she could move up there with him. He was more than willing. 

So she moved up there while still dating Richard. After sometime up there she decided she was more than willing to be single and so she thought at the time she was done with Richard so she broke up with him. Hannah had been with Richard almost 2 years when they broke up and she was so use to talking to him daily that not very long after she started contacting him again. She ended up moving in with an awesome friend Trisha. Richard started coming up every once and a while to visit and when Hannah came home to visit family she would secretly go and visit him. One night after partying they went back to his place and the worst thing happened. It was like she was living a nightmare and it was on replay but this time it went further. The next morning she left and never talked to Richard again and buried it deep down along with the other incident. 

  About a year or so later Hannah woke up from a night of partying thinking this is not the life she wanted to live. This was not the life God had for her. God started working in her life. She became a Christian moved back home and started working for a great family. One day while she was talking to her sister Anne and she was calling her for being bitter about some things. Hannah knew Anne was right and she had to deal with it. While she was dealing with that she started thinking if she was bitter about that what else was she bitter about. Motorcycle rides where always something very relaxing for her but this time her mind was a going. She kept repeating the same question over in prayer " Show me what else I am bitter about Lord". He was quick with it and she road through the city where the first incident happened and it brought everything to the surface. She knew what she had to do. She pretty much shut herself up in her room and prayed in and out every day. Many tears fell and many questions where asked with many still remaining unanswered. Then one day this peace just washed over her. She had/has peace on the unanswered questions, she understands that we all have stories and that this is hers.

  Living through all of this I have come to know that God's love and grace is something that covers every inch of our lives we just let Him in. It is something so hard but day by day I grow. His grace is so beautiful.  Many days my past is thrown up in my face and I am reminded that I am still here so He is not finished with me. Many days I am so glad that He is not. He has blessed me so much. I am able to nanny for some of the most beautiful children, I have been able to had my parents my amazing little brother, I am here to watch him grow, and I have a story to tell. Romans 8: 37-39 " No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that us in Christ Jesus our Lord." My prayer is that anyone that has been in these situations that hasn't dealt with it, please do. It is something so frightening but there is something so freeing about it. Don't be afraid to deal with it. God has given you this story for a reason embrace it. It is something very dark but there is something to be said about a person who has been through it. You are strong, beautiful, and amazing! God has something so wonderful for you if you will just let Him in. If there is anyway I can help you deal with something like this please contact me at hbordeaux@ymail.com and I will do my best to help you, if its only just to listen. I am here.

-Hannah

all in

i look back and can hardly believe that this adventure started nearly 6 months ago.  when hannah first mentioned an overseas mission trip, i half jokingly said let's go to the UK! not knowing God would actually say yes and would open ALL of these doors to get us there! 

i think the reason for my skepticism was that i had thought i would be in Cambodia by now. a few years ago God placed a burden on my heart for young girls that had been trafficked. through different events and connections i thought for sure God was leading me on a journey to Cambodia with the intent on rescuing girls that were victims of this horrible abuse.  however, when i got the call that everything had fallen through i was utterly disappointed. i couldn't believe it. why? why would you place this on my heart, open doors only to shut them? i had to come to the conclusion that it was more of ME wanting to go right then instead of waiting on God's timing and location. that's a tough pill to swallow, ya know?  humbled by that experience, i knew when things started to progress w/ England (nearly 2 years later!) that  i needed to get on my knees in prayer and genuinely seek out what God was speaking to me. 

hannah and i prayed (often!) about this and sought wise counsel. we grew in our friendship with each other and the more we talked about England the more in sync we were about going. we approached our pastor, knowing he would help us seek the right direction, however, not realizing how he would challenge us both regarding our motives for overseas missions! thankful for his wisdom and understanding his passion in wanting us to succeed, we again prayed and heard God tell us to GO. 

it's funny when you start to really see how God is leading you in a certain direction and things just start lining up. :) i had reconnected with my mentor who in turn connected me (via Facebook) with a woman currently residing in England. through this new friendship i found out about YWAM (she had gone through the program herself several years ago) and then sent the link to hannah. so as you  can guess, we prayed about it, decided to go for it & ended up getting accepted! unbelievable! 

so 6 months later, seeing God's undeniable faithfulness, i have learned to TRUST Him, even when it doesn't make sense or seem remotely possible. for example, just today hannah & i received an unexpected donation. and then on top of that was promised another donation to be given to us right before we leave! incredible. i am just in awe of how God has been providing. 

by the way, i still have that burden for girls being trafficked all over the world and i realized after i applied to YWAM they had an additional school program. one you can apply for after the initial DTS program. that school specializes in film & documentaries. which is what i want to do, to use as a platform to share these stories, their stories, with as many people as possible.  i may not be a part of the actual physical rescue of these girls, but i can be a part of their healing process. Isaiah 1:17 - Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of the orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. (NLT) 

thank you for taking the time to read this and for being a part of something bigger than yourselves. i am incredibly grateful for the community of friends, church family, and coworkers that God has given me. i would never have gotten to this point without them - so thank you. <3

beverly 

my journey

I don't know where to start so I guess the best place is the beginning. I remember the day just like it was yesterday. I was dealing with something so dark, but God was going to make it into something so wonderful. During all that I had been praying for God to use me. Guess what?! He answered that real quick! I remember the overwhelming feeling that I needed to go Europe. I had no clue where I would be or what I would do but I knew I needed to be over there. I kept asking are you sure? I talked to friends and Beverly jumped right on board. We went straight to our pastor. I am so glad that he is a man of God and asked the hard question to make sure we were doing this for the right reasons. I dug deep making sure I heard God and was not doing this to "fit" into my family. He showed me over 20 times that I am on the right path.

So the journey begins. We needed to start digging and figure out what we were going to be doing. We had no clue! Beverly talked to a friend and she hooked us up with a girl that lives over there. In 3 of her emails she told us about Y.W.A.M. I kept pushing it off thinking that wasn't for me but everywhere we looked I wasn't getting this is where you are suppose to be. So I decided what the heck and went to their website. As soon as I got on I knew that was where I was suppose to be. This whole journey has been such an experience. I'm not going to lie, this journey has had many ups and downs. In those hard moments God has shown me that this is where I am suppose to be! Will is preaching in Nehemiah. During a hard week Will preached from Nehemiah 4 and it was like it was straight to me. He was saying that the moment we decide to do what God has called us to do we will be attacked. I am there and am reminded of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into it's own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations that cut me down to size-abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." I'm not going to say I don't struggle daily or that I don't struggling letting go and letting God have control of this but every time I read this I am reminded that in those times that God is just showing off and that everything is good. Satan is scared of what He has in store and that makes me so much more excited to see what's in store during this time and while we are over there. I am beyond grateful for your support and love. It means more to us than words could ever describe. Thank you so much and please continue to pray for this journey that we are traveling on.

-Hannah

first steps

happy to report that we have plane tickets! admittedly there was a bit of an issue in acquiring them, thanks to a lagging internet and last minute price changes! but nonetheless it's official, we're off to England come June! :) 

we truly couldn't be more excited, it's hard to believe how much there is left to do and how God is going to work it all out. faith has a different weight to its meaning these days :) 

our passports are current, vaccinations are up to date and we have our visa pictures ready to be sent off! 

so many first steps have been completed & we are now set to focus on fundraising for the school. 

as a side note, i will say that i love how God often reveals how deeply He cares for us individually when He chooses to redeem that which was lost or broken.  though i know it may not mean much to anyone but me (beverly) the date that we purchased our tickets is very significant and i just wanted to thank God for redeeming a sad day into a new beginning :) we serve an AMAZING Savior. there is no doubt.