I am 21 years old, but I’ll be 22 by the time I leave on the race in August (feel free to send me a birthday card on February 27). I am in my final year of college to get my Bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi.
I was born and raised in good ole Laurel, MS. I have two incredible siblings who are my heroes. My sister, Natalie, is 29 years old and one of the most genuine people you’ll ever meet. My brother, Matthew, is 31 years old and will always go out of his way to help somebody who needs his help. I have 2 nephews (Cayman and Remy) and 1 niece (Allie) who are a hysterical group of kids, and I am immensely proud of each of them. My dad along with my beautiful step-mom (Mark and Angee Hanna) is currently serving as pastor of a church about an hour away from where I live. My mom (Sandy Hanna) is my biggest supporter by far and is faithfully serving with me at our church in Laurel.
At the age of 17 I was lost and hopeless. I had a few friends at school, but I was merely wandering aimlessly through life without a purpose (that I was aware of, anyway). A few kind kids invited me to eat lunch with them one day, and I eventually began visiting their church. At that point I saw church as a gathering of hypocrites who only went to a building on Sundays to be seen and make themselves feel better about their messed up lives, so it was obviously God Himself wooing me and calling me into His presence. At this church I saw people who genuinely loved Jesus and who were passionately pursuing His purpose for their lives. As a foreigner to this land of religious authenticity, my sin became more and more apparent as God continued to show me that I was destitute without Him. After fooling myself for months saying, “I’m a Christian. My dad is a pastor. My mom is a woman of God. I am good enough.”
That’s when Jesus came in. “You aren’t good enough,” He said, “I am.”
The Lord showed me my failures. He showed me my faults. He showed me my insufficiency. Did He show me these things to make me feel bad about myself? No! He showed me these things to make known His perfection, His completion, and His sufficiency.
Fast forward a few years, and here I am. God has blessed me with a heart for missions. You may ask, “What exactly does that mean?” Glad you asked! I’ll tell you. It simply means God has given me a desire to share with others the joy, peace, and utter awe that He has shown me. As a Bible Belt Christian, I know that we often hear the name of Jesus and we hear the Gospel again and again. At times we tend to become numb to it, right? While I know there is a huge need to build the Kingdom here in the U.S., my heart is for those who have never heard.
There are people in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus.
Those are the people I want to meet on the World Race. Those are the people God has divine encounters already set up for me to meet. Those are the people that the Lord wants to miraculously save, and He wants to use me as a tool in His hand. How exciting!!
The more I realize that I am small and He is great, the more I realize this life really isn’t about seeing the world or building up some padding on our bank accounts. It’s about glorifying the One who gives Life. The One who created us.
As I prepare to embark on this journey, I am begging for your support. Yes, I’m talking about financial support, of course, but more than that I need your prayers. I am a firm believer that we often miss out on blessings because we do not ask! Please join me in consistently and persistently praying for God’s will to be done in my life as I travel across the globe for almost a year.
Thank you in advance and feel free to share this blog and maybe drop a comment or a little donation! 🙂
Yours in Christ,
Luke
