Sunday, August 28, 2011

Interview with Hannah Starrett

Intro: I haven't posted in a VERY long time due to not having a computer to work with for the last few months in Costa Rica. So in order to catch up all my followers in a manner other than just writing paragraph after paragraph of "out-dated" information, I decided to try to make it a little more interesting and less time-consuming. Hopefully you feel the same as this way you can skip to the questions/answers that interest you :)


1) What were the highlights of the second semester in GAP Costa Rica?
        First of all, I'd say just having probably triple the Spanish use as first semester was a huge plus. I did a whole lot more translating second semester for both missions groups that came from the states, as well as students in GAP giving devotionals or testimonies in various churches around our area. I also spent every Wednesday night with my friend Andrea, a member of the SCORE staff at the Villa. I would leave work (the Villa) with her and head to her church, enjoy a dinner with her family, and spend the night at her house (sleepover!!), all the while speaking only Spanish. She doesn't speak English at all so it was the perfect push and practice that I needed to work on perfecting the language I love. It was incredible.
       Second highlight I'd say was our trip to the Dominican Republic in the beginning of April. It was absolutely amazing. We (GAP students) were the translators for 320 freshmen-junior students from a church in Atalnta, GA. They divided up into 40 groups of 8 people, and one of us went with each group. There were 20 buses with 2 groups each that headed out once in the morning and again in the afternoon. The groups would rotate through and we translators would stay with the bus. We did things from VBS, construction, and giving food, to visiting orphanages, shopping at the market, and street evangelism. God used us in a powerful way and we saw so much growth not only in the DR, but also inward change from the impact of being leading missionaries ourselves and influencing these high school students with the love of God and love for missions. It was one of my favorite experiences for sure!! 
        And of course the third highlight would be meeting my now boyfriend, Esteban Mora. If you want to hear that story message me on facebook or shoot me an email :) The whole second semester was filled with activities, growth, and lots of fun!! We went more places, used our Spanish outside the classroom, and were way busier. But it was great. I loved the time and learned more than I could ever explain in words. God is amazing and he surely did a work on my heart. 


2) What did you do over the summer?
       Over the summer my schedule was pretty much just work. I worked full time at the Klien Brot Hous Bakery in Brookston where I've been employed since '08. I love it there - the people, the work, everything - so it was great to be able to spend my summer there and try to fill the hole Costa Rica made in my bank account ;) I did spend some time with my friends of course, one of which is now ENGAGED!!! :) I also took some time to go skiing. But most days were just hanging with the fam. I'm so blessed to have awesome parents and the best of siblings to hang out with. I love em. 
       I continued to go to Primera Iglesia Bautista de Lafayette, the church in Spanish I attended over winter break, every Wednesday night. It helps me keep up my speaking/listening skills, as well as stay involved in Hispanic ministry, which I love. The people there are great and of course I love the language. It was awesome. Hopefully I'll be able to find a Hispanic church here in Bloomington... 
       I also became an official member of my church, Battle Ground Bible Church, this summer. You might be thinking why become a member right before leaving to go to school, which is a great question. I'll try to explain my thinking. I believe that church membership is incredibly important in every Christian's life. To have that support and accountability behind you from a church family as well as the authority of a group of elders is not only biblical, but I believe essential to spiritual health. So even though I am now living at IU, 2 hours from my church, I need that in my life even from a distance. I have accountability set up with some people from home, and I have a church family to speak of while I begin to get connected with a local body here in Bloomington. 


3) What next? What are you up to now? 
       Right now I'm moved into my dorm at Indiana University, Bloomington awaiting classes to start tomorrow. I'm majoring in Linguistics hoping to be able to do translation work in the future on the mission field. My dream is to be a missionary, and my method is to use translation to reach people with the Gospel. I'm a total language nerd so I'm pumped for all my classes to start and hit the books again. 


4) What can people be praying for in your life?
       The biggest thing I need prayer for is faithfulness and consistency in my spiritual growth. I currently am seeking a community of believers that I can get connected with, make some friends, and have that group to hang out with during the week. I'm looking into Harvest Bible Chapel with Josh Knipp as the pastor. It's only a plant getting started right now which is both exciting and a lot of work. So I'll get involved there, but just on campus I have to stay faithful in my own time with God in order to stay strong in the midst of the world's influence. 
       I would also appreciate prayers for my roommate. Her name is Ashley and to me she seems very open and even seeking, but in all the wrong places. Pray for her to be open to my influence and also that I would be the testimony of Christ I should be.
       Pray also for my relationship with Esteban. Long distance is hard. It's been a great time for us learning how to work together to keep our relationship healthy and growing, but that doesn't mean it's been easy. God is so faithful and good to us, and we thank him with all our heart, but please be praying that things continue to head in the right direction and work out first for the glory of God as well as our good in our relationship. 
       And of course just college. Pray that I study hard and get things done. I need to practice/learn discipline and prioritizing. I'll have to find the balance of time between everything I do... including resting right (something I learned from the Lovells, thanks Bekah!!).


That's all for now, thanks for reading!! I'll try to update this thing regularly again as I have my computer and am settling into a new stage in life. God is good, vive la vida!! :)

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