I knew faith was strong, but what I didn’t know was that it could be this strong. In 2013, I went on a trip with my church to Pontiac. We stayed in Living Word church/ school in Rochester, and worked in Pontiac for a week, spreading our faith. I was super nervous in the weeks leading up to the trip, knowing that I would only know a couple of people on the trip. I realized that I get nervous when trying to make new friends, but on the first day I walked through the front doors of Living Word, and I was immediately gravitated towards a group of people along with a friend of mine that already knew this particular group of people.

“Hey guys, good to see you. How have you been?”
“Good, how are you? It's been like a year!”
“No really, it's been a year already!”
“Wow how long have they known each other?” I wondered.
“So, who’s this?” Anders replied.

They all turn to look at me, and I wave.
“Oh yea, this is my friend Hannah.”
“Hi Guys, its nice to meet you…” I said.
“You too!” Everyone said in unison.
“Hey Anders, I think she needs a nickname.” Sasha pointed out.
“Haha, what? You don’t really need--” I start but they cut me off,
“No, we have to give you one, everyone has one!” She responded.
“You guys are absolutely insane” I thought to myself.
“Okay, I guess…”

They thought of some things and finally came to a conclusion on one. This first night was the start of an amazing friendship and an unbreakable bond.

On this trip I realized more than that. One of the days there was a huge storm, that rumbled the whole building. Crack!! The sound of lightning struck outside, and the ceiling tiles began to fall, so they closed off the church in certain areas. Also, something was wrong with the sprinkler system, if there was a fire the sprinklers wouldn’t go off.

Well on this hot July night, the power decided to go out and they were going to send us home because the church was no longer safe. The leaders brought us all into this very small hallway and they announced that they needed to send us home. We were all devastated. The leaders then decided to pray before all of the 100 or so kids went to start packing. This is when I realized that I believe. I believe in God so strongly because of this nights event.
“Amen…” We all said in unison sounding tired and upset all at once.

Not even 10 seconds later the lights all flickered on. We all cheered.
“Does this mean we can stay?” We all asked.

The adults had a quick meeting before coming back with the news.
“Well, I guess you guys don’t have to go!”
Once again, we all got super excited. we all wanted to hang out and celebrate together but it was 3 o’clock in the morning so of course we went to bed instead.

I realized how much church is a part of my life. This trip is the reason I am who I am, and the reason I do what I do. I am teaching. I I teach preschool, elementary, middle school, all the way up through junior high, I want to help other people realize their faith . I go on trips, I have traveled back to Pontiac, Detroit, New Era, Lansing, and more to continue to grow my faith.